The Great Ebelinian Missile Scare

The Great Ebelinian Missile Scare was an international incident that briefly escalated to military action on the part of Airedalandia and Valhunnia.

Although the Ebelinian government had been defeated in the Ebelinian Revolution, a small stronghold was held around ballistic missile launch sites, were, at the order of hardline General Bradley Hunter, the missiles were being readied to launch. It was later learned the missiles were targetting major cities of Ebeline held by the rebels, along with Oogleberry and Kyro.

On July 9th, 1992, the last remnant of the Ebelinian military, the 7th Artillery Division, which had been responsible for Ebiline's nuclear missiles since the 1960's, was preparing to launch nuclear-tipped Partev-type ICMBs, as detected by Valhunnia's SpySat-12 reconnaissance satellite. It then became apparent that immediate action had to be taken, and with hours of confirmation that the ICBMs were indeed being readied for launch, the Airedalandians were informed, and Airedalandian Aerospace Systems Tornados were launched by the Royal Air Force of Airedalandia at the order of then-Prime Minister Andrew Wellington. The Tornados successfully hit their mark with newly-deployed laser guided bombs, and thus they eliminated the immediate threat. They did not, however, successfully destroy bunkers used to store additional missiles, as the bunkers were too heavily fortified.

Following an emergency meeting of the High Council on the 10th, military action was authorized by the Airedalandian government (The first air raid is notorious for being unconstitutional in Airedalandia). A vote was also passed in the Valhunnian Parliament on the 11th, and on later that very day, 15 transport planes laden with paratroopers took off from RAFA Nicktown in the opening phase of operation Long Arm. The Royal Valhunnian Navy readied three frigates and an aircraft carrier for a planned amphibious invasion, and covered the first Airedalandian paratroopers as they landed to secure key objectives from the air with naval fighter aircraft.

On July the 14th, the Valhunnian fleet arrived an began bombarding shore positions. They remained there until further forces could arrive on station. These included a helicopter carrier, 2 more frigates and another naval fighter squadron. Aboard the helicopter carrier there was the 16th Helicopter Assault Squadron with Lynxs and 5th Fleet Attack Squadron with Harrier VIs from the Royal Navy of Airedalandia, along with 2 Valhunnian helicopter squadrons.

On the 16th, following further naval bombardment, an amphibious assault was launched, and within hours the beaches were secure. Troops began moving inland, were they encountered much heavier resistance, mainly from a group of about two dozen Type 006 medium tanks along with dug in infantry. They fought to the death, with some Ebelinian troops charging towards Valhunnian infantry with grenades strapped to their chests.

On July the 17th, after the tanks had been destroyed by the 5th Fleet Attack Squadron's Harriers, Valhunnian infantry stormed caves in a mountainous area close to where the missile launchers had been. There they encountered fierce resistance, but they succeeded in capturing General Bradley Hunter, who would later be executed by a firing squad for attempted crimes against humanity.

At 07:30 on July 18th, the last Ebelinian troops emerged from the cave network holding a white flag. They had admitted defeat. The operation was declared over, and the naval task force, which had just been reinforced by the Airedalandian aircraft carrier RSSOHF Krammer, began receiving troops to be returned home. On July 23rd, most troops had been withdrawn, leaving only a handful of Valhunnian troops, some Airedalandian military police and members of the Royal Airedalandian Corps of Engineers, who began dismantling what had been found to be an extensive facility.

On November 1st, 1992, it was declared that all demolition work was finished, and the last Valhunnian and Airedalandian troops left the newly created state of Zootron on November 7th, 1992.

Zootronian Viewpoint
The Zootronian interim government was grateful for the military intervention against the Ebelinian remnant, but quietly reminded the intervening nations that a diplomatic solution could have been reached, that this military action would probably lead to an insurgency (see Ebelinian Insurgency), and to please leave sovereign Zootronian territory, as no-one had invited the troops in. Several diplomatic protests were sent, with the general gist of the protests being that even though Zootron was a young nation, it still held sovereign territory.

In addition to the trespass by TEMC (Treaty of Economic and Military Cooperation) forces, Zootron also reminded the TEMC coalition that the missiles were sovereign Zootronian hardware, and requested compensation, in addition, for the destruction of military hardware, and the leakage of fissile isotopes onto Zootronian territory.

The formal diplomatic protest was sent, but the TEMC forces ignored the requests.