The Battle Of The Aralonian Straits
| The Battle Of The Aralonian Straits Summary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date: | 1/5/07-Present | |
| Locations: | The Aralonian-Barkozian Straits | |
| Cassus Belli: | Burnsian Incursions Into Northeastern Haven | |
| Outcome: | NSAF Victory | |
| Main Participants | ||
| NSAF | EVIL | |
 Velkya
|
 The Burnsian Desert | |
| Strength (approx.) | ||
| NSAF | EVIL | |
| 26,000 naval vessels and unspecified amounts of coastal defenses and aircraft | 8,000 naval vessels | |
| Commanders | ||
| NSAF | EVIL | |
| Southern Defense Command | High General Ji-Lou Khan | |
| Casualties (approx.) | ||
| NSAF | EVIL | |
| Military dead: 5 Military wounded: Unknown Civilian dead: N/A |
Military dead: 955,192 Military wounded: 2,918,177 Civilian dead: N/A | |
| Total: 3,873,374 | ||
The Battle Of The Aralonian Straits was an extremely one sided naval battle between an ad hoc fleet under the command of the Northern Strategic Allied Force and an invasion force from the Burnsian Desert. The battle was fought in the vicinity of the Omz Straits, with most combat taking place within the Northern Aralonian Straits. Among other things, the battle demonstrated the pure power of the defensive systems of northern Haven, with the vast majority of naval kills scored by air and land launched anti shipping weapons.
Beginnings
The Battle Of The Aralonian Straits is held by virtually all historians to be a byproduct of Operation Hallowed Saber, a multinational effort to destroy the EVIL alliance after the deaths of a Whyatican diplomat sent to negotiate with EVIL leaders at their headquarters on Afghan Isle. The first major operation of the war was undertaken by the Allied Union Defense Forces and their Skyian counterparts, dubbed Operation Dustbow, a combined arms assault on the supposed seat of EVIL power. In the opening hours of the operation, the then Queen of The Burnsian Desert, Sylvia Katrina, authorized an attack on Velkya herself, because of said nation's leading role in Operation Dustbowl. Ordering the mobilization of a eight thousand vessel strong armada, the Queen and her charges quickly attracted the attention of NSAF intelligence agencies. Soon alerted to the course and mission of this fleet, NSAF military commanders began to mobilize defensive fleets, along with supporting land based defenses. The stage was set for one of the largest naval engagements in human history.
Opening Shots
On a cold winter morning, the Burnsian Fleet under High General Khan entered the range of Haven's array of nuclear pulse batteries. Allanean cannons were the first to fire, scoring three direct hits on the Burnsian flagship, Enduring Hellfire. These weapons were quickly followed by volleys from Skyian and Velkyan batteries, sinking several more capital vessels. In addition, the nuclear pulse cannons on the northern Arx Dei fortress opened fire, finishing off the Hellfire, as well as annihilating nearby escort vessels. Burnsian response was nonexistant, as the cannons were firing from far beyond the range of any conventional weapons systems. The nuclear pulse attacks are credited with breaking the morale of the Burnsian fleet, cherry picking targets and then utterly destroying them without warning.
Temporary Reprieve
With inhuman courage (and some would say, stupidity), the Burnsian fleet continued it's advance into Haven waters, crossing the gap between the range of nuclear pulse artillery and long range anti-shipping missile systems. This gave the NSAF forces time to mobilize naval strike aircraft, and massive waves of bombers soon lifted into the air from all around the NSAF sphere of influence. Forming a wall of iron and steel behind the bomber waves was a gargantuan joint naval fleet comprised of Velkyan, Willinkian, Questarian, Skyian, and Whyatican vessels, as well as a small (comparatively) force from Hamptonshire. The fleet's constituent parts, having been in theater since the opening of hostilities, began to form a large battle line in the southern Omz Strait, blocking any potential advance of enemy naval forces into the home waters of eastern Haven.
Final Overture
At 7:23 PM, local time, the first Burnsian vessel (confirmed to be a destroyer by after action analysis) crossed into long range missile range of the massed NSAF armada. ZMI manufactured Khan anti shipping missiles were the first munitions expended, the first salvos of which launched from Skyian guided missile submarines ahead of the main fleet. Following up this attack was a massed air raid conducted by maritime patrol aircraft of the Velkyan and Skyian air forces. Combined with literally tens of thousands of surface launched munitions, this massed assault spelled doom for the approaching Burnsian forces. After action reports estimate over five thousand confirmed kills by the combined NSAF forces, with virtually all surviving vessels damaged to some degree. Millions of casualties, mostly soldiers inbound for the ground invasion of Velkya, were reported by both sides, and High General Ji-Lou Khan, then the commanding officer of the fleet, surrendered the remnants of his fleet to the victorious NSAF navies via open radio communication.
Aftermath
After the official stand down of Burnsian assets in the area, NSAF vessels who only moments before had been pummeling the opposing forces immediately moved in to assist the badly damaged Burnsian fleet. Literally millions of survivors lay in the warm waters of the Omz Strait, along with over one thousand sinking vessels. A combined force of the NSAF forces and the remnants of the Burnsian fleet moved in to assist the masses of stranded men in a daring air-sea mission. Countless numbers of Burnsian sailors were saved thanks to quick and skillful efforts of their fellow seamen. After the battle, Khan himself surrendered to Willinkian Fleet Admiral Francis Letton, and consented to the impound of his remaining vessels off the southern coast of the Velkyan subcontinent.
The battle would have far reaching consequences for all parties involved. The Queen of the Burnsian Desert herself committed suicide, allowing a large breakaway group of refugees under the former High General to escape from the mainland and settle in southeastern Haven. The impounded naval vessels and their constituent crews were soon returned to the new refugee state under a treaty with the Velkyan government, which also pledged to aid in the rearmament of the Burnsian military and reconstruction of its mother state on Haven soil. The battle also strengthened the resolve of the various Haven states, uniting them against a common enemy, as well as providing an example to the world on the military prowess of the states existing within Haven. It's one sidedness has spawned many phrases in the victorious phrase, such as the Velkyan phrase 'Owned 'em like Khan.'
An intriguing (and some would say disturbing) anamoly reported by both sides in the conflict was a apparently divine voice admonishing the survivors of the Burnsian fleet for their assumed sins, recorded in grainy sounding records by a handful of radio operations of both the Whyatican and Burnsian navies. The so-called Angel Of Aralonia myth has never been officially confirmed, although the rumors spread by personnel involved in the fighting have spawned many myths as to the origin of the voice. The appearence of the Angel has dealt traumatic psychological and emotional harm to many of the survivors, and psychologists on both sides of the Omz study the case as an example of mass hysteria.
A more saddening aspect of the battle is the extensive ecological damage dealt in its aftermath. Many nuclear powered vessels were sunk in the depths of the Omz Strait, resulting in the depopulation of the area by many biological entities. A multinational effort by the Haven community to clean up the radioactive aftereffects of the battle still goes on today, funded by the respective governments of the Haven states.
