1133 April 5th, 2020 CE

0546 Sun 5th, 196 AE

Afvalin, Elven Nation

An elven aide quickly rushed to Tarron Venharice’s office.

“My Leader. Urgent report from the High Command Office. The 25th Magipanzer Corps of the Western Army have stalled a few miles from the jungle. The 33rd Magipanzers Corp of the Eastern Army has been put to a stop in the jungle.”

“What are the casualty reports?”

“In the 33rd Magipanzer Corps, the 1st Battalion of the 37th Magipanzer Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the 26th Magipanzer Regiment can be considered completely destroyed. In addition, the 7th Infantry Regiment has suffered some losses. In the 25th Magipanzer Corps, the 2nd Battalion of the 10th Magipanzer Regiment can also be considered completely destroyed. The current casualty estimate is a total of 5,000 elves with at least 300 magipanzers destroyed.”

Tarron stood up.

“Get a car ready. I’m going to the High Command Office.”

The High Command Office was this extraordinarily large room in a building that was situated a few miles from Tarron's residency. There, multiple elves in grey military uniform ran around with papers, extraordinarily large maps depicting various areas were situated around the room and many elves were discussing with each other. Tarron walked in and a soldier by the door saluted him.

“Where is Field Marshal Gael?”

“Right here, My Leader.”

Field Marshal Aegord Gael stood a few feet away from the door and had seemingly just been discussing matters with someone. It was as if he knew that Tarron would come.

“Can you explain the report that I just got?”

Aegord slowly nodded.

“My Leader… It’s completely true. We are currently re-evaluating the situation.”

“It’s a problem for the Army. What did Field Marshal Trasalor say about this?”

“Field Marshal Trasalor said that this wasn’t a problem and we should just keep going.”

Suddenly a menacing air came out of Tarron.

“Get me Field Marshal Trasalor.”

A few seconds later, Aegord returned with Field Marshal Nym Trasalor, the head of the Army Department.

“What is it, My Leader?”

Tarron angrily pointed his finger at Nym

“What is happening out there?”

“Uh, what do you mean?”

“I just got a report saying that we have just incurred another 5,000 casualties and that the Western and Eastern Front has stalled.”

There seemed to be some fear in Nym’s eyes. He quickly explained.

“My Leader. You have to understand. Defeats happen. This was to be expected.”

Tarron couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He roared. The entire High Command Office seemed to fall silent.

“DEFEATS HAPPEN!? A single Blitzpanzer Division pushed back these humans for hundreds of miles on AN ENTIRE FRONT, BY ITSELF yet you say these same humans were able to defeat an entire Magipanzer Corps!? A SINGLE Blitzpanzer Division! It’s one of the most lightly FUCKING armed division in the ENTIRE FUCKING ARMY! It was designed based on speed! Not the fucking hard-hitting Magipanzer Corps. They were designed to break through the enemy lines! It was only a few days ago that mere Blitzpanzer Divisions were pushing these humans back and NOW you are telling me that the humans somehow, in this short amount of time, were able to regroup, mobilize, and counter our Magipanzer Corps! You better start seeing this as a problem and start thinking of solutions!”

Nym wanted to point out the various flaws in that statement such as the fact that it wasn’t an entire Magipanzer Corps that was attacking the humans but a single Magipanzer Division however that didn’t make much difference and he was quaking too much in fear to do so. Tarron was extremely angry because the invasion had already stalled. This wasn’t what he had planned out at all. The humans shouldn’t have been able to put up this much resistance against the Elve’s advanced technology. Sure the humans might win some battles, but nothing as major as causing an entire front to come to a halt. After a few seconds of calming down, Tarron narrowed his eyes before turning towards Aegord. Nym silently deflated in relief. And just like that, sound started to come back in the High Command Office as everyone got back to work.

“What wave are we on?”

“The third wave is currently landing.”

“What are the current numbers of our invasion force?”

“We should have… more than a million ground troops, six thousand magipanzers, and a thousand aircraft in the human Empire by the time the 3rd wave finishes landing.”

“Have the first wave stop and link up with the rest of its force. Wait for the Air Force and the second wave of ground forces to catch up. Oh also, speed up the landings. Something doesn’t feel right.”

After learning more about the exact situation from the High Command Office, Tarron got back to his office and called up his aide.

“Get me the Head of the Intelligence Department and the Head of the Advancement Department.”

Less than 30 minutes later, two elves walked in. Anfalen Inaneiros, Head of Intelligence, and Ruehnar Wynxisys, Head of Advancement. They saluted.

“My Leader!”

“Sit.”

Noticing the unhappy air around Tarron, they sat down as fast as possible.

“You two have heard of what was recently going on in the war, correct?”

Ruehnar responded immediately.

“As up to date as yesterday, My Leader.”

“New information has come in today. We have suffered 5,000 casualties and the Western and Eastern Front has come to a halt.”

“That’s terrible, My Leader!”

Anfalen stayed silent and listened.

“I have called you two in today because I have received information from the General Staff that the humans are possessing helicopters.”

“Hm? Humans possessing helicopters? I’m confident in our department’s prediction. The humans should not have helicopters based on their predicted technological advancement. Could it be another aircraft or a special dragon?”

“No. The description clearly matches a helicopter.”

Anfalen finally spoke up.

“I think I know why the humans possess advanced aircraft.”

That caught Tarron’s attention.

“Elaborate.”

Anfalen explained about the human newspaper he came into possession about a few days ago. That it said the human Empire had split into two Imperiums called the Magus and Mach. And that it claimed there was this country called the “United States of America” which had advanced weaponry.

“And why did you not tell me this earlier?”

“Sorry, My Leader, but it was only one newspaper article. We could not confirm it with any other source. Giving false information would be much worse than giving none. However, recent events clearly show that this article may hold some truth.”

“I thought you had agents attached to the Army units? Why were you only able to secure such a small amount of intelligence?”

Anfalen let out an exasperated sigh.

“Well, the Army keeps on burning everything down! We can get no intelligence because everything turned into charcoal!”

Tarron looked out of his office after dismissing them. This "United States of America" was going to be a problem if they truly existed. He needed to have a private meeting with Anaflen.

1150 April 5th, 2020 CE

0555 Sun 5th, 196 AE

Magusian Secondary Defense Line

A line of M1A2 Abrams started to approach their position from the road. The Magusians stared at the American tanks in wonder. Lieutenant Colonel Parker watched as an M1A2 Abrams rolled up next to his makeshift headquarters. The commander hatch popped open and a person looked out.

“Lieutenant Colonel William Parker?”

“Yes?”

“Lieutenant Colonel Manfred Rogers. Commander of the 3rd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, part of the 1st Armored Division that has come to help.”

“You're late. What took you so long?

“The fucking Machians have better roads. Maggy roads are complete shit. They might as well have put mud down and called it a road and their damn wooden bridges can't hold up shit… I see you got into a fight.”

He looked at the burnt-out tree line.

“The Air Force pushed them back. Lost a few men.”

LTC Rogers nodded

“Rest of the brigade combat team is coming. There will be a push to clear the elves out of these jungles.”

“I have heard. The Air Force should be getting ready to pound them right now.”

Just then, jets were heard overhead. They looked up.

“Speak of the devil.”

A few miles from the jungle

Through the radio, Lieutenant General Ara shouted in surprise at the order she was given.

<<<“Why are we stopping?!”

“Orders directly from the Leader. We are to stop and prepare defenses.”

“What happened?”

“Seems like the Western and Eastern Army have been beaten back.”

“What?! How?!”

“I’m not sure of the exact details but orders are clear. Stop advancing. We will reorganize and set up defenses. We will wait until the second wave catches up.”>>>

They had barely got any actions and were quite a few miles away from the jungle. And it was all because they were delayed in Anbellium.

In the jungle

The 37th and 26th Magipanzer Regiments were on complete retreat. Their magipanzers lined the roads as they fled out of the forest. Colonel Rolim Trakkas got on his radio to tell his battalion commanders the new orders.

<<< “We have been given orders to retreat, regroup and set up a defense line. We will wait for the second wave of units to arrive before we begin our offensive.”>>>

1245 April 5th, 2020 CE

0622 Sun 5th, 196 AE

Outside of the forest

The 2nd Battalion of the 26th Magipanzer Regiment was a few miles ahead of Colonel Trakkas’s 37th Magipanzer Regiment. Their magipanzers filled the plains outside of the jungle. Suddenly a noise could be heard behind them. The ground exploded and dust was thrown up in the air. In a straight line, multiple magipanzers were disabled.

“BRRRRRRRT”