Zaddi's Bay

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Established in 1699 AN, after the the conclusion of the Crusade of Saint Lazaros and Operation Sidethorn, the Zaddi's Bay Defense Zone was a temporary military base named in honor of the ancient Zatriarchate of Matbaa that once occupied this region.

Situation

Zaddi's Bay is a natural anchorage on the Eastern Cibolan Coast, positioned approximately midway between Luix-Satyna and Sankt Ludwigshafen. The nearest settlement under civilised control was the port of Louisville within the territory of what was until 1709 AN the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen. As a military cantonment and area of occupation the extend of trade contacts between Zaddi's Bay and ports to the south were extremely minimal.

The cantonment area, controlled by a joint garrison drawn from the Natopian Army and Aerospace Component, encompassed an airfield, spaceport, command bunker, barracks, and hospital.

Although set in a capacious bay, the cantonment's port facilities were not attested to have developed beyond the minimal quayside infrastructure to support a temporary anchorage afforded to visiting naval vessels.

Garrison

The defence of Zaddi's Bay is the responsibility of the NDF's XXX Corps (Waffel Plains). The Corps, in line with Raspur Pact convention, has a nominal establishment of 57,600 men under arms, divided between four divisions - these being the XXX/1 Division at Paine City, the XXX/2 Division at Ayreon's Bay, the XXX/3 Division at St Lazaros, and the XXX/4 Division at Luix-Satyna. Zaddi's Bay, having been primarily established in order to block Vanic and Goetic elements from reaching the sea from the Cibolan interior, was assigned a formal garrison of a brigade from the XXX/4 Division, this being XXX/4/2 Brigade.

The assigned brigade is a light infantry formation geared primarily towards counter-insurgency operations and comprised of six regiments, being thusly:

  • XXX/4/2 Brigade
    • XXX/4/2/0 Command & Control Regiment
    • XXX/4/2/1 Light Infantry Regiment
      • 200x Snatch Land Rovers, 6 regimental officers, 40 squadron officers, 190 NCOs, 1,200x other ranks
    • XXX/4/2/2 Dragoon Regiment
      • 15x "Matador" Hovertanks, 185x Snatch Land Rovers, 6 regimental officers, 40 squadron officers, 190 NCOs, 1,200x other ranks
    • XXX/4/2/3 Area Defence Regiment
      • 6 regimental officers, 40 squadron officers, 190 NCOs, 1,200x other ranks
    • XXX/4/2/4 Artillery Regiment
      • 48x 105 mm light field guns, 200x Snatch Land Rovers, 6 regimental officers, 40 squadron officers, 190 NCOs, 1,200x other ranks
    • XXX/4/2/5 Commissariat Regiment
      • 6 regimental officers, 40 squadron officers, 190 NCOs, 1,200x other ranks
    • XXX/4/2/6 Inspectorate Regiment
      • 6 regimental officers, 40 squadron officers, 190 NCOs, 1,200x other ranks

The Light Infantry Regiment is tasked with the manning of 27x concrete blockhouses strung out along the eastern and southern frontiers of the Zaddi's Bay Defense Zone, these being tasked with montioring the border regions with the Green and the territories now controlled by RSL. Supporting these, at a remove of 40 km from the frontier zone, are four demi-regiment battlegroups formed of the Dragoon Regiment and Artillery Regiment, with attached Commissariat and Inspectorate Squadrons. These battlegroups are positioned in order to respond promptly to any incursions.

The protection of the Cantonments at Zaddi's Bay itself falls to the Area Defence Regiment, which comprises of a Security Cohort (360 men) and an Air Defence Cohort (360 men with 18x pintle-mounted heavy machine-guns). In extremis these can be reinforced by the Command and Control Regiment, and the remaining commissariat and inspectorate personnel. The airfield and spaceport can also be defended by aircrew and maintenance personnel from the NDF aerospace contingent based there.

Defensive structures

As noted previously 27 concrete blockhouses are spaced at equidistant points along with frontiers with non-Natopian territories.

The inner defences of Zaddi's Bay itself consists of minefields, barbed wire emplacements around the landwards side, and nine defensive strongpoints, each consisting of a two-storey concrete blockhouse and defensive earthworks. The strongpoints are linked by a perimeter road that is accessed via manned checkpoints from the airfield in the northwest and the quayside in the southeast.

Natopian doctrine

The Natopian strategic outlook is mostly defensive and reactive. Because the majority of effort and resources are lavished upon the orbital defence platforms and the long-established series of fleets defending Tapfer, demesnal defence forces, locally raised militias, are expected to bear the brunt of fending off any initial enemy incursion. In Whales these are provided by the Whales Auxiliary Force whilst Waffel Plains benefits from security forces provided by SATCo. Corporate security forces, provided by the Honourable Company and again by SATCo provide an additional layer of reinforcement. As a region administered directly by the NDF, the Zaddi's Bay Defence Zone is rare in having its first line of defence provided by the Natopian Army, that does mean however that the perimeter is necessarily stretched thin. If the Zaddi's Bay region comes under concerted attack it may speedily call in the support of aerospace elements of the Natopian Spacefleet and a sortie from the nearest fleet element of the Natopian Navy based in Tapfer. Demesnal and Corporate forces in Cibola might also be summoned to assist if not bogged down in their own sectors.

The use of orbital bombardment, usually in the form of kinetic energy generated by the release of tungsten rods onto a given target, has been a staple tactic of Natopia and the Raspur Pact whenever faced by a collapsing military situation. However, with abiding wish of the Pact to avoid drawing Steerswick and the enigmatic Mondo into the conflict, there may be an inhibition on the part of Cibola Command preventing them from doing so in defence of a comparatively lesser value objective like Zaddi's Bay.

With regards to the political situation in Natopia following the partition of the empire into eastern and western realms, both portions have an equal claim to the assistance of the NDF if they find any of their territories under concerted attack. However it remains to be seen whether the new realities of partition have disrupted the pre-existing chain of command.

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