Solar War Vignettes - Blood Rot Line
Date: 0123 R.C.
Author: iaart
Giants above the trenches.
With the escalation of the Apason Conflict, Itzmilco’s invasion of the Emerald Alliance became an inevitability, and with it, open warfare across the largest and most volatile land border on Plateia. The Coalition Forces, fully anticipating such an outcome, fully intended to make every inch of territory as costly as possible for the advancing Itzmilcans. Expecting that neither side would attain full air superiority, the CFA’s engineers were tasked with the creation of static defense networks; trenches were dug in, fortifications were erected and rivers were electrified, all in the name of buying the embattled defenders more time. After an initial spree of crushing defeats, the CFA gradually managed to grind the Itzmilcan war machine to a halt, not far from the capital of the border republic of New Orange.
The town of Bloedrots became the ill-fated frontline of this static conflict. What had once been a quaint town just under 100,000 people is now little more than rubble and ruins, reclaimed by the rising mud. Trench lines sprawl for miles in each direction, the soil thoroughly scarred by routine bombardment—conventional and nuclear. Even mobile fencers, typically more than amply equipped for piercing static defenses, have thus far been unable to penetrate either side’s defensive networks. They, too, have had trenches carved for their usage; far more spacious and fortified than that of the conventional infantry, allowing them to snipe enemy assets from afar. Below the surface, a meticulous network of interconnected bunkers exist parallel to the trench war above, hosting barracks, infirmaries and nuclear shelters. Tunnelers on both sides work constantly to counter one anothers’ efforts, fighting a grueling subterranean war across hastily-dug tunnels, cave systems and the former town’s sewage system.
The marshes, once driven back by civil engineering projects two centuries prior, have since crept back to reclaim their former territory. The entire battlefield is prone to constant flooding, especially in the rainy season. The trenches are perpetually muddy, and the marshy ground has placed a great strain on logistics—even the odd mobile fencer may, at times, find itself struggling against the fetid mud.
The swamps also brought with them a fertile breeding ground for disease, and the bloated corpses that float to its surface do little to help the matter. It is from this that the battlefield derives its name—a cruel pun on the namesake of the fallen town and a reference to the ever-lingering threat of sickness posed by the foul miasma of the marshes. Even with modern medical technology, the sheer logistical strain of this frontline has made it nearly impossible for either side to fully inoculate or treat their forces, to which many succumb to the panoply of ailments the trenches have to offer.
The Coalition’s insistence on holding the line at Bloedrots has much to do with the interstate highway network. Were Bloedrots to fall—and with it, no doubt the rest of New Orange in quick succession—it would sever vital logistical routes to Nephi and the Esmarian west coast more broadly. The Coalition Forces remain deeply averse to using the old highways in nearby Saddlerock, given the persistent threat LeBlancist militias and roving tech-bandits pose to convoys and cargo.