Rematch - a countryhumans story

Chapter 12: Counterattack

4th November, 2042

CKCH looked at the map again.
Since yesterday Turkey's forces stopped attacking, restricting themselves to just artillery fire, and he haven't got any information that could explain it, neither from Italy nor the Federation. That just didn't make any sense, his own defence line was on the edge of collapsing! Of course they'd notice how desperate the last battles were! He took a sip of coffe from a cup. He needed to stay awake, despite sleeping less than 6 hours a night. Why, he thought again, Why did they stop?
His thoughts were interrupted as he noticed a piece of paper at his desk. He didn't remember it lying there last midnight. He picked it up. It was not just a piece of paper, it was an envelope with Italian coat of arms on it. A letter? Why not communicate normally, through radio? He picked it up. Too light to contain a mortal explosive. With a small inhale, he opened it and started reading.

>>CKCH, if You wonder why do I communicate with You this way, that is the point of the letter.
As I'm writing it we have 3 November and I assume You haven't received it more than a day later. Today me and my fleet have encountered Turkish fleet with a device capable of disrupting sonar detection, and I am afraid that it won't be only that. It is very possible thay were observing our network since the beginning of the war if not longer.
Do NOT use anything they could spy on until We get to know more details. Use exclusively physical ways of transferring information.
I've already sent similar letters to the others.
Hold on in there.
Signed : Kingdom of Italy<<

Common Kingdom of Czechoslovakia and Hungary dropped the letter onto the table. He sometimes could hear three nations in his head arguing what to do and fighting in his parlament for power inside the country, but now all his sides could agree this is bad. Fear of Turkey, the thing holding him in one piece now increased tenfold. If communists know their every move before they can even make it, none will success, and war will be lost! No, no no. If it was true, the attacks on him would hit his weak points more often. But maybe this asset was being hidden so they wouldn't notice... All of that theorizing won't be helpful, now it was time to reorganize. He was sure that with all scientists of the alliance encryption improvement was only a matter of time. He walked off the mini bunker that was his quarter and took his megaphone
-Third infantry to me! - then he putted the device back to it's place and climbed onto the bunker's roof as the whole battalion gathered in line to hear what he was about to tell them, and as the last man came, he wasted no time.
-I know you're soldiers and won't bother you with some wasteful begging - he started
- I just have received a message in which is written that our common enemy aquaired a way of spying alliance's comms network - he remembered to use phrase 'common enemy' while talking about communists to remind the soldiers that all of them were fighting for their own nation
-All wireless ways of communication are quarantined. Orders will be transported though conventional means, no exceptions. I'm also ordering you to send this message across the front, it is a primary order from now on. Now go complete your tasks - he finished and walked down. Oh God, he thought. This war will be harder than I thought. At least Italy destroyed the main Turkish fleet and buyed me some time.
As the appointed messengers left to deliver the news across the front and everyone else got back to what they were doing, CKCH heard a distant noise of an engine. Afraid of so sudden attack, he took his rifle out of his back and looked through it's scope towards the border.
But the noise wasn't coming from there.
It was coming from behind.
After realizing this, Czechoslovakia-Hungary turned around and was suprised seeing trucks and tanks with markings of the Five Nations. Reinforcements? He didn't knew any were coming, not like he complained. What suprised him even more was Federation has came with his soldiers too. He decided to call him and ask why is he redrawing forces from his border with Soviet when he said himself that he'll need everything he has to keep them at bay. But first, he has to help with rearranging the Anatolian front.

15 minutes later

- So, if it's all set and done, maybe you'll tell me why did you do that? - he asked, sitting in one of two chairs in his command room, the other one occupied by FFN.
- I've gotten a letter from Italy, and propably you did as well. I thought that if what is he saying is true then we need to do something unexpected, and since royalist France and Germany are doing well then you are the one needing most help - Federation answered.
- I guess you're right, there's three of us and only one of him and we still have to fall back more often than I would like to -
- Well, not anymore since the calvary arrived - Five Nations smiled.
For a moment Czechoslovakia-Hungary took it for real, Federation could go wild with his ideas such as designing kevlar horse armor, so english phrase wasn't noticed at first.
- So - he swallowed to stop the tingling sensation in his dry throat -do you have any plan? Most of equipment I saw was rather set for more mobile actions than what we do here -
- Yes, I remember your message about the state of this front, alongside with the demand for change in artillery redistribution, plus some swears about me overdosing alcohol and vomiting on palace floor despite the fact that I once drank over a litr of spirytus in front of you and shrugged it off -
- I... Didn't erease it before sending? -
- You didn't, and before I've read it I had to deal with Kashubia choking on her own saliva -
- Oh, then, uuhh, I didn't mean it ,you kno- Federation waved his right arm up, silencing him.
- That doesn't matter now. For my plan, I want to take a single scout plane for a cloudy day and finally check how many artillery nests are there and rush over the no man's land with MBTs to get rid of them. Then we'll blitzkrieg through Bosnia and trap major part of Turks in Croatia with the Italians do deal with. From then on we'll systematically bomb them from the sky and advance, capture a port on the coast of Black Sea, and then we go with operation Weiße Welle - FFN explained.
Cz-H stayed quiet for a moment.
- That's a lot of assumed victories. Do you have any idea what to do if they repell the offensive in the mountains? Because my soldiers are getting sick of sitting in defensive position counting that they won't be hitted by the next shell or rocket - he finally responded.
- As I said, we'll systematically find and bomb them to prevent any regrouping, and it can be seen on satelites that they don't have any backup defence line. I would say that they are convinced that they'll win easly, but at that part of the war these thoughts should be non existing, especially considering how slow is their offensive. My theory about it is that they were sure of winning at first, and optimized their military for offence and not defence. When the front turned out to be more static than they assumed it would be, and Italy started pressing at their industrial capabilities via navy, all they can do is keeping you in check to feed their propaganda about advancing despite your resistance -
- Or maybe they found out how to camuflage their buildings well enough to be protected even against satelites - CKCH suggested.
- In such a mountainous terrain? Construction there is difficult and any bigger machinery used in such projects would be detected. No, that option is doubtful - Federation shook his head.
- And the decryption problem? -
- My best men work on it, trust me. Besides, I don't think that would make a difference on a tactical level. I honestly doubt they could translate the mishmash of languages in a combat speed - he was kind of right. Official language of Federation was interslavic, but almost everyone preferred to speak his own national language and use interslavic as a support tool in understanding others. If the Turks really could intercept and decode their radio calls it still would be applying to strategy, but ever changing situation on the battlefield doesn't make good environment for such actions.
- Alright, one last question - CKCH said. - How do you plan to take so quick offensive in mountains? - he didn't mean to offend or humiliate Five Nations, he just wanted to take out all holes in any plan before they execute it. He learned this the hard way when on the begging of war he tried attacking on his own. Thousands of good people died and Common Kingdom almost joined them. If he realised his mistake a day later, Turkey would be fighting them in Visegrad, if Czechoslovakia-Hungary wouldn't be killed or captured by now.
But his concerns were needless as FFN had the answer
- Bohemia, it's been a hundred years since the last World War, and technology got far better. Few adjustments to the tanks' tracks, a bit of modifications to lower the mass center and we're good. Plus, we rule the air here, so they won't have time to reorganize. We can do it - he assured his friend, who got up.
-Well then, what are we waiting for? - he said with a tired smile.