The Army of Koenwitz
The Army of Koenwitz both defends and runs the country, following the transferral of power from the Royal Family to Field-Marshal Kaen in October 1990. Army officers control all governmental departments and diplomatic affairs, with the Koenwitzian Parliament virtually ignored.
The Army currently contains around 500,000 men (women are not permitted to serve in the military, but are allowed in the police force), with an almost 50/50 split between volunteer soldiers and national servicemen. Koenwitz operates a policy of mandatory three-year terms of service for those aged between 18-25 (volunteers are usually aged between 18-40). Once their term of service has been completed, all national servicemen are placed on the reserve list until they reach age of 50. The Army is a resolutely conventional force and has not used, nor does not intend to use nuclear weaponry.
History
Koenwitz did not have a standing Army until 1920. Originally, national defence and security was provided by three large militias – the Eastern, Central and Western Militias, descendants of the force that first landed with Crown-Prince Eugen in 1766. The militias contained somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 men, and although quite ill-equipped and poorly trained, they were still imbued with a typically strong Germanic fighting spirit.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, international tensions and military trends were showing just how outdated the militias were. Despite much protestation from the barons that commanded them, in 1920 Crown-Prince Theodor and his parliament issued a decree ordering the foundation of a standing national army, encompassing the existing militias and creating a policy of two-years national service for all males 18-24 to raise the size of the new force. By 1938, the Royal Army of Koenwitz was some 90,000 men strong. It stayed roughly at this number until 1967, when Crown-Prince Reinhardt stepped up national service demands and civilian recruiting upon the completion of the the Second Great Armament Plan.
Upon the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the total number of men serving in the Royal Army of Koenwitz was 300,000, with approximately half of that number organised in the twelve main fighting divisions – three armoured, two mechanized, one airborne and five infantry (two of which were Jäger or light infantry). During the initial fighting of 1986, the Army fought entirely for the Royalist cause. This swiftly changed following the destruction of the area around the Teufel Gorge and the Royal Army’s ruthless destruction of the villages around Nicole Heath, which turned many Army troops, particularly those from the East, against the Crown-Prince. The first mutiny occurred in the 2nd Mechanized Division. On the 2nd May, the divisional commander, Major-General Dietrich Streiber, announced that his troops would fight for the Republican cause. The 2nd Mech moved on Karentan, besieging the city until it was relieved by the 1st Armoured in October. That very month however, the 3rd Armoured and 2nd Infantry also announced the switching of sides, and forced the weakened Royal Corps back behind the River Elz, seizing the key port city of Elzstadt.
However, the massive Kaen Offensives of February-June 1987 forced the traitorous divisions back into the far east of the country, and isolated the 2nd Infantry and the remnants of the 3rd Armoured in Elzstadt, where they were eventually destroyed after the ferocious battle for the city in July. As a reprisal against the traitorous Easterners, the commander of the 1st Infantry Division, Major-General Frederick Rix (who was later killed during the battle for Harabszk in 1991) ordered the destruction of the dock area and the town hall. By this time, fresh supplies were being landed at the Royalist-held Kronprinz-Eugen Airport outside Koenburg, and with most of the oilfields and the Spreelow munitions works also under Royalist control, the Republican forces were almost fatally weakened.
Unfortunately for them, the destruction of the port actually worked against the Royalists, for it turned almost the entire population of the east, and some elements in the west, against the Army. The Republicans’ loss of trained military troops did not end the war; it merely created a vast insurgency that swept the country between 1987-1989. By early 1989, survivors of the traitor divisions had raised the “Koenwitz Freedom Army” of some 50,000 men and 100 tanks, commanded by Field-Marshal Kaen’s own son, Erich. When Erich was killed during the second battle of Karentan in December, the growing resentment against the Crown-Prince that was felt by the Field-Marshal and much of the Royal Army finally broke out. The Field-Marshal switched sides, and took 90% of the Royal Army with him, with only the Koenwitz-Leibstandarte-Regiment and the newly-formed 4th Jäger Division staying loyal.
After the abdication of Crown-Prince Reinhardt in October 1990 and the foundation of the Armed Republic, the Royal Army and Koenwitz Freedom Army were combined and renamed the Army of Koenwitz, becoming what is now the country’s modern fighting force. At the end of the war in 1991, which continued against Royalist insurgents and other small groups with varying agendas, the Army was downsized from 800,000 men to 500,000 under the so-called "Peacetime Act". The new Chief of Staff, the then Lieutenant-General Andreas Kaen, the Field-Marshal’s only surviving son, worked hard to ensure that the force was split 50/50 between volunteers and national servicemen, so that veterans could return to their pre-war occupations and restore the country’s ailing economy and industry. This was finally achieved in 2001. However, by 2005 the Army realised that it was rapidly lagging behind in both training and materiel, and began a massive modernisation programme that is still ongoing.
The Aftermath of the Boico Deployment, 2007-
The disastrous progress of the military adventure in Boico in May/June 2007 forced the Army to rethink its polices as the demands upon it increased. Field-Marshal Kaen was increasingly desirous of sending troops abroad in order to strengthen Koenwitz's foreign influence, but at the same time wanted to maintain a large force at home to ensure internal security.
Thus, on 5th June 2007, the Army repealed the "Peacetime Act", which limited Army size to 500,000 men, and increased recruiting and national service demands in order to dramatically raise the size of the Army. The initial aim was to have 700,000 service personnel by the end of June by recalling reservists and calling up more national servicemen. By the end of the year, with further national service drafts and through forceful recruiting, the aim was to have the Army ranging in size between 1 and 1.5 million men. Additionally, in order to increase Koenwitzian influence without committing the Army wholescale, Field-Marshal Kaen secretly ordered the re-raising of the "Freebooters", the so-called Koenwitz-Freikorps, a shadowy force of ex-servicemen who kept the peace in the East during most of the 1990s, but who were dissolved after the debacle of the 1999 Eastern Insurgency.
Organisation
The Army is ultimately under the direction of the Office of President, currently Field-Marshal Kaen, who serves as its Commander-in-Chief. Under him, in actual control of the Army, is its Chief of Staff, and then beneath him are the three main force commanders – the Head of the Infanteriewaffe (Infantry Arm or Infantry Force), the Panzerwaffe (Armoured Force) and the ArmeeLuftKorps (Army Air Corps). In peacetime, the Infantry and Armoured arms each control specialised corps which contain two or more divisions (for more detail on number and type of divisions, see below). Of the 900,000 men that currently serve in the Army, 377,000 are organised in the main ground combat formations, of which approximately 127,000 are frontline fighting troops (roughly one third of the size of each formation). The Army Air Corps splits its assets into Transport, Aviation and Aviation Assault Regiments, the latter two of which deploy heliborne forces. There are also two fighter squadrons and a single bomber squadron. In addition, there are two special units that are under the direct control of the Army high command and the President, rather than any of the three main force commands.
While the Army Air Korps, under the command of Colonel-General Lars Weber, maintains control of its assets during a time of war, the ground-based forces are divided among three regional commands who direct operations; Westcom, Centcom and Eastcom. The divisions or corps are shuffled between these commands as the situation dictates, although the Regional Commanders and the Force Commanders train together continually to ensure that each transfer is as quick and painless as possible. Currently, the Regional Commands, though operating, are not fully activated and the Force Commands maintain their individual controls. However, should an invasion occur, or war be declared, the Regional Commands will be activated immediately and assume responsibility for the forces currently in their area. If Koenwitz is ever involved in a foreign conflict, the Regional Commands will play no role, the Army Chief of Staff directing operations abroad and Corps Commanders controlling the action on the ground.
In a national emergency, the Police Forces can be mobilised into a special Polizei-Korps which come under Army control. URBANFOR, or metropolitan police units, organise into the I POLIZEIKORPS or URBANKORPS of around 4 divisions; the rural police into a SHERRIFKORPS of around 2 divisions. The Special Measures Forces will be involved in special operations and will maintain the peace when the main police forces depart for the action. As Koenwitz’s police force is fully armed and military-trained, they work very well with the Armed Forces.
A chart of the organisation of the Koenwitz Armed Forces is viewable here A map showing the location of Army bases in Koenwitz is available here.
