I would like to express our gratitude to all the mod makers for taking the time to build these so we can use them in our missions. Without their hard work and vision to help us all; we would not have nearly as much fun as we have playing this game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the early morning of 10 December the men of the 15th Airborne Corps (127th and 128th Brigades) completed loading of the Xian Y-20 transport aircraft at the airbase at Huangpi and began the 12-hour flight to their drop zones in the archipelago of Tanoa. At approximately 1300 hours on 11 December; the first reports of fighting in the islands were being broadcast by the Tanoan television station and reports and requests for assistance were sent out to the US, Australia, France and England. These calls were heard but nothing could be done to help Tanoa.

By dawn of the 12 December all major civilian and military areas in the archipelago were controlled by members of the 15th Airborne Corps. They were to hold until reinforced by air and sea with the 1st Brigade Marines who embarked on the morning of 12 December from the port of Zhanjiang. It was estimated that they would be landing in the archipelago within 10 days provided they did not run into any US or US allies naval forces along the way. During this time the Chinese military had decided that they would begin ferrying AAA and SAM missile components into Tanoa to build up an air defense zone that would rival the ones built by the Soviet military during the Cold War…

Meanwhile when the US learned of the landing of Chinese forces in Tanoa the Joint Chiefs met to discuss options. With the US military having been gutted of many strategic level assets during the previous 2 Presidential administrations the options for moving rapidly were very slim. Unfortunately, there were only a few items on the table and one included a full scale US airborne assault by the 82nd Airborne and all three Ranger Regiments to re-secure the islands but that would leave the US forces completely isolated from any major reinforcement or resupply for more than 60 days; which was a non-starter due to the fact that it could mean 100% for the units.

The other option was to accelerate the deplyment of ODA 775; which was wrapping up training at the Jungle Warfare School; run by the 25th ID at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Also a joint 160th SOAR/6th SOS detachment was doing workups to teach Tanoan pilots how to operate with Special Operations Teams and fly the newest versions of the AH/MH-6. Both of these groups would now refocus their activities to support any members of the local resistance to fight the Chinese invaders in the original US Special Forces mission of Unconventional Warfare.

The option to utilize ODA 775 and the Aviation Task Unit was what they ended up going with. Not only would there be minimal US casualties if things went sideways; it would allow the US to expand on the force multiplication aspect by having a US SF team begin training the guerilla fighters to pester the Chinese until the rest of the coalition forces could gather themselves for the main assault on the Horizon Archipelago.

Over the next few days overflights of intelligence gathering assets from drones and satellites to high altitude reconnaissance aircraft a small island to the south/southwest of the archipelago that was unoccupied by any Chinese forces. Also there appeared to be active fighting going on at various sites around the archipelago. During this intelligence gathering phase a dirt airstrip was identified as a potential landing zone for the helicopters and the Special Forces ODA to at least get on the ground before moving to one of the smaller islands in the area. The target date for landing there was planned for Christmas Day. Once on the ground the SF team would establish a perimeter and move to evaluate targets in the immediate vicinity as there were satellite images showing a massive buildup of SAM sites all over the main islands and guarding the 3 primary airfields.

It was determined in a series of recon flights by performed by ferry flights of F-22’s that the SAM sites were not active as of now but they were not far from being ready. There were several encounters with Chinese J-10 and JH-7A fighter jets and on one of the last flights a couple of new Chinese J-20's came up to play tag. However as the US wasn't technically in a shooting war with China no shots were exchanged; much to the chagrin of the US Air Force pilots.

During one of the many intel dumps it was noted that there was a purchase by the Tanoan Defense Forces of several older Mk V SOC Boat's; which were previously used by SEAL teams for fast insertion and pickup in coastal areas. All of this was coming at the SOF teams rapidly and they were getting ready to roll when they learned that the US had made contact via Twitter of all things with at least one insurgent “leader” who was calling himself “Kutu”. The opportunity to contact this person(s) was debated for quite a while and it was decided that once the team was on the ground; they would work to locate “Kutu” and evaluate if he was worth their time as a potential contact and ally.Kutu's location was not known but it was believed he was somewhere on the southern side of the main island archipelago from the videos he posted on Twitter about his group fighting the Chinese since they arrived. Nothing else was known about the man since he was always wearing non-descript clothing with a hat, glasses and a face covering.

Late on Christmas Eve of 2020 the SOF teams that were going to HALO into the airfield first loaded and left Hickam AFB an hour ahead of the follow on flight of 5 C-17’s; that were ferrying the helicopters and basic supplies. These 5 C-17's were being escorted by the newest fighter; the F/A-181 Black Wasp II the US Navy and Air Force had co-developed. After a little over 6 hours in the air the first 6-man team dropped into the airfield and encountered zero resistance other than an old man who maintained the field and had only minimal encounters with the Chinese since they had decided that his airfield was not needed yet. With a little grease provided by the US dollars the team secured a truck to help unload the aircraft that were due in less than an hour. While the SF team pulled security and setup an OP on the nearby hill to the east the Air Force team unloaded the aircraft and who proceeded on their way to Australia as their flight plan indicated. With the team on the ground and moving to their hidden area Operation Tanoa Takedown was underway.