First Battle of Mons Dei

The First Battle of Mons Dei marked the opening battle of the War of Golden Succession, setting off a conflict that would claim the lives of millions. Though the defending Imperial divisions were caught off guard it ended in little more than a tactical victory for the Weigari Independence Army, and in fact, claimed more rebel lives than Macabee and Killian combined. Nonetheless, it proved to be quite the shock to the Empire and ultimately persuaded the rise of the indegenous population in Sarcanza and the invasion of Southern Macabea by Haven. In the end, as said before, it would spark a war that would last the ages and see the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and millions of civilians. For the general simplicity of the battle, ironically what it would forge would be just opposite.

Background

As the Weigari Independence Army, fresh from over three months of training at the Fields of Glory, formulated under the leadership of Weigari general Karl Bietz and Prince Heinrich Catalán, the situation in the city of Weigar proper was intensifying. Although it was already occupied by two Waffen-SS units Fedor I found it proper to begin the deployment of three Waffen-SS mechanized divisions under the sole command of Colonel-General Francies Grenöt. Suddenly, the military situation for General Karl Bietz turned around and risking comprimization of the rebel army he was ordered by Heinrich for an immediate offensive east. The resulting operation was dubbed Operation Valkyrie and called for a lightning offensive straight into the lines of the three divisions before the saw, or expected, a large, trained Weigari army. In effect, it was to completely destroy the three divisions, opening the road to Fedala and thus allowing an easy and quick end to the war. Both Prince and General understood that an Imperial defeat at Mons Dei would mean a wider support for the rebellion, both internally and internationally, and they were correct in their stipulations.

It was also understood that theere was only one form Weigar could win the war without outside support, which was by and far unlikely with an allied Haven to the south (although Haven would turn out to be a foe), a silent Zarbia to the east, and a potentially hostile region around them. In fact, the Empire had the region so tightly held together that Weigar expected the complete oppposite to happen, and instead witness dozens of armies converging to put down the rebellion. Therefore, the sole method of victory would be a shattering of the Imperial front and then a sudden campaign southeast to Fedala. To this effect, the army forged at the Fields of Glory were built to attack in mass, as a hammer. This hammer struck on 14 May, 2016, setting off a war that would be the bloodiest Macabee History.

The State of the Macabee Defense

The three divisions that deployed west of Mons Dei, preparing for further deployment to Weigar to put down the light violence that was polluting the city, were amongst the worst in the Waffen-SS. Formed under the rule Emperor Jonach I they were composed of the criminals swept off the streets of Hailandkill, as a general program of army expansion through the use of foreign manpower, thus allowing the Empire to allot the majority of its population to its massive industrial power. As a whole the Waffen-SS, trained to kill, were proved to be some of the most effective fighters in the world, but unfortunately of the thirteen mechanized division the worse three were sent to Mons Dei. Arguably, it wasn't foreseen that they would be threatened by a much larger rebel army, but in retrospect it was one of Fedor's largest mistake to send in the Waffen-SS as opposed to conventional military units. Nonetheless, the two units already in Weigar were both Waffen-SS as well, one of them being a Geisenfried air assault group and the other a special operations assault group composed of Doomish soldiers, and so at the time it made sense to keep uniformity of command, especially since it was unknown that there was a conventional ground army between them and the Fedalan divisions. It was rather ill-fated that these three divisions would be sent to their deaths due to an unforseeable event.

There have been certain accusations from post-war historians that the Empire really did not wish to see the truth and that it was Fedor's fault that those men died. Their argument suggests that it was horrible intelligence work on the part of IINSA and an atrocious underestimation of the potential of Weigar to commit itself to a fullscale war. There's certain evidence that supports the argument to an extent, including that it was a known fact that Prince Heinrich had fled from Fedala to Weigar a few days after the accension of his son, Fedor I, to the throne. Assuming Fedor knew the ability of his father to rise against the throne one could assume it was obvious that there was soon to be problems. However, even assuming the former, it could also be assumed that Fedor thought that it would be centralized in the city of Weigar itself, thus why he had opted to occupy the city istead of securing the countryside. Under this supposition the lack of reconnaissance can be somewhat pardoned on Fedor's part, as it was simply unthinkable that his foe would be able to produce such a powerful army. A second piece of evidence brought forth for the argument was the release of information of IINSA activity within Guffingford. Declassified post-war, it brought shouts from the anti-war sector of the Empire and from the general Guffingfordi population. It also brought allegations that IINSA was focusing less on what was important, internal security, as opposed to its operations outside the Empire - which, in fact, saw the deaths of five agents. Understandably however, the job requirement of IINSA was never internal security, but security within the Empire by the means of her propigation elsewhere. In other words, to smash the problem before it kindled. If in fact this was the wrong policy it means that the consequences were disastrous.

There were also palpable malfunctions in the logistical network leading to the three divisions, including insufficient truck transport and the fact that most of the logistics sector was given leave for two days as to rest them for the eventual operations inside Weigar. The massive disregard for the divisions' wellbeing has also been a point of criticism on the administration's taking of the rebellion in the first few days, which proved to be crucial. Arguably, a better fed army would have been able to stop the Weigari offensive in its tracks, ending the rebellion early and eventually avoiding the deaths of millions. The administration argues back that such a conjecture can only be made in restrospect since they never expected the division to need such a grand logistical network, as there was no major combat to be expected. Nevertheless, literature on the subject continues to be published including the most infamous work by Army General Constanz Geret, Icebreaker. Geret claims that the Imperial defense is unfounded since such logistics are absolutely necessary for the upkeep of what are some of the most well armed soldiers in the Empire. to date, the administration has not responded to his book, instead charging Geret of treason for the fact that he refused to raise a hand against Weigar, although he was in the Imperial Army. To date, Geret has still not been prosecuted due to widespread support for his cause.

In the end, whether or not it was Fedor's fault that the three divisions were destroyed is irrelevent. What is relevent is the fact that they were destroyed. Their destruction would in due course start two wars; the War of Golden Succession and the post-war literature battle.

Operation Valkyrie