Liquidation of the Free Zone
| Liquidation of the Free Zone | |||||||
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 BUDF personnel crossing the Oktavyan mountains into Bergburg, 1730 AN |
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 Raspur Pact
|  Free Zone
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Benacia Command
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The Liquidation of the Free Zone was an action undertaken by Benacia Command in Kalgachia during the final months of 1730 AN. The objective of the significant deployment was to bring the lieutenancies of Bergburg and Katarsis into full compliance with the ruling Protectorate Council and to introduce forces from the "Central" and "Tiny" banner groups of Benacia Command onto the surface strata therein. The occupation had been long anticipated, as it would remove the last gap in coverage between Benacian and Shirerithian forces on the western front which would be formed along the land border of Batavia.
Background
The "Free Zone" was the informal term applied to that area of the surface of Kalgachia left unoccupied by the forces of the Raspur Pact following Operation Penitent (1717 AN – 1718 AN). Whilst the writ of the newly established protectorate also ran in the two western lieutenancies of Bergburg and Katarsis, this had not been followed up by the introduction of any garrison of the protecting powers, these being the Benacian Union and Northbloom. As such the region had become a haven for those members of the Kalgachi Defence Force who refused to accept their integration into the successor militaries.
The relative failure of Operation Jagdbeute in 1724 AN increased the potential for a clash between the Benacian Union and Shireroth as the Imperial Republic's glacial path towards withdrawal from the Raspur Pact raised the possibility of renewed conflict – a scenario commonly referred to as "Endsieg" – between the surviving vulture states for continental hegemony.
In such a situation, the unoccupied part of Kalgachia would constitute a mountainous salient projecting into what was otherwise a relatively well defined frontier between the Shirerithian dominion of Batavia and the Benacian realms of Elluenuueq and the Unified Governorates. Were the Kalgachi of the "Free Zone" to declare for Shireroth in any future conflict, the Imperials would be gifted a strong redoubt from which to attack and disrupt the Benacian forces in their flanks.
A plan to occupy Free Zone had been drawn up in 1729 AN under the codename of Operation Pariah and went through several revisions, including different BUDF units, increasing the prominence of contingents from the Kalgachi Grouping of Forces and adding provisions for the involvement the Tiny Banner Group, controlled by Northbloom and the Mondosphere, in the occupation of Katarsis.
Liquidation
The Liquidation of the Free Zone began in earnest on 11.XIII.1730 AN with BUDF and Kalgachi Grouping of Forces units crossing the Oktavyan mountains into the lieutenancies of Bergburg and Katarsis. The operation saw the first major deployment of units from the "Central" and "Tiny" banner groups into these remaining unoccupied areas of Kalgachia.
The Benacian objectives were to bring Bergburg and Katarsis fully under the control of the Protectorate Council in Oktavyan and eliminate any remaining strongholds of KDF dissidents opposed to the 1717 Treaty of Oktavyan. Securing the rugged mountain terrain in these areas was also crucial to establishing a continuous front between Benacian and Shirerithian forces along the land border with Batavia, in anticipation of a potential future conflict.
Bergburg Campaign
The initial Bergburg campaign was led by the 3rd (Katarsis) Division of the Kalgachi Grouping of Forces and supporting BUDF units from the Central Banner Group's 11th Army under the Frainan Hohmin Sepp Käser. Meeting stiff resistance from entrenched KDF dissidents in the first weeks, the Benacians relied heavily on air strikes and artillery bombardment to dislodge the defenders from strategic mountain passes and occupied towns like Warburg and Kossarstadt.
By early 1731 AN, resistance in Bergburg had been largely crushed after the dissident stronghold of Bergburg itself fell to the Benacian attackers. Remaining partisans either surrendered or fled across the border into Batavia.
Katarsis Offensive
In Katarsis, units of the Tiny Banner Group, organised by Mondo and entrusted to the command of Tabitha Drax, seized the eponymous administrative centre and key transportation in the opening days while the Fortress Division moved to secure former KDF weapons depots and stockpiles. By acting swiftly to secure the seat of government, and focusing on disarming local forces, the Tiny Banner Group was able to rapidly gain control of the population centers without intense combat. This being in marked contrast to the formations under the control of the Benacians, which had shown less deftness and a greater willingness to resort to blunt force trauma to secure their objectives in neighbouring Bergburg.
Pockets of dissident fighters continued to harass supply lines from mountain redoubts for several more months. However, by IV.1731 AN, the 2nd Volunteer Mountain Division "Southbloom" had reached Slavegate on the Batavian border, meaning that the Free Zone had effectively ceased to exist as a region outside of Protectorate control.
Political Capitulation
As allied military forces made inroads into Bergburg and Katarsis, the political leadership in the Free Zone was forced to come to terms with its demise. The Council of Perfecti, the ruling oligarchy of Kalgachia, and the Lord Lieutenants' Council representing the regional lieutenancies, ultimately offered tepid support for the operation as a step towards ending the fragmentation of Kalgachi territory.
For the Council of Perfecti based in Oktavyan, the Free Zone had become an embarrassing anomaly undermining their claims to unitary rule over all of Kalgachia. While not openly celebrating the loss of de facto autonomy in Bergburg and Katarsis, the Council issued statements portraying the Liquidation as the "reintegration of wayward lands" and a renewal of Kalgachi unity.
The Lord Lieutenants' Council, composed of the ruling Lieutenants from each regional lieutenancy, was more reticent. The Lieutenants of Bergburg and Katarsis naturally objected to having their power circumscribed by the incoming Protectorate forces. However, after protracted negotiations, they agreed to a face-saving transition where they would nominally remain as figureheads under the Protectorate Council's oversight.
Both councils carefully modulated their rhetoric, acknowledging the military realities on the ground and need to reconcile the Free Zone's reabsorption, while still playing to conservative Kalgachi nationalist sentiment demanding autonomy. Their main consolation was that outsiders like Benacians and Northbloomers did not directly replace them, but rather the hybrid Protectorate system allowing continued Kalgachi involvement.
Aftermath
With the Liquidation of the Free Zone, the entire surface territory of Kalgachia was brought under the oversight of the tripartite Protectorate Council in Oktavyan, composed of Benacian, Mondosphere, and native Kalgachi representatives. The strategically crucial Fortress Division and former KDF weapons stockpiles were placed under joint command.
This eliminated the last geographic gap between the fronts held by Benacian and Shirerithian forces in western Kalgachia, establishing a relatively stable borderline in the event of a potential future "Endsieg" conflict. It also extinguished hopes of KDF dissidents attempting to reignite an insurgency against Protectorate rule from the Free Zone redoubts.
For Benacia Command, the operation demonstrated an ability to successfully project power into the highlands when required, albeit at some cost against occasionally stubborn pockets of resistance. Such questions as had remained about the long-term loyalty of certain Kalgachi units and potential for renewed unrest had seemingly been addressed by the performance of the Kalgachi Grouping of Forces and the failure of the other lieutenancies, or the crucial subterranean portions of the Garden, to rise in support of the last pockets of the surface which had remained outside the control of the Protectorate, hitherto.
Ultimately, the elimination of the Free Zone brought a perhaps unavoidable conclusion to the prolonged fragmentation of Kalgachi territory in the years after Operation Penitent. For the first time since the establishment of the Protectorate, Kalgachia's ruling institutions could rightfully claim authority over the entirety of the Garden's surface realm.
