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By the Sword; Expanding the Sultanate
Topic Started: Feb 25 2015, 04:45 AM (125 Views)
Gorvikia
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The Real Slim Shady

Ja'hara, Ahwaz
5:30 PM

The sun had begun to set in the horizon under the cover of the Ja'hara skyline as Sultan Heydar al-Haddad looked out from his seat. A man in his early 50s, Heydar had been the reigning Sultan of Ahwaz (formally known as the Sultanate of Ahwaz) for the past decade after the passing of his father, Mahmoud. Mahmoud had always held grand ambitions for Ahwaz, a Sunni Muslim state that had at one time ruled vast portions of the region in the previous millennium. Internal strife and economic hardships reduced the Sultanate to a shell of its former self by the 18th century, but it had remained stable since then.

Mahmoud had always maintained that a large portion of the continent (stretching from present day Ahwaz to the Valkanid mainland) was rightfully the property of Ahwaz under the authority of Allah. However, Mahmoud understood it was important to work on internal issues that Ahwaz faced before considering outward expansion. Under Mahmoud's 50 year reign as Sultan, Ahwaz saw tremendous improvements in its quality of life, as well as a stabilized economy. The standard of living increased exponentially with government funds being put into education and health care programs, allowing Ahwazis the opportunity for universal health care and mandatory 12-year education programs. The jobless rate dropped to a more manageable rate, allowing more Ahwazis to contribute positively to the economy. And, while still maintaining lesser-status in society, minority religious groups such as Christians and Jews did not face the severe persecution they had experienced in the past, enabling them to integrate into Ahwazi society.

Contrasting his father, Heydar had spent much of his reign as Sultan improving the Ahwazi military. While not state-of-the-art, the Ahwazi military had doubled in size under Heydar's reign, with conscription being enforced for all males reaching 18 years of age. In addition, improvements in military equipment were seen, with many purchases of Zalivayan military hardware replacing the obsolete Ahwazi-manufactured equipment of the past.

These military advancements were not without a reason, however. Thus was the nature of the meeting that Heydar had called today. Plans had been formulated for years to fulfill Mahmoud's vision of expanding the Sultanate, and the time had arrived for those plans to come to fruition. Heydar turned to one of the generals of the Ahwazi Land Force, General Amir Duha, "Amir, I assume our ground forces are in position for the operation, correct?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. As of now, we have four divisions ready to cross the border into the unincorporated lands to the southeast. They will be covered by support elements from the Air Force, but we don't anticipate a lot of resistance. The locals have no significant standing army."

Heydar grumbled, "Primitives....how long can we expect the combat operations to take before the occupation period begins?"

General Kanaan, another general of the Land Force who was present, responded, "By our estimates of the expected resistance from the locals...no more than two months. Once the occupation of the southeast ends, we can begin operations to the north almost immediately."

Scratching his beard and nodding, Heydar replied, "Excellent. Gentlemen, you are dismissed. Notify our ground commanders to strike at dawn tomorrow, and I expect status reports daily."

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Kanaan, as he and Duha stood and bowed along with the rest of the assembled military leaders and advisers at the meeting, before filing out of the room. Left alone, Heydar rose from his chair and walked out to the balcony outside the room, observing the sun as it sank out of view.

Checking his watch, Heydar realized it was almost time for prayer. "Best not to upset Allah on the eve of battle", he thought to himself.
Edited by Gorvikia, Feb 26 2015, 09:40 PM.
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The Empire of Gorvikia
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The Real Slim Shady

20 miles south of Ahwazi territory
12:25 PM


"Targets spotted, about 500 meters out," uttered Sgt. Nassar, looking through his binoculars towards a grouping of buildings out in the distance. The Ahwazi Armed Forces had crossed the border into the territory of indigenous tribes to the southeast the previous day. Due to most of the area being desert with very little population, the Ahwazis were able to make up large amounts of ground quickly. Empty land wasn't the goal of the Sultanate, as coastline had existed to the south, allowing Ahwaz access to another port and key trade area. Resistance wasn't completely nonexistent, however, as a large portion of the locals had engaged Ahwazi troops. Their inferior equipment and organization rendered them a non-threat, essentially, and the Ahwazis suffered minimal casualties.

Leaning out the window of his Humvee, Lt. Issa responded, "Confirm visual on weapons?"

Nasser nodded, "Yeah, looks like small arms and shoulder-mounted projectiles. Should we call in air support to blast them or deal with it ourselves?"

"We already saw Abdi get his face nearly blown off trying to clear out a building this morning, I'd rather not have to deal with that again," said Issa, kicking Pvt. Abdi Maloof in the foot, who was manning the .50 cal through the roof of the Humvee. "Dumbass, that's why you toss a banger in before you clear a room."

Maloof rolled his eyes, "I'm still here, aren't I? Could've been worse. These guys couldn't hit water falling out of a boat anyway."

Issa shook his head and sighed before grabbing the radio inside the Humvee. He put the receiver to his head and spoke into it, "Command, Butcher Actual, we have visual on enemy targets 500 meters from out current location. Confirmed to be armed with small arms, requesting fire mission, over."

The radio crackled back, "Copy that, Butcher Actual. Air support is en route, enjoy the show."

A few moments later, a Su-25 roared by a few hundred feet overhead towards the buildings where the hostiles had staked out. The soldiers looked on as the jet released two unguided bombs before peeling off. The bombs soared towards their target, and scored a direct hit on the buildings. A large explosion of dust and fire rose in the distance as the shockwave was felt all the way from the Humvee.

"Holy shit, look at that!" exclaimed Maloof, "That got 'em good!"

Issa obtained the radio again, "Command, direct hit scored on enemy targets. Continuing on with 4th platoon for counterinsurgency operations. Butcher Actual, out."

"Copy that, Butcher Actual. Happy hunting," command replied back, before Issa hung up the radio. Hanging out the window, Issa made a circular motion with his hand towards the other Humvees assembled behind him, "Let's move out!" The Humvees departed from their location, past the smoldering ruins of the buildings that once stood, destroyed by the Ahwazi bombing run. Small victories like this were great morale boosters for Issa and his men, but more work would be required before declaring the operation a success.
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Ja'hara, Ahwaz
One Month Later


"Operations have been a complete success, Your Majesty. Our troops have pushed to the coast and have occupied the entire AO," declared General Duha, in yet another meeting with the Sultan and the Ahwazi military leadership. Deployed troops continued to suffer light casualties, but after a month the primary objective that Heydar had set out to achieve was complete, far ahead of the anticipated timetable.

"Good," said Heydar, cracking a rare smile. Normally holding a stoic demeanor, the Sultan could not hide his pleasure in the developments to the south. "Are we prepared to incorporate these territories into the Sultanate within the next few months?"

Duha spoke back to the Sultan, noticing the smile he had shown, which caught even Duha, who had known Heydar for nearly 30 years, off guard, "Yes, Your Majesty. Internal Affairs will handle the incorporation, but we anticipate that to stay on schedule. We still have the matter of dealing with some of the locals who aren't wise enough to know what's good for them, but our forces can handle a few farmers with outdated weapons.

Heydar nodded towards Duha, "Yes....the stubborn ones. Are our troops aware of Directive 7?"

Duha blinked but nodded back at Heydar. Directive 7 had been enacted to allow Ahwazi troops free reign to deal with enemies of the Sultanate, internal and external, in any way that they see fit. It was a policy Duha was not in favor of, but he knew better than to contest it. "They are, Your Majesty. We'll send out a memo to our field commanders and have them relay it to our troops as a second reminder."

Southern Ahwaz
6:00 PM


"Let's go, out! Now!"

Cpl. Bibkush grabbed two men out of a holding cell in a makeshift military base, the center of operations for Ahwazi ground forces in the south. The base had served also as a prison for locals labeled "enemies of the Sultanate", those who refused to integrate into the Ahwazi society. Policies enacted by the government required these people to spend varying amounts of time in prison camps much like this one. While stripped of their freedom, conditions could be much worse, as the prisoners were supplied with daily food, water, and shelter. Indoctrination classes were used to help integrate them into Ahwazi society, and prisoners were released once they were no longer deemed a detriment to society. More severe punishments, however, were handed out to people who threatened the Ahwazi people through violent means, although these people were primarily insurgents of the recently conquered southern territory. The two men being led by Bibkush were about to experience this punishment firsthand.

A line of prisoners outside of one of the makeshift prison buildings were on their knees, with several Ahwazi soldiers standing behind them. Bibkush pushed the men to the line, "On your knees." The first man complied, but the second continued to stand. Gritting his teeth, Bibkush kicked the man behind his knees, forcing him to the ground, kicking him in the back as he joined the line of soldiers behind the prisoners. The soldiers raised their rifles.

Bibkush shouted, "Set!" Seconds passed before he yelled again, "Fire!"

The popping from the soldiers' rifles was deafening, as each of the prisoners dropped to the ground from the hail of bullets. The salvo went on for about 10 seconds before Bibkush gave the cease-fire sign. "All right, load them into the trucks," said Bibkush, as the soldiers hauled the bodies into several trucks that were waiting. As this occurred, several prisoners had the executions in plain sight. These displays struck fear into the prisoners who were there for lesser offenses. They knew to tread lightly.
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Ja'Hara, Ahwaz
Grand Palace of the Sultan


Sitting in a circular table in one of the palace's many conference rooms, Heydar observed one of several monitors that lined the walls in the room. Detailed was the border shared by Ahwaz and Melzae, with several dots lined on the map, indicating Ahwazi troop positions. With hostilities in the south mostly subsided and the agreement reached between Heydar and Kerameikos, the Ahwazi military had undertaken the planning process for an invasion of Melzae. After weeks of planning, the eve of the invasion had arrived.

General Kanaan spoke up, "As of now, we have around 100,000 troops ready to cross the border into Melzae behind airstrikes designed to weaken Melzaean artillery positions, as well as grounded air units." Kanaan pressed a button on a remote, zooming in closer to the border to show probably Melzaean troops positions, "Now, currently the Melzaeans are occupied to the southern half of the country with the Achaians, but we're still anticipating a great deal of resistance. The Melzaeans might be technologically inferior, but they possess a numerical advantage in manpower. We've planned a blitz attack that will presumably catch the Melzaeans off guard and afford our troops an early advantage to push into their territory."

Heydar nodded, "And are we maintaining contact in the field with Achaians? I want to be up to date on their troop movements, and reciprocate the favor to them. Better coordination will prevent this from dragging out longer than it has to."

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Kanaan, "General Nagi is our operation commander and has been instructed to provide daily status reports to the Achaians on our troop movements, as well as keeping us informed on their own."

"Good," said Heydar confidently, "Send word to our field commanders their orders to ready their troops to move once our air units have struck."

Najran, Ahwaz
Ahwazi-Melzaean Border


Tanks rolled by along with several APCs full of soldiers, past the Ahwazi forward operating base. Overhead, transport and attack helicopters flew by. Word had been given for Ahwazi troops to cross the border into Melzae, initiating the operation to take the Melzaean land that had historically belonged to Ahwaz.

Troops in the transport helicopters watched in the distance as Ahwazi attack jets roared by, flying to take out the Melzaean artillery positions to provide the Ahwazi troops a clear path into Melzae. The soldiers knew they had a bloody fight ahead of them, but they did their best to block these thoughts out, instead opting to let the sight of the explosions in the distance occupy their mind for the time being.

The invasion of Melzae had begun.
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28th Mechanized Infantry Regiment
40 miles into Melzaean territory


"Push forward, let's go!" screamed Sgt. Varaj to the men behind him, "Don't stop!"

Sgt. Varaj had served in the Ahwazi Land Force for over a decade, although his combat experience was limited to the counterinsurgency operations the Ahwazi military took part in in recent years. Nonetheless, Varaj's men and his platoon commander saw him as a fearless leader and a boost to their own confidence just by being present.

The Ahwazis had caught the Melzaeans completely by surprise with their invasion just two days ago. Using that shock to their advantage, the Ahwazis were able to inflict heavy casualties on the unprepared Melzaean troops, pushing them back into their own territory. The losses for the Ahwazis were heavy, however, with several hundred casualties already being estimated by Ahwazi military leaders. Despite this, the Ahwazis used their superior tactics and equipment to continue pounding away at the Melzaeans, and as far as the Sultan and the military leadership were concerned, the war was going exactly as planned.

Varaj's battalion had engaged a Melzaean defensive position in a large town located at the end of a large field, along with the rest of the 28th Mechanized Infantry Regiment. Artillery positions not hit by the Ahwazi airstrikes continued to inflict casualties on the Ahwazi troops and armor, but the soldiers continued to push through, taking cover by hedgerows and their own tanks in the field. The Melzaeans were deeply dug in, occupying several of the buildings on the edge of the town, firing machine guns and mortar rounds at the Ahwazis.

Continuing to run, Varaj kept yelling at his troops to run through the hail of fire as well. Picking up one cowering soldier and forcing him to run with him, Varaj held the soldier by his arm trying to push him along, only for machine gun fire to cut the soldier town. Varaj was unaffected by this and continued running, eventually settling for cover behind a T-80 in the field along with several other soldiers.

"Those mortars are killing us right now! Do we have air support!?" shouted Varaj over the sound of gunfire.

"Yes, sir!" yelled Pvt. Tarshad, a radio operator in Varaj's platoon. "Calling them in now! Overlord this is 2nd battalion, we're getting killed out here, requesting air support at waypoint delta five zero, over!"

On the other end, the command team responded, "Copy that, a squadron of Hinds is en route, sit tight, 2nd battalion."

Several minutes passed before Varaj heard the roar of several Mi-24s overhead. As they soared past the armor and troops in the field, the Hinds began unleashing rocket and machine gun fire on the buildings containing the Melzaean troops. The Hinds peeled off after their gun run, continuing to circle the perimeter as Varaj shouted to his troops, "That position is down! We've got air cover now, keep moving and push them out!"

The entire battalion poured into the town, with the rest of the regiment following not far behind. The Ahwazis continued their push into Melaean territory.
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Ja'Hara, Ahwaz
Grand Palace of the Sultan


The sun had begun setting over the horizon of Ja'Hara, illuminating the river that flowed in front of the Grand Palace to an intense orange. Throughout the city, loudspeakers projected the call for the fourth of Islam's daily prayers, or the Maghrib, for the city's Muslims.



Most able Muslims would descend upon the nearest mosque to have the imams conduct the daily prayers. Heydar, being the Caliph and proclaimed successor to Muhammad, often conducted prayer in the privacy of his living quarters in his palace, although he would occasionally lead prayers in the Grand Mosque of Ja'Hara, the city's largest and most historic mosque, to maintain his reputation as a man of the people. Heydar had finished his final Nafil and had rolled up his personal musallah, a small, green rug bordered with golden tassels, when he heard a knock at his door.

"Enter," said the Sultan, followed by the large wooden doors of his living quarters opening, followed by the heir of the Sultanate and Heydar's oldest son, Mahmoud. A youthful, handsome man of average height, Mahmoud bore an exact resemblance to Heydar in his youth. Tempermental at times, in contrast to his younger brother Karim, who maintained a similar, calm demeanor to his father, and also his youngest brother Ismael, a disciplined member of the Ahwazi Land Force, Mahmoud was known for his outbursts when at odds with those around him. Even so, Mahmoud knew very well to maintain composure around his father, as even though Mahmoud had a much more conservative view of Islam, he still had a measure of respect for the Sultan.

"Father," said Mahmoud, bowing to Heydar, "Your presence is requested by General Duha and the Armed Forces Council. They wish to inform you of an update on the northern operation."

Heydar placed his musallah within a decorative chest at the foot of his bed and turned towards Mahmoud, "Very well, thank you, my son. Let us hear what our friends have to say, yes?" Heydar motioned for Mahmoud to follow him, which had taken Mahmoud aback. Normally, only Heydar himself had attended meetings with the Armed Forces Council, forbidding his Heir from attending as well. "You...you're inviting me to sit in on the meeting, Father?" asked Mahmoud.

Walking down the hallway and descending a flight of stairs, Heydar nodded, "Yes, Mahmoud. I am a mortal man, and one day it will be you who leads the followers of the Prophet. It is long overdue that you’ve experienced a military briefing. I’d hate for you to be caught off guard when that time does eventually come.”

Upon reaching the doors to the briefing room, the Sultan turned to his son, “I do request for you to keep your opinions to yourself for the time being, however. While you are the heir to the al-Haddad dynasty, I expect you to show the Council the same measure of respect you show me. Understood?”

Mahmoud, holding himself back from rolling his eyes, nodded, “Yes, Father, I understand completely. Not a word.”
Heydar smiled, “Good, let’s get going now, shall we?” With that, the Sultan opened the glass doors to the briefing room, taking a seat at the head of the large glass table, with Mahmoud taking a seat beside him. He began, “Ok, gentlemen, I do believe you have status reports for our forces in the north, yes?”

Clearing his throat, General Duha spoke, “Yes, Your Majesty. We have reports from Colonel Vanshak that his troops have made contact with the Zaliviyan border forces, as anticipated. That about wraps up their sweep of the northern territories with relatively light casualties.”

Pleased with the news, Heydar smirked, “Triumphant again…pleasing news indeed, general. And the locals?”
“As of now, we are focusing our efforts towards rebuilding the hardest hit areas in the north and getting food and medical supplies to those who need it. Per your request, Directive Seven is still in effect for the troublemakers. We plan on maintaining a heavier presence in the north for the next several months until the area has been fully incorporated into the Sultanate.”

As Heydar nodded and continued to discuss the rebuilding efforts in Northern Ahwaz, Mahmoud sat, largely zoned out from the discussion. From what he had heard from this so called “Directive Seven”, he felt that it didn’t go far enough towards eradicating the threats the Sultanate faced. He believed in a more hard-line approach towards dealing with threats to the Sultanate, although he had never publicly expressed this opinion to his much more moderate father, as he knew it would fall on deaf ears. Mahmoud hadn’t let it be of much of a concern, however. He knew his time as Sultan would come sooner or later.
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