Operation Swift

Malgravean Civil War
Date 1 March 1956 (1956-03-01) - 18 March 1956 (1956-03-18) Location Zadaska Result Patriotic Front Victory
Belligerents
The United Kingdom of Malgrave	Malgravean Patriotic Front
Commanders and leaders
Prime Minister Helen Magnus Divisional General Krystyna Kijek Divisional General Joasia Rudawski † Divisional General Gianmarco Palmisano †	General of Corps Narcyz Jaskolski Divisional General Bonifacio Ferro
Strength
1st Infantry Division 2nd Infantry Division 3rd Infantry Division	2-3 Divisions (1st-11th March) 3-6 Divisions (12-18th March)
Casualties and losses
28,500	Unknown

Operation Swift is a failed military operation conducted in the 1950s. It is commonly regarded as the worst military defeat suffered by the United Kingdom of Malgrave during the civil war and is highlighted as a major contributing factor to the TDF strike that followed.

Background

In 1948 members of the Royal Malgravean Armed Forces defected and founded the Malgravean Patriotic Front, a far-right organisation dedicated to overthrowing the current Malgravean government. At the time it was believed that the government collapse within days or weeks, however factional infighting over the future of the organisation led to the group virtually disappearing with only a few hit and run attacks reported over the next ten years.

In the late 1950's the Malgravean government had started expanding towards the northern regions of the country and had established several promising industrial centres. At the same time, the Malgravean Patriotic Front had settled its internal disputes and started a broad campaign of offensives against Malgravean settlements in this region. At first Prime Minister Helen Magnus wanted to utilise units of the Special Investigative Service and the Royal Marines to target and eliminate the units responsible for harassing these TDF units, however at this point the Prime Minister received push back from Arkadiusz Gorecki, the Defence Minister who wished to try a more aggressive offensive utilising masses of conscripts from the TDF to permanently occupy three positions used by units of the Patriotic Front. In response Magnus reluctantly approved the offensive operation despite the objections of Adrian Kava, the Minister of State Security and a classified member of the SIS.

Operation

In the lead-up to Operation Swift intelligence from the Special Investigative Service indicated that a majority of Patriotic Front harassment operations were being conducted from three settlements on the border between Malgrave and the self-declared National Workers' Republic. In the past the SIS and the Royal Marines would've attempted to disrupt this activity by organising several raids against the three villages, but Minister Gorecki believed that recent equipment and training upgrades utilised by the Territorial Defence Force made wide-scale offensive operations possible for the first time since the start of the Malgravean Civil War. It was therefore decided to launch a three-pronged offensive against the settlements utilising three infantry divisions, and preparations went into fortifying logistical supply lines for the upcoming operation.

On the 1st of March 1956 units from the 1st Infantry Division crossed the border and officially started the offensive operation, at first the operation went according to plan and units from all three divisions quickly reported the successful capture of several vital bridges and border crossings across the front. On the 4th of March units from the 2nd Infantry Division reported that they had successfully captured the village of Druzby and established a series of defensive positions around the liberated settlement, with the 1st Infantry Division reporting several hours later that it had also managed to capture the village of Opva, at the time the 3rd Infantry Division was briefly held by resistance from small pockets of Patriotic Front soldiers but on the 5th of March it also announced that it had successfully occupied the settlement of Zadaska.

On the morning of the 6th of March Divisional General Gianmarco Palmisano, the commanding officer of the 3rd Infantry Division began to make a fresh offensive push beyond the village of Zadaska, but the division was met by incredibly fierce resistance from units of the Patriotic Front and after a few hours the TDF units were forced to withdraw and defend their recent gains. At the same time the 1st Infantry Division and the 2nd Infantry Division reported that their recently captured divisions were being put under heavy attack by several enemy divisions, and both units took heavy losses before they were able to repel the initial offensive.

Over the next six days the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions continued to endure attacks from the Patriotic Front (Malgrave), but the heaviest fighting was reported by the 2nd Infantry Division with reports indicating that the division had lost an estimated 59% of its fighting strength from the start of the operation. Divisional General Joasia Rudawski was ordered to withdraw her unit from the sector and take up new defensive positions on the border, but the General refused citing the threat of encirclement that would be faced by the 1st Infantry Division if her units position fell into the hands of the Patriotic Front

At this point units from the 1st and 3rd Infantry Division began to report shortages of ammunition, and supportive artillery and air strikes were reduced further as industrial production failed to keep-up with the demands of the current operation. On the 14th of March Operation Swift was officially abandoned by the government and all divisions were ordered to withdraw to previous defensive positions on the front line. The 1st Infantry Division successfully reached its previous defensive positions on the 15th of March, but the 3rd Infantry Division ran into heavy difficulties further hampered by the death of Divisional GeneralGianmarco Palmisano. On the 16th of March the surviving elements of the 2nd Infantry Division organised a brief offensive operation against elements of the Patriotic Front (Malgrave) assaulting the 3rd Infantry Division before withdrawing to a new series of defensive positions just outside Opva, over the next following days the division fell under constant assault from the Patriotic Front with the 3rd Infantry Division using the opportunity to withdraw to its defensive lines. On the 18th of March just 750 soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division reported to their former positions on the front lines, with Divisional General Joasia Rudawski and 95% of her division being wiped out over the course of a few days.

Aftermath

In the immediate aftermath Arkadiusz Gorecki resigned from his position as Minister of Defence and Helen Magnus announced that she was not running for a third term as Prime Minister, it is also known that the SIS frequently brought up concerns that the divisions utilised during the Patriotic Front counter-offensive could be used against newly established industrial settlements and its believed that the construction of a military academy of the city of Pakosc was quickly rushed to ease the concerns of several senior SIS officers. At the same time Marshal-General Stefan Wojewódzki was replaced and Valentina Wronski was placed in overall charge of the Malgravean Armed Forces.