Cacertian August Offensive

Cacertian August Offensive
Part of the Desopya Campaign of the Divide War
HMA Sanreno over the battlefield
Date 6-21 August 1918 Location Makedon, Syara Result Syaran Victory
Belligerents
Cacertian Empire	Republic of Syara
Commanders and leaders
Demetria Marik Isabella Matelizi Bertino Bassadoar Orsa Calderara	Atanas Endekov Grigori Yaponski Dimitar Pankovski Andrev Brehvez Aleksov Sebastian Matić
Strength
500,000 troops 500 tanks 12 airships 212 fighters 44 bombers 1,120 guns 12 rail-batteries	790,000 troops 200 tanks 6 airships 322 fighters 3,265 guns 4 armored trains
Casualties and losses
22,689 killed 64,980 wounded	47,304 killed 144,612 wounded

The Cacertian August Offensive, also know as Marik's Battle (Cacertian: La battaglia di Marik) or Defense of Zovahr (Syaran: Одбрана на Зовахр, Odbrana na Zovahr) was the final decisive operation of the Desopya Campaign during the Divide War. It was launched by the Cacertian Empire under the command of General Demetria Marik against the Army of the Syaran Republic along the Alekso Line in Makedon. The objective of the offensive was to break through the Alekso Line and reach Zovahr, the capital of the Republic of Syara, under the belief that its capture would compel the Syarans to surrender. The Cacertians began their offensive on 6 August 1918 along a 175 kilometer front, spearheaded by 500 tanks and armored cars which breached the Alekso Line in several sectors. Supported by tanks, railway artillery batteries, airplanes and airships, the Cacertians succeeded in overrunning the Syaran tactical reserves but ran into increased Syaran resistance as their advance continued. Syaran forces, backed by over 3,000 artillery pieces, four armored trains, hundreds of aircraft, airships of their own, and 200 tanks counter-attacked across the front and succeeded in stalling the Cacertian offensive. Marik regrouped her forces on 18 August and made a final push for Zovahr, but Cacertian forces were halted by Syaran defenses near Viserajk and Rijtek. Although they were just 6 kilometers from Zovahr, the exhausted and depleted Cacertian forces were unable to press any further, and Marik called off the operation as Syaran counter-attacks began unfolding.

The offensive was the last major military action of the war. In the weeks that followed the Cacertians gradually withdrew their forces back towards the Desopya Coastal Plain and began pursuing a cessation of hostilities. The Desopya Campaign would end a month later on 22 September, and the war's end would follow in October. The victory over the Cacertian Empire provoked massive celebrations across Syara and would prove instrumental in the formation of Syaran nationalism in the years that followed the Divide War. For Cacerta, Rijtek would become informally known as the "High-Water Mark of the Empire"; the end of the war would become known as the beginning of the end of the Cacertian Empire. Historically the offensive is often seen to foreshadow the technological warfare that would come to dominate conflicts of the 20th Century. The August Offensive featured large scale usage of tanks, aircraft, and artillery, and involved the first instance of armored combat between tanks on the battlefield. The offensive was correspondingly the bloodiest of the entire war; Syaran and Cacertian casualties amounted to nearly 280,000 troops killed or wounded over the course of the fighting.

Background

By the Spring of 1918 the war was beginning to strain the Cacertian Empire. The logistical demands of supporting over half-a-million troops across on the other side of Siduri were consuming almost half of the tonnage of the Royal Navy, along with rapidly emptying the treasury. News of Syaran resistance to the Cacertian invasion was also stirring rebellious sentiments in Knichus and Arkoenn. After more than a year of war however there was little sign of an impending victory, and mounting casualties were beginning to strain public support for the war. However a withdrawal from the conflict, and by extension a concession of defeat, would risk encouraging revolts against the Empire. Following the failure of the Second Wave in April 1918 to break the deadlock, it was clear that victory was still not close at hand.

In June senior leadership of the Empire met in Vichenza to discuss the war's future. It was agreed that allowing the war to continue into 1919 was unacceptable and that a conclusion needed to be reached before the year ended. One final drive on the Syaran capital of Zovahr would be launched, with the assumption that the Republic would be forced to sue for peace with its epicenter in Cacertian hands. How to conduct the offensive provoked disagreement within Cacertian leadership. Army General Demetria Marik proposed the employment of Cacerta's first armored formations, "tanks" backed up by armored cars, to break the deadlock.

Development of tanks by Cacerta had been spearheaded by Marik since 1915, and the outbreak of the Divide War had encouraged further development. By mid-1918 though the first produced tanks were still very much in their infancy; although Marik had insisted on frequent, realistic training to get crews ready to operate them in battle, they were still untested. Mechanical problems were especially prominent; during some testing cycles mechanical breakdowns had crippled more than half the number of tanks employed. Nevertheless, this was one field where the Cacertians did enjoy advantage. Although the Syarans were aware of Cacertian tank progress, their own development of armored vehicles was trudging along slowly.

Marik proposed a combined-arms offensive to be carried out by a third wave of troops, backed up by armored companies of Padova Type 1 Assault Tanks, later expanded to include Type 2 Assault Tanks as well. The tanks would be accompanied by several Guards Rifle Divisions to assist in the breakthrough, and supported by the railway artillery batteries and airships that had arrived in the second wave. The plan was not entirely well received, with criticism focusing heavily on the untested capability of Cacertian tanks and the strength of Syaran defenses. Despite such misgivings, Empress Elianna gave her approval for Marik to carry out the offensive.

Preparations

Marik began preparing her forces for the offensive in July. Assault tanks were transferred from their training grounds in Sarrista and Knichus and boarded onto transports bound for Allamunnika and then Syara. Fresh Guards Rifle Divisions were redeployed from their posts along the borders with Tennai and Xevden and transported by ship through the Sundering Sea; in some cases civilian ocean liners were requisitioned for this purpose. Although Marik attempted to keep the deployments of her forces a secret, moving so many troops and the distinctly shaped Assault Tanks made it ultimately impossible to prevent the Syarans of learning from Marik's intentions. By 20 July most of Marik's tanks and troops had arrived in Desopya, many of them landing at the occupied port of Sena which had been secured earlier in the year.

Marik drew up her forces across the 175 kilometer front. Between air and land forces Marik could amass around 500,000 troops, backed up by 500 tanks and armored cars, more than 1,100 guns, 12 airships, and around 250 aircraft including fighters and bombers. She could also count on 12 railway artillery guns for mobile support, by employing the Syaran's own railroads against them. Marik's ground forces were organized into eight field armies; the 3rd, 4th, 11th, 12th, and 13th under General Orsa Calderara, and the 5th, 6th, and 9th Armies under General Bertino Bassadoar. Bassadoar's armies, which had been fighting since the first wave in 1917, were badly mauled from months of front line action, forcing Marik to strip away forces from Calderara's 3rd and 4th Armies to reinforce them. She deployed the remnants of the 3rd and 4th Armies as operational reserves while forming a six army front grouped into threes; Bassadoar formed the right section with its flanks on the Xhemal River that flowed from Zovahr, while Calderara's three field armies (11th, 12th, and 13th) were oriented towards Patom in the east.

Marik's decision to pursue a more broad front strategy rather than focusing solely Zovahr was based on strategic and logistical realities. By the summer of 1918 the Syarans had become proficient in shifting their reserves across the front line to react to Cacertian breakthroughs. Singularly focused offensives thus would inevitably be contained and counter-attacks in full. Additionally, after a year of war the infrastructure of northern Makedon was in ruin. Despite Cacertian efforts to repairing the damage, the remaining roads and railways simply couldn't support multiple armies operating on a single axis of advance. The drive towards Patom also deprived the Syarans of the option of shuttling all their reserves towards Zovahr; if they did so, they risked the loss of Patom to the Cacertians who could then swing west and strike the exposed Syaran right flank. Such decision making would, ironically, serve as the basis of Syaran military doctrine for decades after.

Marik planned for the initial offensive to be carried out by her rifle divisions with infiltration support from the Grenadier Battalions. This initial assault, supported by artillery fire, would breach the Alekso Line and create holes for which the second echelon could push through. Once the breaches were made, Marik's armored forces, supported by her Guards Rifle Divisions, would exploit the breakthroughs by breaching the main Syaran defenses and pushing through into the Syaran rear echelon. With their lines breached and assault tanks and Guards rifle troops pouring through, the Syarans were be forced to scatter their reserves across the entire front line. Guided by aircraft and airships for reconnaissance and supported by railway batteries for mobile artillery platforms, the Cacertians would then drive south and capture Zovahr and Patom.

Against Marik's forces was Field Marshal Atanas Endekov, commander of all Syaran forces in Makedon. Endekov had under his command nearly 800,000 troops, in addition to over 3,000 guns, over 300 aircraft, and six of his own airships. Four armored trains were also supplied to support the Syaran forces, who were organized into two Army Groups; Yaponksi in the west and Pankovski in the east. Each army was composed of four field armies although in practice most decision making was made at the Corps Level, and as a result are usually emphasized above their respective armies. Yaponski's armies were the Fourth (12th, 16th, 21st Corps), Fifth (17th, 23rd, 25th Corps), Tenth (20th, 22nd, 24th Corps), and Thirteenth (26th, 28th, 30th Corps). Pankovski's armies were the Sixth (27th, 29th, 31st Corps), Seventh (32nd, 34th, 36th Corps), Ninth (33rd, 35th, 37th Corps) and the Fifteenth (38th, 40th, 42nd Corps). All together the Syarans had 72 divisions manning the Alekso Line.

The Alekso Line was not a single line but rather a series of defensive "belts" than ran between the Xhemal and Dazin Rivers. There were four "lines" in total. The first line was a lightly manned series of observation posts and dugouts that were meant to act as an early warning element, ringed with snipers and machine gunners. The second line was more formidable and consisted of several groups of trenches manned with overlapping machine gun nests and mortar pits, with increased fortifications. The third line was the main body and consisted of dug in regiments, pillboxes, hardpoints, overlapping machine guns, and artillery guns positioned for direct and indirect fire. The final fourth line was predominantly for the reserves to man and allowed easy access to reinforcement more forward trenches. Medical centers and ammunition dumps were often located here along with regimental and divisional headquarters.

News of the impending Cacertian offensive had caused the Syarans to rush their production of their own armored vehicles. The Aescaus and Agrius tanks, which had been in development since 1916, were both expedited and dispatched to the front line in early August. Their deployment was largely born out of panic rather than careful deliberation; many of the Syaran crews had only a few hours experience with their machines and the army and corps commanders had little idea on how best to employ them. As a result, the 200 tanks the Syarans had at the beginning of the offensive (123 Agrius and 77 Aescaus) were scattered across the Alekso Line with little reason behind their deployment.

Battle

At 0430 on 6 August 1918 General Marik boarded her command airship the HMA Acona along with Aerial Admiral Isabell Matelizi, Chief of Staff General Letizia Girolamo, and Intelligence Chief Rina Aparo. Exactly 15 minutes 1,000 Cacertian guns began shelling the Alekso Line in a massive barrage across the entire front line. More than million shells were fired during the open barrage, targetting every level of the Syaran defensive lines in order to destroy Syaran fortifications and disrupt communications and movement between the Syaran trenches and defensive belts. Thousands of Syaran soldiers were killed or wounded in the bombardment, which Syaran intelligence had mistakenly believed would not occur for another 24 hours. The barrage lasted for three hours, wrecking the Syaran lines and creating havoc among the divisions manning the forward most trenches.

Cacertian Assault

At 0745 the first Cacertian troops began advancing to take advantage of the disruption caused by the bombardment. Grenadiers, carrying automatic weapons including machine guns and submachine guns, began probing the Syaran lines for gaps to exploit and breaches in the trenches. Many of the Syaran divisions and corps manning the front lines were still reeling from the initial bombardment when the Cacertians struck and were quickly overrun. By noon, General Lauretta Grimani's 5th Army had routed 12th Corps and was attacking the positions of 16th Corps around the fork of the Xhemal and Zeno Rivers. General Agnolo Barbigia's 6th Army reached Artakes at 1230 after throwing back 17th Corps in disarray. 9th Army under General Giovanni Foscarini encountered stiffer resistance owing to having to face both the 20th and 25th Corps along the Kunos-Lumino roadway, but by 1400 the Cacertians had forced both Corps to retreat. Both 11th Army (General Alessia Barile) and the 13th Army (General Fazio D'Aidone) also broke through Syaran lines, but the 13th Army under General Ivano Di Colombini faced stiffer resistance from the 33rd, 35th, and 38th Corps.

By Day 2 the Syarans had recovered from the initial shock of the offensive and began to order up reserves to reinforce the front line. Syaran artillery also began shelling the Cacertian positions and staging areas, hoping to disrupt the flow of troops forward towards the front. Cacertian guns answered in reply, and were assisted by bomber aircraft, some of which were used to target Syaran artillery emplacements. In one instance the ammunition depot of the 33rd Corps was struck, creating a massive explosion and instant shortage of munitions for the entire corps. Despite Syaran efforts to reinforce their defensive lines, much of it was still in shambles. Entire sectors were too torn up by the barrage to be reconstituted, and Grenadier infiltrations were moving too fast for the Syarans to stop. By the end of the second day the Syaran first line had been almost completely overrun, and the last remaining holdouts were collapsing.

By 8 August the Cacertians were assaulting the second line of defense. By now the Grenadiers were being reinforced by the Rifle Divisions of their respective armies. The manpower was necessary to compensate for the thicker defensive networks found in the secondary line. By now the Syarans were rushing their troops forward to reinforce their lines, but guided by airship and airplane reconnaissance the Cacertians were able to identify Syaran columns moving forward and inform their forces on the ground accordingly. On more than one occasion a Syaran division would arrive at their designated position of reinforcement, only to learn shortly afterwards that the Cacertians had broken through on their flanks and the division had to relocate or risk being outflanked. By the end of the day much of the 12th, 17th, 20th, 27th, 32nd, 33rd, and 38th Corps had been badly mauled and were in tatters, their officers unable to exercise effective command-and-control due to gaps in their lines and damage to their lines of communication.

Despite impressive gains in many sectors the Grenadiers were beginning to lose their effectiveness as exhaustion and casualties began to mount. Syaran artillery, which outnumbered Cacertian guns 3-to-1, was also continuously firing on the Cacertians as they advanced, disrupting movements and supply lines. The Syaran Army Air Corps also began dispatching fighter planes to contest control of the skies and deprive the Cacertians from the aerial reconnaissance they were employing for their artillery. Over the course of 9 August the Cacertians gradually overcame the Syarans along the second line of defense and began approaching the tertiary defenses. After three days of heavy fighting the Cacertians had advanced 5-10 kilometers in most sectors. While many of the Syaran front line corps and divisions had largely been decimated or rendered combat ineffective, the Syarans were now able to reform much of their lines along their tertiary belt.

Battle for the Third Defensive Line

On 10 August Mark met with her army commanders to discuss the progress of the offensive. Bassadoar's army group was just under 40 kilometers from Zovahr, while Caldeara's forces were 44 kilometers from Patom. By now the Cacertians were heavily engaged in the third Syaran defensive line, which was being reinforced with reserve divisions across the front. Having reached this point in the operation, Marik decided it was time to commit her armored forces. She ordered General Ursino Salvetti and 4th Army Commander General Mareta Rose to begin reinforcing Bassadoar's army group to punch through Syaran lines in the direction of Viserajk, itself located just six kilometers from Zovahr. With assault tanks leading the attack, backed up by Guards Rifle Divisions, the Cacertians could break through the strongest of the Syaran defensive lines and breakout into the open fields between them and the Syaran capital.

Throughout the 10th the Cacertians engaged in an increasingly hard fought battle with the Syaran defenders who were now being reinforced with their reserve corps. Bolstered by these troops, dug into deeply entrenched networks of defenses to include pillboxes, machine gun nests every few hundred meters, barber wire and mortar pits, with the constant shelling of Syaran guns firing wildly throughout the day, infiltration efforts by the Grenadiers were no longer sufficient to breach the Syaran lines. Organizing Salvetti's armored forces took the better part of the day; with 500 tanks and armored cars committed this would have been the largest concentration of armored vehicles in history at the time, and given the relative inexperience with armored operations the process was clumsy and mistake filled. More than 30 tanks were dead-lined prior to arrival due to mechanical breakdowns. Despite their untested nature and questionable reliability Marik pressed for the attack, counting on the lack of dedicated anti-armor weaponry among the Syaran troops.

In the early morning of 11 August Salvetti drew up his tanks for his first assault against the Syaran lines held by the 23rd Corps. At 0825 233 Type 1 and 2 Assault tanks, supported by elements of the 17th and 18th Rifle Divisions, assaulted the Syaran lines. Captain Trasea Madara, commanding a company of Type 1 assault tanks, described the scene in her diary:

We crawled from our starting positions towards the enemy lines and were greeted by bursts of machine gun fire. We heard it impacting our armor and we kept moving. First it was just one machine gun firing at us, then another, and another until it felt like someone was using our tank as one beats a drum. We kept waiting for the moment that a bullet would break through our armor and ricochet inside the chamber of the vehicle, but it never occurred. There were a few panic-filled moments when the nose of our beast caught on the ground and we were unable to move forward, but each time we managed to reverse and break free. When were close enough to fire I sighted the main cannon on the closest target, a small concrete fortification where a Syaran machine gun team was firing at us. I gave the order to fire and the whole compartment filled with the scent of breach as the gun kicked and fired. I scarcely had time to readjust my eyes in time to catch the impact of our weapon; the bunker opened up like a smashed bottle. The Syaran soldiers near the bunker shook off the debris and climbed out of their trenches to bolt like rabbits. Alfredo, manning the forward machine gun, couldn't bring himself to fire upon their exposed backs; they looked too frightened.

Most of the Syaran divisions manning the front line lacked weapons capable of penetrating the armor of the Cacertian tanks. This was the first time they had been encountered during the war, and although Syaran leaders had been aware of their impending deployment there was a great deal of uncertainty regarding how to tackle the armored machines. The only weapon that was capable of penetrating the armor of the tanks were the artillery pieces, but the Syaran guns had all been directed towards firing on the Cacretian forces further north and so most were not in position to provide direct fire support for the infantry. As a result, within four hours of the attack, 23rd Corps had been routed and was in retreat. By the end of the day, the General Kliment Iskrenov Strashilov's Fifth Army was in retreat and a hole had been punched into the Syaran third defensive line.

Despite the success it was not without cost to the Cacertians, who learned of the limitations of their weapons during the fighting. Future Field Marshal Kancho Stanimirov Pingov remarked upon the fate of a Type 2 Assault Tank that had become stuck attempting to cross a trench.

The crew had been attempting to cross the primary trench when the nose of their beast had become wedged in an embankment on the other side. The crew attempted to reverse their vehicle, but the treads seemed to struggle to get traction on the ruin wood and mud that formed the lips of the trench. One of our gun commanders had spotted the stricken machine and lowered his cannon so it was aimed directly at the metal creature. It fired, and the entire machine exploded into fragments and shattered steel. It seemed impossible that any man could survive the impact, but three figures emerged from that wreckage, their arms in the air and screaming as their bodies smoldered and burned. It was a grisly and disturbing site, and I ordered some of the men to gun them down, more so out of pity than anger.

The assault on 11 August cost the Cacertians 33 tanks lost either to Syaran fire or mechanical breakdown, but it was sufficient to overrun the Syaran third line of defense in several sectors. By the end of the way the Syaran Fifth Army, along with much of the Fourth and Tenth Armies had been thrown back from their defenses and were reeling in the face of the assault. In the eastern portion of the line however the situation was less worrisome for the Syarans. Owing to the large number of hills and forests along the lines of Army Group Pankovski, the Cacertian armored assault experienced less success, though by 12 August even Pankovski's forces were beginning to crumble under the attack; Seventh and Ninth Army had been forced off their third line defensive network.

Syaran counter-attack

On 12 August in the early morning Field Marshal Atanas Endekov met with President Zoran Milaković to discuss the developing situation. Endekov revealed that "a potential calamity is unfolding before us" and highlighted the Cacertian breakthroughs. He suggested that the President begin planning to evacuate Zovahr and relocate the government elsewhere. Milaković was flabbergasted and demanded answers as to how the Syaran army had been beaten. Endekov replied that "it has not been beaten yet", but stressed that "Nike clutches tightly". Endekov laid out his plan for a counter-attack with what corps he had left; Thirteenth Army would move to block the advance of the Cacertian armored attack while Fourth and Tenth Armies would regroup and launch flank assaults against the main Cacertian body. In order to keep up the pressure, Army Group Pankosvki would also carry out "vigorous attacks" within it's area of operations, to prevent Marik from re-deploying reserves from Calderara's army group to reinforce Bassadoar.

Going on the attack was a necessity for the Syarans at this point in the battle. With three of their defensive lines ruptured, the Syarans had just one final "belt" for which to hold the Cacertian offensive on. Making matters difficult was that the fourth echelon of the Alekso Line was largely staging areas and collection depots; compared to the rest of the defensive lines it was sorely lacking in fixed fortifications. While it contained a large number of heavy artillery pieces including 155mm cannons, it was in short supply of trench mortars and shorter-range cannons better for more direct fire support. On top of these deficiencies, the fourth line was located around terrain that had not yet been the site of serious fighting. As a result, it was relatively devoid of craters, destroyed or ragged terrain, or debris, making an advance easier for the remaining 31 kilometers to Zovahr.

Field Marshal Yaponski's Army Group was in bad shape, having been battered by the Cacertian armored assault on the third line. Fifth Army had essentially been routed and was in tatters. Fourth and Tenth Army were in better shape, but their respective corps were still reeling from their own battles. Only the Thirteenth Army under Colonel General Dominik Majcen was still more or less intact. Without the benefit of their defensive fortifications however, the Syarans would be compelled to face the Cacertians on open ground, where Cacertian flexibility and low level leadership enjoyed significant advantages over their Syaran counterparts. In an effort to bolster the Syaran forces, Endekov dispatched the Army's own tank forces to support the Thirteenth along the fourth line. Although the Syaran tanks, the Agrius and Aescaus, were as untested as their Cacertian counterparts the crews themselves also lacked training. Cacertian crews, on the other hand, had spend the last several months training on their machines under General Marik's supervision, and thus were far more comfortable taking them into battle than the Syarans were.

On 13 August the Syaran Thirteenth Army began its counter-attack in the vicinity of the towns of Gostoroki and Perga. Gostoroki was a minor rail junction and thus a target for the Cacertians to seize, as it possessed two lines that ran south, including a like to the small city of Rijtek. At the start of the day the Cacertians were 3 kilometers north of of Perga, led by the 1st and 3rd Guards Rifle Divisions and supported by 112 Type 1 and 2 Assault tanks. Defense of Perga and Gostoroki fell to 28th Corps under Lt. General Thomas Tjeknavorian and his three divisions, the 49th, 87th, and 92nd. 28th Corps had attached to it 71 Agrius and Aescaus tanks led by Colonel Gono Mihailov. To the right flank of 28th Corps was 26th Corps, and on the left was 30th Corps. All together the Syarans had nine divisions on a 20 kilometer front against five Cacertian divisions. Because they had been so hastily drawn up much of the Syaran artillery had not been re-positioned yet, depriving the Syarans of 75mm and 105mm cannons for fire support. In an effort to make up for this deficiency, General Majcen had dispatched the armored train Anita to support the Syaran attack along one of the rail lines into Gostoroki.

The Syarans and Cacertians had identified two significant terrain features on the battlefield; Donev's Ridge in the east a kilometer outside Perga, and Hill 219 in the west just north of Gostoroki. The Syaran plan was to seize both locations and force the Cacertians to funnel through the gap between Perga and Gostoroki where they could be subjected to artillery barrages and tank fire. The Cacertians wanted Donev's Ridge so they could lay down fire on the Syaran forces near Perga with their Vitali heavy machine guns, pinning the Syarans in-place while their armor assaulted through and broke through the Syaran line. The Cacertians at the time of battle were not fully aware the Syarans had thrown in their own armor into the mix. Seizing the railway juncture as Gostoroki was considered the ultimate goal of the initial assault, as it would allow the Cacertians to roll up their 360mm railway artillery batteries.

Fighting began in the morning around 0900 as Cacertian Guards Rifle troops began assaulting through the small farms located around Donev's Ridge. Defense of the ridge had been given to the 92nd Division, which had only been formed in April and May. Armed with Gisenti ASF M1916 and Vitali FM 1913 automatic rifles, the Cacertians enjoyed a significant advantage over their Syaran counter-parts, who were quickly repulsed from the farm houses near the ridge. By 1100 the first battalions of the 3rd Guards Rifle Division had reached the ridge; heavy fire from Syaran machine guns managed to pin down the main body of Cacertian troops, but small teams began making their way through the hastily improvised (and often unfinished) earth works the Syarans had prepared. By noon the Syaran defenses along Donev's Ridge were becoming undone and already one of the Syaran regiments had routed after losing half its officers.

Hill 219 had been secured by the 49th Division, which found itself facing the 3rd Guards Rifle Division. Faced with nothing but a flat, open ground to advance upon, the division commander, Anselmo Pllicane spearheaded the assault with Type 2 Assault Tanks, which the Syarans had little answer for. Unable to do much against the Cacertian tanks, the 49th Division began to lose ground. Recognizing the impending collapse of his flank, Lt. General Tjeknavorian ordered Colonel Mihailov's armored regiment to counter-attack and disrupt the Cacertian armored thrust. Mihailov obeyed, but his attack quickly petered out. The Syaran tanks had no radios or communication systems to maintain contact with one another, forcing them to rely on couriers running between tanks and passing information. What was supposed to be an organized effort quickly broke down leaving individual tanks to conduct the action of their own accord. The first tank battle in history therefore quickly devolved into a confusing, messy affair.

The first company of Agrius tanks engaged the Type 2 Assault Tanks under the command of Lt. Colonel Fedinando De Tore. It was a markedly one-sided affair. Many of the Syaran gunners had never actually fired their weapons and had less than a day's familiarization with their vehicles. In less than 20 minutes the entire company of tanks had been destroyed for no Cacertian losses. The rest of the Syaran armor stumbled into the engagement with the Cacertians, and losses began to pile up almost immediately. Despite Cacertian tactical and technical superiority it was not an easy-going for the Cacertians either, who also lacked reliable inter-vehicle communications. Some of De Tore's crews weren't even aware they were under attack by Syaran tanks until the fighting was already over.

Making matters tougher for the Syarans was the increasingly accurate Cacertian artillery fire from their own howitzers and railway batteries. As had become common practice during the Desopya Campaign, Cacertian airships often acted as guides for Cacertian artillery, relaying position data and information on impact back to battery commanders. Above the battlefield, the HMA Sanreno and HMA Potenza were providing reconnaissance for the Cacertian forces, and updating ground commanders of Syaran troop movements via Morse code transmitters aboard the airships. This was not a practice unique to the Cacertians, and was in fact also utilized by the Syarans as well. During the fighting, the Syaran airship Angel 5 flew near enough to the HMA Potenza that the two engaged one another in combat, as recorded by Sergeant Bianca Carolla.

We have moved through a small cluster of trees, nearing an abandoned trench and some small tents when we heard the report of machine gun fire coming from above us. I drew my gaze upward to witness a massive airship, the Potenza of which I had passing familiarity with, floating above a few thousand meters off the ground. Hearing their guns fire was not entirely unusual, but I saw no fighter planes buzzing around it until our Condottiero Gonzales pointed at the western sky. Flying some ways away, suspended in the air was a Syaran airship, a long silver cigar with the star of the Republic clear on its tail fin. We realized the two airships were firing on one another, the tracers scarcely visible against the backdrop of the dome of the sky. We stood there, amazed at this spectacle which none of us had ever witnessed, mere mortals watching two titans of the sky clash in their own duel. After some time, the Syaran airship caught fire near its cabin and became engulfed in flame. It fell to the ground close enough that we turned and ran for cover, as I glanced over my shoulder the last I could see was the metal frame of the machine glowing red hot as it crashed into any empty field.

By the afternoon 28th Corps was faltering. Mihailov's armored attack had failed and the Syarans had lost 43 tanks between enemy fire and mechanical breakdown. The 92nd and 49th Division had been thrown back from their positions and the Cacertians had seized Perga and were in the midst of encroaching on Gostoroki. At risk of losing the town, it's rail junction, and the last defensive line between the Cacertians and Zovahr, Tjeknavorian moved the Anita armored train to reinforce the 87th Division's grip on Gostoroki. Reorganizing her armor, Lt. Colonel De Toreo assisted in the attack against the northern side of town and began to take fire from the Anita. For a while a stalemate set in with neither side able to make much progress, but at 1455 the Anita was hit by shells from Cacertian railway batteries and exploded, destroying the entire machine. Seizing the momentum that had been delivered and exploiting the shock the Syarans felt, the Cacertians assaulted once more with tanks and Rifle troops and routed the Syarans.

Many of the Syaran troops, recently conscripted Galanian farm hands, threw down their rifles and ran. Major Bozhidar Racan, a veteran of the Third Chryse War and Syaran-Ruvelkan War, recounted the events in his memoirs:

The crashing noises from the Cacertian metal vehicles could be heard before they were seen, cresting the small ridge at the north of the town. They fired their cannons and destroyed the town center and general store, and set fire to the temple and market. It took less than thirty minutes for the entire regiment to lift itself out of their foxholes and flee before the metal chassis. Many of the boys threw down their arms and turned south, as though to run back to the farms, shops, and homes they had come from. At that moment not the wealth of the world could have stopped them, I believe. In their minds, Makedon was not worth dying over.

By the dawn of 14 August it was clear the counter-attack had failed. The Thirteenth Army was repulsed and sent reeling back from Bargibia's 6th Field Army, and a whole through the entire Syaran defensive line had been opened up. Zovahr, just 24 kilometers away, had nothing but scattered and disorganized Syaran troops between itself as the Cacertians.

Drive on Rijtek

The failure of the Syaran counter-attack left the Syaran Supreme Headquarters in a state of disarray. Panic spread to Zovahr and there was a mass exodus of citizens attempting to flee the city before the Cacertians arrived. In the late morning on the 14th Endekov gathered his staff and the President's Cabinet to report on the situation. It was confirmed that a mixed Cacertian force consisted of divisions and tanks from the 4th and 6th Field Armies had broken through the Alekso Line and had parried the Syaran counter-attack that had attempted to contain them. Army Group Yaponski was in disarray, as reported by it's commanding officer. Fifth Army had been effectively destroyed as a fighting force, it's remaining scattered battalions and regiments absorbed into the other formations of the army group. Thirteenth Army had been hit hard and was in headlong retreat southward. Fourth and Tenth Army were more or less intact, but had their hands full dealing with the Cacertian 5th and 9th Field Armies.

Endekov had only the scattered remnants of the Fifth and Thirteenth Armies left to deal with the Cacertian main body, along with hastily redeployed reserves from Army Group Pankovski and a reserve corps that had only recently been raised to interfere with the Cacertian advance. Against this was six divisions of Cacertian troops backed up by an esimated 200 tanks and a dozen airships in support. Between the Cacertians and Zovahr there was only open fields, scattered hamlets, few clusters of trees, small hills and streams; nothing that could be effectively used to anchor a defensive line of multiple division strength. Endekov informed President Milaković that the best option was to engage the Cacertians at Rijtek and Viserajk, the only two major urban areas between Zovahr and the Cacertians. Milaković was aghast, pointing out that Rijtek was just six kilometers from Zovahr. Endekov stated that there was no other alternative and again suggested leaving the city. Milaković refused to do so, but after the meeting ordered his cabinet to do exactly that while he remained behind.

In the Cacertian camp the mood was not quite as confident as the Syarans imagined. The successful breakthrough against Yaponski's Army Group in the west by Bassadoar's armies had not been reflected against Army Group Pankovsi by General Calderara's armies. The Cacertian line was not bent awkardly, surging south in the west but still strung out along forests and hills in the east. General Foscarini's 9th Army was now strung out along a tenuos front line opposite the Syaran Tenth Army, struggling to say connected with the 6th Field Army to its east and the increasingly southern-driven 4th/6th Army mixture that was aiming for Zovahr. Many of the Grenadier Battalions were now ineffective, driven to exhaustion by the offensive and short of ammunition for their automatic weaponry and mortars. Grimani's 5th Army, supposed to be holding down Syaran forces of the Fourht Army and the 7th Corps across the Xhemal River, was largely depleted of offensive capability.

Material losses were too high to ignore. The armored forces that had proven critical to the breakthrough of the offensive had been depleted by the fighting. After starting out with 500 tanks, just 203 were still operational. Bassadoar's forces still had 114 left, but elsewhere the Cacertians were critically short. Attacks by the Syaran Army Air Corps had down three airships, including two G2 Reconnaissance Airships that the Cacertians were heavily reliant on for observing Syaran troop movements. More than half of their fixed wing aircraft had also been destroyed in dogfights with the Syarans. Shortages of artillery shells and ammunition were beginning to seriously affect the performance of certain units. Despite the successful breakthrough and defeat of the Syaran counter-attack, Chief of Staff General Letizia Girolamo concluded "We are nearing the end of our rope".

Marik concluded there was no acceptable alternative however, and ordered Bassadoar's forces to continue driving south towards Zovahr. Like Endekov, Marik concluded that Rijtek and Viserajk were the last possible redoubts of the Syarans. Nevertheless, advancing towards the city as fast as possible carried with it great risk, as it required the 4th and 6th Armies to break free of contact with their sister formations and exposed them to flank attacks by the other Syaran armies. Marik's solution was to have the 5th and 9th Armies press against their respective Syaran counter-parts to pin their forces in place, but for the 5th Army especially this was increasingly difficult in face of supply shortages and exhaustion of men and munitions.

Despite a desire to get underway as fast as possible it took until 15 August for the Cacertians to reorganize themselves enough for a march south. Despite hopes that the Syarans would be too scattered and disorganized to resist, the remnants of the Fifth and Thirteenth Armies proved unexpectedly stubborn despite the shoddy state of their formations. Future Field Marshal Jirayr Bedrosian described the situation as one riddled with "an undercurrent of fear contrasted with a deepening resolve in recognition that the Republic, and Syara itself, now stood at the precipice". Despite the lack of defensible positions between the Cacertians and Rijtek the Syarans undertook extensive efforts to attempt to delay the Cacertian advance. Dirt roads scarcely wide enough for a horse carriage became critical avenues of advance, small, nameless hamlets became as strategically significant as deep water ports, and ruins from ages prior became present-day fortifications. The headquarters of the 492nd Regiment was set up in a stone watch tower built in the 15th Century; another battalion fortified a castle last used seven hundred years prior. Half-strength regiments, scattered battalions, and isolated companies strung out barbed wire and laid out sand bags amid fallen columns that had not stood since the days of Orestes II.

Corporal Imanuel Milas, a motorcycle courier for Thirteenth Army Headquarters, described the situation in his diary.

The surreal nature of the battlefield defied all sense of a normal man. Every day and night the Nitchov Hills burned, as though Apollo sets fire to the horizon as he rises and falls. From the hills, craters, and bonefires rise a hundred pillars of smoke into the sky, blazes running all day until the smoke blends into the night sky, and then it continues after dawn. Amid the pillars massive silver airships hover and soar, pivoting and turning above the earth, their hulls glow with the fires they sail over. There is never a single moment of silence. Every minute one can hear the crack of rifles, the rattling of machine guns, the thunder of cannonade somewhere in the distance.

Amid the soldiers of Syara fervent prayers to the All-Mother are constant. They plead for victory and salvation amid the war, a war that tears down the barriers of time. Columns of marble and stone, ruins that attest to the time of the Empire, or men like Orestes, Alexarchus, Aristoxenus and Zarina. Pleas to the ancestors to safeguard their souls and Syara are muttered between bursts of fire and shells. The end of the Republic, nay the world, felt nigh at hand. Surrounded by blazes and death, wreckage and debris, giant machines on land and in the sky; a reckoning the Chosen Children could scarcely have imagined prior.

Despite a deliberate effort to achieve as fast a pace as possible, the Cacertians were unable to reach the outskirts of Viserajk until 18 August. The three day delay was a testament to the increasingly stiff resistance the Syarans offered, however by now the Cacertians could make out the city of Zovahr on the horizon. As Field Marshal Endekov would later state "It was truly the end of the line".