(DTNS) – The nation of Milintica is reeling as the Xiomeran Empire has launched military strikes in retaliation for the capture of a Xiomeran surveillance plane and crew.
Despite the attempted crackdown on the media by the government of Neina Arana, DTNS was able to observe the aftermath of a series of missile launches and naval bombardments that struck two airfields near the Milintican capital of Huānoch. The Milintican defense ministry has claimed that the attacks had little impact. However, DTNS reporters and Milintican civilians have captured footage showing dozens of Milintican warplanes destroyed on their runways and in their hangars. The Xiomeran defense ministry, for its part, is claiming that Imperial forces have destroyed almost the entire Milintican air force and navy.
Communications with the Ngāmotu Islands, just west of the Milintican mainland, have also unexpectedly been cut. The Xiomeran defense ministry is reporting that Imperial Marines, supported by a Xiomeran expeditionary naval force, have begun seizing the islands. The Milintican government has refused to comment on those claims, or explain the loss of communications to Ngāmotu.
The Milintican government has ordered a general mobilization of all Milintican military and security forces. It has also activated the extensive network of bunkers and defensive weapons around its coasts, and scattered around the country. President Arana appeared briefly on state television, denouncing “Xiomeran imperialist aggression” and pledging that “the Milintican people and their shield, the People’s Army, will throw the Xiomerans back into the sea.”
But the brave public face of the Arana government does not seem to have reassured her people. DTNS reporters and Milintican observers are reporting that a feeling of panic is spreading among the populace, with rumors of a full-scale Xiomeran invasion growing. Civilians have begun fleeing from the coastal areas into the countryside, hindering the efforts of the Milintican military to deploy. Observers are also reporting that some Milintican military and security forces may be deserting rather than fight for the Arana government. With Milintica’s military and security forces already struggling to contain domestic opposition to Arana before the Xiomeran strikes, it is unclear how Huānoch will be able to stop any Xiomeran action.
“The Milinticans seem to be counting on their network of bunkers and defensive emplacements to stop the Xiomerans,” defense analyst Steven Palmer told DTNS. “Those defenses will surely slow the Xiomerans down and rack up some casualties. But Xiomera has proven willing to levy massive firepower against its foes in the past, without regard for civilian casualties or destruction. They could well decide to pound Milintica’s defenses into dust before launching an amphibious assault.”
Palmer also warned that the fractious Milintican political situation will make a coherent defense far harder. “Milintica was already dealing with internal upheaval and opposition to the Arana regime, due to her unpopular decisions like leaving the UCS. The election scandal discovered by Huenya also shattered Arana’s credibility with her people. This is hardly an ideal situation to mount a defense against a battle-hardened enemy who is far more powerful than you to begin with.”
The Xiomeran government, for its part, has signaled that Milintica can still stave off a full-fledged invasion. But in the usual Xiomeran fashion, there is a hefty price tag. “Milintica must meet five demands to satisfy the insults delivered to the Xiomeran Empire,” Empress Calhualyana told the media today. Those demands include the immediate release of the captured surveillance plane and crew. They also include Milintica permanently dropping all claims to Aoatea, which Xiomera calls the Chenalco Islands. The Xiomeran government is also demanding that Milintica cede Ngāmotu to the Empire as well.
Xiomera is also demanding that Milintica permanently demobilize its military, as well as the Popular Freedom Militia and Red Wave Guards guerrilla groups. The final demand is that President Arana and her entire cabinet resign. “We will not allow Milintica to cause mischief and trouble around the world anymore,” the Empress said. “It is time for the grown-ups to discipline the unruly children and make them behave.”
It is highly unlikely that the Arana government will agree to those demands. It is also unclear that Xiomerans will accept them either. Far-right XCP hardliners are calling for the Empire to annex all of Milintica. “We must purge the world of Milintica’s lunatic communist government and bring it under the stability and order of the Empire,” Almahuatzan, Imperial Parliament member from Texca, told a cheering crowd in Tlālacuetztla today. Almahuatzan leads the powerful Parliamentary Committee on National Defense, and is among the “war hawk” caucus of the Parliament.
