Operation Overshadow: Difference between revisions

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| alt        =  
| alt        =  
| caption    = Syaran armor and infantry during the battle
| caption    = Syaran armor and infantry during the battle
| date        = 16 September - 23 September 2009
| date        = 16 September - 7 October 2009
| place      = Kunhegyes Distrct, [[Ruvelka]]
| place      = Kunhegyes Distrct, [[Ruvelka]]
| coordinates =  
| coordinates =  
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| map_label  =  
| map_label  =  
| territory  =  
| territory  =  
| result      = Tactical Stalemate </br> Ruvelkan operational failure
| result      = Tactical Stalemate </br> Ruvelkan strategic victory
| status      =  
| status      =  
| combatants_header =  
| combatants_header =  
| combatant1  = {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} [[Ruvelka]]
| combatant1  = {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} [[Ruvelka]]
| combatant2  = {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Syara]]
| combatant2  = {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Syara]]
| commander1  = {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} Alexander Vászoly </br> {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} Roland Apród </br> {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} Dominika Surány </br> {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} Armenag Marutyan </br> {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} Mariami Gruzinsky
| commander1  = {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} [[Péter Novák]] </br> {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} Roland Apród </br> {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} Dominika Surány </br> {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} Armenag Marutyan </br> {{flagicon image|RuvelkaFlag.png|22px}} Mariami Gruzinsky
| commander2  = {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Nikodemos Cvetkov]] <br> {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Vedran Kučina]] <br> {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Alan Golubić]] <br> {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Miroslav Troske]] <br> {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Matej Yaponski]]
| commander2  = {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Nikodemos Cvetkov]] <br> {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Vedran Kučina]] <br> {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Vladislav Ivov Kochanov]] <br> {{flagicon image|SyaraFlag.jpg|22px}} [[Simeon Karandzhulov]]
| units1      = [[Imperial Armed Forces of Ruvelka|6th Army]] </br> [[Imperial Armed Forces of Ruvelka|11th Army]] </br> [[Imperial Armed Forces of Ruvelka|24th Army]]
| units1      = Army Group North
| units2      = [[Army Group Alpha|2nd Army]]  
| units2      = [[Army Group Alpha]]  
| strength1  = 375,000 personnel </br> 1,112 tanks 
| strength1  = 600,000 troops
| strength2  = 260,000 personnel </br> 1,645 tanks
| strength2  = 450,000 troops
| casualties1 = 10,439 killed </br> 26,809 wounded </br> 348 tanks destroyed
| casualties1 = 20,439 killed </br> 56,809 wounded  
| casualties2 = 6,004 killed </br> 19,233 wounded </br> 186 tanks destroyed
| casualties2 = 16,004 killed </br> 39,233 wounded  
| notes      =  
| notes      =  
| campaignbox =  
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Zemplen War}}
}}
}}


'''Operation Overshadow''' was a Ruvelkan military offensive launched in September 2009 during the [[Zemplen War]]. The aim of the operation was to destroy the offensive capability of [[Army Group Alpha]] and prevent further Syaran efforts towards the vital port city of Mateszalka. With over a thousand tanks committed on each side, it was the largest single armored engagement of the entire war, and the largest tank battle in [[Tyran]] since the [[Eracuran War]].  
'''Operation Overshadow''' was a Ruvelkan military offensive launched from 16 September to 7 October 2009 during the [[Zemplen War]]. The aim of the operation was to destroy the offensive capability of [[Army Group Alpha]] and prevent further Syaran efforts towards the vital port city of Mateszalka.


Following the conclusion of [[Operation Harpe]] in July 2009, the [[Syaran Commonality Armed Forces]] held control over much of the Kunhegyes District in northern [[Ruvelka]]. The Imperial General Staff of the [[Imperial Armed Forces of Ruvelka]] feared the Syarans would attempt to seize the port city of Mateszalka and use it as a springboard to circumnavigate the Kurrila Mountains and threaten Eastern Ruvelka, potentially dooming the Ruvelkan war effort. Although the Syarans had suspended major offensive operations following their heavy losses during Harpe and the [[Battle of Sagerejo]], minor actions against Ruvelkan forces around Mateszalka by the SCAF convinced the Imperial General Staff of the threat. To undermine Syaran capabilities, Army Group North's commander General Alexander Vászoly devised an armored thrust against the Syaran 2nd Army, codenamed ''Overshadow''. ''Overshadow'' called for the employment of three cavalry divisions and two mechanized divisions, some of the heaviest formations in the Ruvelkan Imperial Army, to strike Syaran positions held by III and IV Corps. The Ruvelkans hoped to rupture the corps boundaries between the Syaran forces and destroy the bulk of IV Corps around the towns of Tulca and Salonta.  
Following the conclusion of [[Operation Harpe]] in July 2009, the [[Syaran Commonality Armed Forces]] held control over much of the Kunhegyes District in northern [[Ruvelka]]. The Imperial General Staff of the [[Imperial Armed Forces of Ruvelka]] feared the Syarans would attempt to seize the port city of Mateszalka and use it as a springboard to circumnavigate the Kurrila Mountains and threaten Eastern Ruvelka, potentially dooming the Ruvelkan war effort. Although the Syarans had suspended major offensive operations following their heavy losses during Harpe and the [[Battle of Sagerejo]], minor actions against Ruvelkan forces around Mateszalka by the SCAF convinced the Imperial General Staff of the threat. To undermine Syaran capabilities, Army Group North's commander General [[Péter Novák]] devised an armored thrust against the Syaran 2nd Army, while diversionary efforts against the Syaran 7th and 3rd Armies would be carried out. The main objective was to destroy the Syaran 2nd Army along the northern Ruvelkan coast and prevent further offensives by Army Group Alpha.


Overshadow began on 16 September with more than a hundred sorties carried out by the Ruvelkan Imperial Air Force and was followed up by assaults by Ruvelkan armored and mechanized forces. Initial success by 11th Army under Lt. General Armenag Marutyan pushed III Corps out of Ghiorac, but efforts by 6th Army under the command of Dominika Surány to dislodge IV Corps from Olcea and Petid failed. On 20 September Ruvelkan forces regrouped and attempted to launch another assault in the vicinity of Prisaca, but Syaran counterattacks by V Corps forced the Ruvelkans on the defensive. Colonel General [[Vedran Kučina]], commanding 2nd Army, ordered a general counter-offensive but was halted by 23 September by the 24th Army under Lt. General Mariami Gruzinsky. The operation was called off by Vászoly later the same day.  
Overshadow began on 16 September with more than a hundred sorties carried out by the [[Ruvelkan Imperial Air Force]]. The main assault of Army Group North fell upon 2nd Army under [[Vedran Kučina]] roughly 200 kilometers west of Mateszalka. Pitched fighting between 2nd Army and the Ruvelkan Tenth, Fifteenth, and Twenty-First Armies failed to prevent the Syarans from withdrawing, while southern actions against the Syaran 3rd Army proved suprisingly effective. On 29 September the Syaran 7th Army launched a counter-stroke that succeeded in inflicting heavy damage on Army Group North's armored forces, but demands by Colonel General [[Simeon Karandzhulov]] to continue the attack were dismissed by Alpha's commander Field Marshal [[Nikodemos Cvetkov]]. Novák declared an end to the operation on 7 October.  


The clashes between III and IV Corps against the 6th and 11th Armies between 17-20 September represented the largest single armored engagement of the war. Although the Ruvelkans had been able to recapture the town of Ghiorac, counterattacks by the 46th Mechanized Infantry Division and stiff resistance from IV Corps prevented further Ruvelkan advances. The inability of Ruvelkan armored forces to defeat their Syaran counterparts one on one remained a major obstacle to Ruvelkan operations; as a result, later Ruvelkan efforts during [[Operation Southern Spear]] were geared more towards heliborne forces and infiltration. Both sides committed over 1,000 tanks to the battle, with Syara fielding 1,645 tanks against 1,112 Ruvelkan vehicles. Ruvelkan casualties amounted to over 10,000 killed and 348 tanks destroyed, while Syaran losses totaled 6,000 killed and 186 tanks destroyed.
Initial assessments of Operation Overshadow largely painted the campaign as a Ruvelkan operational failure, given the succesful withdrawal of Syara's 2nd Army. The loss of over 1,500 armored vehicles led many in Ruvelka's leadership to consider Overshadow a colossal failure, however modern historians tend to protray the effort more positively. Between Harpe and Overshadow, Syaran armored losses in some units had reached 50%, and Army Group Alpha's casualties between May and September numbered over 160,000 killed and wounded. The losses suffered in the two operations are widely credited as the reason Syara ceased large scale offensive operations for the remainder of the Zemplen War.


==Background==
==Background==

Latest revision as of 16:21, 26 October 2020

Operation Overshadow
Part of Zemplen War
Overshadow.jpg
Syaran armor and infantry during the battle
Date16 September - 7 October 2009
Location
Kunhegyes Distrct, Ruvelka
Result Tactical Stalemate
Ruvelkan strategic victory
Belligerents
Ruvelka Syara
Commanders and leaders
Péter Novák
Roland Apród
Dominika Surány
Armenag Marutyan
Mariami Gruzinsky
Nikodemos Cvetkov
Vedran Kučina
Vladislav Ivov Kochanov
Simeon Karandzhulov
Units involved
Army Group North Army Group Alpha
Strength
600,000 troops 450,000 troops
Casualties and losses
20,439 killed
56,809 wounded
16,004 killed
39,233 wounded

Operation Overshadow was a Ruvelkan military offensive launched from 16 September to 7 October 2009 during the Zemplen War. The aim of the operation was to destroy the offensive capability of Army Group Alpha and prevent further Syaran efforts towards the vital port city of Mateszalka.

Following the conclusion of Operation Harpe in July 2009, the Syaran Commonality Armed Forces held control over much of the Kunhegyes District in northern Ruvelka. The Imperial General Staff of the Imperial Armed Forces of Ruvelka feared the Syarans would attempt to seize the port city of Mateszalka and use it as a springboard to circumnavigate the Kurrila Mountains and threaten Eastern Ruvelka, potentially dooming the Ruvelkan war effort. Although the Syarans had suspended major offensive operations following their heavy losses during Harpe and the Battle of Sagerejo, minor actions against Ruvelkan forces around Mateszalka by the SCAF convinced the Imperial General Staff of the threat. To undermine Syaran capabilities, Army Group North's commander General Péter Novák devised an armored thrust against the Syaran 2nd Army, while diversionary efforts against the Syaran 7th and 3rd Armies would be carried out. The main objective was to destroy the Syaran 2nd Army along the northern Ruvelkan coast and prevent further offensives by Army Group Alpha.

Overshadow began on 16 September with more than a hundred sorties carried out by the Ruvelkan Imperial Air Force. The main assault of Army Group North fell upon 2nd Army under Vedran Kučina roughly 200 kilometers west of Mateszalka. Pitched fighting between 2nd Army and the Ruvelkan Tenth, Fifteenth, and Twenty-First Armies failed to prevent the Syarans from withdrawing, while southern actions against the Syaran 3rd Army proved suprisingly effective. On 29 September the Syaran 7th Army launched a counter-stroke that succeeded in inflicting heavy damage on Army Group North's armored forces, but demands by Colonel General Simeon Karandzhulov to continue the attack were dismissed by Alpha's commander Field Marshal Nikodemos Cvetkov. Novák declared an end to the operation on 7 October.

Initial assessments of Operation Overshadow largely painted the campaign as a Ruvelkan operational failure, given the succesful withdrawal of Syara's 2nd Army. The loss of over 1,500 armored vehicles led many in Ruvelka's leadership to consider Overshadow a colossal failure, however modern historians tend to protray the effort more positively. Between Harpe and Overshadow, Syaran armored losses in some units had reached 50%, and Army Group Alpha's casualties between May and September numbered over 160,000 killed and wounded. The losses suffered in the two operations are widely credited as the reason Syara ceased large scale offensive operations for the remainder of the Zemplen War.

Background

Planning

Course of the operation

Aftermath