Operation Straight Arrow
| Operation Straight Arrow | |||||||
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| Part of Wars of the Disinherited | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Raspur Pact
|  The Green  Confederacy of the Dispossessed.
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Operation Straight Arrow is the name given to the ongoing military conflict in the Green located west of Moorland and along the eastern banks of the Strait of Haifa against the hostile tribes of Fuath and remnants of the Confederacy of the Dispossessed.
Background
With armed attacks by roving bands of armed Fuath against the frontier towns of the Kingdom of Moorland, ostensibly supplied by remnant forces of the Confederacy of the Dispossessed, King Alpin MacMartin launched Operation Straight Arrow with the objective of establishing a permanent forward base along the strait. The long-term objective being to break the back of the Fuath and aid the peaceful tribes of Qeltois who have settled in the region after being driven out of central Keltia by constant warfare and the communist regime of Cerulea.
Working in conjunction with Normark, the MAF ordered a destroyer, six patrol boats and three amphibious assault ships to navigate north around the eastern tip of Keltia in order to enter the strait. They would briefly make port at Revby to resupply and provide the crew a brief respite before heading south again. Hostile forces were not engaged until Fuath encampments were spotted northeast of Symphonara. The Fuath were caught unawares and in the process of smelting ore into metal for gunsmithing, clearly preparing for a fresh attack on the frontier.
Major Battles
Inverkell
The first battle of the conflict occurred on the shores of the Strait of Haifa on a small promontory that would come to be known as Inverkell. The MAF expeditionary fleet had sailed from Normark with no delays and made quick time sailing south along the strait. Here they found a Fuath encampment along the banks. A small refinery had been set up and the Fuath were joined by rogue Bassarids of the Dispossessed who were in the process of arming themselves for another foray against Moorland’s frontier.
The MAF fleet caught the encampment by surprise, with the destroyer keeping out of range of the hostiles and shelling the beach, setting fire to the docks and forcing the Faith to retreat inland. This gave the MAF an opening to land its amphibious craft and discharge its cargo of marines onto the shore. Patrol boats were used to contain and/or destroy what few Fuath or Dispossessed craft remained at large on the water.
Once on land the destroyer needed to stop firing due to the danger of hitting friendly forces. But this meant the brunt of the enemy would now fall entirely in the marines who landed. Some aerial support was provided by a gunship that had been brought on the destroyer. Thus the marines were able to force their way into the village and seize the refinery. Although the plan had been to seize the ammunition depot, the exchange of crossfire triggered the improperly stored munitions and the entire depot went up in a volley of explosions.
By the end of the day the MAF had forced the Fuath to retreat inland and had seized all of Inverkell, establishing Moorland’s first base on the straits. Continued counter attacks by hostiles forced the MAF to establish a tight perimeter defense, rudely constructed of logs until a formal base could be completed. While Moorland’s foothold here is tenuous, the objective now is to reach out to Qeltois tribal leaders in the hopes of reaching a formal agreement to counter the Fuath.
Outer Kells
With Inverkell secured, the MAF began a concerted effort to provide additional security to the surrounding area, known as the Outer Kells. Official relations were established with the Qeltois tribes and their Chieftain, White Wolf, who were also fighting the hostile Fuath tribes. It was agreed that Inverkell and the immediate area around it were to be granted to Moorland as part of its territory, while the remaining lands were free for the Qeltois to continue their nomadic lifestyle un-accosted. To this end the two agreed to join forces so as to coordinate attacks against the Fuath and prevent any casualties to friendly forces. Inverkell would remain a neutral port with open passage for Qeltois, giving them permanent, unrestricted access to the Strait of Haifa, guaranteeing them access to food, water and commerce.
As fortifications in Inverkell continued to be enlarged, the MAF began to push outward into the Outer Kells. The offensive was a primarily eastward thrust into hostile territory with the objective of clearing a path across the Green to Nevermoor. The operation began in late 1735 and progressed through the winter and into the spring. Battles were scattered and limited in scope as both allied forces and the Fuath found it difficult to conduct war once snow was on the ground. But as spring thawed the landscape, the offensive was renewed in earnest, as were raids by the Fuath, who had, in their typical ways, depleted their food stores over the winter months.
Most of the confrontations could be classified as skirmishes, as the Fuath failed to materialize with a fighting force greater than a few hundred soldiers at a given time. This likely due to poor command structure and the generally inter-tribal hostility shown between Fuath groups. But this proved to be an advantage for the more-organized MAF, who also wielded superior firepower, and were able to break most of these groups who then fled and/or scattered into the hinterlands. By spring the MAF had pushed about 60km inland and reached a major Qeltois settlement, providing the natives with additional defenses. The advance was halted here while commanders consulted with Qeltois tribal leaders. Meanwhile scouting parties were being arranged to seek out and target Fuath encampments to hopefully break the back of the enemy in the next offensive.
Final Offensive
Forward intelligence, combined with aerial surveys, indicated that the Fuath had amassed several kilometers east of the Kells. Coordinating with the Qeltois chieftain and his warriors, the MAF devised a pincer action to crush and rout them once and for all. Having established a beach head at Inverkell, Moorland was able to land additional support forces there without any molestation from hostile forces. This greatly bolstered soldiers on the ground, and it also allowed a significant shipment of weapons to reach the Qeltois tribe. Using an inverted V formation, four lines of troops, two on either side, advanced on the Fuath position and engaged them.
The Fuath encampment had minor fortifications and offered little in the way of defense. But they had also amassed the greater portion of their fighting force in one location. It was clear, upon advancing, that they were planning a large scale counter-attack, but had yet to execute the operation. Thus the timing of Moorland's attack was fortuitous. The MAF's armored units were able to shell the enemy from a distance, causing disarray and significant damage. Ammunition dumps were ignited and several explosions rocked the encampment. But this approach had to be halted as the Qeltois forces on the opposite advanced into range of the shelling. At this point the Royal Commandos swept in on foot and engaged in close combat. The Fuath took significant losses, and around a hundred MAF soldiers were lost, with around two-to-three hundred Qeltois warriors killed in battle. But in the end the allied forces emerged victorious, with about three-quarters of the Fuath force killed and the rest either captured or fleeing south into the hinterlands.
The conclusion of the operation utterly broke the back of the Fuath. In the aftermath, the Qeltois pledged their undying friendship to Moorland, as they were now able to roam the plains free from hostility. Moorland, for its part, would move on the establish the tiny province of the Kells, which would serve as a trading port along the Strait of Haifa. An arrangement made with the Qeltois guaranteed a secure overland route between Nevermoor and Kells that would benefit both parties as well as other friendly tribes living in the Green west of Moorland.
