Operation Cobalt Canyon

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Operation Cobalt Canyon
Part of the Surenid Civil War, the Alexandrium Wars, and the Wars of the Dispossessed
Air mobility was essential for renewed Surenid loyalist operations in Norasht during the civil war.
Date VI.1733 AN Location Norasht (Eura) Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Raspur Pact  Suren Confederacy  Constancia  Nouvelle Alexandrie  Oportia  Zeed	Confederacy of the Dispossessed  Jazir-e Kreyak
	Azad Eura  Suren Confederacy (Rustaham Faction)  Babkhan Restoration Movement  Free State of Constancia
Commanders and leaders
/ Qaleem Kambarzahi / Javad Teymoori / Rasoul Jahangiri / Kambiz Shokoohi
Units involved
Trans-Euran Command Nivardom Banner Group 509th Army I Corps 1st Infantry Division 2nd Infantry Division 6th Artillery Division  Euran Stabilisation Force (Eurstafor)
Strength
~ 43,200 personnel

Operation Cobalt Canyon was a limited offensive launched by the Surenid Armed Forces, overseen by the Trans-Euran Command of the Raspur Pact, in the sixth month of 1733 AN with the objective of clearing Zinjibar of the rebel lords and their retinues before driving a wedge between Azad Eura and the Confederacy of the Dispossessed, thereby to prevent their further cooperation in the Norasht Ostan. Notably four Benacian legates were dispatched to the Suren Confederacy to organise and oversee the offensive. which would be conducted by I Corps of the Surenid Armed Forces.

Background

I Corps, comprising of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions, along with the 6th Artillery Division, was organised along lines typical for forces of the Raspur Pact, albeit trained by Florian instructors during the period of their initial formation after the Norasht campaign. Although unsettled by the wave of defections which had followed the Bitter Spring IN 1731 AN and the succession crisis of 1731 AN, the regiments attached to I Corps had not experienced anything like the wave of mutinies which had initially been feared. Whilst garrisoned on the Norasht frontier, the corps had nonetheless been left in a vulnerable position by the defection of the satrapan government in Norasht Ostan to the rebel cause. The threat of rebel forces to their rear at a time when faced by renewed attacks by forces loyal to the Confederacy of the Dispossessed had ultimately obliged the withdrawal of I Corps and its constituent divisions before they were all isolated and picked off in detail. The defection of Zjand Basseri to the rebel cause further complicated the retreat, and by the fifteenth month of 1732 AN, the corps had retired almost to the very gates of Surenshahr.

With II Corps, itself reconstituting, tasked with the ultimate goal of retaking Zjand Basseri, whilst Kapavia was on the receiving end of a pacification campaign unleashed by the 5th Armoured Division, 7th Cavalry Division, and 12th Vanguard Division, I Corps would instead be tasked with taking the war against the rebels and the disinherited back to Norasht. Whilst Zjand Basseri was in revolt however it would be necessary for I Corps to redeploy to the province of Aspadana which bordered onto the Gulf of Zinjibar. To this end, the corps was obliged to transit the Constancian provinces of Mitra and Varaz via the Trans-Euran Railway. The relocation would take two months to complete in full, with the last contingents arriving at Bandar-e Saghi on 23.II.1733 AN.

During the course of this redeployment the command staff of the corps and its constituent divisions would find themselves peeled away from their formations and instead dispatched, under the careful guard of the provosts, to the Madrese-ye Nezām to undergo a period of intensive retraining prior to be entrusted with any further unsupervised campaign planning. In their place, the Committee of Euran Salvation invited the Benacian Union to dispatch a military mission. The High Presidium duly obliged and, accordingly, awaiting the formed up Surenid formations at Bandar-e Saghi on 23.II.1733 AN was a coterie of four nominally retired Benacian legates and their various retinues. Heading the mission was Qaleem Kambarzahi, the former legatine division commander of the 2 Pansarfördelningen. Although a veteran of mechanised warfare in boreal climes might have seemed a curious choice to dispatch to the tropics, Qaleem's most recent experience had been in reorganising the land warfare component of the Western Banner Group of Benacia Command, an experience which had seen him work alongside an odd assortment of paramilitary and local forces whilst retaining a formally polite and yet firmly no-nonsense attitude. These qualities, along with a shared Babkhan heritage, were deemed to be advantages that would serve him in good stead when it came to dealing with the Surenids.

Crossing into Aspadana with lead elements of the 1st Division on 1.III.1733 AN, Qaleem and his three legatine colleagues – Javad Teymoori, Rasoul Jahangiri, and Kambiz Shokoohi, would have three months in which to restore I Corps to operational effectiveness, after which time the Committee of Euran Salvation and Trans-Euran Command both mandated that the full counter-offensive into Norasht must be commenced.

Preparations

Although controlled by a firmly loyalist provincial government, Aspadana had been greatly unsettled by the defection of neighbouring Norasht in the previous year. The collapse of the loyalist positions there had suddenly opened Aspadana up to raiding parties from the Confederacy of the Dispossessed as well as to the infiltration of subversive groups dispatched by Azad Eura. I Corps accordingly arrived into a land greatly troubled by a mosaic of paramilitary groups and warbands, some loyalist, many however far less so.

Deployed force

Nominal order of battle, also the sequence by which the regiments passed through Bandar-e Saghi (Varaz) for the purpose of review.

• I Corps
  • Corps HQ
  • 1st Infantry Division
    • 100th Command & Control Regiment
    • 101st Grenadier Regiment
    • 102nd Mechanised Infantry Regiment
    • 103rd Mechanised Infantry Regiment
    • 104th Combat Engineering Regiment
    • 105th Artillery Regiment
    • 106th Air Defence Regiment
    • 107th Transportation Regiment
    • 108th Medical Services Regiment
    • 109th Sustainment Regiment
    • 110th Security Regiment
    • 111th Signals Regiment
  • 2nd Infantry Division
    • 200th Command & Control Regiment
    • 201st Grenadier Regiment
    • 202nd Mechanised Infantry Regiment
    • 203rd Mechanised Infantry Regiment
    • 204th Combat Engineering Regiment
    • 205th Artillery Regiment
    • 206th Air Defence Regiment
    • 207th Transportation Regiment
    • 208th Medical Services Regiment
    • 209th Sustainment Regiment
    • 210th Security Regiment
    • 211th Signals Regiment
  • 6th Artillery Division
    • 600th Command & Control Regiment
    • 601st Artillery Regiment
    • 602nd Air Defence Regiment
    • 603rd Artillery Regiment
    • 604th Air Defence Regiment
    • 605th Artillery Regiment
    • 606th Air Defence Regiment
    • 607th Transportation Regiment
    • 608th Medical Services Regiment
    • 609th Sustainment Regiment
    • 610th Security Regiment
    • 611th Signals Regiment

Reorganised

As deployed after entering Asperdana

Reinforcements

Later, as the Surenid offensive stalled around Zinjibar, the member-states of the Euran Economic Union, at the request of the Committee of Euran Salvation, organised a multinational force drawn from the armed forces and security agencies of the member-states. This Euran Stabilisation Force, commonly abbreviated as "Eurstafor" began to arrive at Bandar-e Zinjibar during the second half of the month of IX.1733 AN.