RM Vol 4: War – Prologue: Just hold the line!

RM Vol 4: War – Prologue: Just hold the line!

It's a rainy night on the Maginot Line, drenching the unfortunately fatigued Anti-Belkan Allied forces under a curtain of buffering chill. To counteract the poor visibility, the frontline searchlights of Maginot are powered on, illuminating the hazy No Man's Land. This No Man's Land is a long stretch of contested territory that separates the Maginot Line from Belkan domain. Unlike the No Man's Land of WW1 where nature perished beneath the wake of artillery and chemical weapons, this modern-day No Man's Land sees little to no artificial intervention. Demons and Zombies roam this land now, at least until the Months of Demons have seceded. No sane army will march until the last of these Demonic entities have died out. Or at least, this was what the Allied officers thought would be the case.

Belkans, with their many, many enigmatic means, is ramping up a constant harassment campaign against the Maginot defenders. Since a couple of months ago, the Belkans and their Ustian Reformist ally have been conducting a variety of feint attacks and propaganda warfare. These maneuvers occur at random intervals with unpredictable patterns. The Belkans will raise a fleet of mobile vehicles, only to conduct a drive-by on the Maginot Line in the morning before scurrying away. When night arrives, instead of a ground assault, the Belkans then pull out Stuka dive bombers to blast their sirens all over the Maginot Line. Over and over again the Belkans and the Reformists conduct these daring disruptions on the Maginot defenders. When these disturbances repeat themselves every single day and night, it's understandable that the Maginot defenders will be both annoyed and tired out by the constant state of alert. After all, a feint can be an actual attack, and one can never be too careful in the state of war. Yet, soldiers can not stand guard permanently, and when their time to eat and sleep is shaved off by these disruptions, their performance takes a sharp nose-dive.

To counteract these bold maneuvers from their nemesis, the Allies try their very best to set up a more flexible security shift for their frontline troops and to increase aerial patrols. For some time, things seem to be working out nicely with the Belkans and Reformists ceasing their activities. However, all of that changes when a new week arrives, and a fighter squadron that takes off never returns. Then another, and another, until the entire Maginot Line is bereft of any pilot who is brave enough to fly into the sky of No Man's Land. The chilling thing is that these squadrons never manage to report anything of note before disappearing for good. Thus leaving many scared and wondered about the fate of these fighter pilots. When the Allied Air Force requests the Allied Army to send out search and rescue parties, the request is promptly shut down. The Army does not want a venture into the unknown, not when no evidence suggests these Air Force pilots are either alive or dead. More than that, the Army even uses this chance to pose the hypothesis that these pilots may be deserters, thus making members of the Air Force livid.

While the Allied military forces are still reeling from its internal strife and pan-national politics, the Belkan Reich and Ustian Reformists take the chance to add even more fuel to the fire. Already, reports have come to the Allied forces about the return of disruption attack. This time, the disruptions even go as far as shooting out the searchlights of the Maginot Line every single night, but no enemy attack in sight. As if falling on deaf ears, Allied HQ hasn't been able to muster up any formal response to the Belkans' daring action. The best the low-ranking officers and grunts can get is this:

"Just hold the line!"