Four years ago today, our troubled and strained nation began in earnest a revolution which would restore our status as an independent nation, and in the process catapult me to prominence. The mood of the population in general and the military has tended to be elevated on this date, but the level of morale today makes previous Revolution Days seem mediocre in that regard by comparison. Except perhaps for the imprisoned and the ones in pitched combat, the nation is absolutely euphoric, seized with a level of relief and optimism which has heretofore never been seen. The Wesitarian sector on our Western Front has been devastated over the preceding 10 days by the campaign from all directions and with all manner of weaponry, the Kaleusthes Archipelago has fallen to our badly mauled marine forces, and our forces on the Central Front have succeeded in fighting the surgent Bengarians to a standstill at an average distance of 100 km from the Kotorei River. The aforementioned islands' securing was completed this evening, making the day for us even more electrifying, particularly when paired with my address to the nation and the world on the site a short while ago. The only things which immediately dampen our optimism are the work that lay before us to make the archipelago suitable for a primary naval base, and severe damage to our flagship today as a result of a submarine torpedo ambush. The significance and effect of this day and what we have achieved are so great that the fact we could have prevented our defeat on the Central Front days ago is barely in the consciousness of the average soldier, officer, and citizen. 

The volume of weapons fire on the western and central sectors of our continent have not appreciably abated since the 24th, the only factor serving to reduce it being the progressive reduction of available weapons on both sides. Since our marines were on multiple landing zones and needed protection from nuclear bombardment attempts, our naval forces have not been given any substantial period of rest. Our flagship is virtually the only vessel which has been allowed to remain in repair status long enough to be restored to 75% or greater armor health, and often it wasn't even allowed that. Our entire system of naval facilities have been in a state of constant maximal activity since this campaign began, barely able to repair damage faster than we were incurring it. As the enemy naval strength was even more degraded than ours, sending out ships to combat zones with 50% or even 35% general armor integrity was not temerarious as it would be ordinarily, but we have lost a significant number of warships either permanently or for weeks due to internal damage from a lucky strike or series of strikes on the same weakened section. 

What the enemy named the Cameron Archipelago was a significant defensive feature for the Wesitarian base of Kalobol, and thus our marines have been waging a terrible and protracted struggle for the chain of islands from their landing on the 22nd until today. Of course, this also has necessitated a constant aerial and naval presence, and the fact Kalobol's main guns are within range of these islands make the demand far greater if we are to ensure a well-timed salvo doesn't vaporize much of our infantry above ground. To facilitate this process and to lessen the need for weaker units to assault the remaining system of fortifications, we have been ferrying Pathforgers directly from the factories to the islands as they're constructed and training crews expeditiously to use them ASAP with improvised methods. Additionally, our assaults by the ground and sea on the mainland south of Kalobol have given the enemy other concerns, and often the base has fired at our ground forces there instead of their former fortresses at sea. 

Despite all of these exertions on our part, the heightened proficiency we have in maritime warfare, and the dire situation the enemy in general was in, the process of seizing the islands remained grueling and desperate for both sides. This might not have been the case if the enemy garrison consisted of primarily inexperienced reserve units, but instead the approximately 50k defenders were usually relatively experienced and battle-tested. They remained committed to either holding the line until we were driven away, or killing as many of our forces as possible in the process of their defeat. Underground warfare is particularly lethal and savage and most of the offensive entailed this variety, which meant fatalities comprised a far greater share of the casualties for both sides than is usual for battles. Often our attacking units were able to capture rather than have to annihilate the enemy in a location, but often it was not possible either due to the nature of such engagements or the enemy's preclusion of it. A few enemy units without a retreat route destroyed fortifications just before they were about to be taken, entombing those from both alliances in such heroic acts of suicide and patriotism. More often a feature was taken more or less intact upon the destruction of the defending unit or its withdrawal to a connected area, and in either scenario melee fighting was not uncommon. It seemed as if we were experiencing our version of Iwo Jima despite having vastly better technology and an enemy who generally didn't embrace suicide.

Further adding to my displeasure and fatigue was a revelation that our intelligence services had warned us days ago of an impending offensive across the Kotorei River, but that the report was lost in the electronic system in a state of limbo and thus never was relayed to us. Whether we would have acted differently if we had read it or been told of it we cannot say for sure, especially since our intel service has been one of our mediocre departments for the entire war. However, once someone discovered it and sent it up the chain of command and the council was made aware, we saw that what it warned of was what had indeed transpired, and we would have taken notice for sure if it came to us when it should have. We could have prevented or at least mitigated our defeat with a few timely redeployments and changes in priority. I could bear no more when I heard of this, and exclaimed to the assembled officers, "I cannot contend with anymore today! I'm going home to recuperate and contemplate how we proceed until tomorrow, and I don't care if anyone objects!" 

While our defeat could not be undone there, we could lessen its severity and then reverse it at a later time. We had been losing ground since I had to authorize a general withdrawal on 23 February and sustained heavy casualties in multiple breakout operations, and our extreme needs for firepower and resupply on the Western Front limited our ability to respond. For most of the remainder of February, our dedicated but outmatched forces were very much on the defensive and were hard-pressed to stabilize the lines. A series of counterattacks, sacrificial stands at critical locations, and increasingly intense fire from the Raeltan Line depleted the Bengarian offensive strength until they had to halt their actions just before Revolution Day. The enemy has prevailed but paid substantially to achieve this. Additionally, during the time I went into regenerative seclusion and on free moments afterwards, a grand plan for a campaign across the Central Front in the coming months began to coalesce in my mind. There are too many facets to readily describe and they are all very embryonic, so I will only say that this campaign could be what finally breaks the stalemate on the Central Front. Or it might be little more than fantasy. Either way, we cannot even actively discuss this while the Western Front is ablaze.

I was in better spirits as the month drew to a close. The excruciating battles for what was planned to be our new primary naval base were being consistently won by us and costing somewhat few lives than planned, the great panzer drives across the western continent continued to proceed as we had envisioned and had caused the destruction of an entire Wesitarian grand army, and there seemed to be nothing that could stop or reverse the trend which was within their power to do. When there is nothing demanding our immediate attention and we are in an appropriate environment, I tend to amuse myself and those around me with absurd conversations or playing of humorous media from either planet. I was on the flagship while we were being worked on in Marietta, and asked the bridge crew what we should amuse ourselves with. A Terran immigrant who is a member of a subculture known as "bronydom" that has given us a disproportionately high number of volunteers suggested audio media some group of bronies made in which they telephone actual people and speak as if they are a character from the program which inspired the creation of their subculture. I found this idea extremely intriguing, so I retrieved the media from the data streams and played it on our communications system (no doubt the designers of our ship and its components did not intend for it to be used for such purposes). 

A voice actor who imitated a character known as Rainbow Dash (she has rainbow-colored mane and tail, and is a member of the winged aerial equine race in that fictional universe) extremely well called a sports supply store asking for items which a member of that race would indeed need, and speaking about flying as a member of her race would. As 'pegasi' do not exist either on Terra or Takomen, the store predictably did not have what she wanted, prompting 'Rainbow Dash' to become highly indignant and question whether the store was being racist (yes, she even said what her race was when she made the charge). All of this was delightfully absurd, and the couple of bronies on the bridge or watching from elsewhere were particularly entertained. After some uproarious laughter from me, I openly pondered, "Wouldn't be hilarious if I call Shorin and ask him for progress on aerodynamic clothes for our planeless pilots? Actually, put me through to him right now!". After some extremely loud outbursts of laughter by a few of the crew in anticipation of what was to unfold, Shorin responded by video and I had our conversation put on the main viewer.

"Greetings, Chief Strategist. What do you need to discuss?"

"I wanted to inquire about the status of the aerodynamic clothing and goggles for our pilots. Have they been produced yet?" I managed to ask without smiling.

Shorin's countenance was, predictably, indicative of confusion, "Hmmm? No, of course not. We don't have any need for those things."

"How can you say that? Are you racist against pegasi? They're our best flyers, yet you don't properly outfit them?" I casually accused with feigned anger, my natural talents as a performer and actor very apparent to those actually in on the joke.

Shorin's face conveyed first acute consternation, and then annoyance with a hint of involuntary amusement, as he realized I certainly was not sincerely addressing him (the fit of insufficiently stifled laughter from one of crew would have also been a clue). "You're pranking me, aren't you? You do understand that your subordinates generally are quite busy trying to win this war and this campaign in particular, even if you spend half the day chasing young tail and entertaining your bridge crew, right?"

Genuinely amused and gratified despite my officer's fit of annoyance, I retorted, "Probably it's more than half the day, actually. Anyway, don't be mad. Everyone needs a laugh even during war."

Shorin shook his head rather disapprovingly, but I could tell he found this entertaining since I knew his mannerisms well enough, "I had to put one of our MAC divisional commanders on hold to speak to you! Do you know how much effort it is taking for just that island chain near Kalobol, let alone the whole Western Front?"

I answered remorselessly with a smile, "And you especially need to be entertained because of how difficult those jobs are!" As I am our top officer, I ceased smiling and inquired, "By the way, is everything about as it was yesterday? Same level of demand, ability to meet it, etc?"

Shorin became markedly less irritated once I started making sensical inquiries, "About the same as when the last assessment was sent. Of course, we have few fewer planes and other things to arm because of attrition over the last 10 days and so does the enemy, so we can rather easily keep supplied what we have. I wouldn't expect to be able to continue at a good pace much longer than a week after today since even our panzers need bombardment support and I'm losing 5-10% of that ability per day."

Indeed, this campaign has been extremely demanding on all four powers since this campaign has been constantly active with very few appreciable lulls in the fighting. Our aerial strength is only 65% of what it was on 1 February, and might fall to 50% after the first week of March concludes. Our naval strength varies depending on what factors are considered, but the proportion of seaworthy vessels now relative to a month ago is slightly worse. While this is greatly mitigated by enemy forces suffering greater losses to those assets, attrition at their and our rates will favor the defenders progressively more until we must stop. We also will start incurring heavy losses from preventable mechanical failures if we continue at this pace much longer. Our militaries are all becoming exhausted whether they are winning or losing. The enemy alliance is still very much a threat despite their crippling losses to panzers and personnel, and still capable of assaulting our fleets and positions. In fact, as I will describe, they caused very serious damage to the Procyonidae today and caused much fear in the process.

Today was an important day in our campaign plans for a few reasons. Obviously, one reason is this is our holiest holiday, and works in synergy with the others psychologically. Another is the marines were expected to seize the last remaining command positions on the main island by today, which would allow me and others to personally inspect the area and speak to our people from the site, and also allow substantial numbers of equipment and supplies to be transferred to there so reconstruction and fortification could begin. We expected the Procyonidae to remain at the site for a few days to help ensure our deployments of additional mobile and static assets would arrive safely and to lob broadsides at the enemy on the continent when we could. Because there was so much to do and war rarely proceeds in our favor faster than we expect, we were delayed in everything and few of us could acquire much sleep. Too many things to describe caused progressively worsening delays, and what was to be done in the morning was done in the afternoon and evening. The speech to the nation was planned for the evening with the nature of warfare in mind, so that was the only thing to occur when we had scheduled it.

Of course, I had to go there to give the address and inspect, and it was natural for me to opt to come aboard our flagship due to several obvious reasons. We left Marietta in the morning and expected to arrive at approximately 16:00. Marshal Larien and his adorable son would arrive by plane and greet me upon our arrival soon after the last positions were taken and various preparations made. The bulk of the Kantarian Navy and very large contingents of the Likurian Navy would be at the archipelago to deliver supplies and construction crews and to protect us and our subordinates while we were there. As our naval forces had taken severe losses and we were already running late, we could not afford to provide the number of escorts we would prefer to the entire convoy. Since the flagship has emergency defensive measures and we didn't expect to even consider using them, I ordered the northernmost section (the one we would be in) to have 1/3 the usual escorts in such a scenario. While I am not clairvoyant and thus what I did at that moment was within standard naval practice, I would be punished for this manner of compensating for vessel shortages and cause renewed calls for me to stop playing Grand Admiral in warzones.

At 15:00 we received word that MAC forces had captured the remainder of the primary complex on the primary island, and that the entire zone was now secure. The bridge crew cheered along with the rest of our military upon the news, and the nation soon followed. At approximately 17:30 we were due to arrive, and we were arriving slightly earlier than expected at flank speed. Without more than a few seconds of warning, at about 16:45 we were struck by a nuclear torpedo on our keel which was of extremely high yield. The force of the impact was so great that even with all of our bridge's safety features (dampeners, armor composition, all surfaces being softened, etc), I was immediately knocked off my hindpaws landed on my posterior. One of the low-level aides immediately called my name and ran to me, and was relieved when I said, "Better to fall on my rear than my face. Thankfully they even teach prancers how to fall in the academy." before giving orders to use the aforementioned emergency countermeasures. My officers have standing orders to activate them in such emergencies before I give the signal, so our missile launchers had already started firing off the appropriate probes and interceptors. Someone else had contacted the nearby baseship Breandan to deploy immediate aerial cover, and 90 seconds after we were hit a squadron of 30 planes came overhead and provided cover and aided as best they could in the anti-submarine endeavor. All of this prevented us from being struck by more torpedoes, though the offending submarine evaded our counteroffensive measures. 

The Commander of Damage Mitigation gave a rather worrying assessment. We already were overdue for maintenance work on our keel, and this impact not only caused severe damage to the armor strength there, but came dangerously close to breaking it internally. There were also about 100 casualties due to collisions, and 20 required hospitalization. Immediate drydocking to fully assess and repair damage to armor and structure was highly recommended, but we would need to be at a functioning Leviathan-capable base for such services, and one did not exist for 800 km. There was no viable alternative than to hurry to Kaleusthes and then start back to Marietta under heavy guard in the late evening. I was visibly perturbed by the incident and was rather subdued for the short remainder of our voyage. I was asked if I wanted to use an aerial shuttle to go there now, and I said we will get there as we envisioned and no deviations were necessary.

As we were practically within sight of the islands by then, the resulting water spout was visible to the staff on the archipelago and everyone else for several dozen kilometers. While the average military member was not aware of where we were exactly or even that we were headed there, my two otter compatriots were well aware of when we were to arrive and our position in the convoy, and they thus deduced it was likely that we were struck or were a target. Reports given to Larien personally because of his rank and role confirmed his suspicion quickly. Thus, when I walked down the ramp from the ship to the main fortress island, precious Lucien ran towards me at a speed that would impress a professional sprinter, his father not very far behind. I caught him as he leapt into my arms.

"I was told you were hit with a super-heavy torpedo and I was so worried you were hurt and I was crying from thinking about that!" he blurted out extremely excitedly in between renewed sobbing, which of course caused me to start weeping pathetically.

"The Procyonidae is a very good ship with a lot of escorts. I would never be hurt from something so minor!" I tearfully conveyed as we clutched each other extremely tightly, my words mostly sincere but infused with a large dose of false bravado to placate the hysterical cub.

Larien eventually caught up to us, and I quickly could determine he had been as concerned as his cub. In fact, given his extreme familiarity with the flagship's condition, he probably was even more fearful. He embraced both of us and started sobbing with us, overcome by the sight of both of us doing the same, which only reinforced all of our lachrymal instincts. "I kept telling you to drydock that ship for longer to finish keel repairs, but you didn't listen to me!" he exclaimed in fear-engendered anger.

"Why are YOU crying? I was the one hit with a nuke! You're making both of us cry even more pathetically!" I retorted in between attempts to clear my nasal passages.

"I can't avoid it! I care about you and so does the little one!" he answered as he retrieved a cloth to dry himself with. 

I started laughing weakly, Lucien still in my arms and his legs still wrapped around my waist to keep himself stable, "I have to address the nation soon and I have never appeared worse and more vulnerable. Stupid otters!" 

Quickly we regained our composures and renormalized, and we set out to tour the site of what would be the new home port of the 1st Kantarian Fleet. I had given orders to make the places we would need to tour untraumatic to look upon, so such realities of war as corpses and fragments of corpses had been removed or concealed. Larien made various observations about the terrain and the usability of the system of fortifications we had seized (many of which were very much not presentable to children and delicate prancers, so only Larien or his aides would be looking at them later). I responded to Larien's comments and the occasional question from Lucien, and made various observations and verbalized other thoughts. Lucien was generally silent, content to listen to me and his father speak and to look around. 

I was unable to forget what had to be done to take this place for Kantaria and I am a mentor to the somewhat younger cub, so I made this a moral educational experience for him by stating on the verge of tears, "Lucien, a lot of good people from all four nations died so that we could take a base which will be used to better wage war. If you wind up taking your father's position during a time of war, we will have failed politically and societally." 

Lucien is very bright and empathetic, but he's only 12 and has no experience in military matters beyond what we show and tell him. Thus, he seemed somewhat confused or startled, but nodded silently in response as he clutched the plushie the base would be named after. 

The location suffered extensive damage from the repeated bombardments and from the invasion over the previous two weeks. Many of the fortifications were captured intact or with usable damage, most of the structures were razed by the retreating enemy, and none of the static weapons were operational after being captured. The base was in a worse condition than we thought was the most likely outcome, but better than we had feared. Some of the other details and features we would be able to ascertain only in the coming 24-48 hours, but we were hopefully it could be quickly made operational enough to require less logistical and defensive support from our war-ravaged navy. 

We also visited the more biological components of warfare: the personnel. The MAC forces had incurred 40% casualties taking this terrain which wasn't usable currently for our intended purposes and MAC forces made up 95% of the friendly personnel on the island. Yet, so many of them seemed energized in general, and especially when they saw us. I was saluted and cheered innumerable times from troops who I had envisioned as being traumatized and exhausted. I marveled at their resilience and seemingly inexhaustible will to do what I ask of them. I was not content to merely visit our own troops, however. With the two otters by my side, I traveled to a couple of the hastily improvised prisoner camps where captured troops were processed and assembled prior to being transported to the mainland. I wanted to ensure that we were not mistreating them and there was no better time to do this than now. I was actually warmly greeted by the enemy as well since what endears me to my own troops also endears me to them. I personally approached and spoke to about 10 of them. Each time, I told the accompanying guards to withdraw somewhat so the prisoner could tell me what he or she wanted without being overheard and thus without fear of later reprisal. None of them complained of deliberate mistreatment or what would constitute neglect in such an environment. I assured them they would likely be relocated that evening since our navy was there and would have room after unloading. 

The main event as far as the nation was concerned was my address to them. They wanted to know what we managed to accomplish and to hear my commentary on the state of our nation now versus four years ago. I chose a location which I felt was both significant and photogenic: a spot where the highest ground can be seen in the background. Known merely as 'the citadel' by either side right now, it overlooks the surrounding landscape and ocean and contained a disproportionately high number of weapon emplacements and subterranean defenses. A lot of our best and most heroic soldiers perished or will need to be rehabilitated to secure that place, and I wanted to remind our nation both what we are capable of and what sacrifices this war entails. 

I am highly proficient in the verbal medium and I lacked the time lately to prepare a full speech, so I only  memorized some critical points and improvised the remainder as they came to mind. I started by pointing out the natural landmark behind me and what part of Takomen it is in, and why it is significant. I gave some highlights of my tour of the area and what we ascertained. Then I switched the subject to our beginnings four years ago, when we weren't even a country and had no standing professional military, when I was a comparatively low-level marshal overseeing at first only the industrial/supply aspect of the war. I briefly touched upon the extreme hardships our military and nation faced during the next 18 months, followed by us having driven the enemy to our previous territorial borders by the second anniversary. By the third one, we had proven capable of fighting two enemies simultaneously, and we grew rapidly more formidable and intractable over the following year. On the fourth solar cycle after all of this began, we had taken one of the most fortified bases in the world, decisively overcome one of the most fortified defensive lines in the world, have achieved all of this with both great skill and great battlefield integrity, and would remain on the offensive for a while longer. I communicated the possibility that Bengaria might not be a combatant by the fifth, and if we are truly fortunate there won't be a war by that date. I concluded by reminding our currently triumphant nation that warfare is a limiting and destructive enterprise best conducted in games rather than real life, and that once the war is over examples of our economic progress such as our revitalized capital will be very expeditiously repeated across the nation. I managed to complete the address without choking up, though if I had failed I doubt anyone would have been surprised or even disappointed.

Right now, our nation has two major goals through the next week. The first is to sufficiently supply and reinforce the base so that it will serve more as a fortress and less as a beachhead we have to constantly protect and provide fire support for. The second is to exacerbate the enemy's deplorable situation on the continent with a new series of assaults by our weakened but still viable panzer and mounted infantry forces. Operational panzer strength is 11k and the personnel vehicles 16k, and we have sufficient supplies to keep them moving at this grueling pace for another week. After that, likely a combination of force deterioration and terrain will make further attempts soon afterwards inadvisable, and we will settle down and entrench as spring approaches. Currently we in a period of voluntary heightened mobilization to prolong our campaign, but I wish to decrease mandatory mobilization levels and demand in general later this month so that we can increase our rate of economic consolidation. We have been only barely staving off decline and disaster for a while now, and I have become increasingly disgusted with this scenario. I believe we can both win the war in a timely manner and increase our investments in infrastructure and the like, but right now we're having to invest even more industrial capacity and money in war than usual so that our victories are greater and the war thus shortened.
