Operation Sacred Ground
Operation Sacred Ground is the military component of the Elijahn Restoration, the Natopian initiative launched in IV.1752 AN to reclaim eight bailiwicks of the former Kingdom of Normark abandoned during the East Keltian Collapse of 1737 AN.
The operation was planned and directed through Keltia Command in pursuit of the political objectives set by the Natopian government.
Objectives
The Military objectives set by the political echelon included reconnaissance of conditions in the claimed territory, security operations against Confederacy of the Dispossessed forces, and establishment of safe zones for civilian resettlement as part of the "Stampede to Konungsheim."
Operational planning
The single most pressing problem facing Keltia Command was how to organise the forward deployment of the Natopian Airmobile Rapid Reaction Force and 6th "Nord" Brigade to Los Bananos, deep into the Green of Northeast Keltia, and how to sustain the multi brigade international force once it had jumped off from its assembly area at Arctic Base Thorgils into the ungoverned territories.
Two potential air corridors existed, both with their origin points in the Wechua Nation. The western route would proceed directly northwards and fly over the debatable lands between the frontier of Aerla and the expanding zone of control occupied by forces aligned to Bassaridia Vaeringheim.
The eastern route, more convoluted, would entail a first leg to Newhaven in the Kingdom of Moorland, before proceeding northwesterly towards Revby, and thence along the Strait of Haifa and into the Gulf of Jangsong. Both routes would press close upon the frontiers of neutral and nonaligned nations, and both would test the range and carrying capacity of conventional strategic airlifters to their absolute limit.
An alternative proposal was to stage via the Benacian Union, deploying allied contingents to New Blackstone, and thence via the Boreal Air Bridge to Arctic Base Thorgils.
To move two Natopian and one Constancian brigades, approximately 21,600 men and their associated stores and equipment would prove to be a major transportation challenge, requiring the airlifter fleets of the Federal Forces of Nouvelle Alexandrie and the Benacian Union Defence Force as well as the inventory of shuttlecraft operated by the Natopian Spacefleet.
A planning cell established within Keltia Command quickly noted, somewhat laconically, that "an active enforcement regime on the part of certain powers might further complicate these envisioned movements." The Benacian-Boreal route was therefore to be investigated further whilst diplomatic solutions were explored in parallel.
Negotiations, undertaken by Natopia with regional powers such as Aerla and Mercury, yielded three primary deployment and sustainment corridors, with the Benacian alternative held in reserve.
| Corridor | Route | Operational Control Hub |
|---|---|---|
| Maritime | Via Moorland, Mercury, and through open waters to Los Bananos |  Port Esther
|
| Air (East) | Via Moorland, Mercury, and through open airspace to Los Bananos |  Newhaven
|
| Air (West) | Via Aerla and through open airspace to Arctic Base Thorgils |  Port Aerla
|
| Alternative | New Blackstone via Boreal Air Bridge to Arctic Base Thorgils | New Blackstone
|
Forces
The 300th Air-Land Combined-Arms Army of the Federal Forces of Nouvelle Alexandrie was reactivated at Arctic Base Thorgils in V.1752 AN to serve as the framework formation for allied contingents deploying to the region.
| Unit | Subordinate Units | Headquarters | Garrisoned Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| XV Corps | |||
| Task Force "Iron Vanguard" |
|
Nouvelle Alexandrie-Moorland Joint Training Facility | Moorland
|
| Task Force "Thorgils" |
|
Arctic Base Thorgils |  Los Bananos
|
The primary Natopian contingent under Marshal Theodric Lazuline was formed from the Bovic Church Militant and the Natopian Airmobile Rapid Reaction Force.
The deployment would be supported by the 6th "Nord" Brigade of the Constancian Foreign Legion.
Combat air support and logistical sustainment would be provided from Arctic Base Thorgils by contingents from Federal Forces of Nouvelle Alexandrie and the Benacian Union Defence Force.
The Special Operations Regiment was stood up by the Moorland Armed Forces in VII.1752 AN to provide force reconnaissance for the 300th Air-Land Combined-Arms Army and to be available to support search and rescue operations in the Green.
Secondary bases in New Blackstone, Newhaven, and Port Esther, would stage the inward flow of personnel, equipment, and stores via the identified air and maritime deployment routes. Regimental logistics teams from the Grand Commissariat of Keltia were deployed to suitable landing sites and anchorages in these locations to reactivate previously abandoned and neglected structures to serve as supply depots and personnel holding pens.
The deployment via the air bridges of the 300th Air-Land Combined-Arms Army to its starting position of Arctic Base Thorgils and Los Bananos would be declared to have been completed by 1 Natopuary (VIII) 1752 AN.
Operations
Strikes by Air Wing Polaris against suspected encampments, storage areas, and operational elements of warbands affiliated with the Confederacy of the Dispossessed would begin on 2.VIII.1752 AN and continue for six days.
