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In the invasion of Ely, East Britain pushed southward into the locality of the Isle of Eels in East Cambridgeshire. Their assault would be focused in the area between the Great Ouse and a pair of canals that cut through the countryside. This would culminate in an assault on Ely, thereby creating a bridge across the Great Ouse and establishing for the first time a reliable land corridor to Essex and Woodbridge. From this East British Royal Guardsmen, adept at hand-to-hand combat, could supplement Essex and Woodbridge troops in future operations.
At the same time, Essex would attack on the southern axis into South (and parts of East) Cambridgeshire, seizing the majority of the territory inside the Rivers Great Ouse and Cam, which would include the eastern portion of the remnants of Cambridge. This would secure the land border for the expansion, and provide Essex with an area for future expansions along more of the Great Ouse and establish a region of control from Stevenage northwards. The Royal Guardsmen would then join these soldiers, combining the melee skills of the Guardsmen with modern firepower from the Essaxons.
Concurrently, Woodbridge would launch a northwards assault, driving up the eastern side of the Great River Ouse, to cut off the numerically inferior forces of the True British Army in Norfolk and to establish another land border. It would be gaining the parts of the districts of Thetford and Hunstanton. This would allow for a direct land route to East Britain and provide the country with the ability to sweep eastwards into the rest of Norfolk.
After that, the three armies would have a strong and united border and if the True British Army raised its ugly head again, they would be ready. That is, if everything went according to plan.
Events[]
Phase One: Occupation[]
19th June[]
East British soldiers ride out to Ely, or the Isle of Eels, on foot and horseback supported by rafts floated through the wetlands. With the main body of the force is a quantity of primitive cannon, the gunpowder utilised from human urine. While it took them seven hours to reach Ely, it took another three for scouts to accurately decide on a safe path to take through the swam to the fortress at its centre.
Once the path was chosen, the Guardsmen discarded their cavalry, then waited until nightfall for their attack. Scouts had taken great care to preserve the attack's secrecy. At 2330 hours, the attack was unleashed. Engineers placed charges on the walls of the fortress and once the walls were down allowed the Guardsmen through. Many men fell as they charged, the weak spring guns ineffective against firearms. Thankfully the confusion brought on by the explosion prevented a massacre. Then the Guardsmen proved their worth, drawing their combat blades and engaging the TBA in ferocious hand to hand fighting. To add to the chaos, a group of musket armed Guardsmen unleashed volley after volley, limiting the effectiveness of TBA snipers. The cannon artillery proved invaluable, cracking open the remnants of the walls and detonating arms caches.
20th June[]
By morning the battle was over, enemy units were being rounded up and detained, ready for transportation to Spalding. Around 98 men had died on the East British side and many more on the side of the TBA. TBA firearms were confiscated and their weapons caches transported to Bourne. While reconning the area, Guardsmen were horrified to discover the remains of those Woodbridge men who had been captured by the TBA. This further steeled the East British resolve.
Over the course of the day, repairs were made to the fort, stragglers were rooted out and supplies brought forward. Unlike the fast-paced tactics of their allies the more primitive East Britons moved more slowly, taking care to maintain supply lines. In the evening officers sent a request for more troops, if necessary calling out off-duty reservists and veterans. Then the modern weaponry confiscated from the TBA would be utilised. The Guardsmen would then advance to Soham from Ely.
21st June[]
While the Guardsmen were marching down the road from Ely to Soham they were disturbed to find that large sections of the road had been destroyed by bombs. The men were reassured to find that large quantities of TBA men had been killed. Feeling that the battle to come would be easier, they came to Soham at 10 am. Much of the garrison were exhausted remnants of the men at Ely and the rest were a token affair. The Battle of Soham was far easier than the Battle of Ely. What the Royal Guardsmen didn't know was that the success of their campaign was because of the quantities of TBA soldiers bled south into an assault on Essex itself. The Battle of Soham lead to the town's capture. A decision was made in Bourne to establish the East British Military Administration Zone (EBMAZ). This area consisted of occupied land run by the military.
In the evening the bodies of the Woodbridge soldiers who had been found were buried and were posthumously granted the Medal of the Glorious Few, a military honour granted to those who have fought with utmost bravery for their country.
22nd June[]
A mobilization effort in Bourne hastily prepared companies of veterans and reservists for war. Planned next was an all-out assault in land. They were to capture the River Ouse, town by town and secure it against the TBA. First of all, they were to capture Kings Lynn. The 22nd and 23rd were devoted to planning the assault. All the while the rickety communication system meant they were entirely unaware of the disturbances effecting Essex.
24th June[]
After two days planning and preparation, the Royal Guardsmen in Ely boarded their ramshackle rafts and went north to Kings Lynn. At sea, waiting for green flares was the massed Royal Coastguard. Over the course of the day, a long line of rafts drifted along, occassionaly pausing to capture a village. In the wake of the military were the auxiliaries who were trained to hold the land. At the same time, Guardsmen were advancing over land towards Kings Lynn. It looked to be the biggest military shake down in East British history. However the tension was drawn out as it took over three days to reach Kings Lynn. Amongst the generals their were fears of overstretches.
27th June[]
Today, the Raftmen as they had become known as colloquially attacked Kings Lynn. At the same time, green flares were released an attack from the sea was unleashed. While this was happening, artillery was activated by the ground troops. The Battle of Kings Lynn was the most notorious and largest battle to date. Going on for over eight hours as Guardsmen fought hand to hand, house by house with the TBA garrison. The climax of the battle took place at the city centre. Pounded by artillery and gunfire, the TBA defenders gave in and King Lynn was incorporated into the EBMAZ. Over the next couple of weeks, East Britain consolidated their gains, adding clan territories by making deals.
28th June[]
For now at least, the conflict was over for East Britain. However, the speed with which they had achieved their objectives meant that TBA insurgents were still active throughout the EBMAZ. clans were defying East British law, soldiers were spread thin, ammunition was running low and fortifications were few and far between.
Part Two of the War: Pacification[]
Unlike in the first period of the war, it is hard to track movements of troops by time or date. Guardsmen were reassigned into smaller groups and over a period of weeks they were trained to act in much smaller units as a team. Unfortunately this long period of training left the wound in the EBMAZ to fester and worsen. Indeed prior to the reinsertion of troops, it is believed only 10% of the EBMAZ was under effective East British control. On the 12th July, two weeks after cession of official hostilities, the Royal Guardsmen were put back into the zone. They had a number of objectives which will be detailed below.
Destruction of TBA remnants[]
This was a priority for the Royal Guardsmen. With the help of local loyalists they were able to target concentrations of the stragglers and call up reinforcements. Though there were some casulaties, East Britain had the advantage of having acquired some conventional armaments from Soughern Scotland. As this was such a priority, the major TBA cells were either interned or eliminated by late July. Captured TBA units were put to use in the reconstruction effort in the rest of Lincolnshire.
Clan Pacification[]
The clans are a fact of life in post-Doomsday Britain. Although places like Bourne or other built-up areas are well under the control of the government, areas like the EBMAZ which are sparsely populated and are unused to the firm hand of law are the domain of the clans and any attempt to secure control or consolidate territorial gains must be done by cooperating with friendly clans and containing hostile ones. This was harder because many of the clans had been aligned with the TBA for a long time. In order to turn them the Guardsmen rewarded those clans who did treat with them. Many clans were turned by the promise of material security. Others had to be crushed by force. This would be an ongoing process for years in occupied parts of Ely and Norfolk.
Fortification Construction[]
East Britain began the construction of a line forts along the external borders of the EBMAZ. In the interior of the zone, East Britain reinforced old TBA fortifications. With regular shipments of weapons and ammunition from Scotland, construction materials from Essex, and military advisors from Woodbridge, this became a major effort in military construction that lasted for years.
Aftermath[]
For East Britain, the result was favourable. The pacification of major TBA units in the area had been a great advantage and there were relatively few casualties. The kingdom gained profitable agricultural land, the Royal Guardsmen had proved themselves in combat and East Britain had earned the respect of its neighbours. Of course there were going to be problems as the three powers set about administering the occupied land. And there was always the possibility of the TBA raising its ugly head once more.
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