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Chapter 184: Breaking the Defense Line, T'Chaka! (1)
🕑 Added 2025-01-24 14:33:24 +0000 UTC"Your Majesty, these Ethiopians have completely betrayed us. The first line of defense has fallen, and the enemy is rapidly approaching the second line of defense. You should take the queen and retreat immediately!" T'Pani, the Chief of the border tribes and Wakanda's military leader, rushed into the palace in a disheveled state and reported to Azzuri, who was sitting on the throne.
As a small nation with limited territory and population, Wakanda could not afford to have too many layers of defense.
In total, there were only three lines of defense; the grasslands and jungles on the borders, the mountain ranges in the central region, and the royal capital in the center.
The country's total military force wasn't large. Not counting the Ethiopian troops they had gathered, Wakanda's native soldiers numbered about 120,000.
Most of them had been recruited recently, after abandoning their isolationist policies. Initially, Wakanda maintained a standing army of only 30,000.
With a population of just over two million and a history of isolationism, it was impossible to maintain a large standing army.
Currently, half of Wakanda's forces are stationed in Ethiopia to maintain control and defend its borders, leaving just over 60,000 soldiers to protect the original Wakandan land.
After ending their isolation, Wakanda had also deployed over 100,000 auxiliary forces at the outer borders, bringing the total military strength to over 200,000.
The Wakandans were known for their warrior culture. If necessary, they could mobilize the entire population and raise tens of thousands more soldiers.
But the UN forces moved faster than anyone expected.
By the time the Wakandans realized the threat, the UN forces were less than 50 kilometers from their border.
The UN air force was the first to enter the battlefield, launching air strikes on Wakanda's defenses.
This force consisted of over 100 Mirage III fighters from the US, France, and Britain, as well as over 100 MiG-21 fighters produced by the Soviet Union last year.
These aircraft took off from Eritrea. Knowing that conventional light weapons were almost useless against the vibranium-equipped Wakandans, the planes carried only powerful bombs. They even reduced their fuel loads for extra capacity.
Although the Mirage III and MiG-21 were high-altitude, high-speed fighters, they could serve as bombers in this situation. But their payload capacity was limited. After weight reduction, each aircraft could carry only two to three tons of bombs.
The combined payload of 300-400 tons of bombs was not very powerful.
But the UN forces didn't care because these fighters were not their main strike force.
As expected, Wakanda's air force was deployed in large numbers after the bombing began.
Surprisingly, Wakanda's air force consisted entirely of jet fighters. Although their numbers were fewer than the UN forces, they still had over 100 jets.
Had the bombing been carried out by conventional bombers, the Wakandans would have gained a significant advantage.
However, UN commanders Eisenhower and Vasilevsky had already anticipated this.
While the Wakandan air force was modern, intelligence suggested it was unlikely they had developed jets beyond the Mirage III or MiG-21, which were 10-15 years ahead of their time.
This was confirmed during the confrontation. Wakanda's jets were slightly more advanced than first-generation fighters, but not by much. They could barely break the speed of sound and lacked agility.
They were nothing like the advanced aircraft seen in the movies.
Although these jets were durable and resistant to conventional weapons, they were outmaneuvered by the Mirage III and MiG-21, which had completed their bombing runs and lost weight. The Wakandan jets were easily lured out of Wakandan airspace.
At this point, the UN's real air attack force emerged from the clouds—thousands of medium and heavy bombers.
Divided into three groups, these bombers launched intense attacks on Wakanda's three lines of defense.
Precision was not an issue in the bombing. They targeted any visible structure, military or civilian, indiscriminately. Fresh from World War II, the nations involved had little regard for the Geneva Conventions outside of negotiations. (TL/N: The Geneva Conventions are a set of international treaties that establish rules for how people should be treated during war. The conventions protect civilians, soldiers, and medical and religious personnel.)
After dropping their payloads, the bombers scattered into smaller groups and withdrew in different directions.
As former colonies of Great Britain and France, many old airfields still existed throughout Africa. Although these two nations had largely lost control of the region, the UN's promises of shared benefits allowed them to quickly regain control of these airfields.
With the bombers scattered in all directions, the Wakandan Air Force, rushing back after receiving the news, had no idea which route to take.
In addition, their fuel was nearly depleted after being toyed by the high-speed fighter jets earlier, forcing them to land in frustration.
In the end, only a few bombers were unlucky enough to be shot down. Overall, the UN forces suffered negligible losses.
In stark contrast, Wakanda's three lines of defense were devastated by the relentless aerial bombardment.
While Wakanda had an abundance of vibranium, that did not mean that every part of their defenses was made entirely of the metal. Inevitably, there were flaws.
The most significant blow, however, was the loss of life.
The destructive power of the bombs was immense. Wakandan soldiers sheltered inside vibranium fortifications were safe, but those caught in the open were doomed.
To make matters worse, the airstrikes included a horrifying twist—yellow and green smoke began to spread in some areas.
These were traces of sarin and mustard gas.
Biochemical weapons had been mixed into the bombs.
Because of the multinational nature of the UN air force, it was impossible to quickly determine which country was responsible for this atrocity.
The Wakandans had never expected the UN forces to stoop so low.
Even during World War II, neither the Allies nor the Soviets had used biochemical weapons on the front lines. While the Germans had stockpiled such weapons, they used them only in concentration camps, not in open combat.
Historically, only Italy and Japan had used biochemical weapons on the battlefield.
However, neither of these nations had forces in the UN coalition, as they were not allowed to maintain armies so soon after the war.
However, under these circumstances, the UN Air Force had brazenly used biochemical weapons against Wakanda.
This caught the Wakandans completely off guard, resulting in mass casualties among their soldiers as the poison gas spread.
The combination of airstrikes and gas attacks caused the Ethiopian troops on the first line of defense to completely collapse. In their panic, they retreated chaotically, disrupting the Wakandan forces behind them even before UN ground troops arrived.
Coupled with the heavy artillery bombardment from the UN forces, the first line of defense fell completely.
The second line of defense was now on the verge of collapse as well.
Even more tragic was the high civilian death toll, which plunged Wakanda into widespread mourning and despair.
