Large scale exercise marks return to Jelbic military cooperation 21 January 5537 Soldiers of the 9th Brigade "Grak Mouzij" during the combined military exercise Vrn Mrjogad 37 showcasing newly acquired winter gear.The Kingdom of Wrnuke's Land and Air Forces have conducted a large scale exercise in combination with elements from the Great Horde of the Khanate of Jelbe. The exercise was the first in many decades for the Kingdom's forces, while small scale exercises never stopped the tradition of an annual national exercise with global partners has long been lost to the largest Jelbic state. However Minister Pshamazrk outlined his personal ambitions to bring it back after allocating additional funding to the King Temrkai Think Tank, Wrnuke's oldest strategic institute. The think tank broadly agreed with the minster's plan to bring back large scale exercises with a report emphasizing the importance of testing the readiness of the armed forces when it comes to large scale military operations. Generals within the ranks often refer to Wrnuke's army as a 'sleeping lion', an organisation with great potential but limited reach. The efforts in the past few years, with a larger budget and massive equipment purchases, are all aimed at waking up the lion. Several years back a secret tender was put out, with a deal being reached with several companies in Narikaton & Darnussia. The details of this
deal are now made public after it was confirmed that Wrnuke's TBTK Krp invested heavily in the Red Stad project. Large batches of small arms were purchased from Mauser and Schmitt, after it became clear domestic production could not keep up with the demand of the army. The army also showcased new mortars, anti-tank weapons, and other modern heavy weaponry from Narikan used by infantry units. Several brigades are now outfitted entirely with small arms from the dual republic, a first in the Kingdom's history as a preference has always been put to domestic material.
The exercise itself, named Vrn Mrjogad 37 (Green Protection 5337), focused on winter operations. January brought rare snowstorms to the more higher regions of Wrnuke, the mountainous terrain together with the snow made for the perfect 'battlegrounds'. A large part of the exercise was showcasing the new restructuring the army has gone through, where divisions have been downgraded to brigades as many other armed forces did eons ago. Jelbic traditionalism must sometimes bow down to the positivity of the new idea. While some brigades retain their same size as in their divisional status, like the mechanised and armoured units, most infantry units have been significantly reduced in size to make them more mobile on the modern battlefield. Several old traditions have been honoured in the new names of the brigades with references to ancient rulers, former military and political leaders and other Jelbic brothers. As a guest the Kingdom hosted several units from Jelbe, who actively participated in the exercise. General Wertmo, the overseer of the exercise, was immensely pleased with his brotherly guests: "No man can fight as well as a Jelbic, but no Jelbic can fight as well as the Jelbékai. They are the hardest workers you can ever imagine. Their gear is often outdated but their stamina is something else, you could load our units in trucks but they'd force march to the rendezvous in the same time." On the fourth day the exercise was even briefly visited by Archduke Bunjamín, who personally inspected several units. The Archduke has done both military service in Wrnuke as an officer cadet and in Beiteynu as a career officer for several years and is known as a fervent supporter of the armed forces.
The Minister of Defence announced that this large scale exercise, which will occur annually but in differing seasons, is only the beginning of the revived armed forces of the Kingdom. "We have many plans, first we wish to wake up that proverbial lion, sharpen his claws, give him that roar back. After that we must look at how to expand, a priority of the current government is to restore Wrnuke's capability to project our forces globally. Our nation has an ancient tradition of being a protector of sovereignty of nations, for the past decades we have fallen short on that and it is the belief of myself, and the Prefect too, that we should pick up our responsibility and make this happen," said Minister Grzoziklune Pshamazrk. The Ministry of Defence has refused to release full details on the ambitions of the Kingdom, it is however known that the Prefect is hammering for a return of a carrier fleet. Wrnuke's carriers were once the staple of its global projection. For now however the nation boasts a humble surface fleet and a large section of long-range submarines. Rumours are that several of these submarines have the capability to launch nuclear missiles, though it is the official position of the Kingdom of Wrnuke to not comment on whether it has a nuclear arsenal. For now however the exercise has ended and the Prefect himself, in a recent press conference, seemed elated at the results: "We have shown the world the Jelbosphere is back, thank you to our brothers in Jelbe, thank you to our proud warriors on the ground and to our fighting eagles in the sky."
Krsyiji Sagmot'l (United Media) is the national news agency of Wrnuke, it is decidedly pro-government but can at times be critical of it.