Difference between revisions of "Battle of Xyvarëngwë"

Revision as of 18:28, 19 August 2006

The Battle of Xigrat was a skirmish between Kahanistanian and Xirnium forces. It is important not because of the magnitude of the combat itself, but because of the political and cultural results of the battle. It is used as propaganda by Kahanistanian forces, the quintessential last-stand againts a relentless enemy, and it resulted in Xirnium's respect of Kahanistan as a military power. It marked the first of many victories by the Xirniumite military over a modern enemy in the field.

Background

God-Emperor Quikzos IV, the dictator of Xirnium, wished to sell millions of his people to other countries in exchange for nuclear weapons. This outraged many nations. The Democratic Soviet Republic of Kahanistan had a plan: a convoy would escort the nuclear weapons to Xirnium, where Kahanistan Intelligence would take the citizens, grant them refugee status instead of enslave them, and track the missiles and destroy the launching pads.

The convoy commander, then-Colonel Rachel Levitt, was a short-tempered officer, and when she was delayed by the border guards, she fired on them, triggering a battle that was not expected to happen.

The quick actions of Commissar and Brigadier Poltk ensured that the Kahanistanians were intercepted as soon as they crossed the Xirnium frontier, long before their plan could be put into effect. A fierce skirmish soon developed.

The battle

Levitt radioed for air assistance from Colonel Nadia Sklenova, the commander of the fighter wing that was dropping intelligence agents onto Xirnium, while pretending to be bombing civilians fleeing Xirnium's nuclear holocaust. The only air support was from Sklenova herself, piloting a MH-181 fighter (an experimental craft, basically a MiG-29 with the standard weapons removed and 800MW disruptor cannons attached to the plane), firing down onto Xirniumite positions approaching the Kahanistan forces. It should be noted that, with the Xirniumite airforce then in its infancy and facing superior enemy technology that it could not contend with, Xirnium did not contest air superiority in this battle.

Never an orthodox commander, and with a background as a logistical officer rather than a combat commander, Levitt rigged several of the trucks in the convoy with explosives and detonated them at advancing Xirniumite troops. Sklenova's fighter ran out of weapons, and she set her fighter to autopilot and made a kamikaze crash into the heaviest Xirniumite position she could spot. She ejected before impact and was seriously wounded in descent.

Eventually, though, the methodical and disciplined advance of Commissar Poltk took its toll. Using a conventional yet utterly effective combined arms approach of advancing heavy infantry supported by armoured vehicles and a creeping barrage of artillery and mortar fire, the Xirniumites were able to shatter the better equiped and trained Kahanistanian forces.

After having suffered devastating losses which amounted to about 80% of their original strength, and with a nuclear weapon pointed at her remaining troops, Levitt surrendered to Poltk.

Factors contributing to the victory of Xirnium over a superior military power

Neither of the Kahanistan commanders were specialists in combat field command. Levitt was a logistical officer with a short temper, though she would later be placed in more combat roles and fewer logistical or support roles. Sklenova was an air commander whose experience on the ground was minimal. Kahanistan's troops were using technologically more advanced weapons, but the weapons were experimental and Kahanistan reverted soon after to more modern weaponry. Kahanistan troops were cocky, they were militarily more powerful than Xirnium and more advanced technically.

An examination of Poltk (unusual in Xirniumite military history for having been simultaneously a member of both the Commissariat and the Armed Forces, holding the rank of both Commissar and Brigadier), provides a stark contrast in comparison. Unassuming and with conservative military tactics, the commander was nonetheless able to throw together an ad-hoc defence of Xirnium’s southern frontier, and prevent a successful Kahanistanian incursion. Though not one of Xirnium's exceptionally gifted commanders, Poltk was highly competant, and though decisive, was not a great risk taker. Commissar Poltk was ruthlessly committed to incur whatever costs were necessary to defeat a far more advanced enemy, and in the end his strong grasp of conventional tactics and raw determination won the day.

Aftermath

Ultimately, every single one of the war aims of the Kahanistanian General Staff when it began its war against Xirnium were unfulfiled (though they quickly became redundant as Xirnium entered a period of rapid liberalisation and vastly improved it civil and political rights). Their brief invasion into Xirnium's sovereign territory was completely crushed, mere miles from the frontier.

Colonel Levitt was tried in Kahanistan for recklessly engaging superior forces. She was promoted to Brigadier General, by General Kalazanov, who respected her even though she was never the type of officer to follow rules exactly. She was acquitted of all charges, but held in contempt for her behavior in court. She was incarcerated for ten days, and eventually returned to Xirnium as an ally.

Xirnium respected the bravery, skill and fighting elan of the Kahanistan troops that they had opposed at Xigrat, and later sought them as allies. Kahanistan and Xirnium later allied against Kraven, whose ideology was repugnant to both the religious beliefs of Xirnium and the socialist democracy in Kahanistan. They remain close allies to this day.

The Battle of Xigrat would prove important for the later Xirnium-Kraven War. The successful defeat of a much larger and more technologically advanced enemy in a single set piece battle caused a surge in morale and proved that the nation could defend its borders against any threat, even against the indomitable war-machine of the Kraven Corporation.

• - The battle.
• - General Levitt goes on trial.