OPERATION LIBERTÀ - THE THIRD BATTLE OF SALTBROOK CHANNEL

WAR 117, DAY 1070, Saltbrook Channel, ENDLESS SHORE --- I shakily drank from a glass bottle, as the hard wooden floor of the logistics truck shuddered its way north. I had been woken from my house in Kalokai by a telephone call from the PressCorps Offices. Apparently there was another battle in Saltbrook Channel they wanted me to cover. I had managed to bribe a truck driver to take me up, though it was rather cramped, jammed in there alongside the rifles and gas grenades being transported. Upon arrival, the front bunker base was scorched. Fire rockets had landed mere moments before I arrived. That was quite the introduction. It appeared that the Colonials had managed to reach the outskirts of Saltbrook. They were now pushing in, their sight lock on the town hall. 

According to a private I interviewed, [UCF] and a couple of other regiments had started an offensive previously, but it turned around as they were heavily pushed back to Enduring Wake by an amoured counter-offensive supported by an SHT. Mesean forces held out at all costs, losing a battle tank and multiple push guns as reinforcements were prepared. Luckily, they arrived in the nick of time, with regiments such as [420st], [DELTA], [AIR] and [TBFC] assisting in the defense of Enduring Wake.

With the frontline secured [UCF] logistics had begun bringing most needed supplies, including a surplus of gas grenades. Colonial began pushing back, and taking up positions at the outskirts of Saltbrook Channel. An intense battle over the bridges began, with the main fighting occurring for the easternmost one. Both sides were suffering high casualties rates, with Warden corpses practically becoming sandbags for machine gunners.

Despite the heavy barrages of 120mm, 40mm, machine gun and rifle fire, the Colonials were holding, using houses' husk and bushes as hiding spots. But a unexpected blow then struck these defenders. [420st], one of the largest participant, began pulling out after sustained heavy losses in manpower and equipment. By doing so, they also caused the chain of command to buckle, leading general disorganization among the troops. Falling back outside the city, they set up in pillboxes and trenches. A last tank, run by the [DAWN] regiment, came in to assist. These remnants held out, unleashing furious rifle fire and hurling endless grenades into the enemy. After four hours, the Wardens decided to mount a charge spearheaded by their tanks. This dislodged the defenders, who were then cut up by machine guns from said tanks. The last Colonial tank managed to escape, having taken 2 shots to the side and track.

I was also forced to escape, fleeing through trenchlines back to another Colonial base further south. It was here I received a transmission from the PRESSCORPS Offices via radio that I was to evacuate, as the situation was now too dangerous for me to remain any longer. I was given a lift by a jeep, riddled with bullet holes, back to my lodgings in Kalokai. Here, I collapsed into a dreamless and troubled sleep.

Later that morning, while going out for a cup of tea, I received word about those left at Endless Shore. They had managed to hold the line, but with intense casualties. The Colonial High Command appeared determined to hold. But the general population more more was losing faith in the propaganda served by the Mesean Republic. Some were even already openly speaking about "the beginning of the end". But for this end to come, there to be yet more bloodshed to come. Death would not receive its relief this day.