Vizia Campaign
| Vizia Campaign | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Aerla
|  Ghul Confederation
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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| Units involved | |||||||
| Jaysh al-Mahdi
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| Strength | |||||||
| 109,724 | Unknown | ||||||
The Vizia Campaign refers to the Aerlan invasion of the border region of Vizia after a series of raids against towns in Eastern Aerla by the armies of Ali Ghul Khan, who after uniting the several tribes in the area, declared himself the Mahdi and urged a “holy war against the nations of unbelievers”.
Although not a main combatant, the Nordhær offered logistical and close-air support once it was realised in Normark what was afoot. After all, the Green must be conquered.
Background
The area of Vizia had long been considered a wildland territory that had long resisted attempts to bring it into the fold of neighboring nations. Attempts by the Cerulean Military only resulted in these tribes gaining modern weapons off the corpses of the dead. The tribes of Vizia, collectively known as the “Taityrs” had long been fractured both politically and religiously.
The largest tribe in the area, the Ghul tribe, was ruled by a chieftain known as Fenriz Ghul. He long campaigned against the incursions of the Cerulean military, and united several of the tribes under the banner of Umraism, declaring those tribes who did not join him in his so-called “crusade against the kafirs.” and other Umraists who did not respect his rule to be heretics. However, in the early 1730 AN. Fenriz would be killed during an Aerlan Air Force exercise during Operation Ulysses, when Aerlan aircraft were practicing a bombing raid on what was thought to be an abandoned tribal settlement. One of his sons who was not at the camp at the time of the bombing, Ali Ghul Khan, would succeed his father as leader of the tribe after his brother and Fenriz's appointed heir, Sayyid, was also killed.
Ali’s Declaration
In 1735 AN, Ali would gather the Ghul and several allied tribes in central Vizia. There, he would declare himself to be the Mahdi, a messianic figure in Umraism, and stated that the only way that they could shake the yoke of their neighbors was to “wage a holy war against the hordes of unbelievers and colonists of our neighboring states.” The tribes were then given an ultimatum: support him in his crusade or to “...face the same fate as those who stand in our way.” He would go on to make several more declarations, stating that “...my forefathers have fought off the Cerulean hordes and Aerlan colonists, and I intend to bring the pain they have inflicted on our land back to theirs!” along with more general statements that declared the people of Aerla, Cerulea, and Normark to be heretics and the such. This would lead to the creation of the unified Ghul Confederation and a unified armed forces, the so-called Jaysh al-Mahdi (Common Tongue: Army of the Mahdi).
Ali would take a special interest in attacking Aerla in particular, due to their role in his father’s death. In a meeting with his generals, he stated that “Those agents of Satan will be punished by God for sins they have committed against our people.”
Havingston and Derbie Raids
Ali, in a meeting with his closest advisors, decided to raid two towns close to the border with the green in eastern Aerla known as Havingston and Derbie. Both towns had been founded after the annexation of the Six Parishes in 1722 AN as a garrison town for the Frontier Observation Corps and Republican Border Service. Despite the purpose of these towns to defend the eastern frontiers of Aerla, the actual border with the Green was only demarcated with wooden stockades and barbed wire with the occasional watchtower. This was due to the fact that it was believed that the Taityr tribes were mostly stagnant, and were preoccupied battling themselves and fighting off Cerulean incursions rather than making any plans to invade Aerla.
In the early morning, frantic radio messages sent from a Frontier Observation Corps post outside of Havingston reported that a Taityr army was laying down heavy gunfire and mortar fire breaching the stockades. The FOC command post in Azula attempted to contact the post, however no response was received. Members of the National Militia were mustered and made their way towards the town. When they arrived, the town had been burned to the ground and the corpses of civilians and soldiers alike littered the streets. While surveying the ruins, a small pickup truck driven by a member of Derbie’s garrison arrived in the town. He reported to them that his town had suffered the same fate, and that all communication infrastructure was knocked out. This information was reported to Azula and then further on to Noursala, where it was discerned that both attacks were connected and that a Taityr army was attacking Aerla’s borders.
Operation Roundabout
In the wake of the raid and the stabilization of the affected regions, the Army High Command in Noursala devised a plan to "pacify and secure the Vizia border region". The plan would consist of a series of maneuvers that would surround the Ghul forces in the hills of central Vizia. General-ovð-Infantrë Aaron Kamensky would invade south from Khamil lands towards Lake Caledonia, while a large assault by Generalfëldmarshall Eric Jost would be launched from the south of the Six Parishes inland along the Cerulean border towards Lake Caledonia. In conjunction with these attacks (codenamed Case Red & Blue respectively), Case Green would be launched by Generalleutant Charles Escher would advance south along the Aerlan border to areas occupied by Jost.
Case Red and Green both launched concurrently in the early dusk of 1735.6 AN. It was noticed early on that Kamensky's forces were facing suspiciously little resistance as they marched towards Lake Caledonia. This suspicion was confirmed when Ranentsian Mountain scouts reported that a large contingent of Ghul's army was shadowing Jost's forces as they made their march inland. After this information was relayed to Army High Command, it was decided to launch Case Blue early to help draw some forced away from Jost.
As Escher's contingent began to snake along the Aerlan border, Jost's forces were constantly barraged with hit-and-run attacks and were subject to several ambushes along the tight passes of Southern Vizia. As causalities began to mount, Jost ordered a halt of his forces until Escher could reinforce their rear forces, who were in constant firefight with the local Red Banner Agri tribe. In 1735.12 AN, the first echelons of Escher's force met up with Jost's rear, giving a much needed but small bit of respite to the rear, but also securing the Aerlan border from future raids.
Submission of the Rukh
Just after New Year’s 1736 AN, two unknown tribesmen approached the headquarters of Kamensky’s under a white flag. Upon taking them in, the men revealed themselves to be diplomats from the Rukh tribe, a one time ally of the Khamils and one of the members of the Ghul Confederacy. The two diplomats explained that the Khan of the Rukhs, Ahmad Majid Rukh Khan, had been forced at gunpoint to join the Ghuls. Due to the war in the north rapidly devolving and the Rukhs finding themselves increasingly cut off from the grip of Ali Khan. Thus, Rukh Khan proposed that he would aid the Aerlans in their efforts in return for land rights when Aerla would inevitably annex the territory. Kamensky accepted this offer without much fuss, and the diplomats promised that Rukh Khan would pledge a force of horseback warriors to aid the Aerlans in their conquest of the north. By mid-1736 AN, most Rukh lands came under the firm control of the GAR, with Rukh horsemen being used as rear support troops.
Upon hearing news of the Rukh’s treachery, Ali Ghul Khan issued an order that all members of the Rukh tribes were “agents of Satan” and that any Rukh tribesmen found in Ghul territory were to be killed immediately.
Meeting of the Armies
Just before New Year's 1737 AN, reports flooded into Army Headquarters in Azula that the armies of Kamensky and Jost had met up on the coast of Lake Caledonia (this area being nicknamed "The Kamensky Corridor" by the armed forces), with a reserve force left in the area to set up a forward operating base that would go on to be named Coronam.
Following this, the remainder of Ghul forces would retreat into the interior hills of the Vizia. This led to Jost, who had taken overall command of both armies, ordering forces to quickly occupy hill and mountain passes before Ghul forces could muster their forces there. Ali Ghul would set up a new headquarters in a mountain cave in central Vizia and move his staff and a majority of his forces into the area so that they would not be stretched out across the entire region.
