Reuters, 24 July 1990 - This morning forces of the Fédération Socialiste Nationale de Leon (FSNL) crossed the border marking the Demilitarized Zone, which also serves as the border between South Leon and FSNL. The FSNL infantry and armored formations easily swept aside any resistance from the South Leon military forces, punching south, deep into South Leon and reaching the outskirts of the capital city of Pendrakenville. The FSNL military forces have also been seen linking up with local insurgents of the Communist "Free Leon Army," which had been causing so much trouble in the regional capital city of Diwala.
The sudden invasion by FSNL caught the military forces of South Leon and Free Cuba entirely by surprise, but the military leadership of Free Cuba remains undaunted. President Waraldonez called for contingency meetings with Defense Minister Estevante. The Crisis Action Team of El Presidente's National Security Council recommended the immediate deployment of a reinforced battalion-sized element in order to push back the FSNL forces and restore peace and prosperity to South Leon, with the severity of the situation in South Leon meaning Free Cuban forces would likely have to conduct forced entry operations simply in order to deploy in support of Task Force Fulgencio and the South Leon government.
El Presidente immediately approved the Crisis Action Team's plan, and Minister Estevante immediately set his staff to making it happen. Brigadier Eugenio Habanera, commander of the Marine Regiment, would be taking command of all Free Cuban forces in South Leon, subsuming Task Force Fulgencio, consisting of a paratrooper company led by Captain Soares (Task Force Razor) and a Marine company led by 1st Lt Ordonez (Task Force Redleg), and adding to it the following:
Major Halabrio, Commanding Officer, 6th Parachute Battalion
1st Lt Espinale's E Company, 6th Parachute Battalion
1st Lt Madre-Animral's F Co, 8th Commando Battalion (Lt Madre-Animral is taking over for Captain Benavides, who is unable to deploy due to family issues)
Major Chavez' C Company, 3rd Mechanized Battalion (Major Chavez is taking over from Captain Muertosa, who is attending professional military education).
Additional air assets are also being deployed, most notably, a flight of fighter aircraft to establish air superiority in order to allow Cuban close air support to operate freely in the skies over South Leon.
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