Kapitel 187: RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Interlude: 501st Airborne Division
Author notes:
The next chapter is up! It's a bit shorter than normal, just over 1.7k words long, but I think I ended it on a good spot. Starting from next tuesday, I will be busied every Tuesday and Friday due to irl matters. Though I think it should be easy enough for me to still be able to update every one or two days apart, unless sth very important interrupt my workflow.
Now, we're to congratulate our new Captain! Everyone, please welcome Captain W4ffle, the newest service member of the Reich! Though I will be calling them Waffle from now on XD
I have also updated the RM album with 3 pics of Elysia, it's a bit NSFW so do keep that in mind :D
https://photos.app.goo.gl/waZgkRa3UQhqKQBi9
P.S: The 501st Airborne Division is collectively inspired by a reader commenting "When will we have 501st 'Yuki's Fist'?", me spending too much time playing Airborne Company in Company of Heroes Blitzkrieg mod, the real-life 82nd Airborne Division (which isn't a thing in the current Marhsal timeline), and whatever thing induced upon me by eating and drinking stuff provided by Nicolae and the Duke of Indochina.
If you're thinking somewhere along the line of "The 501st are OP" then blame those two. I plead the Fifth as a slime.
-----------------------------------------
501st Airborne Division Organization Structure:
501st Airborne Division consists of a division headquarters and headquarters battalion, three brigade combat teams, a division artillery, a combat aviation brigade, and a division sustainment brigade. The 501st DIVARTY commands all artillery battalions. The 501st Airborne Sustainment Brigade commands all brigade support battalions.
Each Brigade Combat Team consists of a Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters company, an armored battalion, three mechanized infantry battalions, and one brigade engineer battalion.
Divisional artillery includes a Headquarters and Headquarters battery, with one artillery regiment consisting of three battalions.
501st Combat Aviation Brigade has a Headquarters and Headquarters company and an additional UAV recon company. Five battalions formed up the bulk of the brigade: an Attack/Reconnaissance battalion, another Attack battalion, an Assault battalion, a General Support battalion, and lastly an Aviation Support battalion.
To keep everything running, the 501st Airborne relies on its Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade. Forming up of a Headquarters and Headquarters company, a Special Troop battalion, three Brigade Support battalions, and a Division Sustainment Battalion.
The 501st Airborne Division is formed from the remnants of Belka's 1st Airborne Regiment, the latter being a casualty of the Reich Marshal's military reform when she came to power. Specializing in parachute assault operations into hostile areas, the division's mandate is to be "on-call to fight any time, anywhere" at "the knife's edge of technology and readiness." Currently and for years to come, the 501st Airborne Division is the Belkan Armed Force's most strategically mobile division.
Coincidentally, the division employs soldiers from all known races and across the entire country of Belka. This led to the adoption of the All-Belkan nickname, the basis for the AB shoulder patch of the division.
As a division that is over 18000 men and women strong, the 501st is poised as the most elite airborne division the Reich has to offer. Consequently, the unit is formed up of well-trained loyalists, many of them are battle-hardened and over 1/3 of the division is recruited from the infantry component of the Marshal's personal 404th Armored Division or have experienced working with them. This ensures that the 501st will bear its deadliest fangs to the enemy and no one else.
A typical 12-person 501st airborne squad consists of one squad leader, a single JTAC, one combat medic, one combat engineer, an LMG gunner and the accompanying ammo bearer, a squad marksman, and five riflemen. Squad-level firepower comes in the form of the derivatives of the 8 mm Mauser G1 rifle.
The machine gunner of the squad is equipped with an MG1 with 100-round C-Mag, a detachable bipod, a collapsible buttstock, a medium magnification combat optical gunsight, and a free-floating, heavy, quick-change barrel.
The squad marksman is given the PSG1, offering a longer barrel than even its relative which is the light machine gun MG1. The marksman rifle comes equipped with a detachable bipod, an adjustable stock, an adjustable zoom medium to long-range optic, and a free-floating contoured barrel that is weighted at the tip to aid harmonic stabilization of barrel whip to enhance accuracy.
The other ten members of the squad will be using G1 rifles. For the airbornes, the G1 rifles come standard with collapsible stocks. However, the team leader is given a medium magnification gunsight, much like the one used by the machine gunner. While other members are either using red dot sights or iron sights. All members can choose to mount either foregrip or bipod at their own behest.
Of the five riflemen, one will be carrying a G1 with an under-barrel 40mm grenade launcher. Two will be carrying disposable Panzerfaust with standard HEAT warheads. And another will be the squad's demolition expert.
It has to be noted that the modern G1 family of weapons comes standard with rail systems and the ability to freely mount or demount suppressor, compensator, or flash hider. For night combat, a laser/flashlight module can be mounted to be used in conjunction with a night vision device.
Each member is given a sidearm in the form of a 9x25 mm USP pistol.
Handheld grenades come in many shapes and utilities.
Breakthrough in night vision technologies allows panoramic night vision to be fielded for all branches of the armed forces, thus each member is given a GPNVG.
On the vehicular aspect, motorized vehicles, ranging from the Survivable Combat Tactical Vehicle Humvee made by Mercedes to the HX family of tactical military trucks, served as the backbone of the 501st's protected ground logistics. Going up the scale, MRAPs are used by the division for reconnaissance or to provide its troops with a swift and protected transport option and short-range defense against tactical-level threats. Most commonly seen are the Fennek multipurpose scout car and the Dingo squad-MRAP. For a bigger punch or a stronger combat logistical ability, the eight-wheeled and modular Boxer Armored Fighting Vehicle is outfitted for the division to use in hot zones. They can be employed in a multitude of roles, whether it's battlefield MEDEVAC, ERV, or combat milk runs.
Tracked vehicles that are used to spearhead the second stage of the 501st's ground operation include but are not limited to Leopard MBTs and Puma IFVs. The former is in non-autoloader configuration due to weight issues and can be seen mostly in the armored battalions of the 501st, serving at the tip of the spear against hostile strongholds. Working in conjunction with the Leopards would be the Puma IFVs, capable of keeping up with the MBTs and still able to carry eight fully-armed airbornes. Infantry-carrying variants of the Puma, the class B Mk1 and Mk2, are either equipped with a 30 mm or 57 mm autocannon with optional ATGM and can track low-flying aircraft while providing better protection than the Boxer wheeled AFV.
The Class C Puma, however, is armed with the same smoothbore 105 mm of the Leopard, but with an autoloader. The tank destroyer Class C is tasked specifically with battlefield recon and control, seeking out and destroying enemy tanks and armored fighting vehicles, whether from an entrenched position or actively hunting. The relatively large gun provided with such a mobile, airborne chassis allows paratroopers both significant fire support and sustained contact when engaging hard targets, such as entrenchments, fortifications, and concrete structures (an often difficult task for airborne or light infantry). The higher mobility allows the Class C to quickly response to a deteriorating situation while a Leopard may not be able to.
All ground vehicles of the 501st are air-deployable, with the Puma family also being amphibious, suitable for river crossing or beach assault.
Moving on to the 501st divisional artillery. Its three battalions are divided into a towed artillery battalion, a self-propelled artillery battalion, and a rocket artillery battalion.
The first battalion fields modern medium-sized 150 mm L/55 howitzers, the M777 otherwise known as Jackpot by the gun crews.
The second battalion is outfitted with the same artillery pieces as the first battalion, however, they're placed in a turret and built on the Boxer chassis, with the platform named Saturn. The platform has autoloading capability, the turret is remote-controlled, and the entire vehicle needs only two crew members to operate. Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impacts (MRSI) mode of operation is possible and the Saturn is the world's first howitzer that can fire on the move. This feature is a necessity to avoid counter-artillery fire. For self-defense, Saturn has a remote-controlled weapon station and the ability of hunter-killer mode for direct fire against enemy units.
Last but not least for the 501st artillery is the rocket artillery battalion, jokingly referred to as "Fireworkers' by other members of the 501st. Employed in their use are two vehicles. The first is a wheeled MLRS system on the chassis of a Mercedes HX truck, named Lynx. Depending on battlefield requirements, the Lynx can launch either thirty-six 122 mm or thirty-two 160 mm rockets with GPS/INS guidance. The crown jewel of the Fireworkers battalion though is the Sunburst thermobaric MLRS system. Mounted on the chassis of a Leopard tank, the system can unleash Hellfire on an enemy, thanks to the thirty 220 mm thermobaric rockets it has. The Sunburst is the 501st's final answer for a breakthrough weapon.
It's important to know that depending on mission requirements, the second and third artillery battalion can forego their trademark but heavier equipment to simplify logistics.
Non-divisional artillery includes 82 mm or 120 mortar systems that are infantry-deployable or mounted on the back of vehicles.
Coming up on the last but mighty important combat branch of the 501st would be the Combat Aviation Brigade. For recon purposes, the brigade has a dedicated UAV company, operating a fleet of Barracuda drones from the backline to provide the frontline with up-to-date battlefield intelligent and precision airstrikes. Across the other battalions of the brigade, the Fi-22 Osprey sees widespread usage, enjoying its status as Belka's sole, but reliable, multirole airlift.
For pure combat and recon, a heavily armed variant of the Osprey, the Fi-22G Guns-a-go-go is made, sacrificing troop-carrying capability for ordnances... Lots of ordnances. Moving away from the absurdity of firepower though, the Osprey truly shines when it can be fitted for aerial recon, MEDEVAC, electronic warfare, or base logistics... There's something to be said about using a medium-large aircraft for everything... But Belka will cross that bridge later.
With everything the 501st has to offer, they're just simply over-qualified for their task in Sardegna. But then again, their motto is this.
"All the way!"
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
Heartbreak01
Heartbreak01 As much as I loathe myself for saying this, I am asking for a favor.
I have calculated my current income and tried to plan for the months ahead. However, I was surprised and scared when I learned that, in January and February of 2024, I may be in deep trouble. Why those two months in particular? Well, it comes down to Vietnam loves freaking extended holidays. On New Year and Tet holidays, banks will take a break at the beginning of the months/holidays. When this occurs in conjunction with weekend breaks, the matter stands that my monthly income won't be processed! Not until they're done with taking whatever break they need to.
That means, for the first two weeks of these two months, I may fall under the situation that I have money, but I can't withdraw any. As such, the home won't have any actual food, like, nada. While I can survive on instant noodles (if I still have them by then), my mother who is sick, surely can't.
It pains me to say this but I am asking for your favors, your help, and only if you can spare it. My Pa-treon is still there for monthly donations in return for benefits. Current income 535 USD/month out of 800 USD/month goal.
https://www.pa-treon.com/Heartbreak117
However, I have also set up a Ko-fi (hopefully properly this time) for coffee tips. This is for one-time tippings if you can't afford a monthly subscription. It's my hope that the money from tippings will be used for an advanced withdrawal to procure emergency food. There isn't any benefit for Ko-fi just yet, not sure how to balance it alongside my Pa-treon. So you can't read advanced chapters, but you can at least check up on some sexy pics XD
https://ko-fi.com/heartbreak117/goal?g=0
Jokes aside, if you can support me monetarily, I hope that you can boost the popularity of my fiction in any way you can. On behalf of my mother, thank you, for everything!
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein