The General Staff was convening again. As of a few weeks ago, they had a new directive. The delirious joy and celebration following the Grand Review in Constantinople had begun to wear off, and now everyone was concentrating on the mission at hand.
"What progress are we making on Project Vulcan?" Venizelos, not normally an impatient man, was a little agitated due to the relative urgency of the order.
"Well, sir, we have the plans drawn up for First and Third Armies. Second Army is a little harder. We don't know where they should land," replied the general in charge of the Planning directorate.
"Second Army has some ideas that we'd like to bounce around," piped up Second Army's Commander, Stratopedarch Elias Dodismos, Hero of Singidunum.
"Go on, then." This ought to be interesting. Dodismos probably had some weird, half-baked idea.
"If we land at Point Epsilon, the V Corps can expand out to that mountain range surrounding it. It's like a wall, protecting the area around Epsilon. Perfect for a holding position, or stirring up trouble in the enemy rear with light troops and supply raids. It's advantageously positioned for such an operation..." He indicated the giant map on the wall, traced the mountain ranges that guarded the area surrounding Epsilon. The reaction was relatively favorable around the table.
"What about your other three corps? That's 150,000 men right there, or something thereabouts," remarked the Akalouthos of the Varangian Guard.
Dodismos had that covered. "Well, VI and VII Corps will land here-" he pointed to another point on the map, and a collective oh went through the General Staff- "and seize Alternate Objective Zeta." Another group of smiles went through the audience. "This will, obviously, be very advantageous for us. It's quite a prize."
Venizelos decided to interject: "That it is, Dodismos. It's the plum of the region, and a long-awaited objective, if we can take it. But that's the problem: logistics. How could you support this advance? It seems rather ambitious."
"Second Army can be supported rather easily from the base here-" here he pointed to another point on the map, where the current symbols representing several divisions were- "and it ought to be fairly easy, considering the lack of an enemy way to interdict it. Remember, this assumes Operation Urgent Storm succeeds."
"What if it doesn't, though?" fired off the commander of First Army.
"That's what the backup plan is for, gentlemen, but we haven't finished that yet. We'll do that later. Now, as you may recall, VIII Corps is still remaining. It will depart from its staging area-" he pointed again to a map area with five Division symbols- "and move to Point Chi, where it will then debark and move to support Third Army's flank as X, XI, and XII Corps finally reach their debarkation points. It should also be able to travel along this axis, from Chi to Epsilon, and link with V Corps in the region around Epsilon, providing it with somewhat of a flank protector. This will finally complete Urgent Storm, as you know, with the denial of a possible base for enemy elements trying to stage from...here." Dodismos stood back, somewhat proud of his plan.
"Excellent work, Strategos Dodismos. Do you wish to open the floor to questions?" Venizelos stood and gestured.
"Naturally. Input from other generals is what the General Staff is all about," Dodismos noted. "Any questions? Ideas on how to improve this? It needs to be fleshed out, naturally." Hands went up. "Yes, you, Strategos Maniakes."
"Yes, I was wondering: we believe that enemy forces are concentrated around Objective Alpha, correct? What is to prevent them from massing and throwing us back in pieces?"
"I believe, sir, that Third and First Armies are advancing in strength, and the Varangian Group Army-" here Dodismos nodded to the akalouthos- "will be serving as a quick-response team once First and Third Armies are through. They will be able to mass to engage or defeat a large enemy force, in addition to First and Third, and they will then have massive numerical superiority." Hands went down. "Yes, you..."
The conversation continued for the next few hours. In two weeks the finished plan was in its pigeonhole, ready for use when and wherever it was desperately needed.