Operation Thunder Drop
|
This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change. |
Operation Thunder Drop is part of a wider conflict that occurred in the Sea of Storms and the southern half of the Strait of Haifa, involving the Imperial Federation, Confederacy of the Dispossessed, and other Raspur Pact members operating in the region. It is considered part of the Wars of the Disinherited, which triggered shortly after the collapse of Bassarid authority along the Strait of Haifa, with pirate activity centered on Jangsong (known also as Dalen) and Blore Heath proper.
Thunder Drop represented the third phase of the Imperial Federation's plan for the conflict. After dividing the inland pirates and depriving them of their only major base on the Keltian coast, the Imperials successfully cut the Dispossessed at sea from any land-based supplies. Instead, they now controlled the Strait near Blore Heath, and almost the entire region were it not for the Corsairs' rebasing to numerous, tiny atolls near Micras's equator, many notably located near the midpoint of Imperial territory between Cibola and Keltia.
1719
In addition to sharply increased pirate hunting activities, the seaborne phase consisted of the mass raiding of these atolls and the conquest of the larger islands, although these captures would prove either minor, indecisive, or both. These raids also included the shelling and total destruction of the smallest bases of no strategic importance to the Imperials. Ships, where possible, were captured and then repurposed for service in the Imperial Merchant Marines. The landward phase ended up being much harder for the Imperials, who fought a mostly defensive war with massed artillery inland.
The Imperials were able to swiftly consolidate control of the Strait through these actions. In doing so, they succeeded in cutting off the Dispossessed from the vast majority of their fleets based out of the Sea of Storms. However, the enemy in mainland Keltia's interior was mobile and very numerous, and so the Imperials were forced to stick near the waterways, encountering much the same difficulties Normark did during the Siege of Dalen.
1720
Haifa Front
1720 proved to be a hard year for the Imperials. Their efforts led to either a prolonged stalemate or outright failures across most of the front in Haifa's interior, with their only saving grace being mass defections from Alperkin stabilizing the frontlines to the south, with their beachheads to the East destroyed in a hasty retreat. The operation only experienced major successes being outside of Haifa itself, near Eura and close to the Imperial Federation's coastlines along the Sea of Storms.
With the heavy fighting that ensued with well-armed and determined enemies, the Imperials would not make advances in the Haifa Front until at least 1721, with defections and barely adequate supplies up the Haifa Strait preventing the outright loss of territory in the core fortified regions.
The Imperials enjoyed moderate successes on the Sea of Storms and Trans-Euran fronts, with major gains in terms of Bassarid defectors, captured pirate vessels, and secure routs near home territory. With the home front well-secured, the Imperials managed to choke off the Dispossessed by way of Southern Keltia, with only Moorland being a conduit of communication and supply for the enemy. However, further expeditions in the direction of Corum proved almost wholly inconclusive, with only spent fuel and demoralized crews to show for their effort. With resources tied up with their protracted campaigns, the Imperials could do very little to support operations on the Moorland Front during 1720.
Trans-Euran operations continued to be extremely successful, with attempts at island landings proving such a thorough success that High Command was nearly unable to take advantage of their victories merely because it was so unexpected, given heavy fighting on nearly all other major fronts.
Rebuilding efforts on Cibola contributed to Imperial stability away from active warzones, with general success seen on Northern Cibola's reconstruction. This would ensure the wartorn former Valora and New Ralgon experienced prosperity, with the first signs of a mining rush occurring in Imperial Cibola.
