Summoning America

Chapter 106: Incentive

July 26, 1640
Otaheit, Mu

Neat maps adorned the walls of an electrically lit war room inside a brick establishment. Surrounded by a tense atmosphere, a group of Muan generals and American advisors frequently referenced these maps while they discussed the coming storm. Hushed whispers abated, like waves parting for Moses as the men in the room gave the floor to a particular individual dressed in a sleek black suit and tie.

"Glad to see you could join our little party, Mister Wileman," a uniformed American colonel nodded to the suited man.

Wileman gave a slight chuckle, the sound of which unnerved the Muans in the room. Even a few of the American liaisons were rattled by the appearance of the CIA spook. Unfazed by the reactions of the men present, Wileman responded in kind, "Great to see you, Colonel Wilson. I hope I didn't miss much."

Colonel Wilson could only shrug at Wileman's words. "Well, looks like you're in luck. We were actually just getting started. Have a seat," he offered.

Most of the attention remained glued to the mastermind behind the Leiforian Resistance and the puppetmaster of the most clandestine organization to operate in the Second Civilized Region. Even Colonel Wilson held a bit of awe for the man, although he didn't openly show it. With the room having quieted down once more, Wilson continued his debriefing.

Using a projector, he showed the Muans a presentation of recent Gra Valkan activities, captured by spy satellites and drones. The entire Muan border was at risk, aside from the frost-dominated Northgard region and the heavily defended choke point at the Malmund Mountains. The Malmund Grasslands, located between the Malmund Mountains and Northgard, was lined with Gra Valkan bases, ready to deploy at a moment's notice. South of the Malmund Mountains, the Gra Valkans prepared invasion forces along the Oster Plains, which bordered the Magikareich Community and the former Sonal Kingdom.

Not considering any water-based incursions, the Gra Valkas Empire had two viable entrances into Mu's territory: the Malmund Grasslands and the Oster Plains. The Malmund Mountains separated the two fronts by hundreds of miles, stabbing deep into the heart of Mu. Numerous roads and tunnels helped connect the sides of the mountain range, but only one railroad passed through the area.

Thus, the Muans were placed at a disadvantage. Mu had to decide the extent of fortifications on each front, with little in the way of augmentation once the Gra Valkans finally invaded. On the other hand, the Gra Valkans could more easily transfer troops between the Malmund Front and the Oster Front, not having to worry about a large range of mountains blocking their way.

Based on initial Mu reconnaissance reports, secured from aerial flyovers along the Gra Valkan bases in both regions, the Gra Valkans appeared to be massing forces along the Oster Front. In response, the Muan brass wanted to allocate more men and equipment to their southeastern fortifications. Seeing the initial satellite images confirmed their decision-making, but they soon learned that there was more than meets the eye.

After Colonel Wilson showed pictures of columns of tanks and sprawling bases sitting along the Mu-Magikareich border, he proceeded to show spectral imagery of the same locations. "We were surprised to see such a quick buildup along this region, which was a little suspicious due to a lack of infrastructure between these super bases and the established Gra Valkan railway system in the Magikareich Community. These spectral images — which use forms of radiation other than light — contradict the visual images I displayed earlier."

He continued to flip through various comparison images as he explained, "Decoys and pulling your enemy out of position is an age-old tactic — one that we used to great effect during the Second World War back on Earth. Many of you here likely studied the topic already, considering the Gra Valkas Empire's level of technology. As you may know, the Allies used a lot of inflatable decoys to trick the Germans into defending useless positions while we attacked elsewhere. We've learned a lot since then, and adopted techniques like spectral analysis and synthetic aperture radar scanning to detect fakes. I won't get into the technical details, but these images show that the majority of Gra Valkan troops stationed in the Magikareich Community are actually fakes."