Battle of Safashar (1951)

Battle of Safashar
Part of Domlandian Civil War
Domlandian soldiers fight outside Safashar square, 22nd November
Date September to December 1951 Location Safashar, Khorrambid Prefecture Result Domlandian Republic victory
Belligerents
Domlandian Republic	East Biggonian Alliance
Commanders and leaders
Ghani Nazaniin Zarang Jagdal	Some guy
Strength
85,000 soldiers 2,000 artillery pieces 300 tanks	40,000 - 55,000 militants 200 - 500 artillery pieces 30 - 50 tanks

The Battle of Safashar, also known as the Siege of Safashar, was the final major battle of the Domlandian Civil War and is viewed by some historians as the end of the Domlandian Wars of Independence, although many Biggonian historians dispute this. The battle was fought in Safashar, the last major stronghold of the Eastern Biggonia Alliance (EBA) and capital of Khorrambid Prefecture. The battle lasted from early September to mid December, with Domlandian authorities declaring the city cleared of Biggonian fighters on the 13th December and the EBA leadership officially announcing the city as having fallen on the 17th December.

Opposing Forces

Domlandian Republic

Despite incurring substantial losses during the preceding Civil War, by September 1951 the Domlandian Army had reached a new height of strength, especially in terms of material quality and logistical capacity. In fighting immediately outside Safashar during Domlandian efforts to encircle the city, the Domlandian Republic committed 9 divisions, of which several were under full strength, with the final total approximately 60,000 men. Once Domlandia began to advance into Safashar proper, they had assembled a force of 12 divisions, titled the 3rd Domlandian Army Corps.

Corps	Corps Commander	Division/Unit	Divisional Commander	Divisional Strength (% of peak)
III Corps	Field Marshal Zarang Jagdal	3rd Rifle Division	Nizar Hashemi	11,560 (77%)
		5th Motorised Rifle Division		8,000 (67%)
		6th Armoured Division		3,950 (33%)
		8th Rifle Division		9,240 (62%)
		9th Rifle Division		2,800 (19%)
		12th Motorised Rifle Division		6,260 (52%)
		13th Armoured Division		7,310 (61%)
		14th Shock Division		5,500 (68%)
		27th Rifle Division		13,950 (93%)
		28th Shock Division		3,120 (39%)
		29th Motorised Rifle Division		12,000 (100%)
		Free Biggonian Brigade	Karl Moshiri	1,200 (80%)

Throughout the war the Domlandian Army had enacted major reforms which transformed their previous armed forces which fought in the Domlandian War of Independence against Biggonia into a modern fighting force, utilising an effective and centralised Command and Control system alongside a bureaucratically organised general staff. In spite of these improvements, political inteference still remained in Domlandia's officer corps, especially considering the fact that many new politicians were former members of the military during the War of Independence. This inteference was at its worst after the encirclement of Safashar was concluded, at which point former war hero and current president Ghani Nazaniin began to personally oversee operations to clear the city, causing tension with the official commander of III Corps; Field Marshal Zarang Jagdal.

In terms of strategy, the Domlandian Army's main plan was to first encircle Safashar before mounting a large scale assault to fully clear out the city, in the process killing or capturing the EBA's leadership. It was also hoped that this encirclement and urban assault would lead to most or all of the EBA's remaining forces to be wiped out, bringing the conflict to an end and preventing it from spiraling into a costly guerilla war. However, exact methods differed on how to clear out the urban centres differed. Whilst President Ghani Nazaniin favoured a slower advance, utilising large amounts of artillery to reduce Domlandian casualties, Field Marshal Zarang Jagdal preferred a much faster advance in order to preserve civilian infrastructure and rapidly end the battle by capturing their leaders; along with his own belief that prolonging urban warfare through caution would actually lead to greater casualties in the long run, as he had observed in the gruelling urban sieges which characterised the Domlandian Civil War. Ultimately strategies were mixed, with some sections of the city being taken only after intense artillery bombardments and firefights lasting weeks, whilst others were taken in an afternoon by armoured spearheads supported by infantry.

Biggonian Rebels

EBA regulars at a parade ground in Grosserstan province, 1949

By the time of the Eastern Biggonia Alliance (EBA)'s last stand at Safashar, from an organisational point of view their army was in tatters. At the rebellion's height, in 1949, many former soldiers of the Imperial Army as well as new recruits who recieved formal training were recruited into units with a modern organisational structure. In essence, this was a proper, standing army which formed the elite core of the EBA's armed forces. Although they were often better trained and more battle-hardened than their militia counterparts, the true strength of these units came from their organisation, staff structure, and priority on modern equipment. Due to these formalised units being formed far earlier into the EBA's lifespan, they were each organised, trained, and equipped by the individual Prefecture which raised them; owing to the far more structure of the EBA in 1949. During the opening phases of the battle, as Domlandians fought to encircle Safashar, the EBA's army numbered around 12,500. However once the Domlandian advance began into the city proper, the heavy use of these army units in particular had whittled them down to just 6,000 men. Of particular importance was the loss of armour, with it being estimated that the EBA rebels had only a dozen armoured vehicles once the assault on the city began.

Numbers as of 1st September

Prefecture	Prefecture Leader	Unit	Unit Commander	Strength (% of peak)
Khorramibid		1st Mechanised Infantry Division	Olivar Aslani	5,300 (53%)
		3rd Infantry Division	Asgar Bauer	2,800 (19%)
		8th Motorised Infantry Battalion	Faris Ritter	465 (47%)
		19th Support Battalion	Ivas Farzin	730 (73%)
Grosserstan
Merzland
Quellas

The Khorramibid 8th Motorised Infantry Battalion once formed part of the 3rd Motorised Infantry Division and 2nd Cavalry Regiment, however by the 1st Septmber the division had ceased to exist.

The Khorramibid 19th Support Battalion once formed part of the 3rd Motorised Infantry Division and 4th Engineers and Artillery Regiment, however by the 1st September the division had ceased to exist.

Numbers as of 1st October

Prefecture	Prefecture Leader	Unit	Unit Commander	Strength (% of peak)
Khorramibid		1st Mechanised Infantry Division	Oliver Aslani	2,200 (22%)
Grosserstan
Merzland
Quellas

A group of EBA militiaman armed with anti-tank weapons prepare to defend Safashar provincial train station

In addition to the formal armed forces, the EBA made frequent use of irregular forces, some of whom were militants which fought for the EBA across the entire war, whilst others who were simply raised for temporary defensive actions around specific locations or cities from local people. Whilst many were well motivated, they tended to be poorly armed and organised. As the war shifted against the EBA, and by 1951 it appeared the war was lost, the militia became even less reliable, with morale being shaky and summary executions being required to keep them in line and fighting. To make information more accessible, historians covering the Domlandian Civil War tend to make a distinction between the EBA's "militants" and their "militia." Militants were irregular fighters who fought for the EBA in both offensive and defensive actions, and for the purposes of Safashar and other battles are used to describe fighters who were not native to Safashar or had already been fighting with the EBA before the battle commenced. By contrast, "militia" were fighters who were raised, either voluntarily or forced to, temporarily by city councils or other EBA units to be assembled specifically to defend the locale, with the intention being that they would be disbanded after the city was successfully defended. Whilst it was originally stated that the militia would only be deployed into combat if absolutely necessary, instead performing support tasks like digging fortifications and delivering ammunition, by the end of the war they fought at almost the same frequency as militants and formal soldiers.

The EBA also had a special group of militants, which were the only unit in the entire alliance not under the command of the prefecture it had been raised under. Designated "The Immortal Legion" in reference to the elite forces of the ancient Biggonian Empire, the group was created after the occupation of Merzland (the first province to fall) in 1949. Whilst the initial intention was to grow the group to 15,000 men, they only ever reached 3,500, with them retaining that strength by the time of the battle.

During the outer portion of the battle, the EBA possessed roughly 20,000 militants and had already successfuly raised 5,000 local militia. After the battle for the exterior was concluded and Safashar encircled, the militants had been whittled down to around 16,000 however the local militia had ballooned up to almost 25,000 men, with exact reports varying. All in all it is estimated that between 35,000 and 45,000 irregular troops were deployed by the EBA at one point or the other during battle.

Outskirts fighting (4th September - 2nd October)

By the Battle of Safashar, the Domlandian Republic had perfected the tactics of urban encirclement, which they used to effectively reduce the strength of the EBA in protracted battles from which their opponents could not retreat. Through these tactics, they had already successfully retaken all other western prefectures as well as defeated the Kohat uprising of 1948. Safashar, however, as the final holdout of the EBA and posessing a long history as a transportation hub for Biggonian-Domlandian travel made it a unique challenge.

Domlandians from the 12th Motorised advancing through suburbs during September

Key objectives for the Domlandian Republic included an encirclement of the western side of Safashar, which was made difficult by a large forest alongside a shallow and easily fordable river which crossed the forest. It was essential for Domlandia to surround Safashar from the west as it would both prevent militants from fleeing westward into the neighbouring Biggonian Empire as well as stop the flow of volunteers and military aid which had flooded over the border from the Biggonian Empire. In south-eastern Safashar sat the provincial train station, another key objective. Safashar's train station had long been used as a way of transporting resources from Talland to eastern Domlandia, especially Kohat. With Kohat liberated and munitions factories once again in operation, the train station was viewed as a key objective since if it were captured and made usable, munitions and reinforcements from Kohat could come into the city and greatly aid the Domlandian advance.

Unfortunately, the two main angles of attack were a road from north-east, and one from the south. Attempts to form a third axis of attack from the east were thrawted by guerilla strikes by rampaging EBA armoured trains. Despite encouragement from President Nazaniin to use aircraft and commandos to cut the rail tracks, Field Marshal Zarang Jagdal objected, stating it would impair his ability to bring supplies from Kohat once the railway station were captured. It was hoped that once urban fighting began and the railway station were secured, the trains could be dealt with and Domlandian supplies would be able to come directly from the east.

The EBA's use of heavy armour took Domlandia by surprise

The first clash occurred on the 4th September, along the north-easterly road, with Domlandian forces intending to swing around the entire northern and western sides of the city, in order to fully cut off the western line of retreat. The assault began largely by the 12th Motorised Division, with small elements from the 28th Shock Division supporting them. By this point in the war, the 28th had already suffered heavy losses and was therefore rarely committed. It was hoped that the lightly-armed motorised division would meet disorganised resistance and be able to simply drive through to take up new positions in the encirclement. They were taken by surprise when Biggonian resistance was far heavier than expected, with a large number of artillery, EBA army troopers, and even tanks being committed to the defence. Whilst the 28th Shock had been attached with the purpose of providing tank support, they only brought a handful of infantry support vehicles, which were outclassed by the EBA's medium and heavy tanks. Fighting therefore continued in northern hamlets and villages for several days, however by the 9th September infantry had caught up to the main advance and the 3rd Rifle Division was committed to fighting. In addition, the Domlandians decided to leverage their superiority in artillery by calling in strikes on heavily entrenched EBA positions using reconissance planes at such a high altitude that outdated Biggonian AA guns could not harm them. However, progress remained slow thanks to the EBA's superiority in armour, with only a minority of units from the 28th Shock and 3rd Rifle possessing anti-tank weaponry sufficient for offensive action. This changed on the 14th September with Field Marshal Jagdal's direct order to commit heavier armour from the 28th Shock, which had previously been limited to just armoured cars and tankettes. This tipped the scales significantly in Domlandia's favour, and it was reported that already on the 17th September the EBA had given up trying to hold the outskirts on the west and north of the city, withdrawing into Safashar proper.

The southern thrust had a similarly difficult time. The main aims of the southern thrust were threefold- to secure the Kohat train station in south-eastern Kohat, capture the only major bridge which would allow armour from the south to encircle Kohat from the west and thereby cut off retreat, and finally to open up a second route into the city. Thanks to the relatively flat land and lack of settlements to the same extent as existed in the north, the Domlandian Army believed the advance would be far easier. Deploying the 13th Armoured Division and 5th Motorised Division, the Domlandian Army had their first engagement with EBA defenders engaged in a fighting retreat on the 8th September. Having already recieved reports of the stiff resistance on the northern front, and anticipating fiercer resistance due to the well-understood importance of Safashar's train station to both sides, the Domlandian forces advanced both more cautiously and with heavier armour, discouraging Biggonian resitance. Initial combat with EBA irregulars left the advancing Domlandian armour decisively victorious, and they began to grow increasingly confident. Unfortunately, the EBA made heavy use of minefields along the roads, which they would then combine with hidden observors who would coordinate artillery barrages on minesweeping soldiers and tanks, making the clearing of mines more difficult. As an internationally unrecognised entity, the EBA was not beholden to the laws of war and were under no obligations to label their minefields. Nevertheless, they deliberately marked some in order to corral the advancing Domlandians into specific killing fields for anti-tank guns and artillery, which were successfully concealed in trees. Although casualties on the Domlandian side were light, they significantly delayed the Domlandian advance and allowed the EBA to attack Domlandian soldiers with almost no retaliation, substantially harming Domlandian morale. The advance was deemed slow and causing unecessary casualties, and therefore on the 15th September Domlandian air and artillery forces finally recieved direct orders to strike small groupings of trees nearby roads, in order to flush out potential ambush forces.

This tactic was initially highly successful and the southern thrust sped up substantially- by the 18th September, when the EBA had abandoned the northern front, commanders believed they would have secured all three objectives in a few days time. Unfortunately, on the 20th September, the horrific '20th September incident' occurred, when a forest was firebombed by Domlandian aircraft which preceded an armoured advance. Unfortunately, after the forest was searched the charred bodies of around 40 refugees from 6 families were found, of whom most were unidentifiable. Although the incident was successfully covered up until five years after the Battle, it prompted the Domlandian Army to abandon the tactic and continue the snail-pace advance they had done previously. Ultimately, the Domlandian Army was able to fight through ambushes and minefields until it finally set up positions on the 27th September, where they were preparing to launch their three-pronged assault in conjunction with the northern thrust. Unfortunately, the advance had been delayed so much that the EBA had managed to destroy the only major bridge to the west side of the city, meaning engineers had to be used to build a new bridge, with this new bridge being incapable of carrying heavy armour. The bridge was finished on the 2nd October, however by that point thousands of Biggonian refugees and fighters including the 8th Motorised Infantry Battalion under Faris Ritter had been able to escape.