Operation Green Hammer

Operation Green Hammer Nova Caradian War of Establishment
NCDF forces preparing to engage at Tor Gol
Date 22.XII.1690 AN - 20.III.1691 AN Location Nova Caradian border The Green north of Nova Caradia Result Raiders defeated Arkhashi instituted as semi-autonomous territory
Belligerents
Nova Caradia	Shakhsoni Sodiq Raiders
Units involved
26th Border Defence Platoon Marine Defence Force Special Task Force 1 Border Defence Brigade	Muborizoni Khun Capace Roșii
Strength
1,750	≈ 4,500
Casualties and losses
34 killed (Most in small border skirmishes during the course of the conflict)	817 killed 61 captured

Operation Green Hammer, otherwise informally known as the Nova Caradian War of Establishment, was a series of battles between the Nova Caradian Defence Force (NCDF) and various stateless raider factions from the Euran Green. Erupting following an escalation and coordination of attacks by the raiders, the conflict was the first combat deployment of the NCDF and served as a unifying, centripetal force in Nova Caradian politics.

Tor Gol Skirmish

Location of Tor Gol Ranch

The conflict began at an unassuming farm and ranch known locally as Tor Gol Ranch (Tor Gol being Sarnechi for “Blank Tor”) due to the large distinguishing block of white stone that rose out of the ground on the outskirts of one of the wheat fields. The roads wrapping around Tor Gol were used often as one of the patrol paths of the NCDF on their regular patrols mean to prevent raids on the farms.

On 22.XII.1690, the 26th Border Defence Platoon, a unit which included some 47 soldiers and one CAAT T-3 light tank, was on patrol duty in this area. As the unit rounded the corner around the Tor Gol itself, an IED placed within the tor detonated, damaging the leading tank and killing one of the soldiers following. A stream of raiders (a survey of the battlefield later would number the raiders at around 80) came over a nearby hill as the explosion went off, bearing a motley assortment of handguns, automatic weaponry, and some swords and knives.

The NCDF soldiers took cover behind the tor and some nearby trees, returning fire with their nearly-as-motley armament of old Caradian military weaponry. The tank’s treads were damaged by the IED, leaving it immobile and vulnerable to multiple petrol bombs lobbed its way. Despite the raiders’ larger numbers, they were repulsed by the NCDF after a significant number of them had been gunned down, many during their charge after the initial explosion. Most fled, but six raiders were captured alive by the NCDF, though one bled out before medical attention could be found. The tank was ultimately damaged beyond repair.

Subsequent interrogation of the prisoners revealed that the larger than normal force was created by an apparent alliance of stateless entities in the Green known as the “Shakhsoni Sodiq” (Devoted Ones), united only by their common language (a bastardised variant of Babkhi), and their anger over the republic’s expansion into southern Eura. The prisoners were then marched to an impromptu prison in Brațav.

Government Response

Following the skirmish, an emergency session of the Casa Legii was held to determine what should be done about the attack. Though small raids by bands of six to twelve people were somewhat common against the farms established in the Green, such a large group, and one that had declared itself to be a member of an alliance of such raiders, was concerning. The common theme of the discussion was that the fact that such an entity was a threat to the republic was depressing.

It was resolved that the best option was to defend land owned by Nova Caradian citizens in the Green but to hold out on an offensive plan until the end of the year, when appreciable amounts of the new standardised equipment purchased in the Genesis Initiative would have been delivered. The NCDF created makeshift bunkers along the edge of Nova Caradian land and border patrols were increased in number and equipment. Two Stratus Class airships began running surveillance patrols to better provide early warning to NCDF soldiers. Restrictions on joining the armed forces were also temporarily loosened.

Sabotage in Strigăt

For the succeeding months, little occurred. Bands of armed raiders were occasionally spotted and roundly defeated at the borders, but no significant battles were fought. This lasted until 8. XV.1690 when one of the surveillance airships reported various civilian ships appearing to be armed sailing along the coast towards the Tadăcara district. The incoming force comprised four small utility vessels outfitted with light machine guns and was being led by a larger fishing trawler armed with a mortar.

A call was put out to vessels patrolling territorial waters closest to the city of Barochești, which was expected to be the target of the attacking force. Three Arvar Class Patrol Boats arrived the same day, and two more followed by a Standard Class Corvette were able to respond by the time the incoming attack reached Nova Caradian territorial waters on early 9.XV.1690.

The following battle was extremely one-sided; the corvette, the NCMS Apărător, torpedoed the trawler resulting in catastrophic damage to the vessel within the first hour of engagement in the small hours of the morning. Only two of the ship’s combatants fled the sinking vessel, the unknown number remaining on the vessel are presumed to have drowned. Following this, the patrol boats moved to cut off the fleeing enemy ships, which resulted in a short engagement between the small crafts. The raiders surrendered quickly, and the thirteen that had survived the engagement were captured. The Nova Caradian force suffered one casualty.

Location of Strigăt Island

Following the engagement, combining information revealed by the surveillance airship in the area and by the captured prisoners, it was surmised that the tribe that the raiders had come from (given the codename of “Capace Roșii”, or “Red Caps”, due to their military officers’ distinctive dyed hats) was based on Strigăt Island, an island which was previously believed to have been uninhabited. NCDF commanders determined that capturing the island should be an immediate priority due to the island’s strategic importance in its proximity to the unincorporated city of Draguți, which had been a prevalent target of land-based raids since the start of the operation, and would have a highly compromised position should the Capace Roșii launch sea-based raids on the town.

The Marine Defence Battalion was reorganised to include the newly-created Special Task Force 1 (STF-1), which was designated as the republic’s special forces, and which was also populated by select soldiers from all different sections of the NCDF and led by Major Luca Gaverescu, who had previously been in charge of a unit in the Marine Defence Battalion. STF-1 was thus given command over the attack on Strigăt Island.

The attack commenced on 6.I.1691, after two days of organisation and intelligence gathering that had led to the creation of a plan of attack. Two civilian fishing trawlers, chosen and requisitioned for their similarity to the crafts used to attack Barochești four days before, approached the base of the cliff at the easternmost edge of the island, on top of which sat the Qal’a, the fortress which the Capace Roșii prisoners had named as the headquarters of the tribe, under the cover of darkness. The cliff, while steep, was sloped at a shallow enough angle for twenty STF-1 soldiers to ascend from the base to the outer walls of the Qal’a. The fortress, which was a large stone structure that sprawled over the cliff, was covered with strategically placed plastic explosives by the operatives, who then proceeded inside the fortress through a wooden gate that may once have been functional, but had been rotted over time to be so pockmarked with holes that a solid kick did it in. Once inside, the operatives’ pretenses of stealth dissolved and the relatively unguarded fortress was stormed. Five of the operatives set out to the fortress’s south tower, where the fort’s communications were housed as evidenced by a makeshift antenna on the tower’s uppermost level that was pointed at the small village at the inland base of the cliff, while the remaining fifteen made for the central tower. Once inside, the team at the communications tower, equipped with hand grenades and P&D S-90s, methodically ascended the tower. Most of the tower’s few guards were killed, and the few that surrendered had their weapons confiscated and were guarded by one operative on the tower’s lowest floor. A number of those who surrendered were mistakenly killed by operatives due to the language barrier. Once at the tower’s communications equipment, the operatives used the radio to send a signal to a task group of a Haven Class Missile Corvette, a Mako I Class Fast Attack Craft, and four Arvar Class Patrol Boats stationed in Draguți, which relayed the message to a ZLO Albatross Class Airship waiting in the fields outside the town, before disabling the radio. The group began to make their way to the island. The communications tower team then moved the prisoners to the base of the cliff facing the sea.

Meanwhile, the fifteen operatives at the central tower stormed the building, though one was non-fatally shot in the shoulder by a guard patrolling the fortress’s outer walls as they entered the tower, causing them to leave the soldier in the entrance room and barricade the door. The team in the central tower faced considerably heavier resistance, though their main goal of reaching the central office and killing the Capace Roșii’s military commander was unimpeded. Following this, prisoners were again marched to the base of the cliff to wait for the arrival of the naval convoy, which did arrive at roughly 100 hours 7.I.1691. As soon as they arrived, the operatives triggered the detonation of the explosives, destroying much of the exterior structure and toppling the central tower.

Once the explosions had finished, the airship which had accompanied the convoy hovered over the ruins of the fortress and the village nearby and dropped boxes filled with papers demanding the surrender of the general forces on the island. The operatives proceed to load the six prisoners onto two of the patrol boats, on which they would be carried to Rorfast, before ascending the cliff once more where they would eliminate any remaining guards and dig in in the communications tower, which remained mostly intact after the detonation.

A response came early in the morning of 7.I.1691. A band of raiders, all unarmed, under the leadership of the second-in-command who had been in the village at the time of the explosion, approached the fortress under a white flag requesting negotiations for surrender. The Master Sergeant in charge of the strike team oversaw the negotiations. Farashad az Maham Shir-Del, the commander of the raiders, explained to the STF-1 soldiers that the Capace Roșii (who called themselves the “Arkhashi”) were mercenaries, and would be willing to submit their services and their island to the republic in exchange for autonomy and a large sum of precious metals. The precious metals were foregone, on the advice of the Master Sergeant, instead offering the ability to purchase firearms and combat vehicles directly from Nova Caradian manufacturers, and the demands for autonomy were limited somewhat in exchange for recurring monetary payment. Farashad accepted this deal, and the following day a treaty was drafted and sent to Rorfast, where it was officially signed by President Pândi Procescu. Portions of the Marine Defence Force were left on the island to rebuild and man the Qal’a, which was renamed to Cetate pe Vârf, though other military personnel were recalled.

The Capcană de Urs Plan

The Capcană de Urs plan

On 21.II.1691, NCDF soldiers reported dramatically decreased numbers of raiders incoming at the border. Suspicions were raised when a caravan of natives riding an assortment of camels, horses, and armed technicals was spotted by a surveillance airship just to the northwest of the established border that was apparently transporting small arms. At this point, NCDF command was expecting a larger attack, and prepared to enact a plan that would hopefully end the current threat of stateless raiders to allow the NCDF to focus on establishing defensive measures in case of an attack from a threat by northern aggressors.

Patrols were reallocated, and on 19.III.1691 very few soldiers were left at the border, with one lane in particular being devoid of protection, only watched over by a distant airship. In the early morning, that airship reported that the raiders had taken the bait, and a large force of approximately 700 raiders, some walking, some mounted, and some in technicals, was pouring through the defensive gap. A single platoon in SVM Type 5ACs was dispatched in the path of the raiders, and upon encountering them quickly fled southeastward deeper into Nova Caradian territory, returning fire when possible. After an hour, it became clear that the force was indeed pursuing the small platoon of 21 men, and they came upon a dirt road that they continued to follow southeast. Small portions of the invaders would regularly break off, making for nearby farmhouses to pillage. However, unbeknownst to the raider’s leaders at the head of the column, these groups of 30-50 raiders were quickly dispatched once they were a significant distance from the main path by a force of STF-1 soldiers following close behind with long-range rifles.

The NCDF platoon’s armoured cars were beginning to run low on fuel when they finally reached their destination, the village of Iunie, situated in a low area just inside the borders of the Ufini district. Presumably spying a worthy looting target, the band of raiders continued on towards the village even as bits and pieces of the NCDF platoon tore off to be refueled and repaired behind nearby hills, out of sight of the road that the raiders were using. As the procession, which had now lost 223 raiders, reached Iunie, only one Type 5AC remained of the platoon, driven by one Leading Soldier Marin Faruscul. Faruscul drove to his target, the church at the centre of the village, before abandoning the car and running for cover inside. As was tradition, this Flemic church had a secured, vault-like basement to be used for purposes such as this, and Faruscul was able to seal himself inside, safe from the few raiders still pursuing him.

Most of the raiders, however, had at this point broken off to pillage the town. Their first indication of something being amiss was that the houses were entirely empty. Even the house of local Domn was picked clean already, only containing old, overturned tables and chairs. No supplies were left in the village.

Their second indication was an explosion that shattered part of the Domn’s old house, killing many of the raiders inside. The NCDF, enacting the “Capcană de Urs Plan” (“Bear Trap Plan”), had surrounded the village with the force’s supply of CAAT-C19 artillery and mortar teams, and had begun shelling the village with the raiders trapped inside. A team of the force’s three SVM Type 2MBTs had followed the raiders on their pursuit of the platoon, aiding STF-1 soldiers in eliminating raiders that broke off from the main force, and had now closed the perimeter around the evacuated village. The raiders dug in as best they could in lower down and more grounded houses while the surrounding artillery continued to bombard the village, shelling as slowly as possible to continue the attack while drawing out their ammo late into the evening. The raiders made little attempt to retaliate until dusk, before which small automatic arms fire occasionally came the way of the NCDF soldiers, but was ineffective over the distance. At 2000 hours, a squad of 89 raiders charged from the village toward one of the positioned C19s. Most of them were gunned down by machine gun fire on their way up the hill, though a few were able to reach the artillery piece where they engaged NCDF infantry. 6 NCDF soldiers were killed, and the C19 was damaged and temporarily disabled. Nonetheless, the other artillery and mortar teams continued operation as engineers attempted to repair the damaged C19.

Near midnight, the Albatross Class Airship that the NCDF had been waiting for arrived. As part of a test run to find out if the Albatross could be used as a replacement for the heavy and difficult to repair Lunar Class Airship, the NCDF’s Albatross had been modified to have bomb bay doors in one section of its cargo hold, and had been filled with low-ordinance bombs, with which it began carpeting Iunie. Despite the bombs being low-ordinance, the roofs of the small village houses stood no chance, and were disintegrated as the Albatross loitered above continually dropping bombs. In the morning, the Albatross was dry of bombs, and returned to Mina Mițura airfield. Iunie was a husk, with several buildings being leveled purely from the amount of detonations and the rest missing roofs and some walls. An estimated 300 raiders had been killed from the shelling and bombing.

At this point, the NCDF infantry closed on the village to clear out any remaining raiders who might have dug in in basements or manually crafted trenches. Infantry teams paired with STF-1 soldiers and methodically searched the town, supported through radio communications with the mortar teams still in position. Over the next several hours, remaining raiders were either captured by the teams or dispatched. Faruscul, still hiding in the basement of the church, which was now reduced to a smoking ruin, was rescued by the special teams and brought out of the village.

In the end, the NCDF suffered twenty-two total casualties with ten deaths, while the entirety of the raider force was either killed or captured. Marin Faruscul was promoted to Sergeant, and was awarded a “Citare Onorifică”, or “Honourific Citation”, an award provisionally issued by the Casa Legii in lieu of Nova Caradia’s at the time nonexistent system of honours.

Aftermath

The NCDF declared victory after the defeat of the large raider force at Iunie, and expected rates of attacks along the border to slow down immensely. Utilising this reprieve, a second Border Defence Initiative was instituted to continue defence of the border with the Green, constructing a line of Tabere de Barieră along the border to offer more organised and fortified defence.

President Procescu, as an executive action, repealed the Golden Green Act, and simply enacted formal claim over the area under control of the NCDF. The newly acquired territory was organised and split between the Câmpii and Frate districts, which were new, and some was allocated to the Ufini district. The Casa Legii enacted a new act regarding the acquisition of new territory, which stipulated that it would require the new territories to hold emergency votes for its representation in the Casa Legii. The number of seats in the Casa Legii was also changed.

District governance was dissolved, leaving them only used as divisions for Casa Legii representation. Strigăț Island was established as a semi-autonomous area of the Frate district.

Popularity of the government, and of President Procescu, soared in the republic, though the Partid Regalist’s reputation in particular stagnated. The republic counted the operation as a total success and demonstrative of its longevity and legitimacy, as it showed its ability to assert control over its own territory.

International responses

Nation	Date	Reaction
Suren	13.XIV–24.XIV.1690 AN	The news that the invaders had arrived as far north as Sangisafed, as the area was known to the Vipian tribes of the region, so soon after the news of their initial landfall had been received was met with incredulity and anger in Surenshahr. The Mobad of Mobads himself prostrated himself in grief before the throne of the Shah and declared, after being bidden to rise, that there could now be no doubt that these foreign unbelievers, with their sacrilegious worship of the polluted "Black Flame" were unquestionably the noxious instruments of Angra Mainyu's foul designs. It was the Surenshah's duty to crush the head of this infidel king as surely he would a viper if he discovered one hiding in the grass. The Surenshah, after due deliberation, concurred. Durmish Khan from Kapavia, Bektash Khan from Chamrush Isle, and Zahedi Khan from the Surenshah's own household were instructed to attend upon his person whilst the hosts of their fedayeen were dispatched to Mehrshahr. Orders were sent out provisions, rations and munitions sufficient for seventeen thousand men under arms, as well as fodder for their mounts, were to be taken from the arsenals of the Confederacy and brought to the specified assembly point. To Zahedi Khan was given command of the force and the Derafsh of the Suren, along with the blessings of the assembled mobads and herbads of Eternal Euran Orthodoxy. The Khan, stood before the throne along with the emissaries of the two other summoned khans, received the orders of his master. With the bodies of his fidai he was to count the guns of the enemy and bring a true and accurate telling to the Surenshah so that the proper demise of the barbarian usurpers of sacred Eura could be prepared. For the protection of the Khans the Surenshah ordered a demi-regiment of the gendarmes, six armoured cars, forty trucks, such artillery pieces as could be found, and a spotter plane to detached from the Popular Levy to accompany the expedition on its journey southwards.