Siege of Mount Kovdor

Siege of Mount Kovdor
Part of the Txotai conflict
Date 1977 (NMR 2317) Location Mount Kovdor, Txotai (Oteki) Result Namorese victory
Belligerents
Namor	File:Varanken.png Otekian government-in-exile Knights of Saint Luther Supported by: East Luziyca (logistics)
Commanders and leaders
Ling Fo	File:Varanken.png Josef Rabovski Peter Ashmaev Vitali Shura  † Alex Fima  †
Strength
1,000 troops, 100 border guards, 3,000 militia	500 militants
Casualties and losses
142 killed	239 killed 34 captured

The Siege of Mount Kovdor was a weeks-long confrontation between the Namorese Liberation Army and Otekian separatist insurgents for control of the eastern side of Mount Kovdor. The siege resulted in a victory for NLA forces, which wrestled control of the mountain from Knights of Saint Luther militants.

The Nozama Battalion, the special forces of the NLA, engaged in its first operation in Mount Kovdor.

Background

The Namorese side of Mount Kovdor, which included the border town of Montzeya, Txotai, was taken over by Second Republic of Oteki militants during the outbreak of the Otekian rebellion. Although Namorese forces eventually crushed the rebellion and restored control over most parts of Txotai, small pieces of land remained under insurgent control, among them Mount Kovdor.

Mount Kovdor, located in the tripoint between Namor, Luziyca and Geadland, was a strategic place for Otekian insurgents, who relied on it to deliver aid from East Luziyca and exiles aiding the insurgency in Upper York and West Geadland. It became one of the last remaining hotbeds for anti-Namorese activity post-rebellion. Namorese troops, border guards and pro-Namorese militia were constantly harassed near Mount Kovdor.

The Namorese government decided to take action against militants on Mount Kovdor in NMR 2317 (1977) after a raid by insurgents on a NLA convoy resulted in the destruction of half the convoy, leaving tens dead.

Siege

The NLA began pounding Mount Kovdor and the nearby town of Montzeya with artillery fire in May 8. This was part of the NLA's scorched earth tactic in suppressing Otekian insurgents which prompted many in the town to flee, leaving only the insurgents behind.

After five days of shelling, the Nozama Battalion moved into Montzeya, but was met with fierce resistance from entrenched insurgents and locals. Fighting lasted for an entire week, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The insurgents managed to hold off the Nozama Battalion, but then regular units of the Liberation Army were sent to surround the town of Montzeya. Deprived of their material, the insurgents began to vacate Montzeya and head for their last line of defense on the mountain itself.

The battle between the NLA and Knights of Saint Luther militants on Mt. Kovdor commanded by Vitali Shura and Alex Fima lasted two weeks. The Knights were able to put up a burly resistance due to their network of underground tunnels that connected the mountain with Luziyca, allowing them to smuggle weapons, food and hide if necessary. The Liberation Army went up the mountain to uncover the tunnels, and in the process of doing so got into many engagements with the Knights and lost a considerable amount of soldiers. The regular units were generally less efficient at uncovering Knights tunnels than were the Nozama Battalion, which efficaciously wore out the Knights with their counter-guerrilla warfare.

In May 22, the Nozama Battalion located the caves where Shura and Fima lived in, leading to a standoff that lasted for one hour before Shura and Fima hopelessly committed suicide by blowing themselves up with dynamite, wounding two Battalion officers.

With the two commanders dead, President of the Otekian government-in-exile Josef Rabovski ordered that all militants withdraw from Mount Kovdor to safety. However, Knights top commander Peter Ashmaev objected to this and insisted the remaining militants fight to the death, and, if they are on the brink of defeat, commit suicide as a show of defiance against Namorese rule.

Militants remaining on the mountain either followed the orders of Rabovski or Ashmaev's, depending on which order they received or which one they were inclined to follow. By May 27, the Namorese Liberation Army took control of the peak of Mount Kovdor and announced that it was free of militancy.

Aftermath

The Siege of Mount Kovdor was serious blow to the esprit de corps of Otekian insurgents fighting to end Namorese rule. This was mostly due to Mount Kovdor's significance - it was the "father mountain" of Otekian people and also an integral part of Otekian culture. As the OGIE's president Josef Rabovski later recalled his reaction to the NLA takeover of the mountain:

My family, my friends and I were all crying. This was not a mountain, this was our mountain, and we lost it. Some say Oteki fell when Gusev fell, but the moment I saw Mount Kovdor fall, I knew Oteki had truly fallen.

On the other hand, the Namorese reacted jubilantly to the success of the siege. Gelai Antelope said in a letter of congratulations to General Ling Fo, commander of the NLA in Txotai:

What our soldiers did [in Mount Kovdor] will go down in history as a great victory for our people, army and country. It not only showed our resolve to nip imperialism in the bud, but will bear witness to the fact that when we the Namorese people say "This is our territory, we are going to defend it under whatever circumstance," we mean it.

For the Namorese Liberation Army, the Siege of Mount Kovdor also served as a valuable lesson. Military commanders at the time agreed that the operation had not been efficiently carried out, and as a result an unnecessary number of lives was lost.