- "Maybe Belka's old, militaristic leaders couldn't stand the idea of Allied Forces invading their land... And declared to the world that the land to the north was the Holy Land of Belka."
- ― Brett Thompson, Warriors and the Belkan War
Operation Ravage was an attempted Allied Forces air support operation during the Belkan War. The Allies' ground troops were engaged with Belkan forces in a standoff during the concurrent Battle of Waldreich, and requested support from Galm Team and Crow Team.
However, Belka ended the standoff by detonating seven nuclear weapons in the Waldreich Mountains as an act of defiance against the Allies' advance. This resulted in both sides dropping their weapons and declaring a cease-fire before ending the Belkan War.
Prelude[]
The Allied Forces were preparing an invasion into north Belka. However, Belkan ground troops refused to give up, and set up a final line of defense along the Waldreich Mountains. They specifically set up a barricade within Sudentor, an industrial city home to the South Belkan Munitions Factory. Thanks to the factory, even though the Belkan troops were low in number, they were well-outfitted.[3]
This resulted in a standoff between the Belkans and the Allied Forces that lasted at least a day. Retreating Belkan troops from southern cities were heading for Sudentor, but hadn't arrived in time for the Allied offensive.[4] The Allies, not expecting such fierce resistance and vulnerable to bomber attacks, requested air support from Galm and Crow Teams.[3]
Summary[]
Pixy en route to Sudentor
Along the way to Sudentor, Galm and Crow were redirected when the Allied Forces learned that Belka had launched a squadron of Bm-335s equipped with nuclear weapons on a direct course to Ustio. The two teams were ordered to intercept the bombers and prevent them from leaving the airspace. The pilots could not visually confirm which bomber had nuclear weapons, so they were ordered to shoot down all of them.[3]
At some point, a squadron of four Belkan separatists entered the area and started firing on the bombers. Allied pilotswere baffled as to why Belkans were firing on their own countrymen, but used the opportunity to attack the bombers more easily in the confusion. All bombers were eventually shot down.[3]
Despite the bombers' destruction, seven nuclear devices detonated in the Waldreich Mountains, vaporizing some Belkan cities. Communications were disabled, preventing the Allied Forces from discerning the situation. Crow Team and the Belkan separatists immediately fled the area. Meanwhile, Joshua Bristow, commander of Wizard Team, entered the airspace and enticed Larry Foulke of Galm Team to defect to an unknown group. Foulke fired several missiles on his flight lead, Cipher, and joined Bristow while Cipher dealt with Belkan reinforcements before returning to base.[3]
Result[]
The Allied Forces in Sudentor, having lost all communications, were immediately confused on what to do. The retreating Belkan forces from the southern cities finally arrived at Sudentor, trapping the Allied ground troops in the city. After a long and bloody ground battle, the Allies and Belkans both agreed to temporarily cease fire.[3]
Belka's self-inflicted nuclear attacks shocked the entire world, and the idea of using nuclear weapons in any capacity was seen as cowardly.[5][6]
Trivia[]
- Official reports say that over 12,000 lives were lost in the nuclear explosions. This number has been chastised by many players as being too low for seven nuclear explosions however, Waldreich may not be a very populated mountain range, so this number could be reasonable for a remote mountainous area.
- This is the only time in Ace Combat where a nuclear explosion is depicted in-game.
- This is the only time in Ace Combat where Belkan forces are seen firing on other Belkan forces.
Footnotes[]
- ↑ The number of Su-27s in this operation depends on the player's selected difficulty during The Stage of Apocalypse.
References[]
- ↑ This alternate name can be seen through the in-game scene viewer.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War Perfect Guide Book, pages 80-81.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 The Stage of Apocalypse, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.
- ↑ Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War Perfect Guide, page 249.
- ↑ Cutscene 09 - "The Seven Pillars". Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.
- ↑ Closure, Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.