The Gilgo Stability Intervention

The Gilgo Stability Intervention was a military intervention by Novazem, Betfordland, Retford, and Frosgore against instability in Gilgo caused by rebel attacks on Gilgoan armed forces.

Day 1 - 28th June 2018
After a surprise attack by coalition forces of Novazem, Betfordland and Retford, troops landed and captured the city of Bjordur.They quickly advanced and captured the city of Sorkjel and the switfly pushed back and surrounded Gilgo forces on Frosgore's border. At the same time as the northern offensive, Betfordian marines and Retfordian paratroopers landed on the eastern coast of Gilgo and secured the area around the city of Gjevikki.

Frosgore's parliament decided to allow a military intervention of our forces too and their Defense minister ordered the military and reserve forces to mobilize, at the last moment the PM called off any aggresive actions from taking place.

Day 2 - 29th June 2018
The forces of coalition made some progress today. The Retfordian army landed on the coast, south of Bjordur city in effort to aid the Novazem advance. The two forces combined and captured part of the main highway that leads to capital and completely surrounded the city of Sorikanes. Novazem's army also the surrender of the encircled soldiers on Frosgore's border. Despite heavy fighting, the eastern front remained locked in a stalemate between Retford and Gilgo's forces. Losses were heavy on both sides which forced Gilgo into a retreat.

Day 3 - 30th June 2018
The Coalition forces on the western front made a strong push which payed dividends. However, despite massive headway in the open country, the city of Sorikanes proved to be a bulwark of the Gilgoan defensive line and the Coalition attack was blunted. The Coalition troops consolidated their position and encircled the city. The eastern front was as succesful for the Coalition as the Gilgo army counter attacked with renewed ferocity and pushed hard on the Retfodians. Retford forces lost some ground and the Golgo offensive there continued.

Elsewhere in The Archipelago ,the President of Retford announced a full mobilization within a week and that Retford will deploy more troops to the war in Gilgo. This appeared to be a response to news of a possible civil war brewing in Albion.

Retford has stated that it will remove Gilgo's government, liberate it's people and rebuild it's nation. The public opinion in Retford was supportive of this move, however many of them wished that it did not have to be against Gilgo, an old ally of Retford. After the President's rousing speech the crowd erupted into thunderous applause as he finished.

At 8pm that evening, Retfordian forces with assistance of the 53rd Betfordian tank regiment, launched a counter-offensive which succesfully returned the lines lost earlier that day, restoring the territorial gains of the Coalition on the eastern front. This reset the status quo but seemed to signal that the eastern front was becoming a meat grinder for both sides. Even with the arrival of 10 further divisions from Retford and Betford, the lines would not shift further.

Casualty reports from the previous few days of the conflict were finally coming through which confirmed roughly 7,000 Retfordian and 6000+ Betfordian casualties over the last 3 days of fighting. Gilgoan casualties were still unaccounted for.

Day 4 - 1st July 2018
Both the northern, southern and newly created western fronts made progress. Renia joined the war in exchange for letting them annex all the Gilgo island near their territory as well as allowing them entry to the Archipelago defense pact which moved it's HQ to Renia's capital, Miston as part of the deal. The Renian forces launched a massive offensive south of their territory which swept aside the Gilgoan defenders and swiftly captured two cities. Novazem also captured the city of Sorikanes as well as advancing further to capture Bloknes and Saudark. The eastern front also slowly advanced as the Retfordians finally broke Gilgoan defenses that were fighting a dogged retreat.

Day 5 - 2nd July 2018
Gilgo tries to stop the coalition with increasing desperation. When retreating, they destroyed a large part of the road network and surrounding infastructure to hamper the coalition advance. The coalition now began focusing on conquering the key cities of Syrika, Blonhvamm and Onslauroy. They began surrounding the ouskirts of Syrika and have also progressed south, and are now in the mostly uninhabited part of Gilgo.

Day 6 - 3rd July 2018
Frosgore became embroiled in the war against Gilgo and aided the coalition in pushing along the Gilgoan highways towards the cities of Blonhvamm and Onslauroy to encircle and besiege the area to give the coalition forces a consolidated front in the north. This came at great cost for the coalition as the relentless defiance by the Gilgoan defenders caused every mile to be paid for in coalition casualties. Gilgo forces also managed to counter attack along the central highways and were only stopped from regaining further ground by the Frosgorian push which met them head on. The eastern front had become a stalemate with the front lines shifting and then resetting on an almost hourly basis, with intense close quarters fighting all along the front.

Day 7/8 4th/5th July 2018
The Gilgoan forces finally began to buckle against the overwhelming numbers of the coalition and both fronts made huge advances towards the Gilgoan captial - Gilgotown, with no other major obstacles between the coalition and their prize.

Day 9 6th July 2018
With the capital beseiged and no further cards to play, the Gilgoan government unconditionally surrendered. After intense deliberations, the coalition finally decided on terms that would satisfy their overall goal of bringing peace to the Archipelago, while also settling territorial issues for Renia and Retford, and bringing Gilgo (with their new democratic government) into the defensive pact.