Talk:Delirium (Map Game)/@comment-6812733-20151129152700

Greater Karelia

As the winter sets in, Alex decides to take Helsinki as the Gulf of Finland freezes, making it possible to cross it from Estonia to Finland. A large recruiting takes place in Viipuri, Tallinn, towns in Karelia and St. Petersburg and it's strengthened by radio, TV and newspaper propaganda, which brings the rebels much needed manpower. The rebels recruit 270 000 people across their realm which are trained for three months and are given civilian guns, forces in the south get more modern weapons that are raided from South Karelia's and Tallinn's military establishments. The new recruits are sent to Tallinn, South Karelia and Gdov as the small group of 10 000 rebels from Vuoksi send a recon team of 1 000 troops into Sortavala to gain better intel on UNS controlled Karelia. The rebel HQ in Lappeenranta tries to intercept UNS radio transmissions to gain intel on their movements for the next 6 months (stealing intel for the next turn).

The rebels in South Karelia now number around 125 000 as they are reinforced by 70 000 troops from the recruitment. This army begins their march towards Helsinki in a several separate groups so they can search for possible UNS armies that might try to attack the rebel cities. After a day of marching, the troops enter the town of Kouvola. The people there are very rebel-friendly as they're seen as liberators from the UNS oppression. The townsfolk inform that the UNS forces have made a move and will arrive in the town within few hours. As the rebel commander Jouko Ilves doesn't want to disappoint the townspeople and wants to thank them for their information and help, he commands his army into defence position and sets up multiple ambushes for the UNS forces. As the sun has already set, contact is made with the enemy. The rebels try a new strategy this time, they don't try to cut the enemy forces apart, they'll surround them completely. As the last column of the UNS army goes past the first rebels, they attack. The enemy is thrown into confusion as the rebels shouldn't know that the attack was taking place. Remaining rebels begin gunning down the enemy which tries to reorganise their ranks and defend themselves properly but it's in vain as the rebels strike from within the town as the UNS forces had turned their backs on them to find out what's going on in the rear. The UNS army is completely surrounded and destroyed within the confusion and lack of good command as the rebels suffer a loss of 5 000 men. The army continues their march towards Helsinki and reach it the next day, but before entering the range of the UNS forces, they order two airstrikes against the towns largest military establishments. The airstrikes are a signal to the SLM spies within the city that the siege will begin soon and they go to secure locations and begin sabotages against the UNS. The city is surrounded and bombarded by artillery for weeks after the airstrikes.

In Tallinn, the rebel army gets their own reinforcements, around 75 000 men, and their army is now 122 000 men strong. As they begin to march over Gulf of Finland, they can hear the fighting in Helsinki. As most of the army reaches the shore, the last groups are shocked as they hear what is clearly a ships horn. In terror, the rebels look into the frozen sea and see UNS navy coming towards them, with icebreakers clearing the path. The enemy navy fires upon the ice, breaking it and drowning over 15 000 men. The rebel leader Mikhail Fedorov orders the army to advance into Helsinki and ignore the ships until then. The rebels retreat more inland to stay safe from the cannons that bombard them on the shore. The rebels reach Helsinki, which is sieged by over 200 000 rebels. The UNS navy is bombarded by the rebel mortars and artillery that they've managed to build in the factories. After a two months of fighting, the city is taken but it's in very bad state as the artillery bombardment destroyed many parts of the city. The rebel morale falls a bit as they've lost over 27 000 troops in the fight. Ferries begin to operate between Helsinki and Tallinn to transport around 50 000 troops back into Estonia. 150 000 troops remain in Finland and begin preparations for an assault against Vaasa which would secure a safe route from Helsinki into Stockholm.

A month weeks before Helsinki fell, the new rebel army group, 125 000 rebels strong, arrives in Gdov and prepares to take Pskov. They begin their march towards the big city and once they're within range, begin bombarding the enemy positions. As these rebels are newly recruited, they don't have much combat experience and they charge into the city after a week of artillery fire. The city is taken after a week of fighting within the city. The rebels lose fifth of their men, 25 000 lives, in the fight for Pskov. Though saddened from the great loss, the army decides that they will redeem themselves by pushing into Luga, to secure St. Petersburg's southern flank. It takes two weeks for the rebels to gain control of the town as they've left 75 000 troops to defend Pskov. Pskov is rebuilt during the two weeks that the rebels spent taking Luga, with the help of the citizens of the city itself.