Hurmudan deployment to Svetostrov
With effect from 11.V.1734 AN, the Honoured Sons of the ESB Residence in Petrovo were deputised by the Hurmu Fyrð to serve as a garrison responsible for the defence and security of the island until a contingent from the Fyrð could be deployed from Transprinitica.
The general absence of airports on the island would delay the arrival of these reinforcements until such time as adequate shipping could be chartered.
As such, the resident of the Honourable Company, Emzsar Kodorishvili, would serve as the Fyrð's commandant on the island until relieved. He would, for that duration, hold the temporary rank of Regimental Master and be responsible for directing the defence of Hurmudan deployment to Svetostrov as well as with providing whatever military aid to the civil power as the new viceroy, Đorđe Babić, might require.
Armaments were made available for the contingent ashore from the residency's designated supply ship, which subsequently departed to fulfil a contracted replenishment at sea mission on 17.V.1734.
The initial force available to the commandant therefore comprised of 68 Honoured Sons and 11 ESB mariners seconded to Fyrð. These were equipped with 107 rifles, 2 machine-guns, 12 Snatch Land Rovers hastily repainted in the white and blue of Hurmu, and a single half-track whose presence in the residency compound was not properly accounted for.
The Svetostrov Detachment of the Hurmu Fyrð was duly landed at the Petrovo Residency on 6.VI.1734 AN, having been brought ashore from a chartered vessel of the Honourable Company. The detachment was formed from volunteers gathered up from Fyrð regiments in Transprinitica, these being:
- 149th Paderborn Armoured Regiment – 46 volunteers
- 150th Port and Maritime Regiment – 72 volunteers
- 151st Aviation Base Regiment – 119 volunteers
- 179th Guards Regiment of Foot Esquires – 118 volunteers
The Ghawlama Campus of the Peace Academy was further directed to provide forty officers of the Fyrð from its next graduating course. To assemble at Tyrador, there to await transportation to be arranged by the Sea Department of the Fyrð.
The Sea Department further arranged for the three Sindbad-class auxiliary cruisers on its establishment to be assigned to the Svetostrov Detachment, identifying personnel approaching their mandatory retirement age to provide the crews that would undertake the extended cruise from northern Lyrica to the Northern Sea. The decision to provide these ships, as garrison hulks or harbour guards as the garrison commandant might desire, effectively amounted to their decommissioning by other means.
As the auxiliary cruisers were little more than armed merchantmen, use was to be made of their capacious hulls to deliver necessary armaments and stores to the island. After a show of reluctance, the Air Department was prevailed upon to contribute a R-2 Krähenwürger helicopter for patrol duties. This helicopter, being somewhat notorious for its bulk, would require some disassembly before being placed into the cargo hold of one of the cruisers. After some cajoling, the Land Department was also prevailed upon to allocate fifteen Horjin CV56 armoured vehicles and three 80mm field guns to the garrison, again to be broken down for shipment aboard the trio of Sindbads.
Meanwhile, arrangements were made for the Hotel Reunion in Sabor to host senior officers from the Hurmu Constabulary and the Fyrð when station on or visiting the island.
The Hurmu Constabulary would contribute two regiments, the 2nd Command & Control Regiment and the 9th Circuit Regiment, both made available by the merger of the Southern District into the Lake District which had made the retention of a separate division of the Territorial Command of the Constabulary unnecessary. The 2nd Division would accordingly be reconstituted with its headquarters in Sabor during the eighth and ninth months of 1734 AN, again contingent upon the availability of shipping from Tyrador bound for the island.
