The Siege of Revich (レーヴィチ包囲戦, Rēvicchi Houisen?) was a battle which took place in Death, Be Not Proud. The battle saw the Eighty-Sixth Strike Package and the United Kingdom's 1st Armored Corps' first collaborative effort in their defense of the Revich Observation Base against Legion forces. The battle was mostly fought on two fronts. One front was outside the base proper, with a majority of the Strike Package attempting to reenter the citadel. The other front was inside the base, where a remaining contingent were defending the base from the Legion. It concluded with the successful defense of the Revich Observation Base, which unfortunately had to be abandoned shortly after.
Prelude[]
The Eighty-Sixth Strike Package was dispatched to the United Kingdom for a joint operation to retake Dragon Fang Mountain and suppress the Legion production site, with the capture the Merciless Queen as an extra objective. The Eighty-Sixth Strike Package would lead the assault while the United Kingdom's 1st Armored Corps served as the backup. According to the plan, the 1st Armored Corps would attack the Legion's positions as a diversion, while the Strike Package would take advantage of the resulting gap in the Legion's defensive line to infiltrate and seize control of the Dragon Fang Mountain. The Revich Observation Base—lying seventy kilometers north of the Dragon Fang Mountain—would serve as their base of operation.
Unfortunately, the Legion had long anticipated an attack from the United Kingdom. In fact, the main objective of the sunlight blockage was to force the United Kingdom's forces to attack Dragon Fang Mountain, leaving behind their defensive advantage. Moreover, the Legion also mixed their heavy units, such as Löwe and Dinosauria, with other lighter units deep inside their territory to fool the Esper of the Strike Package, as his ability could not distinguish between the types of Legion. When the operation commenced, a diversionary force was instead facing the eight thousand strong Legion force, with a large number of Löwe and Dinosauria. The result was catastrophic and the entire diversionary force was wiped out.
To completely break the United Kingdom's assault, the Legion also sent an airborne force to attack the Revich Observation Base, coinciding with the Strike-Package's assault on Dragon Fang. They used catapult-type Zentaur to launch a surprise attack with a paratrooper force of Phönix, Skorpion, Self-Propelled Mines, and Ameise. The attack was so successful that Revich's entire surface sector and 80% of the underground sector were quickly captured by the Legion force.
In a stroke of luck, a part of the allied forces still remained inside the base when the Legion attacked, as their departure was delayed due to a maintenance issue. Furthermore, the Legion's trap, used to block a retreat route of the Strike Package, was discovered during the skirmishes few days earlier, and was disabled ahead of time. This allowed the rest of the Strike Package to retreat back to Revich Observation Base.
Although they narrowly avoided the worst case scenario, the situation still remained critical. The Strike Package didn't have sufficient supplies to regroup with the main force, making retreat impossible. Moreover, time was not on their side as the Legion units that previously annihilated their diversionary force would regroup with the besieging Legion. With no other choice, the combined force of the Eighty-Sixth Strike Package and 1st Armored Corps began the siege battle to retake the base.
Battle[]
The battle's initial stage raged on for two days as the Strike Package charged the citadel repeatedly. However, all their attempts to overcome the Legion encirclement had failed. The Legion held major advantages as the defenders. In addition, the Legion airborne force had brought 155 mm howitzers with them. While its original purpose was for destroying the citadel's command ward, the Legion repurposed it to blunt the Strike Package's assaults. To make the situation worse, the Strike Package had to endure a blizzard which hindered their progress greatly.
With mounting casualties, dwindling supplies, as well as combat fatigue, the citadel's commander—Viktor Idinarohk—decided to gamble everything in one all-out assault. On the third day of battle, all remaining Alkonosts and Reginleifs formed a line formation, with the Alkonost units in the vanguard and the Reginleifs behind them.
The Strike Package proceeded to launch an attack on the southern side of the citadel. The first wave of Alkonosts were quickly met by the bombardment of the Skorpions and were wiped out to the last unit. However, they had achieved their objective by clearing all obstacles, assembling an upward-sloping bridge using the Alkonosts' frames, and thus creating the path for the second wave.
With the sacrifice of the Alkonosts, the Strike Package finally reached the top level of citadel. They made short work of a group of Skorpion types as well as remaining Legion on the surface level. In response, the Phönix came forward and the meet the attacking force. Meanwhile, the Legion in the underground section had intensified their assault on the citadel's command center. The wave after wave of Ameise and Self-propelled Mines repeatedly charged toward the defending force. Despite this, the defenders had succeeded in repelling the Legion's assault.
The fight between the Strike Package's Reginleifs and the Phönix raged on the surface level. Despite the inferior mobility of Reginleifs, the Strike Package took advantage of the Phönix's fixation with Captain Nouzen, by having the Undertaker act as bait while the others overwhelmed the Phönix with any wide-area weapons such as proximity fuses, cluster warheads, machine guns, and autocannons. The Phönix, having sustained heavy damage.
Aftermath[]
The allied forces suffered major losses during the siege, making their initial mission more difficult. At the end of battle, the Strike Package had witnessed one of the commanders of the Legion forces for the first time, the one they called the Merciless Queen. Surprisingly, the Legion commander did not press the attack and simply moved on. Regardless, the collapse of the first defensive line forced the Strike Package to abandon the citadel in spite of their valiant effort to reclaim it. Consequently, the Legion finally gained foothold in the United Kingdom's territory and continued their advance to the second defensive line.