Battle of Niyi
| Battle of Niyi | |||||||
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| Part of Sanaman Civil War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Democratic Republic of Sanama |  Sanaman Federation of People's Republics
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 35,000 regular forces (XI.1698) | 120,000 militia and revolutionary fighters (XI.1698) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 11,549 soldiers | 19,083 rebels | ||||||
The Battle of Niyi began on 21 Puwha Kawlapali (IV) 1698 with a surprise assault by government forces against the railway hub in Sanestira. The first attack was along much of the southeast with government units attacking rebel forces in Wakarikari and Sanestira. The main bulk of the force employed by the government consisted of P7 and I6, an armoured brigade and a motorised brigade respectively, supported by mustered infantry. The reduction of the Sanaman Army had resulted in smaller units with more limited capabilities, but still quite potent as they were equipped with MBT-2 Victoria main battle tanks, BK-IV Bastiat Armoured Fighting Vehicles, and Horjin CV 56 Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The rebel forces mainly consisted of irregular light and highly mobile infantry. Since Benacia had seen many wars over a relatively short amount of time, both light vehicles and arms were easily available. This not only included Snatch Land Rovers, but also surplus older Horjins as well as M1525 pistols, M1610 rifles, M1581 carbines, Wren light machine guns, Polybolos heavy machine guns, Hornet anti-tank rifles, mortars, and other weapons. Fighting in dense urban areas against armoured units favoured the lighter, more mobile rebel units, who could hide in multi-story buildings and then fire down on passing armoured vehicles. Establishing any sort of coherent front line in the Niyi urban landscape proved to be very difficult for the Sanaman Army. Added on top of that were strict orders from civilian leadership to minimise civilian deaths and destruction of property, limiting the ability of the armed forces to use artillery, airstrikes and even mortars.
First government assault
The attack against the rebel combat group in northeast Sanestira was mainly intended to be a way to lock up that unit so it would not reinforce the forces at the central front, while also being an attempt to capture supply lines. The rules of engagement forced the Sanaman Army to mostly clear areas house to house with mustered infantry before sending in armoured units, largely leveling the battlefield for the rebels, at least initially. Rallied rebel forces managed to repel the central assault on the train hub after government forces successfully penetrated eastern Sanestira. On the northern front, government forces failed to gain any significant ground, while they on the southern flank in Sanestira ground to a deadlock with rebel forces at the urban limit. Government forces fared better in the assault on Wakarikari, taking the eastern part of the city after fierce block-to-block firefights with rebel units. The rebels managed to hold the railway line and station in the city, maintaining communications between Pakuwi and Enosa to the southeast and Niyi to the north. Losses on both sides were limited.
Rebel counterattack
As an answer to the government assault on Sanestira, the rebels launched a double counterattack on two fronts. In the west, a Combat Group moved southwest towards Neliko, engaging with government forces just north of the high-speed rail line between West Niyi and Port Niyi. Government units from outside Port Niyi moved northeast to attack a Combat Group to prevent it from reinforcing the rebel assault. In the east, rebels moved north from Enosa and south towards Lluson to engage government forces, with the intent of pinching off supply routes to government controlled eastern Niyi and taking the military base outside Lluson. The forces in Lluson Garrison consisted mostly of support units, with a smaller armoured unit detached from Atesira.
Attack on Neliko
The units defending Neliko consisted mostly of mustered infantry and motorised units, supported by smaller units of field artillery. The rebel force on the other hand consisted of highly mobile light infantry, equipped with Snatch Land Rovers with improvised anti-tank weapons mounted on the back. With a dispersed attack, it was much more difficult for government forces to get a good effect from artillery fire and air support. Close air support also suffered from MANPADS used by the rebels, found for purchase at any self-respecting Benacian weapons bazaar. This was also the first battle were Zeedic armoured vehicles were used, mostly lighter IFVs and APCs. During the initial phase of the assault, the rebels gained significant ground, pushing government forces back. Before reaching the railway line, government artillery started making an impact, with the rebel assault grinding to a halt. A prolonged malfunction in the artillery targeting system allowed the rebels to push on, again gaining ground, but the push was again stopped well before reaching the railway line. While the rebels had gained significant ground, they had failed in their main objective of taking the railway line. On the northern flank, the government assault failed to push the rebels back, instead giving some ground before a stalemate.
Eastern pinch
Also on the eastern front of the counterattack, Zeedic vehicles were used, against armoured units out of Atesira and support units out of Lluson. On the southern side, the rebels were halted just before taking the high-speed rail line towards Kahala. However, rebel forces managed to break through the government line and capture the junction between the high-speed line and the regular rail line going north out of Enosa. Sustaining heavy casualties, the rebels gained control of about 55 kilometers of the high-speed line, effectively cutting off the rail connection between eastern Niyi and Kahala. In the north, a quick surprise attack by the rebels forced the government units back into the Lluson Garrison compound. Consisting mostly of support units, the government forces still managed to inflict moderate casualties on the rebels, initially holding the garrison and the city. In the west, the government managed to push back and enter the urban areas in the Manisha suburbs, but were effectively stopped before reaching the central parts. A heavy artillery barrage supported by attack aircraft broke the rebel lines, allowing the government forces to move in and take control of the Manisha suburbs. In the east, the luck was on the opposite side though, with the rebels taking the garrison in a quick assault, supported by defections in the government forces that helped from the inside. The Sanaman Army units based there left in a hurry to avoid being captured, leaving most of their hardware behind. This marked the first government base to be taken by the People's Defence Forces. Supported by the defectors as well as trained rebels, the PDF immediately attacked Lluson in an effort to route the government forces completely from the area. Suppported by a rebel armed uprising in Lluson, the push succeeded, with the Army being pushed out of the city completely. Sensing that the Army was on the defensive, the rebels pushed on, now reinforced with hardware and defectors out of Lluson Garrison. Moving outside the city however allowed the Army to dig in and inflict heavy losses on the rebel forces, pushing them back inside the city again, effectively stalemating the northern front of the pinch. Even though the ultimate objective of the pinch had not been met, it was a massive success for the rebels nevertheless, with a section of the high-speed line taken, as well as Lluson Garrison and Lluson City.
Attack on North Nee City
In response to the capture of Lluson by rebel forces, the government launched an attack against North Nee City. In addition to being the second largest city in Sanama by population, NNC is also a vital railway hub, connecting the high-speed rail to lines going north to Semisa City and east to Lluson and onwards. The Army attacked simultaneously from both the east and west, hoping to catch the rebel forces somewhat by surprise. However, the rules of engagement again hampered the Army's advance, forcing them into dismounted street-to-street combat against highly agile rebel forces. While the rebels emphasised independent action in autonomous, but coordinated, smaller units, the Sanaman Army was inevitably influenced by the more centralised and hierarchical Raspur Pact model. This resulted in the Army again grinding to a halt in the dense urban landscape of NNC, while being harrassed by rebels using an infantry version of the shoot and scoot tactic. Widespread rebel sympathy in the largely proletarian city allowed the PDF units to often have the high ground, with Army units finding it a bit more challenging to gain access to the most advantageous firing positions. Crashing through the wrong door would often result in a hail of bullets from the resident's personal arsenal. With an assault all along the front line on the west side of NNC, the Army managed to conquer large parts of the city of Cosworth, while the rebels pushed back further south and took most of Xaneqa. The other engagements turned out to largely be stalemates, where the Army were held back by entrenched rebel forces. Casualties were moderate. However, with the rebels conquering Xaneqa, they saw a real opportunity to launch an attack against Niyi Air Force Base.
Rebel push for Niyi AFB
The first wave of the rebel push for Niyi AFB resulted in a pushback in the north, where government forces retook parts of Xaneqa, while the rebels pushed into eastern Brigham in the south. The central part of the front saw fierce fighting, but without any gained ground in either direction. Needless to say, the importance of holding Niyi AFB was immense. While combat-ready fighters had been disbursed, several fighters were grounded for maintenance. Capturing the base would be a huge victory for the rebels, on par with taking Lluson Garrison, and it would also affect Sanaman air superiority in the area. While government fighters were largely barred from use for close air support in urban areas, they were still heavily used for reconnaissance, combat coordination and forward fire control. With the first wave being largely a stalemate, the rebels made a second assault a few days later, this time reinforced by two Combat Groups from central Niyi, to make a concerted effort to take the base. The defending Army units were reinforced out of West Niyi. The second push resulted in the Army regaining ground in Brigham and Xaneqa, but the reinforcements in the center proved too much for the defending forces. The base was taken by the rebels after a fierce firefight with base security, inflicting a second blow to the Army's operations in and around Niyi.
First Battle of Wakarikari
In the south the Army had previously taken parts of eastern Wakarikari, threatening rebel supply lines between Niyi and Pakuwi. On 3.VI.1698 the rebels launched a counter-offensive to recapture all of the city. After hard house-to-house combat in the southern suburb, the rebels managed to gain some ground without pushing the Army out of the city completely. With the rather heavy losses suffered by the rebels, the partial victory was an expensive one.
Eastern Advance
On 22.VI.1698 rebel forces launched a massive attack along much of the eastern Niyi front, from Manisha in the north to Wakarikari in the south. The objective was to conquer the eastern suburbs and take Atesira Garrison. In the north rebel forces pushed forwards along the line breaking into the southern suburbs of Manisha, while also conquering northern Atesira, a major success for the rebels. Along the central front rebels took northern Paharr Niyi after ferocious door-to-door combat with Army units, who were attack from several directions, due to rebels embedded in the civilian population. In northeastern Sanestira rebels again suffered setbacks, with armoured Army units moving deep into the city, coming short of taking the railway line. Rebels suffered heavy casualties trying to hold their ground. The defence of the railway line was reinforced with a Combat Group from South Brigham. However, the rebels performed much better in southeast Sanestira, where they assisted by an uprising in government-controlled territory managed to destroy the Army infantry unit defending the sector. The already organised Combat Group attacked from the front, while a hastily assembled Combat Group from the uprising in the north Wakarikari suburbs attacked the Army units in the rear, trapping them between the two forces. To capitalise on the breakthrough, the new unit moved south to cut off the Army unit in Wakarikari, while the other rebel unit moved north towards the easternmost suburbs, where two Army battalions were to hold the area. The counter-attack from the Army led to gains for the rebels in southern Manisha, who also took Atesira and Tihosira, while the Army annihilated the unit defending northern Paharr Niyi. However, that unit had to do a tactical redeployment to Atesira Garrison, with the approaching rebel forces. The rebels on the other hand redeployed the unit in Wakarikari to Atesira. In the south the rebels conquered Wakarikari, the northern suburbs and kept pushing towards eastern Niyi. In Sanestira rebels pushed out most of the Army units.
The next stage of the offensive saw heavy losses for the Army, while the rebels made real headway. In the north, the Army pushed forward but was forced to make strategic retreats to reinforce Atesira Garrison, and while the Army also pushed far into northern Sanestira and southwestern Paharr Niyi, they were also forcced to retreat to reinforce the line to the south and eastern Niyi, where rebels broke through the southern flank, making it all the way to the M3 highway. With the threat of Army forces being encircled at the southern section of the front, reinforcements were scrambled from Kawite City. With the rebels sensing that a major victory was possible on the eastern front, they pushed even harder. Making considerable gains in the north, taking about half the southern Manisha suburbs, was somewhat dampened by the destruction of the Combat Group operating in Paharr Niyi. With the threat of being encircled still very much relevant for the Army, the Paharr Niyi unit had to be redeployed to north of Sanestira to counter a reinforced rebel unit. At the same time a Combat Group from Wakarikari was redeployed to retake Paharr Niyi, which it managed with light casualties. In the south however the rebels pushed forward across the sector, taking the eastern Niyi suburbs after intense street fights with the Army. As a response, air strikes against units in the open were conducted out of Timpure AFB, causing mostly material damage to tracked and wheeled vehicles.
The rebel finally broke through the Army defences on 2.IX.1698, when they took the eastern Manisha suburbs, but got pushed out of the southern. This did not matter much since the rebels finally took Atesira Garrison, aided by an SDP revolt inside the base, where officers loyal to the SDP and PDF staged a mutiny, executing the top commanders and commandeering the facility. This gave the rebels access to MBT-2 Victorias, Horjins, and other armoured, tracked and wheeled vehicles, as well as infantry weaponry, army aviation facilities and rotor aviation, as well as limited military intelligence. The aviation and tanks assisted in the massive push along the southern front, where Army units were pushed out of Sanestira, Paharr Niyi, and eastern Niyi. With a massive victory on the eastern front, rebel focus soon shifted to the western front, where the defence of Niyi AFB was a major focus, as well as the conquest of Brigham, Perhika, and West Niyi. However, a major matter of concern for PDF coordinators was the rate of exchange in casualties, where PDF forces regularly suffered three to four times as many casualties as the Sanaman Armed Forces. In a prolonged war, those numbers were unsustainable. Increased imports of armoured vehicles from Zeed, Faca factories producing domestic armoured vehicles and conquered assets would hopefully mitigate at least a part of that discrepancy.
Western Assault
Following the success of the Eastern Advance for the Peoples' Defence Forces, the Western Assault was launched on 1.X.1698. The assault saw early gains for the PDF in the north and the southeast, with rebel forces taking the northern Cosworth suburbs and pushing deep into Brigham, threatening to encircle defending Army units. While the PDF was taking moderate losses in the dense urban jungle of Brigham, they fared better in northern Cosworth, where Zeedic and domestic armoured vehicles could be put to more efficient use. An Army pushback in Brigham saw the front line there shift slightly, while a reinforced assault against West Niyi by the PDF bore fruit. With more well-trained units engaged along the front, the units defending West Niyi consisted mostly of mustered infantry, even giving the PDF a slight edge with their armoured vehicles and massive popular support. PDF forces finally broke through the West Niyi defences on 19.X.1698, conquering all of the city, taking much of the remaining Army unit as prisoners of war, and pushing on along the Long Lakes, threatening to encircle the remaining Army forces along the front. Meanwhile the Army was engaged in a fierce assault on the Niyi Air Force Base, previously taken by the PDF.
The final phase of the Battle of Niyi began on 2.XI.1698, when a PDF unit from West Niyi attacked the defending Army unit in west Cosworth in the rear, forcing that unit into a two-front defence. While the Army unit fought fiercly, they could not resist the double sided onslaught from the PDF. Both the northern and the southern flanks of the front were destroyed by the PDF, leading to the encirclement of the remaining forces, which surrendered on 15.XI.1698, marking the end of the Battle of Niyi with a massive victory for the SDP, Peoples' Front and the PDF.
