Kalgachi Defence Force (1649 - 1718): Difference between revisions

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-Looking North from the Splatterhorn<br>
-Looking North from the Splatterhorn<br>


====Specification B Fortress (150 personnel)====
====[https://micras.org/wiki/images/7/7b/SpecBfortress.png Specification B Fortress] (150 personnel)====


- Malus-ER silo x6<br>
- Malus-ER silo x6<br>

Revision as of 12:30, 14 July 2018

Kalgachi military attire is derived from likely and not-so-likely origins: Laqi Cossacks, Ashkenatzi Kossars, Minarborian line infantry, Nova English naval dress and and the notorious "bellhop rig" of Shireroth's Lunatic Legion.

The Military Forces of Kalgachia are composed of three distinct elements; the Kalgachi Defence Force, the Prefects' Border Guard Service and the Church Partisans.

The Kalgachi Defence Force

Kalgachi Defence Force

KDF.png
Official March: The Finishing


Active: 147 Anno Libertatis - present

Allegiance: Kalgachia

Personnel: 106,816 in combat and frontline support

320,448 in non-combatant command, administration, training and logistics


Type: Infantry and fortification based territorial defence force with integrated mobile reconnaissance, air and ground fire support, air defence, electronic warfare and special operations capability

Nickname: "The Hamster Hunters"

Current Commander: 3x redundant Chiefs of General Staff commanding on a rotating basis; identities unknown

Conflicts & Deployments ONGOING:
  • Operation Sawdust
    (rolling Tee-al containment)
  • Operation Neaptide
    (Emissions fingerprinting of Shirerithian gravimetric vehicles, development of countermeasures)
  • Operation Ælmes
    (Military training and civil defence assistance to Nova England)

HISTORICAL:

Overview

The KDF has risen from its origins as a posse of glorified hamster herders to aspirations of viable defence against the first-rank armies of Micras.

The Kalgachi Defence Force (KDF) is the standing army of Kalgachia, comprised of two Field Corps with an additional Corps-sized archipelago of mountain fortresses. Drawing upon the doctrinal and technological legacy of the highly-developed Minarborian military-industrial complex, whose expertise it inherited almost wholesale, the KDF is the second-largest organ of Kalgachi state behind the Church of Kalgachia and by far the most heavily resourced - its remit of territorial defence, for a nation directly adjacent to the immense Imperial Forces of Shireroth, is arguably the most demanding on Micras and has produced within its ranks a ruthlessly meritocratic and task-oriented attitude, rejecting with almost violent intensity the indulgences of ceremony and spectacle seen in many foreign armies, including its monarchial Minarborian predecessor. The proximity of the Shirerithian behemoth, viewed through the horticulturally holistic lens of the Deep Singers and their Nezeni successors, is viewed by the Kalgachi Central War College as a necessary and ultimately beneficial manifestation of 'evolutionary pressure' which sustains the combat capability of the KDF at greater level than the Micran average and lends it an innate immunity to degenerative social forces.

The familiarity of the Kalgachi soldier with the spectre of death is maintained by the sustained operational tempo arising from the containment of Tyrannocricetus aliger (the notorious Tee-al), whose main habitat is located in the Kalgachi south but ultimately ranges throughout the country and beyond.

Ground Doctrine

In the face of overwhelmingly superior Shirerithian firepower, KDF doctrine places a heavy emphasis on rhizomic antifragility and swarm theory, dispersing points of failure as much as possible and effectively relegating centralised command to the preperatory phase of war in anticipation of its destruction or loss of communication during actual hostilities, requiring a high degree of territorial familiarity and individual initiative on the part of junior and mid-ranking officers to compensate for the shortfall. This extends to the KDF's logistical structure which emphasises short supply lines around a multitude of small covert arms dumps - usually guarded, administered and shared with local partisans - whose contents are supplied from deep underground munitions factories in peacetime and periodically rotated back underground for maintenance. While theoretically beneficial in a home defence scenario, reliance on such an arrangement does entail a substantial dropoff in KDF unit endurance on unfamiliar or hostile ground, for instance in large expeditionary operations. The only exceptions to this are the cossack units and special forces who are trained to obtain what little they need from bushcraft and/or plunder.

On a tactical level the KDF emphasises close integration with local partisans and practices broadly similar methods of ground denial through ambush, infiltration and sabotage - albeit with better equipment and firepower. With the exception of mounted and air units the KDF operates with a slow but constant mobility, using areas of thick vegetation and topographic hollows to locate and infiltrate small gaps in any front line or rear-echelon dragnet the enemy attempts to establish. The notion of permanently conceding ground, in a nation of Kalgachia's size and position, is considered futile regardless of the temporary benefits - therefore the entire country is considered a viable operational area regardless of the strategic situation, and the tactic of retreat by forward infiltration is considered imperative. Visual concealment and emissions control is an important aspect of this, assisted by items of kit such as the 'snuggly' - a quilted insulating sheet which, when not used as a blanket for sleeping out the cold Kalgachi nights, can be worn as a cape for reducing troops' infrared signature while on the move.

In active battle, KDF commanders are taught to close hard with the enemy in order to negate the latter's air and artillery capability and under no circumstances allow themselves to be pinned down at distance - or at least to disengage and move quickly from their position of first contact. The KDF's underground units, equipped with submachine guns, shotguns, flamethrowers and other close range weaponry, show a particular enthusiasm - and allegedly aptitude - for this type of intimate battle, whether underground or on the surface.

Like its predecessors in Minarboria, the KDF work to integrate an effective anti-air and anti-tank defence down to the company or troop level and a robust electronic warfare capability, although the application of these in Kalgachia's rugged topography has necessitated much head-scratching by military planners with regard to the field disassembly and transport of larger systems by pack horse or helicopter.

Air Doctrine

From its creation, the KDF has renounced aspirations to air supremacy in view of the asset expense measured against the superiority of the probable opposition - a position vindicated by the commanding performance of Shirerithian air assets in the War of Lost Brothers. In the air - as on land - the emphasis is on denial rather than control. This is offered by Kalgachia's sprawling air defence systems, composed of the tried and tested Minarborian surface-to-air missiles - the Sciarid MANPADS for short range, the Dandelion for medium range and the Burdock for long ranges extending to the edge of the Micran atmosphere. The latter, relying on active radar, operates with a cryptographically-determined, millisecond-range signal shift in the variables of frequency, pulse rate, amplitude and switch interval which themselves are duplicated across four unique channels, offering some resilience against spoofing or repeater jamming and, when linked with the signal refractors of friendly electronic warfare units, against wide-spectrum anti-radiation missiles. The Dandelion missile lacks this capability although its own active radar mode is generally an unused backup to its passive seekers which can operate in infrared, or utilise the Minarborian technology of ionised air homing which locks on to the electromagnetic burst of compressed air on rotor tips or the leading edges of transonic/supersonic fixed-wing aircraft. The seeker of the Sciarid missile is limited to infrared owing to its small size - although it does have an unguided firing option to provoke evasive manoeuvre, act as an infrared decoy or even attempt a lucky hit.

Owing to its difficult terrain, Kalgachia's military logistics are unmechanised by design.

Kalgachia's military electronics are designed with resilience in mind - most are deliberately retro affairs of vacuum tubes, nixie displays or even clockwork that can be repaired in the field with pliers and a soldering iron without going to the trouble of replacing a whole unit or finding the air-filtered, static-free clean room required to work on microcircuitry. Such components also have a degree of innate EMP hardening, although the deficit in processing power compared with more complex miniaturised systems inevitably seeks compensation by the human brain, requiring a more intensive training regime for operators and a larger number of operators overall.

One of the more controversial practices of the KDF's air defence assets is the standing order that all aircraft in Kalgachi airspace more than 3000 metres above the local ground level, unless explicit orders have been received to let them pass, are to be engaged and destroyed without warning. This has resulted in a series of accidents, usually involving non-instrument-rated pilots who find themselves in the impossible dilemma of flying into cloud and potentially striking a hidden mountain, or else climbing above the weather only to be blasted out of the sky. Despite a number of fatal incidents and near-misses - some involving aviators from elite social circles - plus more serious incidents involving foreign aircraft transgressing Kalgachi airspace due to 'navigational errors', the KDF's shoot-first policy remains in place.

Close air support in the KDF is provided by the Whirdlebirb, originally a gunship of Babkhan origin whose blueprints were discovered by the Minarborians during an archeological expedition to an Ashkenatzan bunker and rebuilt in modified form. The Kalgachi variant of the Whirdlebirb can carry a variety of armaments, or up to nine troops (three behind the pilots' seats and three on each of its exterior bench seats) or a combination thereof, although the use of mounted weapons while carrying exterior passengers has led to unfortunate incidents in the past. Kalgachia's mountain topography offers a sea of radar clutter or complete shielding in which the KDF's Whirdlebirbs, flying low and slow, aim to achieve some degree of survivability in contested airspace.

KDF units are organised as follows:

I Corps

1st (Oktavyan) Division

1st Infantry Regiment
- 1st Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 2nd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 3rd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 4th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

2nd Infantry Regiment
- 5th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 6th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 7th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 8th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

3rd Infantry Regiment
- 9th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 10th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 11th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 12th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

1st Underground Regiment
- 1st Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 2nd Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 3rd Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 4th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)

2nd Underground Regiment
- 5th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 6th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 7th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 8th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)

1st Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
2nd Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)

1st Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)
2nd Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)

1st Electronic Warfare Battalion (2x Mobile Sensor Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile Comms Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile ELINT Complex)

Special Purpose Regiment
- 3rd Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
- SPR Airborne Company (144 Airborne Special Operatives)
- SPR Cossack Squadron (280 Cossack Special Operatives)

4th (Jollity) Division

9th Infantry Regiment
- 33rd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 34th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 35th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 36th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

10th Infantry Regiment
- 37th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 38th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 39th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 40th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

5th Underground Regiment
- 17th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 18th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 19th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 20th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)

9th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
10th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)

6th Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)

4th Electronic Warfare Battalion (2x Mobile Sensor Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile Comms Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile ELINT Complex)

5th (Schlepogora) Division

11th Infantry Regiment
- 41st Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 42nd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 43rd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 44th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

12th Infantry Regiment
- 45th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 46th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 47th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 48th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

13th Infantry Regiment
- 49th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 50th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 51st Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 52nd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

6th Underground Regiment
- 21st Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 22nd Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 23rd Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 24th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)

1-iy Kazachniy Polk Imeni Z.M. Karymova (1st Cossack Regiment)
- 1st Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)
- 2nd Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)
- 3rd Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)
- 4th Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)

2-oi Kazachniy Polk Imeni A.B. Hangbaidagulya (2nd Cossack Regiment)
- 5th Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)
- 6th Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)
- 7th Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)
- 8th Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)

3-iy Kazachniy Polk Imeni V.S. Shumyanova (3rd Cossack Regiment)
- 9th Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)
- 10th Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)
- 11th Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)
- 12th Cossack Squadron (4x Laqkozak Patrol Troop)

11th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
12th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
13th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)

7th Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)
8th Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)

5th Electronic Warfare Battalion (2x Mobile Sensor Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile Comms Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile ELINT Complex)

II Corps

2nd (Abrek) Division

4th Infantry Regiment
- 13th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 14th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 15th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 16th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

5th Infantry Regiment
- 17th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 18th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 19th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 20th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

3rd Underground Regiment
- 9th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 10th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 11th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 12th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)

4th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
5th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)

3rd Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)

2nd Electronic Warfare Battalion (2x Mobile Sensor Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile Comms Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile ELINT Complex)

3rd (Katarsis) Division

6th Infantry Regiment
- 21st Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 22nd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 23rd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 24th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

7th Infantry Regiment
- 25th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 26th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 27th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 28th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

8th Infantry Regiment
- 29th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 30th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 31st Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 32nd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

4th Underground Regiment
- 13th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 14th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 15th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 16th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)

6th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
7th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
8th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)

4th Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)
5th Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)

3rd Electronic Warfare Battalion (2x Mobile Sensor Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile Comms Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile ELINT Complex)

6th (Bergburg) Division

14th Infantry Regiment
- 53rd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 54th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 55th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 56th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

15th Infantry Regiment
- 57th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 58th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 59th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 60th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

7th Underground Regiment
- 25th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 26th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 27th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 28th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)

Khativa I Netzach Ha-Ba (1st Kossar Regiment)
- 1st Kossar Squadron (3x Fire Support Troop, 1x Air Defence Troop)
- 2nd Kossar Squadron (3x Fire Support Troop, 1x Air Defence Troop)
- 3rd Kossar Squadron (3x Fire Support Troop, 1x Air Defence Troop)
- 4th Kossar Squadron (3x Fire Support Troop, 1x Air Defence Troop)

Khativa II Ha-Esh Volyri' (2nd Kossar Regiment)
- 5th Kossar Squadron (3x Fire Support Troop, 1x Air Defence Troop)
- 6th Kossar Squadron (3x Fire Support Troop, 1x Air Defence Troop)
- 7th Kossar Squadron (3x Fire Support Troop, 1x Air Defence Troop)
- 8th Kossar Squadron (3x Fire Support Troop, 1x Air Defence Troop)

14th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
15th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)

9th Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)

6th Electronic Warfare Battalion (2x Mobile Sensor Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile Comms Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile ELINT Complex)

7th (Lithead) Division

16th Infantry Regiment
- 61st Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 62nd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 63rd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 64th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

17th Infantry Regiment
- 65th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 66th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 67th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 68th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

18th Infantry Regiment
- 69th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 70th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 71st Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 72nd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

8th Underground Regiment
- 29th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 30th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 31st Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 32nd Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)

16th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
17th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
18th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)

10th Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)
11th Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)

7th Electronic Warfare Battalion (2x Mobile Sensor Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile Comms Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile ELINT Complex)

8th (Lepidopterum) Division

19th Infantry Regiment
- 73rd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 74th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 75th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 76th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

20th Infantry Regiment
- 77th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 78th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 79th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 80th Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)

8th Underground Regiment
- 33rd Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 34th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 35th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 36th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)

1st Biome Containment Brigade
- 81st Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 82nd Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 83rd (Penal) Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 84th (Penal) Infantry Battalion (4x Infantry Company)
- 37th Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 38th (Penal) Underground Battalion (4x Underground Infantry Company)
- 19th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)

20th Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)
21st Whirdlebirb Squadron (16x Whirdlebirb Helicopter, 32x aircrew)

12th Air Defence Battalion (4x Mobile SAM battery)

8th Electronic Warfare Battalion (2x Mobile Sensor Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile Comms Jamming Complex, 1x Mobile ELINT Complex)

________________________________________________

Total Field Assets

- 82,984 personnel
- 13,832 horses
- 384 100mm pack anti-tank guns
- 384 Malus anti-gravtank missile launchers (twin)
- 336 Whirdlebirb attack/light personnel helicopters
- 304 attack dogs
- 288 Burdock long-range SAM launchers
- 96 Malus anti-gravtank missile launchers (quad)
- 96 Dandelion medium-range SAM launchers (quad)
- 72 152mm pack howitzers
- 24 Dandelion medium-range SAM launchers (twin)

________________________________________________
________________________________________________


III (Fortress) Corps

The Fortress Corps are tasked with operating Kalgachia's network of static fortifications. These fortifications are built to one of two size specifications - A or B - and are carved behind steep mountain faces or hillsides, usually overlooking a point of strategic importance. While this limits the fortresses' field of fire, it makes their edifice - composed of the thick granite of the mountain or crag itself - more difficult to attack with penetrating munitions. The thick walls of rock are broken only by the openings of missile silos, passive sensor arrays or narrow embrasures which conceal guns on traversing carriages. The deep magazines of these fortresses also serve as useful venues to stockpile munitions for the KDF at large.

The static nature of the Fortress Corps has allowed it to commission unique weapons systems such as an extended-range version of the Malus anti-gravtank missile (Malus-ER), essentially a standard Malus fitted with a booster stage which extends its hypersonic boost phase to a range of 5 kilometres for engagements at distance. Specification A fortresses are also equipped with the Neaptide Gravimetric Countermeasure System, a disruptive beam generator which is nominally operational but remains experimental in nature and is subject to frequent upgrades.

Improvements in diplomacy with Shireroth after 156 AL inspired some complaints about the expense of the Kalgachi fortress network from the general public, including the Directorate of Labour and Economic Planning and the Church of Kalgachia who were required to commit immense resources to its construction and maintenance. The programme of fortress construction was duly shifted down in priority and media coverage of it as a national prestige project was quietly suspended, with the personnel of Specification B fortresses further than 50km from the Kalgachi frontier being effectively demobilised to reserve status. In 159 AL, however, Sxiro-Kalgachi relations suffered an abrupt downturn as a result of the Cruise of the Medusa, an event which forced the Kalgachi General Staff to consider the possibility that in one Steward Waldemar Zinkgraven, the Shirerithian government had once again succumbed to the grasp of an omnicidal maniac in the mould of the usurper Kaiser Aurangzeb II who had famously vowed to wipe Kalgachia's Minarborian predecessors from the face of Micras. Informed by the bitter memory of that occasion, and reminded that neither treaties of peace nor the prospect of suffering massive military casualties were enough to deter a sufficiently deranged foreign leader from attacking Kalgachia, the political will to support the Fortress Corps' development re-materialised with a sudden and unprecedented intensity, allowing for the completion of all twelve Specification A fortresses by 163 AL. This came at the expense of the Specification B fortresses, whose planned dimensions and firepower were revised substantially downward by mutual agreement of the KDF and the Directorate of Public Works once the sheer scale of the enterprise dawned on them. Despite this, positive media coverage of the programme resumed and ensured a reliable supply of recruits to the Fortress Corps, whose work in clean air-conditioned underground installations was considered infinitely preferable to the arduous foul-weather marches through Tee-al country endured by the KDF's field units as a matter of routine. Somewhat inevitably the Fortress Corps is viewed with disdain by those units as the domain of the spoiled and soft-palmed.

Beginning in 170 AL, The Fortress Corps acquired a theatre ballistic missile capability. While the new weapons' launch facilities were smaller than the preceding fortresses, their construction was considerably slower as the DPW had since reallocated the bulk of its underground construction assets to Lapivril. The dismissal of Steward Zinkgraven from the Shirerithian leadership in favour of Mira-Octavius Aryani was also a factor, giving pause to Kalgachia's frenetic strengthening of national defence overall, but the perceived transfer of Shirerithian power from rampaging tyrant to reclusive bookworm was also considered to soften the casus belli threshold for the buildout of more active Kalgachi defensive measures, which had hitherto been held in stasis but were now pushed to get underway before Shireroth took its next aggressive turn. Much to the annoyance of KDF Field Corps Command who would have preferred a mobile system, their fortress-dwelling counterparts were chosen to operate the new missiles from an archipelago of static launch sites to conserve manpower and maintenance costs - the doctrinal implications of this choice suggesting a deployment at scale in the early stages of any conflict rather than protracted piecemeal strikes by more survivable assets. For all their disappointment however, certain Field Corps officers were heard to drily remark that the new missile sites would be natural priority targets for an invading force and thus useful for dividing incoming firepower and increasing the survivability of KDF field units and Church partisans as they mobilised in the critical early hours of an invasion - such comments met with little amusement in the Fortress Corps, being responsible for at least one officers' mess brawl during the project's initiation.

Ironically for one of the few landlocked states on Micras, elements of Fortress Corps method and custom are distinctly naval in nature; a result of the KDF General Staff viewing the fortresses as 'underground warships' and enlisting surviving veterans of the Minarborian naval fleet, the Shrubmarine, to administer them. This has resulted in a veritably dissonant world of square-rig uniforms, watch bells and impenetrable nautical patois which assails the unwary visitor as they descend through the fortresses' labyrinthine 'decks'.

Specification A Fortress (320 personnel)

- Malus-ER silo x24
- Dandelion medium-range SAM silo x24
- Heavy machine gun emplacement x16
- Burdock long-range SAM silo x12 (these cable-linked to x4 tetrastatic/redundant radar heads off-site; can also be integrated with mobile SAM batteries)
- 20mm autocannon emplacement x8
- 152mm howitzer embrasure x8
- 305mm gun embrasure x4
- 'Neaptide' Gravimetric Countermeasure Emplacement x1

There are 12 Specification A fortresses, in the following locations:

-Looking North over Oktayvan's Northeast approaches
-Looking North over Oktavyan proper
-Looking Southeast over Abrek
-Looking Northeast over Katarsis
-Looking North over Schlepogora
-Looking South over Lithead
-Looking Southwest over Bergburg
-Looking Southwest over Jollity
-Looking North-northeast from Fort Candycane
-Looking East-southeast from Fort Fortitude
-Looking East-southeast from Mount Toastypops
-Looking North from the Splatterhorn

Specification B Fortress (150 personnel)

- Malus-ER silo x6
- Dandelion medium-range SAM silo x6
- Heavy machine gun emplacement x8
- Burdock long-range SAM silo x3 (these cable-linked to x2 bistatic/redundant radar heads off-site; can also be integrated with mobile SAM batteries)
- 20mm autocannon emplacement x4
- 152mm howitzer embrasure x4

There are 120 Specification B fortresses, located approximately 70-80 kilometres apart throughout Kalgachia (except the Lieutenancy of Lepidopterum).

Ludd MRBM Launch Site (12 personnel)

Each Ludd site houses four Ludd theatre ballistic missiles with an array of sixteen launch-phase penetration aids. There are currently 36 sites in service across Kalgachia (except the Lieutenancy of Lepidopterum) - 60 are planned in all but further construction was suspended after the Great Bender, ostensibly as a goodwill gesture to Shireroth although the shifting geopolitics of Benacia were essentially a long-awaited pretext to cease the Ludd programme's competitive drain on the resources of civil infrastructure projects such as the Lepidopterum/Kasterburg Railway and Project Newrad.

________________________________________________

Total Fortress Corps Assets

- 23,832 personnel
- 1008 Malus-ER silos
- 1008 Dandelion medium-range SAM silos
- 1152 Heavy machine gun emplacements
- 504 Burdock long-range SAM silos
- 576 20mm autocannon emplacements
- 576 152mm howitzer embrasures
- 144 Ludd MRBM silos
- 48 305mm gun embrasures
- 12 'Neaptide' gravimetric countermeasure emplacements

________________________________________________

Total KDF Assets

(combat and combat support only)

- 106,816 personnel
- 13,832 horses
- 1152 emplaced heavy machine guns
- 1008 Malus-ER anti-gravtank missile emplacements
- 1008 Dandelion medium-range SAM silos
- 576 emplaced 152mm howitzers
- 576 emplaced 20mm autocannons
- 504 Burdock long-range SAM silos
- 384 100mm pack anti-tank guns
- 384 mobile Malus anti-gravtank missile launchers (twin)
- 336 Whirdlebirb attack/light personnel helicopters
- 304 attack dogs
- 288 mobile Burdock long-range SAM lanchers
- 144 Ludd MRBM silos
- 96 mobile Malus anti-gravtank missile launchers (quad)
- 96 mobile Dandelion medium-range SAM launchers (quad)
- 72 152mm pack howitzers
- 48 emplaced 305mm guns
- 24 mobile Dandelion medium-range SAM launchers (twin)
- 12 emplaced 'Neaptide' gravimetric countermeasure systems

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Administrative Elements

In addition to its combat function the KDF effectively functions as the Kalgachi defence ministry (a consequence of its unseen Supreme Commander being one of Kalgachia's ruling Council of Perfecti, thus assuming overall responsibility for the coordination of national defence). This has resulted in a large non-combatant staff which dwarfs the size of the force's combat elements, allowing aged soldiers of even the lowest rank to sustain their careers past the age of frontline fitness. The arrangement also allows valuable experience from non-commissioned and junior officers to percolate through the command structure and mix with insights from the civilian world.

General Staff

There are three duplicate KDF General Staffs, each located in its own redundant deep-level underground command rhizome. Overall command of the KDF is periodically switched between these rhizomes for the purpose of staff experience or operational need. The exact location of these rhizomes is a closely guarded secret.

General Staff Rhizome GLACIS

- KDF High Command
- I Corps Command
- II Corps Command
- III (Fortress) Corps Command
- Military Intelligence Staff
- Logistics Command Staff
- Training Command Staff
- Troglodyte Counsel
- Partisan Liaison Staff
- Prefect Liaison Staff
- Civil Power Liaison Staff
- Foreign Power Liaison Staff

General Staff Rhizome WESTNEST

- KDF High Command
- I Corps Command
- II Corps Command
- III (Fortress) Corps Command
- Military Intelligence Staff
- Logistics Command Staff
- Training Command Staff
- Troglodyte Counsel
- Partisan Liaison Staff
- Prefect Liaison Staff
- Civil Power Liaison Staff
- Foreign Power Liaison Staff

General Staff Rhizome FLORID

- KDF High Command
- I Corps Command
- II Corps Command
- III (Fortress) Corps Command
- Military Intelligence Staff
- Logistics Command Staff
- Training Command Staff
- Troglodyte Counsel
- Partisan Liaison Staff
- Prefect Liaison Staff
- Civil Power Liaison Staff
- Foreign Power Liaison Staff

Logistics Command

Logistics Command deals with the provision and storage of KDF supplies. It is a relatively invisible command - most of its production and storage facilities are deep underground. Once produced, movements of KDF supplies are generally left to the embedded logistical detachments of their destination units to avert the force nullification hazard of enemy action upon seperate supply formations. To ease the travel time required by combat units to collect supplies, Logistics Command maintains a network of concealed caches and ammunition dumps across Kalgachia. While working well on home ground, this supply arrangement does entail a substantial dropoff in KDF unit endurance when operating outside friendly territory - with the exception of special operations units, cossacks and other elements skilled in foraging and looting.

Logistics Command is composed of:

- Quartermaster General's Office (Oktavyan)
- Armaments Office (Fort Fortitude)
- Equipment Office (Bergburg)
- Victualling Office (Oktokamensk)
- Caching Office (Fort Candycane)

Training Command

Training Command maintains premises across Kalgachia for the development and refreshment of the KDF's fighting skills. These vary in size from small office buildings to enormous garrisons. Unlike most of the KDF's estate, Training Command's installations are located on or near the surface to allow easy transit to and from training manoeuvres. Regardless of their assigned trade, all KDF recruits undergo initial instruction at the School of Basic Training and Infantry Warfare in Katarsis City where they learn physical fitness, drill, weapon handling and other rudiments of military life before proceeding through other venues to complete their training regime.

Training Command is composed of:

- Kalgachi Central War College (Oktavyan)
- Partisan Instructors' College (Abrek)
- Infantry Warfare College

  • School of Basic Training and Infantry Warfare (Katarsis)
  • School of Mountain Warfare (Fort Fortitude)
  • School of Underground and Urban Warfare (Oktavyan)

- School of Mobile Warfare and Animal Husbandry (Schlepogora)
- School of Artillery (Kossarstadt)
- School of Air Defence, Electronic Warfare and Military Intelligence (Bergburg)
- School of Combat Aviation (Fort Candycane)
- School of Biomic Warfare and Special Operations (Lithead)
- School of Logistics (Mirth)
- School of Battlefield Medicine, Chaplaincy and Catering (Jollity)
- School of Administrative Services (Oktavyan)

  • Provost Marshal's Office

The Prefects' Border Guard Service

Formed in 150 AL, the Prefects' Border Guard Service (PBGS) is the most visible element of Kalgachia's internal security apparatus. In addition to the usual retinue of customs and immigration staff, the PBGS operates 387 armed Frontier Patrol Units (one for every 10km of the Kalgachi Frontier), each numbering 64 personnel and four attack dogs. Although these units are primarily intended to intercept individuals or small groups violating the Kalgachi border, their light firepower is augmented by an intimate knowledge of the Kalgachi frontier area and an aptitude for covert field reconnaissance second only to the KDF Special Purpose Regiment. They have also preserved certain strains of engineered flora from the Minarborian era - namely the notorious triad of Dreadnettle (urtica terribilis), Sharpshooter Primrose (primula ballistis) and Shrapnel Lily (lilium discerptionis), and have continued the Minarborian tradition of sowing these species into belts of 'biomic minefield' immediately behind the Kalgachia frontier. The periphery of these areas require periodic clearance to prevent the violent flora's uncontrolled spread into Kalgachia proper - a delicate task in itself and one for which the PBGS keeps a cadre of skilled gardeners, usually Nezeni specialists from the Lieutenancy of Lithead in Kalgachia's south.

Total PBGS Field Assets

- 387 Frontier Patrol Units totalling 24,768 personnel, 4644 horses and 1548 attack dogs

Church Partisans

Church Partisans on manoeuvres, somewhere in the Lieutenancy of Oktavyan.

For all the KDF's fighting skill, it is not numerous enough to present effective resistance to an enemy attacking along the entire length of the Kalgachi frontier; so, as in Minarboria, every Church parish selects a portion of its able-bodied citizenry for mobilisation as partisans in a time of total war. Although numbers fluctuate within and between each parish, the total manpower (and womanpower) of such fighters is thought to be around 4,625,000.

Over the course of many years, between more ordinary Church activities, those of the congregation selected as partisans undergo the following twelve-step programme of instruction by training cadres from the KDF:

1. Deconstruction and Dispelment of Alien Ideologies
2. Resistance to Interrogation
3. Escape and Evasion
4. Camouflage and Fieldcraft
5. Foraging and Bushcraft
6. Clandestine Reconnaissance
7. Improvisation of Weapons
8. Trap-laying and Sabotage
9. Acclimatisation to Suppressive Fire, Artillery and Airstrikes
10. Weapons Handling and Marksmanship
11. Recruitment and Small Unit Leadership
12. Tactical and Operational Martyrdom

Kalgachi partisans are much mocked and maligned by the enlisted ranks of the KDF for their perceived lack of professionalism and delusions of martial grandeur - but their asymmetric doctrine, intimate knowledge of home ground and sheer numbers are quietly recognised by the KDF officer corps as of genuine military value in the event of a major war; if nothing else, the partisans' generous sprinkling of small arms and explosive caches maintained in every Kalgachi parish - the keys to which reside with the parish Credent and a trusted few of his congregation - give the KDF a valuable backup on home ground in the event of a collapse in their own supply chain.

In addition to their wartime function, each Parish keeps a proportion of its partisans mobilised in peacetime for the purposes of maintaining public order, firefighting and medical evacuation. The competence and professionalism of these formations vary in broad correlation with the density of the surrounding habitation, ranging from trained and uniformed full-time volunteers in the larger cities to licensed thugs and extortionists in the backwater parishes of the Laqi east.