Roleplay > War and Conflict

Tamoran involvement in Merina

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Markus:


Colonel Jamadar, commander of the Tamoran troops in Merina

The Tamoran troops had been deployed to Merina for a few weeks now. Two thousand men, some of them veterans from the Clysperis civil war, one squadron of SU 35 and anti-aircraft were all under the command of Colonel Jamadar.

Spoiler:  Tamoran contingent in Merina • show

Army Contingent



Air Contingent
1 x A-50E
12 x Ka-50
12 x Su-34
24 x Su-35
1x  Il-78




His orders were clear, he was to make his presence known in Merina so that other foreign powers would be reluctant to actively engage in Merina and also to help President Nguessa win the war. The latter seemed like a too distant target to achieve but for now he had to make sure the Merinan army would benefit from the training, consultation and satellite support Tamora was providing. The other part was to decide where to commit his troops. The Merinan army where fighting on all sides and he decided that concentrating his forces to support the Merinan army against the National Liberation Army would be the best move.


Colonel Jamadar was of the opinion that focusing only on those aspects would not be enough. Strengthening the Merinan army by training, equipment and troop support would only get the government army so far. No, he needed to weaken the other factions. Djerb was handling the easy part, the online war, his intelligence officers would need to actually do the work on the ground. He was having the third meeting on the subject and he wasn't pleased with the results so he was raising his tone at this men:


"It seems I need to repeat myself. Do not tell me all of them are loyal and willing to die for their warlords. There are plenty who hate their warlords as much as they hate Nguessa. Find a way to get to them and offer them our cooperation if they turn sides or even if they just give us precious info regarding their weaknesses. If they want money, give it to them. If they want prestige tell me and I'll make sure Djerb gives them some honorific title and some cushy job. If they have families tell them we'll see to it that they never have to work a day in their entire lives.


Dismissed."

Markus:
One of the major issues Colonel Jamadar had to deal with was Nguessa’s lack of popularity. People didn't like him and for good reason. Djerb's online efforts meant to paint him as the rational choice and the best option out of a series of bad ones could only go so far. People needed to see change in their lives or at least change enough that could later be used to promote the idea that things were improving in Merina. Colonel Jamadar was briefed on the situation of the refugees:


"The situation of the refugees is not good. Many have fled the country already to Marseilles and Aosta while others are still stuck in refugees centers in various parts of the country,  some of which are in the areas controlled by the government. To make matters worse there is banditry in areas that are virtually lawless as no faction has control “ said one of the Tamoran intelligence officers.

Colonel Jamadar then issued his orders:

“We first need to address the refugees in those camps that are under the protection of the government. Nguessa has so be seen as doing its job in order to justify that it is not just a faction fighting for control but the legitimate government. Have our NGOs start bringing in supplies and medical staff at the refugee centers as soon as possible. I will contact Djerb and ask them to do the same in Marseilles and Aosta.


Then we need to get in touch with the bandits. Some of them we can reason with and move them on our paylist. They can't be making that much from stealing. I want them to become our guys on the ground, protecting the areas instead of looting them. Nguessa needs more allies, they would be a start. Especially if those who might be interested to defect from other factions see how we treat our new allies.


Thirdly, I want our NGOs to attempt to recruit in the refugees centers. We would train and equip them. Having an extra paramilitary organization could come in handy in the future but more importantly I'd rather have them fighting for us then see them be potentially be recruited by others. "


"I don't know how many would be willing to fight for Nguessa' said one of the intelligence officers. 


"I am not hoping to appeal to their love of country but rather to the idea that they would be earning a good wage, one that would allow their families to live a decent life in the refugee camps. Especially since our NGOs would be there, they could give their families priority care if they join us. I want to see more people have a stake in Nguessa winning this war.


Dismissed."

Markus:
Since the Tamoran forces arrived in Merina, they’ve been actively fighting two wars, the standard one for the physical control of the country and the propaganda war for the soul of the country. “There is no point in having Nguessa win the war if he loses control of the country almost immediately due to his unpopularity” is what Colonel Jamadar always told his intelligence officers during his briefings with them. So they were trying to find and recruit allies for president Nguessa. For now it was refugees at the camps, bandits and potential deserters. He now needed to step up the game. He had his intelligence officers compile a report about the situation on the ground in the major cities under Nguessa’s control and was being briefed about it:

Intel officer (IO): “The general picture is bleak, high unemployment, widespread poverty and corruption of officials and little economic activity. The people have a lot of time on their hands and nothing to do. That makes them susceptible to wrong ideas and desperate. “   
Colonel Jamadar(CJ):  “We need to keep them busy, give them something to do. Would they be willing to join Nguessa’s forces?”
IO:  “Not in a million years, and they are the kind of people that even if they did join you wouldn’t want them near your troops. They would be a liability. Our suggestion was something different, we would like to start paying some of them each day to distribute propaganda and organize cells. Ideally each guy would be responsible for ten other men. It would be a pyramid structure with two or three layers in each major city. “
CJ: “Go on.”
IO: “It would keep them busy spreading rumors, fliers maybe even do some community work to help the locals repair some of their houses. “
CJ: “And how would they be linked with Nguessa’s image so it reflects good on him?”
IO: “We organize them into an informal volunteer corps, we can call it Merina Unity Front or some other name. They go around saying they represent Nguessa, do community work, talk well about him or at least bad about his rivals. People will see that if you are on Nguessa’s side you get paid and the community improves. They will also start fearing that if he loses then they also lose that income. “
CJ: “I like it, go on”.
IO: “The other issue is education, less and less children are attending schools. While we don’t perfect data, there are definitely problems in some areas of the major cities. We would like to start paying the parents to send their children to school and we hope to have the “volunteers” from the soon to be establish Merina Unity Front teach at least an hour a week some “civic education” to the students, to explain to them what the stakes of the war are, who are the good guys etc. We expect the local authorities to be reluctant at first but some bribes should help them see our way. ” 
CJ:” I like it, begin immediately. I also want to have a meeting with one of the mayors or Prophet knows who runs their cities. I want to know what their problems are and how can we help. So see to it that you get me in touch with one that is friendly and talkative. “

Dijel:
Marshal of Merina Alium Deumi; MNAF Southeast Command Headquarters, N'gal Tsata, Merina

The Merinan National Armed Forces Southeast Command - the formation in charge of the critical campaign in Pindar - was headquartered in the city of N'gal Tsata, just beyond the heartlands of Pindar proper. Even in February, it was hot here, though not as bitingly arid as up in the highlands, a relief in many ways even if the more humid climate brought with it a preponderance of mosquitoes. The town had not, all things considered, been overly ravaged by the years of war, though its character had nonetheless been changed by the conflict; as the major supply hub for the Merinan armies in Pindar, many of the sons drafted into the Commonwealth's service had found themselves replaced by rear-echelon supply troops. While these men had brought a much-needed boost to the local economy, much of this had been directed into the black market, with various military supplies now circulating as contraband amongst the civilian population. In return, the locals had turned to meet the needs of the soldiers - prostitution, drugs and gambling were all through the roof - much to the chagrin of the local constabulary, who much of the time found their needs subordinated to those of the army.

Little of this surrounding iniquity infiltrated the headquarters complex itself - the officers, at least, retained the dignity to keep their mistresses off-base - and the handsome stone-clad main building retained its turn-of-the-century sense of grandeur. The place was located a few miles to the east of the city proper, amidst the outermost and most affluent suburbs. Originally built as an Officers' training college, it offered generous facilities and accommodations for the MNAF staff and soldiers more accustomed to life in the field, including several acres of semi-wild parkland and an improvised golf course. Returning from a visit to the front, Marshal Deumi, Merina's foremost soldier - if one was to overlook the presidency - had invited the commander of the Tamoran forces in Merina, Colonel Jamadar, to an informal meeting to discuss the current state of affairs. Though Alium did not precisely consider the relationship with his Tamoran counterpart a close one, they had enjoyed an amiable working partnership in the Tamoran's eight months in the country so far.

The Marshal was in his little, borrowed, office when the gatehouse called to inform him the Colonel was on the way. The space was a drab affair, maps each of Merina and Pindar on the walls, along with a relatively modest Merinan tricolour. Rather hopefully, a bag of golf clubs had been tactfully positioned by the door. There was an apprehensive knock.

"Enter" Alium called, stiffly. The door came open a little, revealing a well turned-out young man clad in possibly the only ironed uniform in MNAF southeast.

"Colonel Jamadar to see you, sir" The youngster informed him, curiously, the effect of his snappy salute somewhat diluted by banging his elbow, loudly, on the door frame.

"Thank-you, Corporal" Alium smiled, paternalistically "Are you alright, son?"

"Yes, sir, thank-you sir, sorry sir" The soldier stammered, clearly embarrassed "Um, should I ask the Colonel to wait, sir?"

"That's quite alright, bring him through now, if you could please. And put the kettle on while you're at it, there's a good lad"

"Sir" The Corporal saluted again, taking more care of his surroundings this time, before disappearing again. Momentarily, the Tamoran visitor was ushered into the office.

"It is good to see you again, Mister Jamadar" The Marshal smiled, standing to shake hands "I do hope the journey wasn't too demanding? Please, do take a seat" He gestured to a little wooden stool, similar to the one he hislef was seated upon "Could we provision you with tea? Coffee? Some nibbles, maybe?"

Markus:
As Colonel Jamadar made his way to the office of Marshal of Merina Alium Deumi he couldn’t help but remember how optimist Djerb was when it ordered his deployment. The initial estimates were that his deployment won’t last more than 6 months and yet here he was more than 8 months into it and it seemed that a stable Merina was nowhere in sight. Still progress was made and more importantly Olumbe Nguessa’s government had not fallen which meant main objective was achieved. It also gave Colonel Jamadar and his forces the time to try and prop up some support for Olumbe Nguessa. How successful were their efforts was something harder to asses.

Now he would be meeting again with Marshal of Merina Alium Deumi. In the eight months he spent in Merina they worked reasonably well together this was all he could have hoped for. Also, despite both of them being in the military they agreed to not use rank (ooc: hope that part is ok):

“It is good to see you too Mr. Deumi.”

“Tea would be fine” he said while taking a seat and discretely observing the room. He noticed and appreciated to see the Merinan flag through he found it to be a bit too modest for his taste and compared with the Tamoran flag he had in his office.

He waited for the Marshel to begin. He knew that the ceasefire would soon be over and he expected that to be among the topics of the day.

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