Communists attack Egelion

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Civilians Evacuated, Troops Retreat

Egelian military officials have begun evacuation of all major areas under attack by UKSR troops. Citizens of Nordland are being evacuated to Eder Gira while citizens of Northmoor and Midmont are being evacutated to eastern Amateria. The evactuations, demanded by Prime Minister Smith, were begun as reports of mass executions and displacement of Egelian citizens were reported in areas occupied by the UKSR.

At the same time, General Farkas has reported what he called "tactical retreats" by largely moving Egelian troops out of outlying regions and into the vital defense of Egelion's major cities. The Egelian 7th Army was sent to reinforce the 11th Infantry Division and 32nd Armoured Brigade in Midmont, but have had little success in spearheading a counterattack. The invading Red Army has reportedly surrounded the city, but few confirmed reports have been recieved due to the loss of communications with the city.

General Andreas Julio, commander of the 8th Air Force, announced what has been dubbed "Operation Bee Sting." "Early attacks by the Red Army had significantly hurt our air capabilities. We have achieved air superiority in Caille due largely of our ability to hold Nordland and the surrounding regions, however we have been unable to do so in Amateria. We have taken the initiative and have begun to launch mass waves of unmanned drones in the area, taking out important targets that are besieging the city. As with General Farkas' retreat, this is simply a measure to give us time to mount a counter offensive."

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Counterattack launched

After months of planning, the Egelian Army finally unleashed a counter offensive in Caille. Egelian troops stations in Northmoor had held out against the onslaught of the Red Army, but were unable to completely stave off the attack. After retreating, one soldier was quoted as saying "we will push back the communists, even if Northmoor is all but destroyed."

A majority of civilians were evactuated from the city before being overran by communist forces. Months of bombing had left the city in ruins, all but the historic Old Town virtually destroyed. After the withdrawl of Egelian troops, the Egelian Air Focre launched what was described as the "largest bombing campaign in Egelian history" and carpet bombed the city and its surrounding area with the intent of damaging the Red Army's standing in the area. General Farkas stated that "Northmoor has become the center of the UKSR invasion. It is where they are stationing and supplying troops for their continued attack on Caille and Amateria. It is here where we will attack and cut off the movements of the UKSR."

There have also been unconfirmed reports of an attack by the Egelian Navy in the province of Tiania. Launched from naval bases in Dul Kinea, it is said that industrial cities providing the Red Army with suplies were targeted by submarine launched missles and small carrier based bombing runs. General Farkas stated that he "cannont confirm nor deny extending operations into the UKSR," but added, "Egelion is done fighting a defensive war."

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Northmoor Surrounded, Recapture of Midmont Near

The Egelion Army's massive attack on Northmoor has been claimed to be a huge success as the city is slowly being recaptured street by street. Northmoor, a major focal point of the conflict, has been the site of the fierces fighting of the war and has left the city in complete ruins. It has been deemed by the Egelian Army as the base of operations for the Red Army in Egelion, however, and recapture of the city has been deemed the most important objective in the counter offensive.

General Farkas also reports that the Red Army seems demoralized, stating that "often the enemy will flee en masse, only returning after dire measures taken by their commanding officers. It is only a matter of time before the Red Army crumbles in Egelion."

Similar success has been seen in Amateria as Midmont is nearly in control of Egelion forces. While the city had fared better than Northmoor, heavy bombing by both sides has left the city heavily damaged. Numerous strikes by unmanned drones were said to be both effective in taking out selective targets and left a mark on the Red Army troops stationed in the area. One captured Red Army soldier stated that "you could barely see them before the explosions started."

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Midmont recaptured, Red Army pushed towards boarder

General Farkas reported today the complate recapture of Midmont from the hands of the Red Army. He reported that the UKSR had abandoned much of the region and was apparently regrouping its troops in both Caille and Amateria near the UKSR/Egelion boarder. While most Red Army soldiers were retreating, a large force has been trapped in Northmoor as the Egelian Army had completely surrounded the city.

With the tide of the war decidedly shifting in the direction of Egelion, General Farkas has recommended that the Government of Egelion sue for peace to end the conflict.

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Who are Carl Handricksson and the Caillea Vinstri Bandalag?
Part 1 of the Eglion-UKSR War and Caillean Revolution Retrospective.

It has been nearly 25 years since the fateful day when Caillean seperatist bombed the headquarters of the Social Democratic and Labor Party. The SDLP had always had a tense relationship with Caille. While the party's founder Alexander von Druck was a native Caillean, he had spent most of his life outside of the province. When he did return to found his party, then the Unity Party, he had already developed a record of calling for cultural and political integration into the rest of Egelion. This was all done in Nordland, the cultural and political center of Caille. This led to much suspicion among Caillean about the goals of the SDLP. This, combined with the ardent conservatism of the region, made for a tough sell to the region's populace.

By the time of the Caillean Revolution, however, the SDLP had become a staple of the region. While still polling low, the party had won provincial elections once and had a strong grass roots network, but the appearnce of the far-left Egelion Leftist Front brought to bear one forgotten part of Caillean's past. Communist parties, with their authoritatrian rule, often did well in the province. Communist organizations in the region had been quiet since the collapse of the Popular Communist Front of Egelion by 2823. The new party gave the underground organizations hope for a strong revival, but they had little initial success. Around this time, however, fortune would favor the unrepresented communists and frown upon the establishment of Egelion.

With the resurgence of the KCCP in Dolgavia, Trigunia and New Endralon, tensions soon ran high in Egelion. The ELF, in an attempt to avoid assossiaction with the communist organization, purged its communist and militarist wings. These members, scorned by the political process, ran to the various communist organizations looking to make a move. These organizations eventually merged into the Caille Byltingarkenndur Vörður, or the Caillean Revolutionary Guard. After the election of 2856, the CBV attacked SDLP headquarters killing Egelian Prime Minister Franklin Smith (a star in the SDLP) and killing over 100 others. What followed was the Caillean Revolution and the Egelion-UKSR War.

During the war, the KCCP took nearly full control of the region. The region was declared the Lýðveldið Sosialism Caille, or Socialst Republic of Caille. The KCCP saw numerous threats in the region, but it seemed particularly threatened with the SDLP. While the Egelion Democrats and Christian Socialst People's Party were obvious targets, the SDLP provided a prime propaganda target as they were already distrusted in the region. The party and its members in the region became scapegoats, painted as collaborators with the "capitalist devils" and were publicly executed and shipped off for "re-education." Many of the party members went into hiding or fled. When the war ended, the SDLP in Caille was decimated.

During the waning days of the war, a number of leftist groups opposed to the KCCP formed together in hopes of running in elections. Merely wanting to give the left a voice after the collapse of the Egelion Leftist Front and the retreat of the SDLP, the party generically called itself the Caillea Vinstri Bandalag (Caillean Left Alliance). The goal of the party was to be a termporary voice, but the party was soon approached by the SDLP. The SDLP had neither the time nor resources to completely rebuild itself in the region and proposed to the CVB an electoral alliance. The SDLP would run no candidates in Caille, leaving the CVB to do as it will within the province. In return, the CVB would support the SDLP in national elections and matters.

Carl Handricksson, leader of the CVB, gladly took up the offer. A resistence fighter during the war, Handricksson had been caught by KCCP forces no fewer than 5 times. Each time he managed to escape. Carl once stated that "the Red Army were either the worst prison guards in the world or I was the smartest prisoner in the world." Born in a small fishing villiage in the northeast of Caille, Carl moved to Nordland at the age of 16 looking for work and education. Strongly pro-Caille, Carl stayed out of the political arena as all of the major parties were "pan-Egelian", that is, no party truly identified with the various regions and peoples of Egelion. To that end, Carl has proudly stated that he fought to expell the KCCP out of Caille, not out of Egelion. This fierce sense of identity would shape Carl and the CVB after the war.

The CVB soon took on the crusade of promoting regionalism in Egelion. In the past, Egelion had seen rule by the then dominant Spanish regions of Amateria and Dul Kinea as well as a brief rule by Eastern (Hungarian) influenced parties from Eder Gira and Ghadrash. Feeling that Caille would never be given the voice it deserved, Carl once stated that "I did not oppose an independant Caille, I opposed an independant Caille working as a communist puppet state." Although apologizing for the quote, the many devolution based bills propsed by the party has led many to be suspicious of the CVB and its SDLP allies. Carl Handricksson is nonetheless an incredibly popular, if not controversial, leader. The SDLP has repeatedly nominated him for the post of Prime Minister. In this highly regarded position, he refuses to make speeches or statements in English, despite being completely fluent in the national language. Instead, he only works in Caillean (Icelandic). While initially charged with being too pro-Caille, his government passing laws to make Eastern and Spanish (along with Caillean) official national languages earned him praise across the country. While some have called the effects of the SDLP/CVB reforms a "cultural revolution," Carl and his party laugh at the implications stating "we have lived through one too many revolutions in our lives."

OOC: We had great hopes for the Egelion-UKSR War, but unfortunately they floundered and it was overall a bit disappointing. I figured that there was still a bit of RP potential still in the conflict and figured the 25 year anniversary of the beginning of the conflict would give a good excuse to explore the various aspects of it more.