Operation White Knight, part deuce

[Tarusa]

Port of Harton, Natal

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The sun had begun to set and in the distance from the ports of Harton you could see the silhouettes of the two large amphibious ships, and off to their side was the two Frigates that had been escorting them for the remainder of the trip. To those onboard they saw the opposite, the awe of the skyline beginning to be dotted as lights turned on in the coastal city. At last they had arrived. They could see the tugs and helmsmen of the Harton port enroute to bring them into the harbor.

For the men of the 3rd Marine Battalion, some would have some time to enjoy the city, while others unfortunately had the duty of unloading their equipment. It was the sailors that had brought them across the great divide and into Natal, they would have plenty of down time to relax and enjoy everything they had to offer in Natal. Enough time that in fact everyone aboard would at least get a weeks worth of time ashore, maybe even a little more. These men were the first contingent of ODS troops to arrive for the joint exercises, while small in nature it was another step in furthering cooperation between the distant allies and their armed forces.


@Natal @Eiffelland @Etruria

 

[Rheinbund]

Port of Harton, Natal

The Eiffelloretalian convoy consisted of a couple of transport ships carrying the whole contingent of soldiers to take part in the joint ODS exercises, accompanied by a carrier group. It approached the seaport of Harton at around the same moment as the Johnstonian convoy arrived. The men on the ship enjoyed the view of a very beautiful sunset. They came from the northern hemisphere, where it was Spring at the moment, and arrived in Natal where it was Autumn.

Although the planes on the aircraft carrier could also have been used during the exercise, it was decided not to use the naval version of the RRF Fallwind for this exercise but planes in the air force fighter bomber configuration. One of the pilots was Prince Johann, the second son of the King of Eiffelland and Grand-Duke of Retalia.

 

[Imimoya]

Port of Harton, Natal

The last fleet to reach the port was that of the Federal Kingdom of Etruria. This exercise represented the most distant extraterritorial operation ever performed by the navy for two hundred years.

At the entrance of the port of the city, for the occasion, the officers of the ships gave the order to perform the "saluto alla voce". The "saluto alla voce" is a tribute, in this case, to the authority of the port and city by the crew of the ships deployed on the bridges, shouting three times a regulatory shout. The crew in charge of the salute wore the ceremonial white uniform with the golden buttons, colors that stood out against the military gray color of the ship.

Following this small tribute from the fleet, the ships were led by the pilots of the port to their docking. Only then did the enormous coming and going of personnel begin for the unloading of military vehicles from amphibious units and material necessary for the exercise.

 

[Ebria]

Harton

The arrival of the ODS troops for Operation White Knight was anxiously waited by the Ministry of Military Affairs and by the General Staff of the NADF. It represented the chance to show the world that the Natalian Defence Force was something more than a military that fought only "Himyari Wars", a term used around the globe pejoratively to describe asymmetric warfare against rebel groups, rather than conventional war between standing armies like the Seven Day War.

The Natalian units designated for the military exercises were the Queen Naledi Mounted Rifles, a mechanised battalion equipped with Red Cat and Eland Armoured Cars, part of the Armoured Formation of the NAA (Natalian Army). The battalion was a part of the NEAC, fought at Luboya, where the infantry formation couldn't push through and needed the aid of the Mounted Rifles, and then in Orodara, where the Red Cat armoured cars and the Ratel APCs managed to defeat a tank squadron of the rebels in Loago with minimal casualties. They were led there by General Peter Mariano Perez, whom after his shining victories was promoted to lead the whole NEAC (Natalian Expeditionary Army Corps) in Loago. Today, General Perez was the one who was comanding the Queen Naledi Mounted Rifles and was the one who was overseeing the Natalian part of the Operation While Knight.

The Eiffellanders, Johnstonians and Etrurians were to be based for a few days at Camp Melmoth, in the north-eastern side of Harton, until everything was being prepared for the military exercises themselves, which will take place in the Golden Plateau, north of Otavi.

 

[Tarusa]

Camp Melmoth, Harton

The Sun had risen over Camp Melmoth and the combined ODS forces had assembled in the fields. Maj. General Walter May had been designated as the overall head of the wargames, scheduling, planning, and oversight to make sure things would go as smoothly as possible. He stood before the men with the flags of the ODS members behind him to address them all.

"Ladies and Gentleman, it is with great honor I welcome you in our humble host nation of Natal, and for those of you from the Federation, we are grateful for being here. This will be the first of many combined forces wargames between our nations to come. Being prepared against whatever threat lies ahead of us as best as we can be. We will not become symbiotic overnight, it will be a never ending process as warfare evolves and threats change. All we can ever hope to do is provide a greater coordinated effort between you and ourselves and learn to adapt and phase adversity that comes before us.

I hope you have all had yourselves a good breakfast today, for we start the first Warrior Games for the next three days. Men and women from each unit shall compete against counterparts from the other nations and we shall have a friendly competition, the winner shall take home this combined arms trophy. The games consist of archery, cycling, shooting, track and field, powerlifting, and basketball. We shall see you all this afternoon for the beginning of the games."


The men of the 3rd Marine battalion broke off and re-mustered outside of their facilities where the officers of each company began taking volunteers to partake in the games. Competition was something a marine thrived for so many were ready to give the best and bring home the trophy to display, and rub it in some more they were the best of the best the confederacy had to offer to the other services.

 

[Rheinbund]

Given the fact that Eiffelloretalians were on average quite tall, the basketballing should not really be a problem. But Prince johann with his 1.78 meters height decided to do cycling instead. Actually, his sport was taekwon-do, in which he was 4th dan, but he was also good at cycling. Before breakfast, he had already done his daily taekwon-do exercises. And the night before, he had started to seduce a female Natalian soldier.