LIBERATING FORCE OR INSTIGATORS OF A POINTLESS CONFLICT?Special Report by Hulstrian Chronicle Defence Correspondent Elgar Wittins
(Subject to Reporting Restrictions Imposed by Imperial Government due to State of Emergency).Units of the 5th Armoured Brigade carry out weapons systems checks after arriving near the Kazulian border. War, it would seem, is inevitable. Despite the Imperial Government's attempts to conclude a deal with neighbouring Kazulia over closer political unity with Hulstrian ethnics living there, diplomacy has failed.
A stony silence now exists between Karlstadt and Skalm and the only talking is being done through vast troop numbers.
It is understood that more that than 200,000 Imperial troops are already deployed in the northern reaches of the states of Budenlar and Hulstria, backed by tanks, combat aircraft, artillery and assault vehicles. Across the border in the southern Kazulian Fylke of Hent and Kelvon, it is assumed similar numbers are concentrating for the face off.
But where will the first strike land - and who will make it?
Further south in the capital, Reichskanzler Heinrich Otto-Mann has described the creation of a Greater Hulstria as "inevitable" and he has told the people of the nation that the plan has "the blessing of the millions of Dundorfian-speaking Hulstrians living in southern Kazulia as well as the international community".
But the World Congress, and in particular the Security Council, remains tight-lipped. Some in the country say the organisation is toothless and does not have the power to act. Others say that matters on Dovani are too far removed from the everyday focus of the organisation - the turbulent continent of Majatra.
Questions have been asked over the quality of Imperial forces. Despite a central corps of well-trained and mobile troops other units are newly formed, conscripted straight from leaving school and potentially under-equipped.
The problems with the navy are also well reported. Despite pumping billions into the project, the Kaiser-class aircraft carrier scheme seems to be going nowhere fast, leaving the fleet reliant on dated frigates, cruisers and destroyers for its primary firepower.
However, regardless of troops, equipment and technology it is set to be a bloody fight.
Defence Minister Urusura Kurutsu told me: "This conflict is about passion and ensuring our people in Kazulia are free of the subjugation and oppression they find inflicted on them. Therefore we have the upper hand in terms of motivation , in terms of justice and morale. We know we are doing the right thing - we see ourselves as liberators."
What is not clear is whether others around the world will hail Hulstria as a liberating force, or rather, label the country as the instigator of a pointless and bloody conflict.