Assault on Cameroon - Operation Tinderbox

The Nigerian Federation Commandos continued their swift and silent advance through the Cameroon forest. They managed to cover a lot of ground in very few time. Everything was moving according to plan.

Sergeant Victor Adeyemi lead his squad of ten men deeper into the rainforest, in southern Cameroon.



"GLA stronghold spotted at two-oclock, range 1200.", said Sergeant Adeyemi, "Orders are to bypass under the cover of darkness. Make no sound, make no light, and do not enter open spaces!"
His commando squad began swiftly moving to the left. Suddenly a Dushka net from their left began to open fire. "DUSHKA AT NINE OCLOCK!", cried one of his squadmates, but it was soon neutralized as well.

The plan was going well. The Chinese leadership seemed much more competent in assaults than they did at the Battle of Kurmuk, only five years ago, but of course, that was under their old administration. As they passed by the GLA base, Adeyemi took note of the base's position, strength, and some of their troop positions. They would need this later in the assault. Meanwhile, the plan seems to be going well for the commandos. Already, they're five kilometers in, neutralized dozens of GLA nests, and lost none of his squadmates. The same was true for the entire front, with the Chinese suffering only a few dozen casulties. Everything was in order.

Suddenly, Adeyemi heard a damning noise, one he recognized.

"Beep-beep-beep!"



"Balls!" He cried, as he looked to his right, just in time to see a bright explosion, with the shadow of two men thrown into the air. At this point, he realised that this was the maximum range of the listening outposts and scanners ability to detect demo traps and IEDs effectively. He had no encounters of demo-traps so far, meaning either the GLA knew of the range of the scanning equipment, or they were just lucky. Whatever the reason, it was also the commandos' job to deal with GLA demo-traps before the main assault begins.

A voice came in through the radio.

"8th Commando Battalion, your orders are to slow your advance, and disable demo-traps."

"Roger!", said Adeyemi into his subordinate radio. The entire front slowed down to a slow-walking pace.

"Demo trap spotted at five o-clock!", and his squadmate began firing. The barrel exploded, and suddenly they heard a hail of machine-gun fire from their front. They began to notice a huge GLA entrenched position to their direct front, with trenches and tanks.

His squad began talking. "Our orders are to bypass GLA strongpoints. We should bypass this one to the right.", said Corporal Deyai
"Negative!", said Private Stephens, "The GLA base is to our right, remember?"
"What about to our left?", asked Deyai.
"Another squad reported more GLA strongpoints to our left," stated Sergeant Adeyemi, "It seems the GLA have fortified positions stretching far along front. Our orders are to by-pass the GLA bases, and any other strongpoints we encounter."
"Bypass this?" exclaimed Corporal Oni, "That seems completley unreasonable. For all we know, the GLA could have entrenched the entire front. I propose we stay here, and have the snipers pick off high-priority targets."
"Good idea," replied Sergeant Ayedemi, "Corporal Mbanefo, and Private Sarr, secure prone positions to our immediate front, at 10 and 12 oclock from my position. Begin the elimination of targets to our front."
"Roger, over"



The two snipers in the squad took positions and tightened their silencers. High priority targets include officers, machine-gun operators, tank crews, and other snipers. Still an hour before the main attack, the GLA would soon get a taste of what it's like to be watched by a pin-point and deadly sniper.

Though normally, China's first move would be to hack into the systems of its enemy before beginning operations, it was very difficult to do this against the GLA, because of their lack of computerized systems and sattelite communication. Being hidden in the rainforest, satelite surveillance was also unhelpful. Instead, the Chinese have to resort to much older methods, such as listening outposts and radio intercepts. These methods are not as effective. The Chinese really had no idea that the GLA defences are so thin.

The Nigerian Commandos advance in the southern Cameroon rainforests have largely been stopped by what they thought was a massive line of dug-in GLA forces and strongholds. Once the intel has reached the high command, orders were to stay put and to not advance any further. The forces stayed put, skirmishing with the GLA. Machine guns fired suppressing fire into the distance, and snipers picked off officers and high-priority targets. This went on for hours until the sun came up, and now, it was time for the main attack to begin.


At exactly 8:00, the morning of the 31st, the Chinese began a huge barrage of artillary fire. Over 300 heavy guns opened fire at the same time, and rained down devastating solid and high-explosive shells onto the entire GLA front.



These were not the specialized Inferno or Nuke Cannons the Chinese used in many previous engagements, but rather old-fashioned simple guns. General (Class AA) Qiang, the man in overall charge of the operation, knew that they needed to advance quickly through the jungle terrain. Risking massive forest fires or nuclear fallout would severely slow down, and possibly endanger his own forces, on top of being a PR disaster.

The shells fell upon the poor GLA defenders. The earth shook, as the heavy barrage pounded and pounded, and would not stop pounding. Equipment and bodyparts were thrown left and right, dust and dirt were kicked into the air, choking the men still standing. The barrage lasted an agonizing ninety minutes, with over 60,000 shells spent.

Then, at 0930 Hours, the guns fell silent. Explosions were no longer heard, however, a sort of rumble was felt. It was the Chinese and Nigerian forces, beginning their advance. The main assault has begun.

After the message was heard, he gave the soldier back his radio receiver. The soldier gave him a worried look.
General Qiang looked back at his subordinate sternly.
"Civilians? In a GLA military compound? I can hardly believe it." He turned to the rest of his staff. "Well? What do you guys make of it?"
"I'm not sure", said one of his officers. "Maybe we should stop shelling the fort?"
"Nonsense," said Brigadier-General Tanhuo, "The GLA are playing tricks on us. They always do. There is no reason for civilians to be taking refuge in such an obvious target. I say we should continue the shelling as planned"
General Qiang shook his head. "This campaign is as much for PR and diplomacy than it is for capturing territory. Bring me radio communicator, I wish to speak with these so-called civilians before making up my mind. "

"Hello? Hello? This is General Class AA Qiang of the 3rd African Army. Who are you, and why are you in a GLA military compound?"

"Order the 22nd Artillery Battalion to redirect its fire to the GLA trench positions to the right of the base," His officers looked stunned.

"General Qiang," said Brigadier-General Tanhuo, "You must not let your emotions get in the way of the operation! I thought you-"
The Chief Commander interrupted him. "These civilians have strategic importance, as they can tell us where the enemy is. Remember, our aerial photos cannot see through the denser parts of the jungle. If we can evacuate these civilians, they can provide us with valuable intelligence. Plus, we can let the media capitalize on this as well. This will surely give us more support both from home, and abroad. Believe me, I know what I'm doing."

His officers were silenced, but they still had a look of concern. "Right," said Tanhuo, "You make a valid point. What are your orders then? Should we send in the Nigerian Commandos to capture the base and evacuate the civilians?"

"Yes, of course. Tell the commander of the Nigerian 18th Commando Platoon about our plan. He is to begin this operation as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir!"

Cameroon, The Zone

One of General Qiang's communications staff officers came running towards the central command table. 
"I have just received reports that the 12th and 13th Artillary Battalions were under attack by a GLA sneak attack! They have fallen back, but were unable to destroy the artillery pieces in time."
He quickly glanced at his main map, then turned to one of his radio operators.


 
"Send in the nearby 82nd Infantry Regiment waiting in reserve. Their orders are to recapture the lost artillery divisions."
One of his staff officers pointed out "Sir, we should send in more reserves to protect the rest of our artillery divisions!"
"Right," he replied before turning to another radio officer, "Tell the 52nd and 53rd Infantry Regiments to take positions near the north wing of the main Artillery Division." 

Much of his staff seemed worried. "No matter," said the General. There's only ten minutes before the barrage was supposed to end anyway. This is exactly what the reserve infantry regiments are for, to protect the artillery. I don't know why there was nobody guarding the artillery, and how the GLA managed to sneak past our main force, but it is of little matter. Prepare yourselves, the main thrust shall begin soon."

-----

Meanwhile, the commandos civilian evacuation operation was stopped completley by a flanking attack with almost a thousand GLA rebels coming in from the north. Though a section of ten men were instructed to suppress the main wall, the main attack was to come from the northeast. 

Sergeant Victor Adeyemi heard the machine gun fire from a distance, and knew that they were being overrun. If those men were to fall back, then the main attack would be cut off, and the whole operation would've been a bust. He called for a halt of current operations to deal with this new threat. His men fell back, and set up positions to counterattack the GLA rush. The commandos knew they were up against a lot of opposition, so many set up their light machine guns, and began to suppress the GLA attackers, slowing them down to a crawl. 

Adeyemi knew that his platoon of 45 commandos cannot defeat a GLA force of hundreds. He radio'd back to HQ: 
"This is Sergeant Victor Adeyemi of the 18th Commando Platoon. The GLA have ambushed and attacked us in very large numbers. It is dangerous for us to proceed with the operation before the main attack. I must put this operation on hold until the GLA attackers are defeated, or until the base is liberated in some other way. Over" 

It was a real dissapointment. Adeyemi thought he could proves himself a capable commander with his sneaky diversion tactic he thought of for this operation. Unfortunately, it would not come to pass. He would just have to wait for the main attack.

Cameroon, The Zone

"It's time.", said General Qiang, as multiple bells and alarms began to ring. "The main assault begins NOW!"
His staff officers were frozen, as many began nail biting and sweating. They have been planning this operation for months, and now, it will be put into action.

At exactly 9:30, the Chinese artillery bombardment stopped completley, but a rumble was still heard. As men looked towards the sound beyond the jungles of Cameroon, they began to realize, that it was the enemy.



The main force consisted of seven divisions, with almost two hundred thousand men. Three infantry divisions attacked the south, where the rainforest was dense, and four Mechanized & Motorized divisions attacked further north, where the vegetation of the decidious forest was much lighter.

Another attack was planned in Northern Nigeria, where the 29th Motorized Division would race towards Chad, capturing the GLA bulge, but this attack was cancelled at the last minute, when intelligence began to report ECA military withdrawing.
Instead, the two mobile units will be used to cover the flank of the southern attack. 

The divisions were all accompanied by Inferno Cannons and mortar-firing siege squads, however they were loaded with conventional HE and shrapnel shells, so as to prevent forest fires from stalling or damaging the attack. It was their job to deal with enemy Grads and Rocket Buggies.

The commandos accompanied the attackers, and relayed important scouting information back to the commanders. This along with listening outposts and other recon units helped the assault forces have decent battlefield awareness in all but the densest of jungle regions.

"This is Sergeant Victor Adeyemi of the 18th Commando Platoon. My snipers have spotted a rocket buggy group at your one oclock, range 6000."
"Roger that,", replied the siege company commander, who then ordered his mortars to fire. A shell fell next to one of the buggies, the shrapnel shattering the window and wounding the crew inside. They quickly ramped up their engines and fell back.

-----

Meanwhile, the infantry division has managed to push the GLA jungle ambushers back into the jungle just as the attack was beginning.
"Those GLA bastards have destroyed our cannons!", radioed one of them, "We must have lost the equivalent of three whole Artillery battalions in this one attack. Advise having more protection for artillery in the future, over!"