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Operation "Nemesis" was the European invasion, occupation and development of the pro-GLA North African countries, which had been under dictatorships ever since they were toppled by the GLA during the Global War on Terror. The invasion marked the beginning of the African Resource Rush, which led to the Russian retreat from Africa and to some extent the Third World War.

Etymology[]

‘Operation Nemesis’ is the European codename for their operation and is most widely used to refer to the conflict. Other names include the North Africa War, the Sahara War, the War of European Vengeance, and any derivatives thereof. The Global Liberation Army themselves usually refer to it as ‘The Great Purge’, as it saw many of their leaders and allies killed in a swift manner. Other nations have referred to the conflict as the ECA-GLA War, and even the War of European Aggression.

Background[]

The European insurrection[]

In the summer of 2028 the Global Liberation Army made landfall in Hamburg and destroyed Germany’s economy and infrastructure, and with it, the European Union. What had already been building up for the past few years culminated in a war for survival, as the last heads of state of Europe were deposed by their own populations. The GLA’s leader, Mohmar Deathstrike, had singlehandedly tipped the scale and ushered in the greatest political shift since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Because of this, the geopolitical entity known as ‘the West’ briefly ceased to exist as Germany was ruined and the United States retreated and with it, the European Union. The more nationalist-minded governments of the new Europe sought to create a better, more stable alliance in order to meet their goal of independence and relevance in the global stage. With help from the Eurasian Unity League and the People’s Republic of China, the nations of Europe got back on their feet and rebuilt themselves to new hights of glory as the fledging Global Liberation Army disappeared from the spotlight. As early as 2029, even as cities like Hamburg, Amsterdam and Stockholm were rebuilt into shining forests of skyscrapers, plans for a new alliance started, only less than a year since the old European Union collapsed.

Founding of the ECA[]

In 2034, the governments of Europe signed the Treaty of Prague, which laid the foundation for the European Continental Alliance. Importing expensive natural gas and resources from the Russian Federation, the once ruined nations of Europe turned into technological superpowers as their extensive scientific liberties constituted to a more advanced society that replaced the decadent, totalitarian one of the past. With this, their relatively small military and combined task force could match in power with the likes of Russia and China, and the European Continental Armed Forces (ECAF) planned to enact revenge on the GLA.

The GLA Empire stretched from Libya to Morocco, as North Africa had fallen under their banner since 2027. The Middle East was embroiled in a nuclear war and China consolidated around their own borders, leaving the terrorist organization to reign supreme. But, the ECA planned to secure their own borders without mercy, and plans for Operation ‘Nemesis’ were drawn out in late 2036. Several months later, the operation launched.

Course of the War[]

Initial strikes[]

The experienced paratroopers took less than a week to kill/capture the heads of state, who surrendered their armed forces instead of facing justice. The North African countries, who were under direct GLA leadership, did not falter however.

Late May[]

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ECA infantry units face off against GLA ambushers in Algeria.

The brunt of the invasion took place between May 21 and June 1. Only ten days saw the highest casualty reports through the entire operation, due to the initial airstrikes and heavy combat operations on the day of invasion. The European invasion force was composed of six battle groups: La Corona, constituting Spain with support from Portugal, De Gaulle, constituting France with support from Belgium, Lionheart, constituting the United Kingdom with support from Ireland, Bismarck, constituting Germany with support from Poland, Grieg, constituting Norway with support from Sweden, and Roma, constituting Italy with support from Austria. La Corona, De Gaulle and Roma landed in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya with land forces, including mechanized and armored divisions. Lionheart, Bismarck and Grieg landed in Mauritania, Senegal and the Gold Coast with more infantry-focused combat units due to the more forested regions to the south.

The battle strategy for the European Continental Army was a tried and true grand strategy: Shock and awe. Using combined infantry, armored and aerial arms the European forces cut through the GLA defenders, surrounding them and cutting them off one by one. It was a costly one, but worthwhile, as more and more pro-GLA surrendered daily and even more retreated backwards. In the south, the air forces used controversial gas weapons to drive the enemy out of the thick rainforests. This caused a PR storm, as hundreds of protests against the use of such weapons occurred daily in European cities, but the air forces remained resolute. ECA propaganda reported few numbers of civilians and animals were harmed, but actual numbers have not been disclosed by the European Continental Intelligence.

Resistance from the GLA was brutal. In Algeria alone De Gaulle suffered over 200 casualties in the first week, and another 500 the following. But it was dwarfed compared to the casualties inflicted on the GLA; estimates run high at up to 4,000 warfighters killed in the first week. The second week, over 5,000 had been killed or captured. The ECA hoped to cut off the head of the snake at first possible opportunity, scattering the remaining forces into the desert where they would be hunted down for weeks to come. Indeed, for it only took three weeks for the ECA to capture the capitals of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast. The following month all capitals in North Africa had been captured, and all remained was to drive the GLA out of the desert and into extinction.

June[]

The ECA had expected the GLA to put up more resistance; European Continental Intelligence estimated the conflict to last for the rest of the year if not more. They were understandably surprised to see the GLA fall back so quickly, most likely due to lack of superior leadership. Nonetheless, the plans changed: After May, the battle groups’ strategy was reorganized from shock-and-awe to relentless hunting. The GLA were driven back from the coast and into the desert, driven into the Atlas Mountains and Sahara.

In week one, the ECA continued combat operations along the coasts, rooting out remaining GLA partisans. On 3 June, the largest battle of the conflict was fought, the Battle of Marrakech. A large contingent of European mechanized and armored divisions converged on the city, still controlled by Moroccan forces. The battle lasted for three days and saw over 600 European soldiers killed, and more than 1,500 Moroccan soldiers killed/captured. The ECA used this victory as propaganda, convincing several enemy divisions to surrender in Morocco and West Sahara.

In week two, De Gaulle and Roma began combat operations in the Atlas Mountains. New ‘Mole’ minelaying siege vehicles burrowed into the GLA caves and created small holes for specially trained attack dogs to crawl through. The GLA forces were caught by surprise by this, and were unable to relay information about them before the attack dogs cut them down. Air forces also utilized new cluster munitions to carpet bomb valleys and ravines, reporting over 200 enemy casualties over a period of four weeks.

In week three and four, the ECA began sending scout drones into the Sahara, confirming locations of several GLA camps in the desert. The plan was to confirm coordinates and send strike missiles to take them out, as sending out military forces into the desert could be costly. However, the drones discovered an extensive tunnel network in the Mali desert, which the strike missiles couldn’t touch. Mole minelayers were sent out to root out the enemy, and were relatively successful although many of them fell peril to the dreaded ‘demo traps’ hidden in the sand.

July[]

July progressed relatively calmly. The coast countries from Libya to Nigeria had been successfully captured by ECA forces, and pro-European governments were in the process of being installed. Lionheart, Bismarck and Grieg were tasked with security in the occupied territories, while the remaining battle groups relentlessly pursued the GLA in the desert countries. No major battles occurred during this month, although the GLA were planning for a counterattack. According to disclosed ECI intelligence files, GLA leaders met as far east as Chad to plan for a decisive blow against the Europeans, but also plan to retreat south into Central Africa and establish ‘The Zone’.

One relatively large battle occurred in Gambia on July 18, when a group of GLA sympathizers gathered in Banjul and took control of downtown. They threatened to destroy the entire district with controlled demolition if European forces remained in both Gambia and Senegal. The ECA leadership did not comply, and instead sent in professional French Foreign Legion operators to disable the explosives. The operation was successful, and without a leverage the terrorists surrendered – except for three, who managed to kill three operators and one civilian a few seconds before they were eliminated.

August[]

As the conflict began winding down, ECA and North African officials met in Casablanca on August 3 to discuss the proposed Maghreb Union. However, a dozen elite GLA insurgents infiltrated the heavily defended city and initiated attacks against ECA divisions as a diversionary tactic. Security was concentrated around the embassy building where negotiations took place, exactly as the GLA planned. They used a car bomb to disperse the security detail and marched into the embassy. GLA fighters slaughtered the embassy security with minimal losses and took the officials as hostage. Threatening to kill an official every hour, they demanded ECA forces to surrender.

The ECI speculates that the GLA knew the ECA would not comply and simply committed the attack as a defiant last stand. To this day, it remains unclear how the GLA was able to successfully carry out this attack, especially since the location of the meeting was strictly confidential. It was speculated that there was an intelligence leak from a defector.

While the GLA held the officials hostage, they spread propaganda messages to the people of Casablanca, warning the citizens that they would suffer under European occupation. However, this had very little effect. In the few months since their arrival, the ECA had already drastically improved the living condition in North Africa, doing much to win the hearts and minds of the people.

After the execution of three hostages, ECA special forces stormed the embassy. In the ensuing firefight, GLA soldiers executed five more hostages before they were cut down. While the Casablanca Incident only lasted one afternoon, the battle was extremely costly for the ECA. With the death of multiple North African and European officials, further negotiations were delayed until late October.

Embarassed by this incident, The ECA launched a major combined arms operation to find and destroy the GLA cell responsible for the attack, deploying a large number of Mobile Sensor Arrays to locate hidden GLA bases. On August 9, the ECA declared that the last GLA remannts in North Africa had been eliminated and announced the successful completion of Operation Nemesis.

Aftermath[]

Maghreb Union[]

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ECA forces occupying a city in Lybia.

The Maghreb Union was laid down in late October 2037, and constituted Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco – who now held complete authority over West Sahara – and Mauritania. The Union was a common trade agreement, unified education and security system and a client organization of the European Continental Alliance. The remaining nations of West Africa were granted more autonomy due to the lower GLA presence, but held a large military presence because of The Zone. The United States took control of Liberia through their powerful corporations however. What started as a military occupation soon evolved into a political entity that launched the nations of North Africa into first-world nation territory, advancing them technologically, socially and politically thanks to free trade and travel between them and Europe. One of the most ambitious projects between the Maghreb Union and ECA was the Gibraltar-Ceuta Connection, a massive six-lane bridge that connected the two continents at last.

Rest of Africa[]

The rest of Africa held a rather negative opinion on Operation ‘Nemesis’ and the Maghreb Union because of the African Resource Rush. The ECA had started a neo-colonialist race for Africa to claim their last remaining resources, and while Maghreb and Southern Africa progressed relatively unscathed, the same could not be said for the rest of the continent. The People’s Liberation Army landed in Somalia and established a military protectorate, Central Africa became the terrorist nation-state of the GLA and Egypt and Sudan fell under the authority of the Russian Federation. In the east, the East African Federation was created under an oligarchic government. Citizens of Africa experienced lower living conditions than Maghreb, which contributed to a massive flux of immigrants to the region.

The GLA[]

The Global Liberation Army lost control of North Africa and retreated into Central Africa, where they established the Zone, a nation without laws. The Zone was chalked off as a no-man’s-land, unfit for governance and only there to remind us of the atrocities of the largest terrorist organization in history. What the GLA thinks of this themselves, however, remains unknown, but former GLA fighters say that opinions are very, very mixed about the whole African debacle.

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