User:Oriflamme/Sandbox6

Central Itayana War
Date 03 July - 25 August 2010 Location Karana Basin, Itayana Result Inconclusive AMF fails to topple the Solar Autocracy ISA stops advance upstream Karana Territorial changes Status quo ante bellum
Belligerents
Amayana Makgato Federation	Itayana Solar Autocracy Supported by: Orun Redisus
Commanders and leaders
Unifying Eternal Sun	some rebel scum
Strength
485,000 (277,000 engaged) 87 tanks 1800 armored cars 287 aircraft	510,000 (101,000 engaged) 600 tanks 2200 armored cars 780 aircraft
Casualties and losses
54,000 killed 95,000 wounded 81,000 captured 261 aircraft lost	11,000 killed 23,000 wounded 39 aircraft lost

The Central Itayana War was a brief conflict over the course of the Unifying Revival between the forces of Amayana Makgato Federation of the upper Karana Basin and the Itayana Solar Autocracy of the lower Karana Basin. After a steady deterioration of relationship between AMF and ISA over the course of 2000s, the Karana basin political entities started preparation for conflict. When the economic downturn caused by overspending hit the ISA and transformed into political instability, the AMF forces launched a sudden two-pronged attack, aiming to topple the administration of the Solar Temple of Yanbango.

Although the AMF forces managed to reach the former 8th Governorate in three days, the land force was stopped at the battle of KKK, while the riverine force was destroyed by air attacks at the battle of HHH. Scrambling available aircraft, ISA Air Fleet launched several strikes in the operational depth of the AMF forces, forcing them to stop advance at the 8th Governorate. Subsequent counterattack shattered AMF forces in the central Karana basin, forcing them into a hasty retreat; however, the pursuit was halted by the rainfall season. By the time enough forces could be amassed, AMF regrouped and established defensive lines. International mediation, particularly by Charnea, caused AMF and ISA to sign the ceasefire agreement on conditions of territorial status quo ante bellum.

Central Itayana War is notable for the first combat actions of the 5th generation fighters; six Harpy Eagle fighters were deployed on the side of the ISA, scoring 19 aircraft shot down, along with an unknown number of land units destroyed. It was the first relatively large-scale mechanized war to the south of Ninva, as well as the first such war in three decades. The war also saw employment of massed riverine flotillas by AMF and massed air offensive operations by the Autocracy. Failure of AMF to topple the Autocracy solidified the Temple as the legitimate force of the Karana Basin. However, by refusing to advance towards the Makgato Plateau, the Autocracy effectively put the Unifying Revival on hold.

Buildup and operational plans

AMF

Operational plans of the Makgato Plateau governorates started being drafted in 2001 with the Proclamation of the Unifying Sun Manifested. Those primarily targeted the Solar Temple of Yanbango as the centrepiece of the Solar Autocracy while avoiding targeting population centers and, to some extent, the aligned military forces. Later plans increased focus on the military, while keeping Yanbango as the primary target. Crucially, the last-minute additions postulated that the captured priesthood was to be kept intact until Yanbango falls. No plans for post-war operations appear to survive for the analysis, but establishing new power structures would have to be the top priority.

AMF relied on combined actions of mobile forces and riverine fleet in its planning. The riverine operation, code named Flash Flood, involved sweeping downstream and capturing Yanbango and Aribango by riverine troops. The land operation, code named Landslide, involved traversing central and lower Karana basin by highly mobile prongs of mounted motorized infantry. Within fourteen days at most, the entire right bank of Karana and key members of the solarist priesthood would be captured. That expected to collapse the structure of power completely, allowing AMF to secure Imo basin with less resistance.

Makgato military buildup in 2000s was largely dictated by these plans and their financial limitations, having considerably less resources at their disposal than the Autocracy. Crucially, despite the efforts, Amayana Air Corps was subpar to the Autocracy Air Fleet in both numbers and equipment. The lack of air supremacy caused considerable alarm within the ranks of the AMF, with many generals doubting that the plans could work. The decision to act on the plans was a gamble on internal instability of ISA, hoping that the Temple would not be able to rally its forces.

ISA

It appears as if the Solar Autocracy had no plan of action for AMF invasion of the Karana basin, and its military buildup in 2000s did not betray any kind of defensive intent. Autocracy put extreme emphasis on developing its air force and ocean-going fleet. Over the course of 10 years, the Air Fleet received 24 A16S2 fighters, which then were the most powerful aircraft in Karana basin. That force was complemented by over 300 refurbished jet aircraft like A8I7 and A11F6 fighters and B7I4 fighter-bombers. The lack of aerial early warning aircraft was a drawback of both air forces involved in conflict.

In contrast to the full-scale rearmament of the air force, the army focused on maintenance of their large park of motorized equipment, mostly trucks and outdated Elatian and Velikoslavian APCs and IFVs, as well as Zacapine TNT. Token acquisition of modern vehicles, such as ISV60 BMPT, did not change the overall trend; those were concentrated in the 2nd Mechanized Division formed in 2007. Contrary to what could be assumed, this situation gave the Unifying National Army parity with the Makgato Defense Force. The riverine fleet was reorganized and refit in 2007-2008. From the technical standpoint, the forces were nearly identical, outside of the large anti-air missile platforms. However, the AMF riverine fleet outnumbered the one of the Autocracy 5:2.

The Unifying Navy was established from scratch in 1988. By 2010 it included 18 frigates and 10 corvettes; of those 10 frigates were of the domestic design. Itayana aircraft carrier program met considerable delays, while its submarine program was in its infancy. Naval aviation had a squadron of A16S2 fighters and a squadron of H4T1 patrol aircraft. Only the former took part in the war.

Two acts of the ISA could be seen as a preparation to war. First was the recall of the 20th Fighter Wing (48 A8I7 fighters) to the left bank of Karana from their home base in the former 12th Governorate. Second was the deployment of the majority of the fleet to defensive positions in Oorupaqi ocean. None of the two allowed the post-war analysis to definitively conclude whether the Autocracy knew of the attack, or of the scale of it.