Night Raid on Fort 68

Fort 68, better known as Firebase Beatrice 1, was one of dozens of forts designed in a string along the border of Zarbia and Sarcanza. They were built during the finals years of the Grand Civil War and were rather rudimentary, although they did get the job done - advance warning. Although the Night Raid on Fort 68 lasted for less than a few minutes and saw less than a thousand people engaged, it did mark the first insurgency of Sarcanzan rebels and what foreshadowed the greater battles of the Sarcanzan rebellion. The short engagement also gave Sarcanzans the armaments they needed for future operations at Prokhorovka, which would then lead to Marsa Bruth. Although not as ground breaking as the First Battle of Mons Dei it does offer an outlook a minor battle of the war that would proceed unknown if not.

The Battle

The Sarcanzan Region had an extremely Catholic indegenous population and during the early years of the Macabee occupation of Sarcanza, or the latter years of the Grand Civil War, that population has suffered from rather widespread anti-Catholic purges. This policy was continued by Jonach I, first emperor of the Second Empire of the Golden Throne, while the discontent was acknowledged. However, government forces in the area were not upscaled from security troops to full blown class A military, and even prior to the battle many had argued that the government presence was not strong enough, especially when considering how prone Sarcanza was to attempted rebellion. The political turmoil which was largely ignored by the Imperial administrations never subsided and in all reality the only thing necessary was a catalyst capable of persuading the Sarcanzans to a call to arms. This catalyst turned out to be the Weigari victory at Mons Dei, and the raid on Beatrice 1 took place on 24 May, after it was obvious that Mons Dei would be a victory for the rebellion.

The strike was actually carried out by a paramilitary group of Sarcanzans. The attacking force was about five hundred men strong armed with older ordnace, most of it Soviet, much like the Weigari Rebels. Mechanized on simple pick-up trucks the attack was rather fast, although it did attract the Macabee defense rather quickly. Nonetheless, a mortar position was established behind a sand dune which pocketed the Matamoscas Desert which made up most of the provence, while the other men dismounted for an advance while prone, crawling their way up, using the sand dunes to mask their approach. All the while the mortar had set up and fired three rounds in quick succession against the northern wall of the fort. Two of the rounds missed and one blew a gap on the side of the wooden fort forging a breach. One of two machine-gunners manning the northern wall was immediately killed by a stray round coming from the Sarcanzan rifles. The situation immediately turned to chaos as the rebels broke into a charge towards the gap. Crossfire from other machine gun positions and fire from the battle rifles on the wall cut down the Sarcanzans, but they kept coming. Exasperated the defending soldiers put up a staunch fight, attempting to cover the breach.

Unfortunately, a truck had began to charge the fence and by the time the garrison commander had seen it, it was by far too late. The gate was blown to pieces and remnants of the truck shattered into the fort's courtyards. The last words of Fort Beatrice 1, or Fort 68, were Beatrice 1 has fallen. Code Red. I repeat, code red. Beatrice 1 has fallen. The surviving Macabee soldiers surrendered. None of them were ever returned to the Empire, and although listed as missing in action they are thought to be dead. Although the Sarcanzans lost many more men, the casualties were offset by the equipment they were able to strip from the fort, including newer assault rifles and body armour; the same equipment the security troops in Prokhorovka would face.