0440 April 5th, 2020 CE

0520 Sun 5th, 196 AE

Way behind the Elven frontline

In a tent, an elf looked at his magiwatch.

“The 33rd Magipanzers have reported losing contact with their forward elements. They should have neared the human trenches by now. They haven’t reported their position at all.”

An older looking elf, Colonel General Elred Virro, the commander of the Eastern Army, sighed.

“Is it possible that they have tried to engage the human defenses?”

“Possibly…ugh... it won’t be a surprise seeing how hot-headed the entire 33rd were about this mission.”

“Losing a few recon units isn't important. I was just hoping we get a clearer picture of the enemy numbers.”

“The 33rd had requested we let them slow down first and allow them to send another recon unit.”

CG Virro shook his head.

“I thought you just said that they were hot-headed. Why are they asking to slow down.”

“The loss of the recon units has unnerved them a bit. It does feel a bit worrying.”

“I understand their sentiment but the Leader has put us on a tight schedule. We can’t waste a single second. Time is of the essence here. Every minute lost is one more minute that the enemy gets to reinforce itself or retreat to a safer location. Of course, they are technologically inferior but they have numbers on their side. We barely have an entire Army group here and it’s in charge of the entire frontline. If we lose momentum at this point, we may face problems in the future. The humans may have taken out the recon units but they can’t possibly stop an entire magipanzer corp without suffering heavy casualties. Mere blitzpanzer divisions were able to overwhelm their initial defenses within a few days. Compared to a blitzpanzer division, a magipanzer corp is like a tsunami.”

“Understood, General.”

CG Virro placed his hands on the table. He gazed over the map that had multiple wooden, colored pieces on it.

“Even if they are able to stop the 33rd Magipanzer, we still have the 61st and 26th Infantry Corps as part of the first wave. The second wave is also arriving on the shores. They will be ready to bolster the offensive soon…” He rubbed his beard. “... I heard the Leader has assigned us some experimental magipanzer units in the second wave. I’m looking forward to seeing them.”

Magusian Secondary Defense Line, Reserve Trench

On a very different map, LTC Parker’s aide put “x”s on multiple roads in the jungle.

“The recon birds have destroyed what is believed to be enemy forward elements on these roads. Overlord is identifying all of them as light tank companies. Recon drones from the Air Force have also spotted a large formation of enemy tanks coming towards us. The forward elements seemed to have come from them. Overlord has sent Apaches to engage them. However, it is questionable whether or not they will be able to destroy all of them. The number is too much for just the 82nd’s Apaches to deal with.”

LTC Parker looked concernedly at the “x”s on the map.

“When is the estimated arrival of the rest of our ground forces?”

“About one to two hours from now.”

He rubbed his chin.

“Hm… how about the Air Force?”

“We are not sure when the engineers will finish reconfiguring the Magusian air bases so that is not on the table right now.”

After talking to his aide, LTC Parker closed his eyes a bit before turning to MG Bernart.

“We are expecting large numbers of elven tanks.”

“Will you be able to deal with it?”

“Our tanks are on their way and we currently do have the capability to deal with them.”

“That’s reassuring to hear.”

“However, I suggest we pull back the line. If the elven tanks burst out of these jungles, we will be taken off guard and destroyed.”

0500 April 5th, 2020 CE

0530 Sun 5th, 196 AE

In the air

48 AH-64D Apache Longbows and AH-64E Apache Guardians of the 1-17th Heavy Attack Reconnaissance Squadron and 1-82nd Attack Reconnaissance Battalion tore through the skies. Passing over the jungles, they were soon flying over the grassy plains. Their shadows flew alongside them on the green ground

0530 April 5th, 2020 CE

0545 Sun 5th, 196 AE

Plains between the jungle and Verona River

On this clear and sunny day, more than 300 magipanzers, the 26th Magipanzer Regiment of the 5th Magipanzer Division, part of the 33rd Magipanzer Corps, rumbled through the lush and green plains. Behind them, a part of the 5th Magipanzer Divison, motorized infantry riding trucks, artillery being towed by trucks, and various other vehicles followed. Grass was flattened under the tracks of these tanks. Massive dust clouds were lifted up behind them. Corporal Llarm Daejor, one of the many tank commanders of the II Magipanzer Battalion, looked out of his commander's hatch and sighed. He looked with envy at some of the magipanzers around him. He envied the other commanders who were able to get Knights. His magipanzer, a Guard, was the medium magipanzer that was widely used before the Knights was introduced. Now, the Knights had replaced almost all of the Guards. Of course, it was just his luck to be assigned as a commander to a Guard. The Knights seemed so much bigger and sleeker than his dinky little Guard. CPL Daejor turned his attention to the plains. If there weren’t so many vehicles, this scene would look very nice. He wished he could just stop his magipanzer, get out his sketchbook, and draw.

A few miles away in the air

<<<“Targets spotted. Directly in front. Holy... look at the size of that dust cloud.”

“You are clear to engage. Fire at will.”

“Roger. Ready for a turkey shoot, boys?!”>>>

Back on the ground

Lieutenant Colonel Ryo Valhice, commander of the I Magipanzer Battalion of the 26th Magipanzer Regiment, stared through his binoculars at the aircraft in front of him. He got out his radio.

”Uhh… Colonel, we have a problem.”>>>

A voice came through the 5th Magipanzer Division commander’s radio. It was the commander of the tank regiment at the vanguard, Colonel Rolim Trakkas of the 26th Magipanzer Regiment.

“Lieutenant General, we have spotted multiple aircraft approaching us.”

“Wyverns?”

“No sir, we are not exactly sure what they are. We have never seen anything like them before. They are flying low to the ground at a slow speed and have propellers on the top instead of in front of the aircraft.”

“If they aren’t ours, assume they are our enemy’s. Bring up your anti-aircraft guns and take them out. To be safe, have your tanks pull back.”

“Understood, sir.”>>>

Dust rose up from the front tracks of the magipanzers that dotted the plains as they all started backing up in unison.

CPL Daejor heeded the command for all tanks to back up. It probably had to do with the mysterious flying objects coming towards them. For some reason, at a distance away, the objects had just stopped all of a sudden and stayed still in the sky. It was amazing to see an aircraft stop in mid-air. Normal aircraft could never accomplish such feats. The floating aircraft didn’t stay motionless for too long before lights started to flash out of their sides.

“What the hell is that…?”

Far at the front, a Stallion exploded in a sudden burst.

CPL Daejor swooped back into his magipanzer and shut the hatch. The sounds of explosion resonated in the Guard tank

“By the goddess, back up as fast as possible!”

Apache comms

<<<“Wolfpack 03, there seems to be an anti-aircraft gun to your left.”

“Affirm. I see them. Will be taking them out.”>>>

On the ground

The crew of the 20 mm flak gun started to quickly ready their gun. One of the crewmen started spinning the wheel to get it up but it wasn’t long before a rocket hit them and their flak gun.

As he watched explosions at the front of his formation, Colonel Trakkas clutched his radio.

”What are you doing?! Get them out of the sky right now!”

“Colonel, two flak guns have already been taken out. My bat…”

The sound of an explosion cut LTC Valhice off.

“My battalion is being completely destroyed!”

“You aren’t even able to do something as simple as hiding the flak guns in this big mess of your battalion’s magipanzers?!”

“That’s exactly what we are doing but they always seem to know where they are.”>>>

COL Trakkas switched the channel.

<<< “Lieutenant General! The aircraft are attacking us! They are shooting rockets! My regiment is being destroyed!”

“Calm down. Where are your anti-aircraft guns?”

“They are out of range, sir! When we try to get them closer. They just get destroyed in an instance. Do we have any with longer ranges?”

“Full retreat. Don’t panic. Anti-aircraft guns will be ready behind you.” >>>

No matter how hard the anti-aircraft battery that was sent to help the I Magipanzer Battalion tried to sneak up on the Apaches, they were instantly seen and blown up. The magipanzers of the I Magipanzer Battalion were mercilessly blown up one by one.

In front of LTC Valhice’s command tank, one of his battalion’s heavy Fortress tanks went up in flames the instant a rocket hit it. Its once-mighty 88mm gun drooped lifelessly from its displaced turret.

Impossible! That’s a Fortress!

”Colonel! Their rockets are taking out our Fortresses in one shot! We can’t…”

Another explosion cut him off. Half a minute passed. Silence.

“Lieutenant Colonel? Lieutenant Colonel Valhice?!”>>>

Apache comms

>>

>>

<<<“Overlord, this is Wolfpack 01, my battalion is nearly black on ammo.”

“Understood, use up what you have left and RTB.”

“Understood.”>>>

Back on the ground

The flying objects stopped firing their rockets and started turning to their sides.A few minutes after the sound of explosions subsided, CPL Daejor popped open his hatch and peeked out. He looked around like a gopher looking out of its hole.

“Seems to be over.”

Towards the front, black smoke billowed into the sky. Destroyed tanks littered the plains.

COL Trakkas looked at the scene in front of him with surprise.

<<<”The enemy aircraft retreated. We have suffered heavy losses. Even the Fortresses were taken out. No exact numbers but at least a hundred magipanzers are either destroyed or disabled. The I Battalion has been destroyed. Their commander is KIA.”

“A hundred?! Are you sure about those numbers, Colonel?”

“Did I not say it? My entire vanguard, a battalion, has been destroyed.”

The voice over the radio was silent for a while.

“Pull back. Further orders will be given afterward.”>>>

Lieutenant General Paeral Faekas put his radio down for a few minutes and wondered how he was going to explain this to the General of the Magipanzers.

"This is Lieutenant General Faekas of the 33rd... I need to talk directly to General Venmoira. This is of utmost urgency.”

There was silence on the other side for a little bit before a voice came through.

“What is it, Lieutenant General?”

“The 26th Magipanzer Regiment has suffered heavy losses. At most an entire magipanzer battalion has been destroyed.”

“...what happened for such heavy losses to occur?”

“Unidentified flying objects approached them and started firing rockets outside the range of their 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. They were described as slow mechanical aircraft with a propeller on top instead of on its nose. Capable of taking out our Fortresses”

“A helicopter?”

“Hm? Heli copter? Do you know anything about those aircraft?”

There was silence on the other side for a few seconds.

“No. I… can not confirm anything.”

“I have allowed the 26th to retreat. Should my division completely pull back?”

“No. The orders are clear. We are not allowed to stop. I will send the 3rd Magipanzer Division to help. However, slow your pace and continue forward. I will check with the Colonel General.”

“Understood.”>>>