State Guard of Elluenuueq
|
This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change. |
| State Guard | |
 | |
| Active | 1721 AN – |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Type | Militia |
| Role |
|
| Size | 2,533,536 (1735 AN) |
| Garrison/HQ | Ardashirshahr |
| Commanders | |
| Commissioner | Asaf Khan |
| Szodan of Elluenuueq | Jahangir Khan |
The State Guard of Elluenuueq is an ad hoc militia comprised of meritorious subjects called upon by the Civil Executive of Elluenuueq to render aid to the civil power at times of pressing need.
Remit
The State Guard normally serves as an auxiliary force for the realm, activated on the occasion of need, for the purpose of territorial defence. It can also serve as a mobilisation manpower reserve for the Benacian Union Defence Force, and may be called out for partisan warfare operations. During counter-insurgency missions the mobilised State Guard will normally be called upon to establish a cordon around a district or bailiwick in which more specialised agencies would then be free to operate as required.
History
First mustering
In 1721 AN 22,780,962 men between the ages of 15 and 45 were available for conscription, of whom 4,556,192 were verified to be both physically fit and possessed of merit. Of these, 3,644,953 were to be found in the Circuit of the Southern League, with the remaining 911,239 deriving from the Circuit of the General Government.
Under the 1721 Law of Obligation, every ten households had to provide one conscript, aged between 15 and 45, to serve in the state guard and contribute towards the cost of their uniform and equipment.
Based upon the registers maintained by the Benacian Censorate, each Governorate of the realm received a quota to fulfil from the Civil Executive, delivered via the Commissioner for the Circuit of the Realm with jurisdiction over the Governorate in question, which the Governor is then obliged to pass on in turn to the bailiffs of the bailiwicks within his own area of responsibility.
Each bailiwick of Elluenuueq had a designated Fiþnan, or captain, of the BUDF, usually an officer approaching retirement or rusticated on half pay, who served as the defence liaison officer attached to the court of aldermen ruling said bailiwick. This individual, along with whatever staff he has managed to assemble on a limited budget in order to assist in his duties, is responsible for maintaining and raising a militia (minimum 1% of the adult male population of the bailiwick) in times of war or emergency.
With the Law of Obligation, the defence liaison officers of the bailiwicks were obliged to supervise an annual conscription assembly, which had to be attended by all eligible meritorious subjects: absentees would automatically be drafted and flagged to the Benacian Censorate as deserters. Men who could be spared from agriculture and industry were preferred, such as younger sons and apprentices. There would however be categories of exemption, including miners, armaments workers, and the only sons of widows.
Moreover, only the Meritorious, Honourable, and Admirable, were liable for inclusion, as no-one above those grades, namely the ranks of the Illustrious and higher, would deign to obey the orders of a mere captain. Similarly the dependents and retainers of the illustrious were to be considered off limits, lest the captain found himself in an altercation without sufficient political top cover.
For obvious reasons, existing members of the defence and security forces, including the BUDF, the Magisters-Carnifex, the Corps of the Gentlemen-at-Cudgels, theCommission for the Panopticon, and the Humanist Vanguard, were exempted from the draft.
Those who were ultimately selected for induction into the state guard, were paid a small wage based on appropriations taken from the remaining nine households of their conscription pool. In consequence only 239,351 souls were yielded up in 1721 AN for mustering into the state guard.
The this intake yielded a sufficient force for the manning of sixteen ersatz divisions, after 8,951 had been taken specialist duties associated with the formation of a Staff (one regiment), Commissariat (three regiments), and a Inspectorate (three regiments) for the whole force.
Of sixteen divisions raised, twelve would be associated with the Circuit of the Southern League whilst the remaining four would be associated with the Circuit of the General Government.
The ersatz divisions were accordingly numbered as followed:
- Absentien
- Alalehzamin I
- Alalehzamin II
- Alalehzamin III
- Alalehzamin IV
- Alalehzamin V
- Alalehzamin VI
- Alalehzamin VII
- Alalehzamin VIII
- Alalehzamin IX
- Araxion
- Leng
- Mishalacia I
- Mishalacia II
- Nordland I
- Nordland II
The Ersatz Division was patterned after the Vanguard Divisions of the Humanist movement, albeit notably being without area defence capability or organic transportation assets.
- Ersatz Division
- Headquarters Echelon (2,400)
- Command & Control Regiment (1,200)
- Reconnaissance Regiment (1,200)
- Combat Echelon (9,600)
- Command & Control Regiment (1,200)
- 1st Demi-Brigade (3,600)
- Regimental trained bands 1 to 6
- 2nd Demi-Brigade (3,600)
- Regimental trained bands 7 to 12
- Penitent Regiment (1,200)
- Force Support Echelon (2,400)
- Commissariat Regiment (1,200)
- Inspectorate Regiment (1,200)
- Penitent Labour Brigade (attached from the Benacian Labour Reserve)
- Administrative Regiment
- Foraging Regiment
- Pioneer Regiment
- Depot Regiment
- General Service Regiments (x2)
- Headquarters Echelon (2,400)
The Penitent Regiment were of especial note, being formed by the least meritorious members of the ersatz division. Whilst these regiments could be filled out with men selected using the scoring matrices favoured by Benacian Censorate, the Penitent Regiment more often met its established manpower total merely by collecting those who attempted to evade the muster after being picked in the conscription assembly or else who had subsequently picked up a disciplinary record during the four months of training.
Second mustering
However, after years of tension between the Benacian Union and Shireroth, the majority of these generous exemptions had been set aside in order to ensure the maximum available manpower. Accordingly with the commencement of snap mobilisations, scheduled to coincide with the 1728 session of the Congress of Chryse, saw 1,199,307 subjects receive mustering summonses. This yielded eighty-two landstorm divisions, of which sixteen were raised in the Circuit of the General Government, whilst the remaining sixty-six were mustered in the Circuit of the Southern League.
- General Government (16)
- Southern League (66)
- Alalehzamin I Corps
- Alalehzamin II Corps
- Alalehzamin III Corps
- Alalehzamin IV Corps
- Alalehzamin V Corps
- Alalehzamin VI Corps
- Alalehzamin VII Corps
- Alalehzamin VIII Corps
- Alalehzamin IX Corps
- Araxion Corps
- Mishalacia I Corps
- Mishalacia II Corps
As with the previous muster, organisation of the State Guard followed that of its counterpart established in the UGB in 1717 AN.
1731 reorganisation
In 1731 AN the Corps of the Southern League for the State Guard of Elluenuueq underwent a significant reorganisation, with divisions assigned to man the Alalehzamin Security Line, the 60th Siege Army to support the BUDF, and four flak corps created to defend major cities and industrial zones.
Mobilisation during the sixth and seventh months of 1731 AN brought an additional 320,815 meritorious subjects into the manpower pool, however they were beyond the capacity of the State Guard to train and equip at that time, and thus were assigned to a Commissariat Works Corps for rear area construction and labour duties.
Third mustering
Catastrophic losses during the early years of the Shiro-Benacian War, particularly the destruction of formations associated with the 60th Siege Army and the Alalehzamin Security Line, necessitated the further mobilisation of a greater portion of the adult population than had hitherto been considered. Especially noteworthy was that Protected Persons were, after 1734, guaranteed elevation to meritorious subjecthood in return for four years of service with the State Guard.
By 1735, the State Guard comprised of 2,533,536 men under arms, being a mix of conscripts, volunteers, and a cadre of survivors from the cohorts called up between 1731 and 1733. A not inconsiderable number of the veterans of the initial campaigns had subsequently been lost via transfer to the BUDF, which utilised the various militia forces of the realms as a pool of available manpower with which to replenish its own battlefield losses.
Organisation
General Government
- General Government (37)
Southern League
Alalehzamin Security Line
The following divisions were assigned to man the Alalehzamin Security Line:
- 1st Alalehzamin Corps
- 1st Alalehzamin Division
- 2nd Alalehzamin Division
- 3rd Alalehzamin Division
- 4th Alalehzamin Division
- 5th Alalehzamin Division
- 2nd Alalehzamin Corps
- 6th Alalehzamin Division
- 7th Alalehzamin Division
- 8th Alalehzamin Division
- 9th Alalehzamin Division
- 10th Alalehzamin Division
- 3rd Alalehzamin Corps
- 11th Alalehzamin Division
- 12th Alalehzamin Division
- 13th Alalehzamin Division
- 14th Alalehzamin Division
- 15th Alalehzamin Division
- 4th Alalehzamin Corps
- 16th Alalehzamin Division
- 17th Alalehzamin Division
- 18th Alalehzamin Division
- 19th Alalehzamin Division
- 20th Alalehzamin Division
- 5th Alalehzamin Corps
- 21st Alalehzamin Division
- 22nd Alalehzamin Division
- 23rd Alalehzamin Division
- 24th Alalehzamin Division
- 25th Alalehzamin Division
60th Siege Army
A 60th Siege Army was established, comprising:
- LX Siege Corps
- 60th Siege Division
- 61st Siege Division
- 62nd Siege Division
- LXI Siege Corps
- 63rd Siege Division
- 64th Siege Division
- 60th Siege Army Sustainment Command
- 65th Commissariat Division
- 66th Inspectorate Division
Flak Corps
Four flak corps were created to defend the major cities and critical economic industrial zones of Elluenuueq:
- Ardashirshahr Flak Corps
- 1st Flak Division
- 2nd Flak Division
- 3rd Flak Division
- Echo Flak Corps
- 4th Flak Division
- 5th Flak Division
- Mishalan Flak Corps
- 6th Flak Division
- 7th Flak Division
- Araxion Flak Corps
- 8th Flak Division
- 9th Flak Division
Notably, these divisions would be mustered into existence ahead of the availability of air defence systems with which to defend their assigned areas. The Flak Corps would accordingly spend the first six months of its existence supporting the Commissariat Works Corps and the Territorial Defence Reserve. The first examples of the 40 mm autocannon began to arrive in mid 1733 AN, with each of the nine divisions forming a cadre with which to train upon and familiarise themselves with their initial allocation of 110 flak guns per division.
Operationally, the Flak Corps would be subordinated to the Air Defence Command of the Aviation Forces.
Territorial Defence Reserve
The remaining divisions of the Southern League were dispersed and reorganised as regimental trained bands in the local communities for territorial defence and reserve duties in the interior of Alalehzamin, as well as Mishalan and Araxion.
- I Alalehzamin (Reserve) Corps
- Distributed across all bailiwicks as regimental trained bands
- II Territorial Defence (Mishalan) Corps
- Distributed across all bailiwicks as regimental trained bands
- III Territorial Defence (Araxion) Corps
- Distributed across all bailiwicks as regimental trained bands
Commissariat Works Corps
Reserve of 320,815 men available for non-combat construction and labour duties. Divided into twenty-two Works Divisions. Earmarked for infrastructure repair and maintenance duties.
Regimental trained bands
- Regimental Trained Band
- Command Squadron
- Headquarters Troop
- Pioneer Troop
- Scout Troop
- 1st Rifle Squadron
- 2nd Rifle Squadron
- 3rd Rifle Squadron
- Supply Squadron
- Command Squadron
A regimental trained band (RTB) would commence at its muster with 1,200 men taken from amongst the conscripted population of a given bailiwick. By the time, however, that suitable candidates have been drawn off to man the specialist regiments of the ersatz divisions and the least worthy picked out for incorporation into the penitent regiment, this figure will have easily halved to 600 men, becoming a demi-regiment in all but name. It is on the basis of being a five squadron formation therefore that the RTB is organised.
Uniform
Field Chaplain, attached from the United Ecclesiastical Corporation of Benacia
Officer
Guardsman
Babkhi Auxiliary
Babkhi levies often favour adornments that negate even the barest semblance of camouflage offered by the muted colours of issued uniforms.
.png)
Rations
Standard rations, in addition to the usual weekly entitlements, include a supplementary daily allowance of 460 grams of biscuit, 420 grams of salted beef, 400 grams of pickled cabbage, onions, and peas, along with 5 litres of beer or three litres of wine, subject to availability.
