8th August, 2018
It has been just over three months since the city of Sishi was infiltrated by rebel forces. The move was reportedly made as an attempt to divert Sizhouan military forces from the front lines where rebel forces had also attempted to besiege the city and the surrounding forests and countryside, allowing them to approach and cut off supplies. The move was, for some time, successful. Skirmishes between Sizhouan forces inside Sishi clashed with rebel troops garrisoned in an industrial district holding hundreds of hostages over the course of over a month until finally they broke under the pressure of mounting losses being cut off from their allies attacking the city from the outside.
The Sizhouan government has since reinforced the region with thousands of additional troops. While the majority of the country seems to have rallied to battle cry of the defense of our cities, there is no denying that the debacle has been one of the most catastrophic losses the nation has faced in years. While all rebel militants, save for those who surrendered in the early stages of the infiltration, have been killed or imprisoned, nearly one hundred members of the Sizhouan military and Sishi militia were killed along with several hostages working in the area of the city at the time of the attack did not survive the event.
Fast forward to early July, an investigation by the Ministry of the Interior began to point to a conspiracy from within the provincial government of Zhōngshi as being responsible for the infiltration of Sishi. It was found that rebels arrived in the city in several rail supply transports, aided by several officials of the city and provincial People's Assembly up to an including then Provincial Assemblyman Xin Yian. However, Yian would not be directly implicated until his disappearance on July 8th, after which he was promptly charged with and found guilty of treason and subversion. The search for his whereabouts roughly three weeks after his disappearance uncovered surveillance footage of Yian boarding a flight to the capital of Meridia, escaping security with the use of a counterfeit passport.
It is currently unclear to the government and Ministry of the Interior exactly what if any arrangement Yian along with his fellow escapees have in Meridia, however, Premier Lin Lafang has reached out to the government of Meridia for answers and to demand their extradition back to Sizhou. His fate now lies in any negotiations, if any, the two states come to.