Spain, Hungary Face Homeland Invasions, Day 888

Day 888, 16:31 • Published in USA USA • by Lieutenant Scheisskopf

The mayhem from Days 885-886 has only slightly dissipated, with war on several fronts as both sides angle for position. Some continuing issues are emerging, along with new developments which could carry grave implications in the coming days.

Western Europe
Brazil Controls the Canary Islands, Approaches Europe’s Doorstep
Recall from Day 886, when the eSpanish willingly activated 18 mutual protection pacts (MPPs) against itself by attacking eBrazil at North of Brazil (No😎 in order to gain a war with eSlovenia, one of eBrazil’s MPPs and a bordering country of eSpain, via the chain reaction clause. While this moved served eSpain and EDEN well in the short-term as they conquered the eSlovenian-occupied Rhone Alps on Day 887, Day 888 has shown that the move may come to haunt the powerful Iberian country as eBrazil dominated their fight for the Canary Islands. With the victory only minutes fresh, eBrazil has taken its 18 MPPs onto mainland Spain and launched an attack on Andalusia, in the process activating eSpain’s remaining MPPs, but still holding an 18-12 advantage on that count. An eBrazilian offensive into the Iberian Peninsula is not without precedent, as eBrazil briefly occupied Andalusia during World War 3.

eSpain comes under fire as eBrazil advances from the Canary Islands while eItaly
has attacked eSpain's Balearic Islands from Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea

Italy Joins the Fray, Attacks Spain, Croatia
Although eItaly has traditionally been a Phoenix supporter and was at war with eSpain several months ago, the eItalians were largely reduced to a facilitation role during the Day 885-886 melee and did not fight any active wars themselves. Day 888 changed this, as eItaly first attacked eSpain's Balearic Islands, and followed it up with an attack on eCroatian-occupied Carinthia. Both walls are high and well-defended at the moment, as the relatively underpowered eItaly has attacked two countries much stronger than itself. Because eItaly attacked an eCroatian colony and not a native region, they did not activate the eCroats’ impressive MPP array, but have blocked eCroatia's advance for now; however, they now have 12 eSpanish MPPs aligned against them, if the attacks stall.

On the other hand, this move opens a two front war on the eSpanish, and if Phoenix chooses to, they could use the eBrazilian and eItalian fronts to really put the pressure on eSpain in the coming days. EDEN is likely well aware of this, as the recent peace proposal between ePoland and eSpain will enable the two EDEN powers to be formally allied by game mechanics once more, ending their region swapping operations and enabling a more defensive posture. Combine this with the eUS proposed MPP with eSpain and the ePolish-eUS MPP, and it seems that EDEN is preparing to live by the 'defense' portion of its name once more.

Croatia, Romania Continue Attacks on Hungary

EDEN has attacked every remaining native eHungarian (bright green) region,
while eRomania also keeps eSerbia and eBulgaria tied up in additional battles

Server reset witnessed the coordinated strikes of eCroatia and eRomania on additional eHungarian regions, as eCroatia first attacked Central Transdanubia, followed minutes later by an eRomanian strike on Central Hungary. The eCroat strike against Southern Transdanubia, combined with eRomania’s attack on Northern Hungary has put every remaining native eHungarian region under attack and defending against hostile forces for the first time in nearly a year. However, only the eCroat-backed attacks are encountering success, as eRomania’s offensive pits the EDEN power with only one ally against 15 defending nations; eCroatia enjoys considerably better odds in a 15-15 MPP struggle with the Phoenix defender.

The attacks on eHungary’s mainland look more devastating than they really are, as eHungary will still operate freely from Heilongjiang, eHungary’s real nerve center and prime economic source. Moreover, while eHungary has already lost three regions, resistance wars (RWs) are underway in the conquered Northern Great Plain and Southern Transdanubia, either of which has a chance at succeeding and would help eHungary remain in Europe-- although it is worth repeating that eRomania’s attacks do not appear to be having much success at this point, apart from diluting eHungary’s defense and letting eCroatia continue to advance.

Additional Attacks on Phoenix Balkan States

eRomania's armed forces are being heavily worked as they launch
additional attacks on their neighboring Phoenix countries

The Balkans region has seen additional attacks targeting eSerbia, with eRomania attacking solo against eSerbia’s stack of MPPs at Eastern Serbia and Vojvodina (see the map above). Along with these, eRomania has attacked eBulgaria’s Vidin once more. Neither attack is having success, but neither are intended to. The EDEN strategy in the Balkans region seems, thus far, to be on tying up the Phoenix powers with eRomanian blocking attacks while eCroatia uses its MPPs to their advantage. If eRomania relented on attacking either Phoenix power, it would jeopardize the success of eCroatia’s attacks, or enable eSerbia to attack eCroatia and put the EDEN member on defense.

Meanwhile, eCroatia has continued its offensive against eSlovenia, and took the battle of Carinthia as the eSlovene president retreated. A follow-up attack is likely if eItaly's block on eCroatia relents.

Berlin Returned to Germany as Poland Regains Pomerania
The eGerman declaration of war on, and subsequent attack against, the eNetherlands on Day 887 opened a war up with eRussia via the chain reaction clause, enabling eRussia to swap Brandenburg and Berlin back to the eGermans. With the move, eGermany is nearly whole, lacking only the eSwedish-occupied Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, another high grain region. The eGerman capital which for months remained under ePolish control until Day 886 has been returned to its natural owner; ePoland does not currently have an active war with eGermany, but time will tell whether the EDEN giant will seek the region’s high grain for itself once more. At the same time, ePoland became whole again itself, as the eRussian president retreated from Pomerania on Day 887. However, the damage has been done for ePoland, as its native regions hold no high resource regions to speak of, and sixty thousand ePoles are now confined to six resource-strapped territories.

Asia Minor

Greece, Israel Attack Mainland Turkey
Having removed the Phoenix member from the Levant, eIsrael and eGreece coordinated two simultaneous attacks on the Mediterranean Coast of Turkey at server reset on Day 888. Both attacks are in the underground as the battle enters the final third of its 24-hour allotment, but because the eGreek front precedes the eIsraeli front by four minutes, the region would fall to the EDEN power unless the eTurkish president were to retreat from the eIsraeli battlefront first. Asia Minor predominately plays a backseat to European and Asian battles, but it would be interesting to see if attention here increases were eGreece to pursue a deep offensive against their rival in Anatolia in the upcoming days.

Asia
Russia, India on the Attack

eRussia attempts to overshadow eChina's flag over Jilin

eRussia took the initiative against its eChinese rivals early in Day 888 with an attack on Jilin, the strategic region which straddles both of Phoenix’s high iron fortresses in North China, in the hopes of wresting the region back from eChina. No attacks launched from Jilin by eChina have been successful, but have nagged eHungary and eSerbia as their focus rests on Europe, so eRussian’s regained control of the region could benefit Phoenix in securing one front from further conflict.

In the southern part of the continent, eIndia opened an attack on Sindh, the final eSerbian possession in South Asia. If successful, it is unclear what would become of the natively ePakistani region, as it is highly unlikely that eIndia would act in conjunction with their fierce rival to return a region peacefully. Sindh, however, holds little of value and if eIndia did win this battle, could be more trouble defending than it would be worth. Of course, eIndia needs to win the battle first, something it is not doing at the time this article was published.

Closing Thoughts
EDEN’s strategy in Eastern Europe seems to be coming together, although the value of defeating all of mainland eHungary is still questionable since doing so gains little of value for EDEN and does not eliminate the Phoenix force. The eSpanish could be in serious trouble if Phoenix sustains this two-front assault on the EDEN power, although no eSpanish fortress would be within striking distance for at least 3 days. For EDEN's sake, it is encouraging to see that its member states are remembering why they are allied-- especially important when combating a Phoenix adversary who has been far more organized and clear in purpose in recent weeks. We may see more focus given to the war on the Iberian Peninsula as the front intensifies, but it is equally possible that a prolonged eGreek offensive into eTurkey may gain international attention as well. One thing is certain: there is no shortage of story lines in this latest outbreak of war.

God Bless America,

Lt. Scheisskopf

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