Very few Prussian soldiers are actually within the city of Damascus, most are in entrenched locations outside of the city. The bombing campaign kills around 1,000 Prussian soldiers, and upwards of 55,000 Syrian Civilians. Seeing that they can no longer fall back, the remaining 210,000 Prussian soldiers stand their ground and dig in, assisted by a remaining 250 Leopard 3 MBTs, all of which are hulled down with only their heavily sloped turret, with extensive ERA, visible. The flanking maneuver is somewhat successful, but the ERA provides substantial protection. That, coupled with the fact that the Leopard 3's main cannon can perform a full 360 degree rotation in 8.3 seconds, makes the Leopard far more formidable than the T-90A in terms of close-range engagements.

As the Dominion fleet is presumably cutting through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, rather than sailing around Africa, they find themselves cut off by a grid of submerged, stationary, and silent Type-206 U-Boats from the 2nd and 3rd Carrier Groups that were responsible for securing Iran and Pakistan. There are 18 U-Boats in total, all of them having laid naval mines in the path of the Velucian fleet. As the Velucian fleet sails into the minefield, the 18 U-Boats fire off a collective 40 553cm torpedoes at the Velucian battlegroup, immediately diving at a 30 degree angle at 2 knots after firing. They place preference on the aircraft carrier, battlecruisers, and destroyers.

The carrier off the coast of Lebanon deploys 35 ME-35 Interceptors to intercept the TU-160 and SU-35 Fighters. The Gepards also fire SAMs at the TU and SUs, with a priority placed on the TU. All-in-all, about 60 SAMs are fired at the aircraft, with 30 being directed specifically at the TU-160.

The 2 Bismarck-Class Battleships continue firing their 20-inch cannons at the Velucian tanks and soldiers, with the Zumwalt Destroyer's 6-inch railgun being fired at the Velucian SPGs. The Berlin-Class Cruisers continue firing their ballistic missiles at the Velucian Long-Rang Missile Systems, and their own 6-inch railguns at the Velucian AA. The Type-552 U-Boats begin firing cruise missiles from a submerged position, sending them towards large concentrations of Velucian tanks and soldiers at MACH-8.


*Berlin*
Prussian Naval High Command issues a classified order, dispatching 15 Type-552 U-Boats.