Coldonia

General Vitomir Shpilman was not normally a particularly patient man, and, considering the situation he was in right now, his patience might as well just not exist. While the Battle of Bokhny ended in a victory for Galayar, it might as well have been a pyrrhic one. With casualties higher than expected, the battle lasting longer than expected, allowing OCS troops to reorganize and for their reinforcements to arrive, and Aetheodish missiles striking important military and civilian outposts, which have strained the transportation of essential supplies, Shpilman found himself in a precarious situation that he must somehow solve one way or another. With the 11th Infantry Division and 2nd Armored Division preparing themselves to make their way onto Telvanykivka, Shpilman, along with his subordinate officers, must find the perfect way to attack the city. Telvanykivka is an important target in the Morovina campaign due to it being an important supply hub that houses one of the most important railway lines that connects it with the city of Vardiansk, which is in itself one of the main targets in the campaign due to its status as one of Styldavia's most important ports.

"Alright ya twats, think I got a plan so as to capture old Telvany" The sound of rain and thunder muffled Shpilman's rough voice which was directed at his fellow officers.

"So, both the 11th and the 2nd need to use one of the highways that leads into the city, right? I'd say that we use the highway that goes North to South since that one will allow us to split the city in two and start bombing any sort of reinforcements that decide to foolishly arrive in the city".

"However, capturing the damn thing will not be easy. Due to the absolute slog that was Bokhny, I expect the city to be more defended than Galan's palace itself. If our reconnaissance missions are to be believed, it seems Schweits tanks and soldiers, along with the remnants of the Aetheodish and Styldavian boys we fought, are gonna defend that city with the help of their stupid little ridge until the last of their sods is blown up. Unfortunately for us, our supplies are pretty limited due to the Theodic barbarians blowing up our sh*t with their missiles. Well, eye for an eye I suppose, even if it makes the whole world go blind".

"Anyways, both of our divisions number around 25,000 men. Will that be enough? Frankly, I have no idea. While the Air Force is in good condition so far and has been doing a good job at establishing offensives in the sky and bombing important targets, I soon expect it to be quickly overwhelmed by the combined NSP detachment that is flying over this damn oblast. Also, the damn hohols blew up the bridges that actually take us to the city. By the time our engineers make some bridges, I expect NSP forces to be more consolidated...god damn it! This really is a slap in the face for me. Wish Iskrenov wasn't such a buffoon and could actually help me with all of this instead of making this worse...and don't y'all dare tell him that I said this...or else your heads are getting mailed to your mothers!".

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wing it for this one. We'll have to capture Telvany's station and stockyard as soon as possible before the NSP can react, and then...well, it's time to go into the trenches, my guys! Ahh, just like in the glorious twenties...well, anyways, no objections allowed, remember that, or else we're getting killed by the three big boys back in Galanta, ha!".

Tags: Styldavia, Aetheodaland, Woseka, Draconovox, RaFLaNdIa, Cresr, Confredia, Oncadia, Melihosnovis, Porturhev, Schweitser, The Fire Born, Murnik

Galayar:
- 1st Airborne Division (14.812)
- 3rd Airborne Division (18.672)
- 2nd army brigade (5.300 personnel)
- 9th army brigade (5.100 personnel)
- 1st army brigade (4.210 personnel)
- 8th armored division (171 tanks and 15.000 personnel)
- 2nd armored division (145 tanks and 13.265 personnel)
- 5th Air Squadron ( 523 personnel and 18 aircraft)
Rossiean:
- 5th armored division (231 tanks and 11,134 personnel)
- 16th armored division (185 tanks and 14.500 personnel)
- 5 cruisers
- 8 destroyers
- 2 submarines
- 3 frigates
- 4th Marine divisions (16.000)
- 10th Marine divisions (21.000)
- 2nd Marine divisions (18.000)
- 8th Air Squadron ( 150 personnel and 22 aircraft)
- 21st Air Squadron (330 personnel and 20 aircraft)

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On the grassy hills stretching south from Chornopil, the Styldavian line buckled under the weight of the Galayarese forces arrayed against it. By the 26th, sustained attacks by Galayarese armored and mechanized formations had broken through the middle of Petrushevych’s 1st Corps, creating a massive gap between Chornopil and Olenivka. While the other three divisions assigned to the attack pushed Styldavian forces northwest, the 15th Armored Division was able to drive past Olenivka and into the open ground between Vidmak and Bodnariv, threatening the rear of Olenivka’s two defending divisions.

In accordance with Kutsyn’s contingencies, the 9th Mechanized Division and 1st and 10th Tank Divisions gradually fell back to a prepared line from Vidmak to Chornopil, preserving Chornopil’s southern flank. Thus, the Galayarese created a huge dagger-shaped salient, with the 15th Armored on its westernmost tip.

In response to Galayar’s success in this direction, Kutsyn ordered 3rd Corps to redeploy east from Pavlohrad to stabilize the lines. The 1st Airborne Division under Gen. Div. Petro Usenko was detached to reinforce the 2nd Mechanized Division at Chornopil itself, which had successfully repelled two Galayarese attacks between the 17th and 21st. The airborne troops helped throw back a third and final Galayarese attack on the 25th.

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PRELUDE

Galayarese fortunes in this operation were more mixed. Aware of his enemy’s overwhelming numerical advantage, 8th Corps’s commander Serhii Kotenko authorized his division commanders to use a strategy of elastic defense, constantly retreating to new positions once the enemy’s presence became overwhelming. Thus, Styldavian divisions gradually fell back along the entire line, focusing on inflicting as many losses on the attackers as possible. A month of preparation had allowed them to scout out potential sites for ambushes in the wooded hills east of Bodnariv, with lethal consequences for the Galayarese conscripts attempting to push forward.

SOUTHERN ADVANCE; NOVYY ROZDIL FALLS

Using mobility and numbers, Galayar’s 16th and 17th Armored Divisions were able to push the 5th Tank Division many miles west of Bodnariv by October 20th. With the 51st Infantry Division covering their rear, the armored divisions had completed the southern half of Daskalov’s planned encirclement and opened a considerable gap in the middle of 8th Corps. The 17th’s lead tanks were in a position to cut the supply line to the divisions defending Novyy Rozdil. To avoid encirclement, Kotenko made the hard choice to abandon Novyy Rozdil, ordering the 13th Mechanized Division to move north to check the 17th’s advance while the 12th Mechanized fought a delaying action west of Novyy Rozdil. Once the 13th had escaped, the 12th redeployed to more favorable positions north of Dobrovidka. Abandoned by its defenders, Novyy Rozdil was occupied by Galayar’s 61st Division on October 21st.

THE BATTLE OF THE RUDKA

Meanwhile, in the north, Galayarese forces pushed forward at a slower pace. By October 23rd, Styldavia’s 4th Mechanized Division had retreated across the Rudka River north of Bodnariv. Engineers were able to blow the bridge just hours before the lead elements of Galayar’s 47th Infantry Division arrived on the eastern side. With no option left, the three infantry divisions assigned to the northern half of the pincer prepared to break across the river, thus beginning the Battle of the Rudka in the early morning of October 25th, 1964.

The battle’s outcome was shaped by a key weakness in the Galayarese command structure, where the lack of clearly defined operational leadership above the divisional level and below the strategic falanga level left the planning for a complex crossing operation to a trio of unprepared division commanders. The resulting Galayarese attacks were clumsy and poorly coordinated. The crowded riverbank was pounded mercilessly by Styldavian artillery as Galayarese infantry attempted to cross in boats and hastily assembled pontoon bridges. Seeing that their attack was failing, the division commanders called it off and prepared to attack the next day. However, that attack never took place.

Hearing reports of a costly Galayarese failure on the river, the 6th Tank Division’s commander Oleksiy Petrenko realized that the bloodied enemy was vulnerable to a counterattack. Although his unit was the only one defending Bodnariv, Petrenko took a massive gamble by withdrawing as many tanks from the defenses as possible without alerting the 51st Infantry Division south of the city. Those tanks then rapidly advanced north, smashing into the unprepared 49th Infantry Division. The men of the 49th had taken horrific losses in the previous day and in the fighting up to the river; Petrenko’s assault completely routed the 49th. His tanks retreated back to Bodnariv before the other infantry divisions could counterattack. This “sally” simultaneously ended the Battle of the Rudka and any prospect of encircling Bodnariv.

AFTERMATH

Kotenko’s success on the left flank prevented the complete collapse of his corps. It also saved the defenders of Olenivka, who could easily have been cut off if one of infantry divisions assigned to encircle Bodnariv had pushed north. However, the division commanders assigned to the task of crossing the Rudka had single-mindedly pursued their goal with disastrous consequences.

The precarious situation of 8th Corps was soon reinforced by Styldavia’s 7th Corps, which had been preparing to deploy out of Psmiv after arriving there on September 21st. Two days after their victory, Petrenko’s tanks at Bodnariv were joined by the Airborne Division to defend Bodnariv, while two mechanized divisions and two rifle divisions moved east and south respectively to stabilize the Styldavian lines.

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Galayar’s advance towards Dobrovidka was the least successful aspect of Operation Erul. The advance was hindered by mountainous terrain, as the objective lay in the foothills of the so-called Spinal Mountains. Thus, Galayar’s forces in the area were soon funneled into winding mountain roads that could be easily defended by small detachments of the 1st Rifle Division. Although they were badly outnumbered, the Styldavians had plenty of time to prepare ambushes at key bottlenecks, which they sprung with devastating effect on the Galayarese columns of thin-skinned trucks and APCs. After striking the Galayarese, Styldavian forces would swiftly retreat, often dynamiting slopes to block the roads behind them that required the tireless work of Galayarese engineers to restore.

Thus, the Galayarese advance turned into a slow, costly crawl that was only halfway to Dobrovidka by the 29th. The two divisions that attempted to wheel southward were even less successful, being halted by 9th Corps’s two rifle divisions north of Khlalyuk on the 21st and unable to advance further after that.

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AetheodalandRaFLaNdIaHerilosikaKoedricOncadiaMelihosnovisPorturhevThe Fire BornDivankhabanGalayarCresrSchweitserVolskaMurnik