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While ePakistan continued its crusade against eIndia, some chinks appeared in ePakistan's seemingly invincible armor on Day 1057, as eIndia rebounded from its loss of Karnataka and made some minor gains of its own. Day 1057 also witnessed an intensification of the ePolish-eRussian front with an explosion of new battles and a new country's entry into the fight, along with some Phoenix strikes on EDEN powers in Southeast Europe. Combined, it makes for an interesting day with the potential of shaping how the war continues.

Russia-Poland Front Heats Up
Although ePoland and eRussia are squaring off in the frozen steppes of Russia, their fights have seriously heated up, with five battles started on Day 1057. The action began when eRussia attacked ePoland at its occupied Western Siberia at 05:35 eRep time, and accompanied a resistance war (RW) on eUSA-occupied Far Eastern Russia (FER) . Hours later, ePoland opened its own four-pronged attack starting with Leningrad Oblast; additional fronts opened in the next three minutes, bringing Leningrad Oblast, Central Black Earth, Volga, and Volga Vyatka all under fire by 09:30. At stake are three high grain regions, and four of eRussia’s remaining 6 regions; only Urals, which was successfully defended the previous day at the expense of Moscow, and the North Caucasus were without attack.

ePoland attacked four eRussian regions on Day 1057, putting 2/3 of eRussia's
remaining regions under fire and drawing strong eRussian resistance.

While all four of ePoland’s targeted regions are evenly matched at this point, eRussia’s attack on Western Siberia has gone in its favor and could result in the first serious loss for ePoland since this campaign began. The lack of success on ePoland’s part could be explained by overextension and over-ambitious planning, since its attacking forces must account for four fronts; although it does appear that ePoland has been able to make gains in Volga Vyatka, the other three attacked regions either still hang in the balance or have eRussia holding control of them. To target so many regions is a dangerous strategy, but it could push eRussia to the brink of being overwhelmed if it cannot properly defend them all. These battles will come down to the side with deeper pockets or the side who deploys their soldiers most strategically at the close of each phase of war, and whether eRussia is decimated or ePoland is reversed will vary widely depending on these two factors.

Romania Invades Russia
Late in Day 1057, eRomania officially declared war against eRussia, opening a second EDEN-backed front on the North Caucasus region. eRomania had swapped through the eUkraine to reach the Caucasus Mountains, and in doing so, have increased the pressure on eRussia. The attack brings a fifth region of eRussia's remaining six under fire, and a victory by eRomania in North Caucasus would give the EDEN power a platform to stage attacks on several other eRussian regions if the ePolish efforts fail. As this front is in its very early stages, it is difficult at this time to anticipate a winner; however, eRussia now has 6 battles consuming its attention, and it is quite likely that the Phoenix member will lose several of them by sheer lack of numbers to counter all the attacks.


ePakistan was on the attack on Day 1056 (left), but it was eIndia making
moves on Day 1057 with RWs and an attack on the eUSA (right)

Karnataka Falls, India Attempts Counterattack
Continuing the trend on the Indo-Pakistani front, ePakistan conquered eIndia’s jewel region, Karnataka, in stunning fashion early in Day 1057. The move dealt eIndia a stunning-- albeit, predictable-- blow by denying eIndia access to its iron-rich territory, inviting a counterattack on the region minutes after its conquest and minutes before ePakistan attacked the final remaining region, Kerala at 07:49. Since Kerala was eIndia’s last remaining region, the country opened four RWs throughout Days 1056-1057 in Bihar, Gujarat, North Eastern India, and Orissa. Any victory in any of these regions would give eIndia a fighting chance to last another day, although failures here and ePakistani victories on the other fronts could have signalled the death blow to eIndia and the end of conflict on this front for the time being. The victory in the Bihar RW will keep eIndia alive, and an attack launched by eIndia against eUSA-occupied West Bengal is eIndia’s latest effort to win back its country piece-by-piece-- although attacking the eUSA and its 13 mutual protection pacts (MPPs) will most likely fail.

It would be interesting to see what becomes of eIndia if their RWs passed, since many border the eUSA. eUS President Colin Lantrip has expressed his desire for monkey business and shouted his love of Karma Tacos, and monkey business could ensue during and after these RWs. If Orissa fell to the resistance and then was quickly attacked by the eUSA, it would put Karnataka one step closer from the eAmericans, which may likely be the end objective. How ePakistan would react remains to be seen, but these RWs are certainly more worth monitoring than their surface value would indicate.

Phoenix Attempts Offensive on Croatia, Romania
Phoenix was on the offensive early in Day 1057, as eHungary opened attacks against eCroatian-held Prekmurje and eRomania’s Banat early in the day’s outbreak. Both attacks were secured in time, but eCroatia’s hold on Prekmurje looked tenuous at times and could have faltered under the additional strain of two eCroat attacks against eSlovenia at Styria and Carinthia and Lower Carniola, which eCroatia opened on 05:35 and successfully won. A third front against eCroatia opened when eSerbia intervened at Slavonia, and eSerbia also launched a diversionary attack against eRomania’s Oltenia which preceded an eRomanian strike against eHungary’s Northern Great Plain but has weakened the EDEN member’s fight in NGP and any support for the eCroat offensive. Each attack has met varying degrees of success, but combined, Day 1057’s new developments could signal a change on a front which has been solidly EDEN-dominated, if Phoenix is able to win any of these regions and establish some form of momentum.

Final Thoughts
On a whole, EDEN’s progress may have hit a limit on Day 1057, as Phoenix opened the most coherent counteroffensive against eCroatia and eRomania that it has been able to mount in several weeks. Combine this with ePoland’s limited success against eRussia, and Phoenix may be able to reverse the string of defeats it has been dealt in the recent past. While they are not Phoenix or EDEN, even ePakistan experienced a minor setback in a day in which other fronts, showing that no outcome is an entirely foregone conclusion.
As for the new media module changes, I am disappointed. This does not affect me personally since I always publish in the eUS, but the better solution to address spam articles would have been to disable org voting. I do applaud the admins' for seeing that the media module needed to be addressed, but find fault in their implementation; I hope they see the reactions and feedback, the suggestions from Nanotik, and make further changes accordingly.

God Bless America,

Lt. Scheisskopf