Our positive streak has continued into this week, and thus our series of invasions are likely less than a week from execution. After so much frustration, delay, and sometimes seemingly needless expenditure of lives and material, Kantaria with its ally is on the verge of conducting shattering offensives with elite forces on a scale never seen before on Takomen. I am virtually unmitigatedly certain that historians will look upon late February and early March of 2016 as a critical period in which the opposing alliance started inexorably losing the war. Our cavalry, paratrooper, and marine waves will be harbingers of victory for us and defeat for the enemy. That being said, I am not ignorant of the reality a level of violence unparalleled in our planet's history will transpire for this Kantarian Winter to take place. While I regret the casualties to both sides which will be incurred by both sides in great numbers before they even happen, there is no other way for peace to be ushered in.

We have had unexpectedly good results on the Central Front all along it. The majority of the action has taken place along the Kotorei River, which had consisted up until the 13th of intensive artillery duels and Bengarian counterattacks on high ground we had captured. Our forward positions were at times somewhat hard-pressed to hold their positions since most of our assets had to be allocated elsewhere, and our panzers and field guns were being responded to by the enemy equivalent heavily. However, the Bengarians had also diverted many assets away from there to respond to the increasingly likely offensives westward, and their system of fortifications were by far strongest on their side of the river. Marshal Shorin assured me we had enough resupply capability to keep shelling the enemy and ground commanders stated the assaults on the heavy weapons by our own wouldn't put them at risk of being overrun. So, I had a few more howitzer units brought into range to maintain pressure, and a few capital turrets came online at the Raeltan Line. 

With the 4th Panzer Army being used as improvised direct-fire artillery and our actual artillery pounding the mobile and static equivalents, many of the opposing batteries were neutralized and various positions on both sides of the river were destroyed or damaged or forced to flee. Return fire across the river greatly slackened and the relatively low numbers of enemy panzers and infantry on our side of the river thus were not sufficiently supported to resist offensive operations. While it would have been foolish to attempt to cross the river while we had marines and paratroopers and three panzer armies on the verge of invasion to support, we could help set up that subsequent campaign by seizing positions right on the river which were 20-30 km away. I gave the order for a general front offensive on the 12th, and by the evening of the 13th some panzer units had reached the river and encircled sizable formations. The Bengarians seem to be hesitant to risk more of their units by contesting maximally the ground they hold on our side given their low numbers and comparatively poor position, which has hastened the recession of enemy's lines. By the 16th we seized all territory along the western third of the river, while resistance by the enemy has precluded equal gains along the remainder and may well remain the line when/if we do cross next month. We would love to cross this massive river during Crossing Day on 19 March, but probably we will be too preoccupied in the west for too long to be ready for such a venture by then.

In the naval realm we had several positive developments. Marietta's structure armor and some point-defense platforms received a round of upgrades on 14 February, which will make the base we plan to use more infrequently over the coming months even more resistant to bomber raids. We actually haven't been attacked here in some while, a combination of bomber attrition and pressure on the front compelling them to cease. We don't know when or if they will attack again, though they probably will use their bombers on forward units rather than the base once we're advancing. 

The repairs to the structure on our flagship have been conducted slightly more quickly than anticipated, so we will need to be taken off the line infrequently to finish repairs or maintain current conditions. Of course, as they correctly predicted, upon hearing this I planned to send our glorious warship on many combat missions, which may well undo much of their progress. The actions over the last two days already have raised some additional concerns about the structural integrity below and at the turrets. 

Due to the mauling the Wesitarians sustained at the Battle of Brekmaere, their naval strength has been below what they needed to adequately cope with our repeated assaults on the coast. While the disparity in strength is not such that we can obliterate whatever we want at our leisure, they have had to be increasingly judicious in how they deploy their fleet to avoid its substantial destruction. On most days over the last week we have deployed our fleet and various aviation assets to the area, and the rate of destruction we are causing far exceeds their ability to erase. Our naval stockpiles are rapidly diminishing with this level of offense, but so are theirs, and so are their coastal fortifications. They haven't been fortunate enough to cause any unplanned upsets, so they are steadily losing this coastal campaign of attrition. Of course, we have concentrated our efforts on areas where Kalobol's artillery cannot do more than provide anti-shell fire, and if we had attacked in a way which exposed our ships to their fire instead the trend would probably be the reverse.

On 16 February we bombarded their defensive systems and engaged intercepting forces again, and again we did more damage than we incurred. The results were particularly bad for the enemy since atomic weapons were successfully used and caused a complete failure in the static defenses on a couple of areas through which our marines can pass through. This and the promise of at least half of the marines the Likurians had originally offered has placed the enemy in a dangerous position. Marshal Kepler stated this evening that it likely would be feasible to send marine divisions with the fleet in less than a week on at least one of the three main landing sites. When I asked if he thought landing at two was advisable, he said that at this rate we probably lacked the firepower to adequately support both, and it would be foolhardy to even contemplate three unless the Likurians send the remainder of the forces we were hoping for. I exasperatedly expressed bewilderment at the fact the Likurians would start a world war in defense of our nation, yet are so timid now they are hesitant to send another 40k marines even when the enemy is on the defensive on their own continent AND ours. However, I cannot control them, and the major fortress islands alone will be satisfactory in the opening days. 

We have started setting dates for our planned offensives rather than a nebulous 'mid or late February'. On 20 February Likurian reinforcements will arrive, and barring any similar moves by the enemy or mishaps, this will allow us to conduct a full and severe bombardment of units and hardened positions on the mainland and what will be renamed Kaleusthes Island. On the mainland on that day, 30k Likurian and 85k Kantarian marines will land south of Kalobol and attack in tandem with regular units at the Narenda Line, the goal being the encirclement and destruction of the enemy on the western third of the opposing Kalobol Line. On 22 February, we will turn our attention to the islands, and if Marshal Kepler feels it is prudent, 60k marines with very heavy panzers and personnel carriers will storm ashore on the main and secondary islands and try to capture the installations as rapidly and undestructively as possible. The fight for the islands might last over a week even with days of shore bombardment, as it is extensively fortified and even nuclear weapons (use of which is limited by treaty and environmental concerns) can only penetrate so far. While the Terran battles of Iwo Jima and Tarawa were far more horrific for a variety of reasons than this battle likely will be, they are otherwise very comparable to what will unfold.

Around the time the first landing is taking place, the huge cavalry formations on the ground on the eastern half of the Western Front will begin their drives to the north and west, supported by airborne forces and the usual assortment of fire support. 10k Kantarian and 3k Likurian panzers will comprise the bulk of the offensive force, but we also have about 20k infantry carriers and 250k mounted infantry who will accompany the panzers and be the main force to seal off territory and maintain the integrity of an encirclement. If they enjoy enough success, the plan will be for them to rapidly punch through to the coast north of Kalobol 600 km north of our lines, skirting the Kotorei River on the eastern edge. If they encounter severe resistance or otherwise are impeded, we will instead chip away at the front in a succession of assaults across much less territory. The enemy's ground forces are almost completely unaffected by the recent war at sea, so there will be ample opportunities for mishaps and failure.

Speaking of panzers, a new panzer class for the amphibious and aerial forces has entered mass production and numbers at 400 now: the Pathforger. It is similar our heavy panzer class Commander, but with more firepower and armor and less mobility. We usually give more priority to mobility, but in some situations that is less important than survivability and pure lethality, especially in landing areas. Our Commanders have often proven somewhat inadequate for this, alas. The Pathforger is constructed with the very most modern materials and components to bolster all three traits. While it cannot fully power all of its systems simultaneously forever, it has a battery which allows it to do this for short periods during the most dangerous moments, and its generation is adequate to power weapons and armor indefinitely when mobility is not a concern. They are very difficult and expensive to produce and thus they generally will not be given to regular units. 

I imagine in Bengaria and Wesitaria people are looking to their leaders not with great optimism, but a desperate hope they can wage a counteroffensive which will have disastrous effects on ours and allow them to reverse this trend. Here and even in Likuria, soldiers and civilians alike are looking up to me and my staff, placing their faith in our ability to break the deadlock and bring this war to a desirable end in an acceptable amount of time. I have conducted many tours and visits in recent weeks both to motivate the people and to be personally told of concerns and problems. Civilians and soldiers alike are almost universally enthusiastic and supportive both about me and in front of me. The outcome of us utterly failing is almost inconceivable to them now. I would seriously contemplate the idea of negotiating a peace treaty with the opposing alliance of all of this effort, material, and sacrifice got neither of us anything to show for it over the course of several months. All of those who have suffered and perished would have done so for nothing. 

During one of my events with the general populace, a father approached me and shook my paw, his countenance one of great emotion and of hope. He told me his daughter had perished in battle during the war, and he believed I and the military as a whole could bring a successful conclusion to the war, so his child's loss would not be futile. All I could do in response was to embrace the man and weep. This extreme reactivity I possess, while it facilitates bonding with the people, makes me utterly unsuited for such things as funerals and memorials. I can remain sufficiently detached from this unavoidable reality of warfare if I'm not confronted with the effects of it directly. Others who can remain more detached and insulated even during those stimuli can attend memorials, and we have many such people. 

I am, without remorse, our supreme strategist only because I don't believe there is a satisfactory political solution other than the destruction of the governments which have caused this through their imperialistic ambitions. Warfare is ultimately, regardless of how humanely it is carried out, the pursuit of bleeding the other side into submission. Takomen might have been able to double our advance of medical technology and the like over the last 4 years had we not been fighting a war. No one except psychotic people who have ever been in battle think its glorious at all, and those who haven't been in battle and think it is glorious have no business either being officers or advising the war effort. It is a miserable occupation that is mitigated by the fact we limit our lethal capabilities on willing combatants rather than the population at large. I hope the martial experience and skill the world in general has accrued and will accrue from the war, is never needed again. 