Peripatetic and Mendicant Liberation Army

The Peripatetic and Mendicant Liberation Army or PMAS (Περιπλανώμενος και Μαντικός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός), formerly the titular 2^nd Brigade of the Constancian Liberation Army, is a militant group in nominal allegiance to the Free State of Constancia, a Euran liberation movement whose activities are directed against the Imperial State of Constancia and the Raspur Pact.

Doctrine

Dissatisfied with the failures of the earlier insurgency, which saw the forces of the democratic resistance hemmed into a dwindling portion of Razjania by Operation Paramount (1698 AN) and Operation Landslide (1706 AN – 1708 AN), the PMAS opted for a dual-track strategy of maintaining small and dispersed fighting bands in the countryside whilst focusing upon training cadres of mendicant preachers who could be surreptitiously introduced into government-held population centres, there to propagate the democratic movement by gaining converts in the households of regime members. By first turning the kuls, then the servants, the children, and then finally the women of the household, the mendicant campaign sought to either subvert regime officials to their cause or else compromise them and gain access to useful intelligence thereby.

Organisation

Structure

Reported by the State Protection Authority, as of 1728 AN, and based upon information from debriefed captives

• Army Council
  • Chief of Staff
  • Quartermaster
    • Auxiliary Support Company
  • Directorate of Indoctrination
    • Field Recruitment Team
    • Field Training Camp
  • Directorate of Internal Security
  • Directorate of Operations
    • Active Service Unit
    • Central Euran Operations Group
  • Directorate of Propagation
    • School of Mendicants

Leadership

As befitted an underground and clandestine organisation, the identities of the leadership of the PMAS remained, as of 1713 AN, obscured to outside observers. The PMAS, formerly the 2^nd Brigade of the Constancian Liberation Army, appeared to have eschewed the former brigade hierarchy in favour of a simplified leadership structure where a Chief-of-Staff is supported by a Quartermaster, who is second in command with responsibility for logistical matters including the custody of armaments, and four directors, who were respectively responsible for indoctrination, internal security, operations, and the propagation of the liberation doctrine in the cities. Together, these members of the leadership cadre formed the PMAS "Army Council", subject to a "General Council" or "Synod" consisting of delegates amongst the membership of the PMAS.

The General Council of 1713 AN, held somewhere in the Razjania region of Constancia, was, according to available sources, characterised as a mutinous assembly of rebel fighters who endorsed the decision of the 2^nd Brigade's leadership to break away from the CLA. According to debriefed sources, the rank and file membership of the PMAS was divided, as best as possible, into "hundreds", with each hundred being responsible for electing a delegate. The officers chosen to fulfil the roles of Chief-of-Staff, Quartermaster, and the directors, received their first mandate for a year, renewable at the next annual synod. It was not known whether provisions existed for the postponement or deferral of a general council in the event that matters of operational security were to intrude.

Owing to conditions, general councils were known to have occurred irregularly. With the SPA believing assemblies to have occurred in 1715, 1716, 1718, 1719, and seemingly not at all thereafter.

Membership

The State Protection Authority, in 1713 AN, estimated the strength of the PMAS to be less than three thousand men and women under arms at the time of its splitting away from the Constancian Liberation Army, with a low level of confidence being assigned to a figure of 2,314 "active hostiles".

Operational history

The group became known for its unconventional tactics in escape and evasion and its use of guerrilla warfare to disrupt the enemy's operations.

Despite its small size, the PMAS proved to be a formidable force. The PMAS's membership comprised primarily of individuals who were known for their untethered, free-roaming lifestyles and their reliance on alms for survival. These unique characteristics allowed the group to move quickly and stealthily, making them difficult to track and neutralise. On numerous occasions the PMAS was able to disperse ahead of encirclement by ponderous Home Guard formations and to evade the ambushes and traps set for it by agents of the State Protection Authority.

Despite its successes, the PMAS had faced numerous challenges in its fight for liberation. The group has been targeted by Imperial State and Raspur Pact forces, who launched numerous counterinsurgency operations against it. The group also struggled to gain widespread support from the Euran population, as many were wary of its militant tactics.

Notwithstanding those challenges, the PMAS remained committed to its cause. Its members continue to fight for the liberation of the Free State of Constancia, and they show no signs of backing down.