Operation Penitent

Operation Penitent was a large-scale operation of the Benacian Continental Theatre Command, for which preparations began on 11.VIII.1716 AN. The purpose of the Operation was to oversee the implementation of the terms of the Treaty of Oktavyan and the Treaty of Fort Ermingander, both signed by the Benacian Union in that year. To that end the objectives were as follows:

1. The establishment of the Protectorate Regime within Kalgachia;
2. The introduction of an allied garrison into the strategic fortifications of the central Kalgachi highlands;
3. The reorganisation of the Military of Kalgachia into the Kalgachi Grouping of Forces;
4. The disarmament of the Church of Ketherism and its partisan forces;
5. The independence of Northbloom from its previous protectorate regime with Kalgachia, and its assumption of formal sovereignty, both within the Mondosphere and in alignment with the Raspur Pact;
6. The transfer of certain arcana into the possession of Mondo;
7. The establishment of secure north-south lines of communication, facilitating the completion of the preceding objectives.

The fulfilment of these objects was assigned to the Central Banner Group of Benacia Command, which comprised predominantly of formations raised by the Benacian Union Defence Force.

Chronology

1716

• 20.V: Benacian Union and Kalgachia sign Treaty of Oktavyan. Makes explicit the protectorate status that would henceforth define Kalgachia's relationship with its Archonic-Humanist neighbour.
• V–VI: Factional strife grips the Kalgachi state. Whilst the Kalgachi Defence Force, Directorate of Public Works and the Directorate of the Tumultuous Wastes regard the treaty as the last hope for the survival of the Garden, the Troglodyti, the Prefects, and the Church of Kalgachia instead advocate for the emulation of the example of the Deep Singers, namely a retreat further into the depths and a sundering of all residual contacts with what they now regards as a wholly fallen world. The organs of state begin to turn upon oneanother.
• 20.VII: Benacian Union and Northbloom sign Treaty of Fort Ermingander. Northbloom repudiates protectorate status, majority of Mondosphere realms align with the Raspur Pact
• 11.VIII: Benacia Command commenced planning for Operation Penitent
• 31.XV: A spate of executions inflicted upon corrupt and negligent officers appears to indicate that the preparations of the BUDF are approaching their culmination point.

1717

• 12.I: Forty-eight entrained BK-III Verteidiger main battle tanks, accompanied by rail wagons loaded with fuel, munitions, spare components, and engine crews arrived in Highbloom from Pozdam for collection by the agents of Mondo.

Preparations

Destroying the Garden of Kalgachia had been the cherished goal of successive Humanist hegemons, as far back as Waldemar Zinkgraven in the mid seventeenth century after Norton. Whilst the apocalyptic fantasies of Endsieg had been tempered by pragmatic economic considerations, as embodied by the Octavian Import-Export Corporation and Pachadsberg Special Recreational Zone, the desire to bring the Kalgachi strategic autonomy to a close remained paramount. Whilst the treaties signed in 1716 brought this prospect closer, the consensus of Benacia Command's general staff was that the objective would not be realised until a BUDF garrison had been formally introduced into the mountain fortresses of the Oktavyan mountains, and the strategic arsenal of the Garden firmly placed under a lock and key held by Benacia Command itself.

The ability of Benacia Command to get a read on the internal situation of the Garden, particularly of the subterranean portions necessarily concealed from the Raspur Pact's network of orbital Natopian imaging and ground mapping satellites, was reliant upon the Benacian Union's legation at Fastenborg Keep, the commercial agents ensconced in the Pachadsberg Special Recreational Zone, and the Military Coordination Council in Stonetree. These sources, combined with the debriefing of such personnel as who had successfully transited the permitted transit corridor during its periods of operation, succeeded in bringing a picture of conditions in Kalgachia that was partial, subjective, and in the most literal sense surface-level in its detail.

A period between VIII & XV 1716 was assigned to bringing the forces within the Central Banner Group (CBG) area of operations to a full state of readiness, with an 80% availability of manpower and equipment mandated by CBG area command. A number of high ranking officers in the BUDF commissariat, along with their subordinates, who had failed in their obligation to meet these minimum targets, were transferred into the custody of the Magisters-Carnifex for exemplary punishment and execution. Notices of the executions were carried in the Chryse Chronicle as well as the Register of Woe as a warning to all BUDF personnel of the consequences of falling short of expectations during the forthcoming deployment.

By 21.I.1717 AN the Central Banner Group was able to report the availability of a majority of all weapons systems assigned to its area of operations.

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Equipment	On-Hand	Assigned	Depot total	Percentage availability
Small Arms	-	-	632,279	99
M1686 assault rifle (7.62×67mmB)	572,844	567,115	-	-
M1690 machine pistol (9x19mm)	59,435	58,840	-	-
Squad Weapons	-	-	13,590	80
M1703 Wren MK II general purpose machine gun (7.62x67mmB)	13,590	10,872	-	-
Troop Weapons	-	-	3,323	76
Polybolos 12.7 mm HMG	952	723	-	-
M1700 82 mm Recoilless Rifle	2,371	1,801	-	-
Squadron Weapons	-	-	1,119	89
M1701 14 mm sniper rifle	1,119	995	-	-
Helmets and body armour	-	-	313,595	84
M1639 Stahlhelm	313,595	263,419	-	-
M1671 composite armour and plate	27,072	22,740	-	-
Artillery (Towed)	-	-	2,193	98
M1681 105 mm howitzer (towed)	444	435	-	-
M1701 158mm MLRS (towed)	1,749	1,714	-	-
Artillery Self-Propelled	-	-	560	75
HK-III M1675 155 mm mobile gun (wheeled)	493	369	-	-
HK-IV 155 mm self-propelled howitzer (tracked)	67	50	-	-
Air Defence System	-	-	27	97
System-2 Missile Complex	27	26	-	-
Armoured Fighting Vehicles	-	-	4,100	99
BK-III Verteidiger	330	326	-	-
BK-IV Bastiat	369	365	-	-
CV-56 Horjin	3,329	3,295	-	-
HK-IV M1707 Stalker	11	10	-	-
Rz.Kfz 1714 Razkampfwagen	61	60	-	-
Support Vehicles	-	-	55,503	97
Pod Personnel Carrier	1,668	1,617	-	-
Snatch Land Rover	36,427	35,334	-	-
Truck, Light	16,839	16,333	-	-
Truck, Medium	31	30	-	-
GV(MCB)-7 Leviathan	1	0	-	-
Große Dampfzugmaschine	537	520	-	-
Combat Aviation	-	-	346	80
B-67 Shahrukh	12	9	-	-
F-9 Ashavan II	256	204	-	-
F-9 Ashavan III	67	53	-	-
F-17 Axarana	11	8	-	-
AEW / Patrol Aviation	-	-	9	80
AEW-1 Floret	1	0	-	-
AEW-1 Buscadora	1	0	-	-
P-2 Navegador	4	3	-	-
P-3 Bailiff	3	2	-	-
UAVs	-	-	136	92
Javelin M-2 Dragoon UAV	11	10	-	-
VT-UAV 1 Tadpole	125	115	-	-
Transport Aviation	-	-	159	84
GAV-4(U) Jackalope	141	118	-	-
TR-279 Dront	18	15	-	-
Attack Rotorcraft	-	-	34	91
AH-75 Cobra	7	6	-	-
R-2 Krähenwürger	27	24	-	-
Cargo Rotorcraft	-	-	42	97
CH-276 Camel	16	15	-	-
UH-76 Dromosker	26	25	-	-
IRBM	-	-	721	97
S-3 Schlächter	721	699	-	-