One interesting aspect with the Surenids, first attested during the Second Euran War, was their disinclination to hold captives as prisoners of war for an extended period of time. Excepting those sent back for further interrogation by the gendarmes, those branded for the attention of the judicial authorities, or those summarily executed at the discretion of the commander of the local forces, captives taken by the Surenid forces would be released and sent back towards their own lines at the earliest opportunity. The macabre detail to note however is that those released in this manner would first be subjected to the amputation of their right hand and left foot. The bloody stumps resulting from these operations being cauterised by the heated blade of a knife, followed by the application of a coat of tar mixed with sand. Those wishing to avoid being released from captivity in this fashion were obliged to accept the Surenshah's salt and enter into his service as kuls under a Life-Service Bond.
Long beset by equipment shortages, the Suren were almost pathetically grateful when in 1690AN the agents of the State Gendarmerie were able to negotiate the seizure of the Krasnocorian arsenal formerly held in Port Ulje in return for offering the garrison there, marooned for five years since the collapse of their home country, generous cash payments, humanitarian relief supplies, and the opportunity to resettle in Surenid territory.
At the same time more concerted efforts were made to identify, catalogue and salvage repairable pieces of equipment left over from the Euran Wars. To this assemblage of arms was added a steady flow of military aid received from Constancia and New Alexandria under the Fontainebleau Accords and subsequently from Trans-Euran Command following the accession of the Confederacy to the Raspur Pact. The outbreak of the Third Euran War (1693AN–1701AN) would see further donations of equipment, particularly in the form of light attack aircraft for counter-insurgency operations, and the embedding of advisors from the Constancian Foreign Legion in the State Gendarmerie.
The breadth of the conflict with Zeed, encompassing guerrilla warface, counter-insurgency operations, and finally full-scale manoeuvre warfare, exceeded the capacity of the State Gendarmerie, even when reinforced by mobilised reserve elements of the Popular Levy. In spite of the Mobilisation Act of 1695 and the 1697 Impressment Act, the Surenids struggled to meet their manpower requirements, and indeed the bulk of the army that was eventually taken south into Zeedic territory after 1698AN, following in the wake of a Constancian offensive which overwhelmed the Ḡur Republic, comprised of mercenaries, kul slave soldiers, and retainers taken from the Royal Court.
Following the surrender of Zeed in 1701AN, the surviving armaments of the Revolutionary Armed Forces were transferred by Trans-Euran Command to the Suren Confederacy as part of the reparations owed by Zeed as the aggressor in the conflict.
In spite of being sorely tested during the conflict with Zeed, the Popular Levy did not undergo meaningful reform in the following two decades and in consequence struggled to suppress the Kapavian insurgency and ultimately failed to reconquer the greater part of formerly BassaridNorasht during Operation Jungle Bolo. On both occasions the Surenid had been obliged to stave off collapse through the widespread use of kuls and subjects pressed into service. Moreover the Surenid had only been able to sustain themselves at all through massive allied interventions staged by the Raspur Pact, most notably by the Benacian Union, Constancia, Floria, and Nouvelle Alexandrie. By 1718AN it was increasingly apparent that, in order to cease to be regarded as a liability by the Raspur Pact, the military of the Suren Confederacy would have to undergo a wide-ranging process of reform and modernisation.
In order to prepare for the reorganisation process, which would see the Popular Levy replaced in the national defence role by the Surenid Armed Forces, a professionalised and all-volunteer force, over the course of 1718AN – 1720AN, the mission of defending the Norashti frontier would be vested in the hands of the Lashkar-e-Yazatá, the Constancian Home Guard, and the Benacian Eura Corps fielded by the Benacian Union Defence Force and Local Auxiliary Franchises. This process would necessitate the permanent establishment of the Popular Levy and the Gendarmes would be assigned to training camps overseen by the Allied Mission in the Suren Confederacy, formed of contingents invited from member-states of the Raspur Pact. These national missions were as follows:
The Surenid Armed Forces received an additional assistance package in the form of 32x F-8 Shrike multi-role strike aircraft donated by Sanama. The donation was accompanied by a training mission of deployed personnel from the Sanaman Union Air Force, whose presence was deemed necessary as the Surenid cadre of trained aviators had next to no prior experience in the operation and maintenance of fast jet aircraft.
Surenid infantry would be provided with a camel-hide back pack, two canvas haversacks, an entrenching tool, wire cutters, respirator mask and cardboard carrier case, and a tarpaulin.
Benacian Union: Armoured Warfare
Constancia: Naval warfare
Floria: Infantry
Nouvelle Alexandrie: Area Defence (artillery, air-defence, surveillance, UAVs etc)
Shireroth: Aerial warfare
Rusjar Mechanical Machine-Building Plant
Nova English Weapons
Allied Production Matrix
.png)
Mishalan Arsenal.png)
Suren Central Manufacturing Organisation
Native textile manufacturers
Third Directorate of the CCSD
Shireroth
