Battle of the Koryal Plain

Battle of the Koryal Plain
Part of the Invasion of Ruvelka (Siduri War)
Ruvelkan infantry fighting in Kaposvár.
Date 10 April - 2 May 1934 Location Nortern Ruvelka Result Syaran victory
Belligerents
Republic of Syara	Ruvelka
Commanders and leaders
Kostadin Zhelyaskov Galin Miroslavov Tsvetkov Zdravko Merakovski	Veronika Mezei Dominik Máté Vicken Kostoyan
Units involved
Army Group Alpha First Army Ninth Army	Military District of Kunhegyes 1st Northern Front
Strength
360,000 troops 1,244 tanks 1,355 aircraft 2,340 artillery pieces	550,000 troops 320 armored vehicles 400 aircraft 1,200 artillery pieces
Casualties and losses
7,450 killed 22,000 wounded 209 tanks destroyed 128 aircraft lost	21,000 killed 63,000 wounded 350,000 captured

The Battle of the Koryal Plain was the largest battle of the 1934 Invasion of Ruvelka, fought between 10 April and 2 May. The battle occurred as the Syaran Army Group Alpha, spearheaded by the First and Ninth Armies, pushed into the Koryal Plain with the ultimate goal of capturing the Ruvelkan port of Mátészalka. They were opposed by forces of the Ruvelkan Imperial Army of the 1st Northern Front and the Military District of Kunhegyes.

The battle occured over the course of several weeks as the Syarans advanced in the face of repeated Ruvelkan counter-attacks. Despite stiff Ruvelkan resistance, the Imperial Army was unable to prevent the fall of the cites of Kaposvár and Kunhegyes. By the end of April the Syarans had encircled the bulk of Ruvelkan forces of the 1st Northern Front, which surrendered on 2 May. The subsequent capture of Mátészalka, coupled with the entry of Arkoenn into the war, effectively ended any chance of a Ruvelkan defensive strategy.

Background

Northern Ruvelka, which straddles the Koryal Plain, features some of the flattest terrain in Ruvelka while also posesses significant deposits of petroleum. This made it a major focus for the Syarans for Operation Sarissa, the invasion of Ruvelka, which fell to Army Group Alpha. The Ruvelkan plan of defense as envisioned by Paloma Keresztes in her time as Chief of the General Staff called for avoiding a protracted attempt to hold the border with Syara itself in favor of conducting a phased withdrawal to a series of defenisive lives further east, giving time to establish more instrength positions along the Kurilla Mountain Range.

Executing this plan proved difficult for the Imperial Army, which lacked motorization and a national infrastructure that was still recovering the Ruvelkan Civil War. The Army of the Syaran Republic initially had made only limited progress into Ruvelka, but by 10 April the Syarans had begun advancing across the border and engaging elements of the Ruvelkan Army. The Syaran effort was led by Army Group Alpha under the command of Field Marshal Kostadin Zhelyaskov. Army Group Alpha's two spearheads were First Army under Colonel General Galin Tsvetkov and Ninth Army under Zdravko Merakovski. Tsvetkov commanded four infantry divisions in addition to five armored and mechanized divisions, while Merakovski controlled seven infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions, and one cavalry brigade. The Syarans had significant advantages in tanks, artillery, and aircraft despite being numerically inferior. In addition, despite their generally slow moving doctrine, most Syaran divisions were motorized and thus could move and react faster than their Ruvelkan counterparts.

Defending northern Ruvelka were forces under the Military District of Kunhegyes, commanded by General Veronika Mezei. Additional forces existed under the 1st Northern Front, an ad hoc formation of reservists and hastily mobilized conscripts under the command of General Dominik Máté. Additional forces consisted of four regiments of Imperial Fusiliers led by Major General Vicken Kostoyan. The Kunhegyes Military District consisted of four infantry divisions, one of Ruvelka's three armored divisions, and approximately 200 aircraft. The Northern Front on paper should have fielded an additional 12 infantry divisions and three more cavalry divisions, but these were still mobilizing by the time the fighting started. The Imperial Fusilier Regiments were in theory the best prepared of the Ruvelkan forces, but they lacked anti-tank weaponry and supplies. All together the Ruvelkans fielded somewhere around 550,000 troops, but many of them were recent conscripts organized into regiments with little more than rifles, a few machineguns, and mortars. Anti-tank weaponry, anti-aircraft guns, and heavy weapons were in short supply all around.