Yesterday we showed our resolve to the Rheinlanders and scored a small, yet meaningful victory for our Republic.
With our forces already in Hamburg, I raced towards the border, commanding the cruiser Florida. Two other Cruisers, along with two gunboats and a small wing of fighters were readying themselves for a strike. Trailing a few minutes behind myself was the Carrier Impreza - Apparently carrying Secondary turrets. I ordered all capital ships to stay hidden in the asteroid field until the fighter wing could establish enemy numbers and firepower. Soon after they left the cloud, a RepEx ship located them and called in the Military. Of course, a fight broke out and the fierce battle had begun.
With most fighters under attack, I took it upon myself to see if we couldn't launch a surprise attack against their capital ships by flying above the plane. The Glacier Peak and the Florida headed out, approximately 14K above plane to spot the enemy cruiser and gunboat sitting near Planet Hamburg. While this was playing out, the fighters were slowly getting overwhelmed by a Rheinland attack wing. A suggestion was made to send in the gunboats for support - One which worked on two levels: 1. Providing support for our forces and 2. Possibly luring out the capital ships far enough so the Glacier Peak and Florida could launch a crippling strike. Unfortunately, the strobe lights that were fitted on the bow of both Cruisers gave our position away to the enemy and they were headed straight for us. At the same time, a Rheinland Battleship suddenly appeared and made its way straight for the fighter wing. I gave the order to put all our assets into battle.
At first, the Rheinland Battleship seemed to be the logical target - However, it soon lost interest in the dodging cruisers and once it had fell behind far enough, we swiftly took down the cruiser that was in hot pursuit of us.
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Now for the hard part - The massive Rheinland Battleship. I ordered all fighters to cover the capital ships by taking down any bombers in range - It was a tall order considering how damaged the fighter wing was, but a necessary risk if we were to eliminate the battleship. Fortunately, the Impreza soon arrived on scene and provided an excellent distraction - Allowing the cruisersFlorida, Glacier Peak and Freedom to engage the battleship. Everything was going well until the captain of the Freedom underestimated the power of the battleship's weapons - They didn't stand a chance at close range and were destroyed in seconds.
The loss of the Freedom only empowered the rest of the fleet and the battleship Wittmund was no more.
With the major threats dealt with, I ordered a full retreat back to Texas. Although battered, bruised and missing a few friends, we made it back to Liberty and had scored a small victory for the Republic.