Battle of Oliv

Battle of Oliv
Part of Prodavan War
Lord Rachdale leading 3rd Corps meets Brigadier McManaman on the outskirts of Oliv.
Date 3rd - 6th April 1991 Location Oliv, Earldom of Agrea Result Imperial Victory
Belligerents
Vionna-Frankenlisch Imperial Ceasia	Prodava
Commanders and leaders
Major General Lord Rachdale Brigadier Colum McManaman	General Rasseed Salahe General Idrees el-Akram
Units involved
Third Corps	2 Corps (Operation-Group Oliv)
Strength
31,000	19,000
Casualties and losses
1,671 killed, 3,512 wounded approx. 400 captured	4,910 killed and wounded 3,000 captured
Between 1,000 and 2,500 civilians killed Heavy damage to the eastern half of Oliv

The Battle of Oliv was an engagement of the Prodavan War occuring during the Prodavan Oliv Offensive. It took place within the city of Oliv in Agrea, Vionna-Frankenlisch, and around the River Achola. The battle was fought over three days from 3rd to 6th April 1991 between Imperial forces under the Viscount Rachdale and Brigadier Colum McManaman and 19,000 Prodavans under the command of General Rasseed Salahe. The Prodavans were in the midst of a counter-offensive in the region of Agrea, intended to seize the city of Oliv and destroy a significant portion of the Imperial Army in southeastern Vionna. Operation-Group Oliv was made up of forces from Prodavan 2nd Corps and, at the begining of the battle, vastly outnumbered the 4,000 defenders of the city.

Operation-Group Oliv, after taking the Imperial airbase at Kavarres, spent 3rd and 4th April in rest and prayer while their artillery shelled Imperial positions across the River Achola. The Prodavan assault on the city began on the 5th and the delay gave time for Lord Rachdale's hastily formed Third Corps to march east from Octan. After making considerable gains in Oliv and causing heavy casualties to Brigadier McManaman's defenders, Prodavan forces were surprised and forced back by the sudden arrival of Rachdale's corps. Fierce fighting regained the city for the Imperial forces and General Salahe withdrew his remaining forces on 6th April.

Defeat at Oliv was a critical failure for the Prodavans who, until that point, had looked ready to inflict a decisive blow against Vionna-Frankenlisch. By failing to take the city, and then withdrawing, Salahe handed the initiative back to the Imperials who he had kept on the back-foot. A counter-attack by Rachdale's Third Corps inflicted a further defeat on Salahe's retreating forces, retaking Kavarres on 9th April. A breakout effort by the encircled Imperial Second Corps on 6th April succeeded, bringing an end to the Battle of Hill 451. A further victorious action was fought at Elerio on the 11th by Second Corps and they were united with Imperial Third Corps on the 12th.

Background

Opening of the War

The Prodavan War was declared on 14th March 1991. Following the death of Sultan Abu Taiseer al-Shahid, Prodava had fallen into a period of civil anarchy known as Black February which was marked by open fighting between the two paramilitary units that served the Prodavan government: the monarchist Mameluk Guard and the nationalist Bedouin Guard. The Pomeron Revolution and the Greenshirt Coup saw Prodava transition violently into a republic led by Aisha Bardour. After a short build-up of tensions, Vionna-Frankenlisch declared war on Prodava with the stated aims of retaking territory formerly belonging to Imperial Ceasisa and restoring the Prodavan monarchy.

Operation Towton saw the first major action of the war when the city of Loukussa in northern Prodava fell to an Imperial offensive. A second offensive, Operation Teuton, failed to breakthrough the heavily-defended Ramulani Line. Despite this failure, the capture of Loukussa was a significant victory and swung the tide of war decisively in favour of Vionna-Frankenlisch.

Oliv Offensive

In response to these early movements, the Prodavan General Staff planned to launch a counter-offensive in the west against the southermost part of Vionna-Franenlisch - the county of Agrea. Forty-thousand men were organised into the 2nd Corps and placed under the command of General Rasseed Salahe. The offensive began on 27th March and quickly acheived one of its objectives by completing the encirclement of Hill 451, an important Imperial position, at the Battle of Elerio. An Imperial counterattack at the Second Battle of Elerio was beaten back and 19,000 Imperial troops had become trapped in the Hill 451 pocket. The encirclement prevented the arrival of supplies and reinforcments and communication was possible only by a semaphore at the peak of the hill which was put out of action by artillery fire early in the battle. From the airfield at Kavarres, IAS pilots flew mission to drop supplies via parachute.

Salahe continued his victorious campaign on 1st April by attacking Kavarres. The town held out until night, allowing the aircraft to escape and the garrison to slip away in the darkness. Two regiments of cavalry and the IAS ground personnel at Kavarres escaped to Oliv and news of the approaching Prodavans - 19,000 strong under Salahe; was passed on to the Duke of Cunaris at Octan, the capital of Agrea. After taking the abandoned Kavarres on the morning of 2nd April, Salahe moved against Oliv. Operation-Group Oliv arrived on the east bank of the River Achola on the morning of 3rd April.

Opposing Forces

Imperial

Garrison
The Imperial garrison of Oliv was not strong. Under the command of Brigadier Colum McManaman, 4,000 Imperial troops were in the city when the Prodavans arrived on 3rd April. Much of this force was cavalry or rear-echelon troops, along with several hundred combat troops which had become separated from their units over the course of the campaign. Brigadier McManaman was a cavalry officer of some experience who had been in the city on administrative duties and took command of the garrison on 2nd April when a more senior officer could not be found. His forces consisted of:

• King's Agrean Lancers regiment - 600 men in 3 squadrons
• Agrea Yeomanry regiment - 600 men in 3 squadrons
• Royal Eglantine Dragoons regiment - 600 men in 3 squadrons
• 6th Field Regiment, Royal Engineers - 600 men in 4 companies
• 1st Battalion, Royal Agrea Rifles - 1000 men in 5 companies

around 600 troops from various units - organised into 3 companies of roughly 200

Third Corps
Imperial Third Corps was a hastily-arranged formation which numbered 27,000 men and came under command of Major General the Viscount Rachdale. Third Corps was formed on 2nd April and marched east from Octan that day. Forces of Third Corps did not arrive in Oliv until the afternoon of 5th April but were able to intervene in time to turn the tide of battle and save the city. Third Corps consisted of:

• 6th Infantry Division - 10 battalions in 2 brigades - 10,000 men - Major General Matthew Saunders, Viscount Rachdale
• Julianopolis Mounted Rifles regiment - 600 men in 3 squadrons - Colonel Adam Achemeois
• Royal Prodavan Borderers regiment - 600 men in 3 squadrons - Colonel Sir James Turner-Avci
• Agrea Volunteer Horse regiment - 600 men in 3 squadrons - Colonel John Maxwell Trimming
• King's Own Julianopolis Hussars regiment - 600 men in 3 squadrons - Colonel William Argyros, Count of Argyris
• I Legion - 4,800 men in 10 cohors - Legate-General Lavrentios Sylivian
• II Legion - 4,800 men in 10 cohors - Legate-General Marcus Manides
• III Legion - 4,800 men in 10 cohors - Legate-General Theocaris Cita

Two siege batteries (the 101st and 98th) of the Royal Artillery were also part of the corps and were equipped with heavy mortars. During the battle, the Margrave of Grunicza led an ad-hoc brigade of grenadiers numbering 2,000.

Prodavan

General Rasseed Salahe's Operation-Group Oliv was a force of 19,000 troops drawn from Prodavan 2 Corps. The group was focused around three infantry brigades of the Republican Army but included other supporting units. A more detailed breakdown is:

• 20th Brigade - 6,000 men in 4 battalions - Brigadier Hajid Askoy
• 23rd Brigade - 6,000 men in 4 battalions - Brigadier Binay el-Sattar
• 25th Brigade - 6,000 men in 4 battalions - Brigadier Abdul Cevik
• 1st Armoured Car Detachment - 1,000 men in 4 companies - Colonel Alexander MacEllem
• 16th Artillery Regiment - 12 guns, 500 men in 3 batteries
• 17th Artillery Regiment - 12 guns, 500 men in 3 batteries

The twelve infantry battalions of 20th Brigade, 23rd Brigade, and 25th Brigade made up the bulk of Operation-Group Oliv. Support came in the form of Colonel MacEllem's 1st Armoured Car Detachment and the 16th and 17th Artillery regiments, each with three batteries of howitzers.

Air support was provided by the Prodavan Air Force in its first wartime deployment. Attack planes of I. Squadron and II. Squadron made bombing runs on Imperial positions and escort was provided by fighters of IV. Squadron. Most Prodavan aircraft were of Imperial manufacture and had been acquired during the reign of Abu Taiseer al-Shahid on the advice of Lord Bentley, an Imperial advisor at the Prodavan court.

Battle

Imperial Defensive Preparations

With only 4,000 defenders, including only a single battalion of front-line infantry, Brigadier McManaman's preparations were centered around getting the best out of his limited forces. He established his headquarters at St Ademois Church on the Plaza of the Faiths, the central square of Oliv. The other two places of worship were taken over for the use of the defenders: the Central Mosque of Oliv became a munitions dump and the Christian Church of Oliv became a casualty clearing station. The Mosque, in particular, was chosen as McManaman did not believe the (mostly) Islamic Prodavans would shell it. The Plaza was fortified with sandbag barriers and makeshift barricades and the 1st Battalion, Royal Agrea Rifles were placed there. This battalion was McManaman's only unit of steady infantry and he kept it close at hand, planning to employ its five companies as flying columns to reinforce positions which were under pressure.

Aware that the Prodavans' only way into the city was by crossing the River Achola, McManaman had his engineers, the 6th Field Regiment, mine many of the major bridges into the city. Several were blown up outright and several others were rigged to explode and observed. The only one left untouched was the main bridge into the city, the Vinicius Severus Memorial Bridge which connected the main highway from the east to Maria Perchowska Square. The Vinicius Severus Bridge was heavily fortified with barricades, barbed wire and machinegun nests by the 6th Field Regiment, Royal Engineers. The engineers assigned two companies to defend the bridge and the 600 men of the Agrea Yeomanry took up positions in the buildings around the bridge and Maria Perchowska Square.

Several minor bridges remained, these were mostly footbridges and single-lane road or tramways. These were mostly on the south-west of the city and McManaman left their defence to dismounted troopers of the King's Agrean Lancers and Royal Eglantine Dragoons. With 1200 troopers together, these regiments garrisoned the buildings along the bank of the Achola. There were nine bridges to be defended, most of them very small. Colonel Douglas of the Eglantine Dragoons commanded the defense in this sector and lamented the lack of machineguns: "A single machinegun would have been enough."he stated, "As chokepoints, the bridges were invaluable, but carbines and revolvers could not keep up the rate-of-fire we needed. A single Lancaster gun could have held up the Mohammedists for a week."

Prodavan Arrival and Initial Fighting

Following a full day's march from Kavarres, Rasseed Salahe's Operation-Group Oliv of 19,000 troops arrived on the Plain of St Ademios (the open plain directly east of Oliv across the River Achola) on the morning of 3rd April. A short skirmish developed between Imperial cavalry scouts on the plain and the arriving vanguard of Salahe's force. No casualties were reported by either side and the scouts were driven back into the city and one trooper of the Agrea Yeomanry was taken prisoner. The first Prodavan forces to arrive were the brigade cavalry of the 20th, 23rd, and 25th Brigades. These were followed by Colonel MacEllem's 1st Armoured Car Detachment. While the rest of the Prodavan army filed onto the plain and began to set up camp, Salahe gave the order for 1st Armoured Car Detachment to launch an assault on the Vinicius Severus Bridge. MacEllem initially counselled against the order but Salahe, anxious to prevent the defenders from blowing up the last main bridge into the city, insisted.

Colonel MacEllem arrayed the 96 armoured cars of his unit on the plain before the bridge. 1st Armoured Car Detachment was split into 4 combat companies and a detachment for maintainence, supply, and non-combat services. The 4 combat companies consisted of 200 men each with 24 cars, 72 crewmen, 18 reserve crewmen and 110 light infantrymen to support the armoured vehicles. Captain Kasin al-Hanif volunteered to lead the assault with Ceyhan (c) Company and MacEllem accepted, as that company had taken the least losses during the campaign. In a staggered formation, Ceyhan Company advanced on the bridge without coming under fire. In buildings and behind barricades, the Imperial defenders around the bridge remained unseen until a tremendous fire opened up when Ceyhan Company was most of the way across the Vinicius Severus Bridge. Though the defenders lacked heavy ordance, the Lancaster machineguns they possesed were capable of penetrating the armoured cars' plates at certain angles. Rifle and machinegun fire 'buttoned' the Prodavan vehicles, disorienting their crews and damaging wheels, guns, and vision slits. Three vehicles were knocked out outright and five more became bogged down under heavy gunfire. Under the withering fusilade the Prodavan infantry was unable to advance with the armoured cars and Captain al-Hanif, wounded badly in the arm and shoulder, ordered the retreat.

Salahe decided against a second attack. 1st Armoured Car Detachment was now at 60% strength from vehicle breakdowns and battle losses during the campaign. Instead, Salahe declared 4th April to be a day of rest, prayer, and preparation. 16th and 17th Artillery Regiments were dug in to firing positions around noon and their six batteries, 24 howitzers in total, began their bombardment of the Imperial positions defending the Vinicius Severus Bridge at 3pm on the 3rd. The Prodavan Air Force saw its first wartime deployment on the 4th. Over the previous decade, the twelve squadrons of the PAF had seen service against banditry and piracy but had yet to see action in wartime. Two attack squadrons escorted by a fighter squadron (30 aircraft in total) launched an attack on Imperial positons on Maria Perchowska Square. The bombardment from aircraft and artillery inflicted heavy damage on the Imperial defenses and, though counselled by his staff to launch a fresh assault on the city, Salahe refused to change his plans - there would be no attacks on the 4th.

Attack on the bridges

4th April passed uneventfully. Prodavan artillery and air attacks lasted until mid-afternoon and the rest of the day was given to rest and prayer. The bombardment had caused heavy damage to Imperial positions and work began on repairing and consolidating immediately after its cessation. Brigadier McManaman inspected defenses on Maria Perchwoska Square and around the Vinicius Severus Bridge and moved C Company of the 6th Field Regiment, RE to help with the defensive work. This continued overnight and, by morning, much of the damage had been repaired. The positions in this sector were occupied by 600 men of the Agrea Yeomanry, 300 men of 6th Field Regiment, RE, and a field gun of 94th (Reserve) Battery, Royal Artillery.

Imperial troops of Third Corps march out of Octan.

Though Salahe stood by his decision not to attack on the 4th, the lack of a follow-up assault worried his staff. They persuaded him to begin the assault on the city at dawn. The impatience of Salahe's staff was exacerbated by a flurry of reports which had arrived at 2 Corps headquarters. Coming from a multitude of sources: local scouts, PAF pilots, and a spy in Octan; the reports suggested that a large force of Imperial reinforcements was on the march for Oliv. These reports varies in their details, however, and Salahe could not be sure how many troops made up the force, what equipment it posessed, or even which day it had left Octan. In truth, Lord Rachdale's Third Corps had marched out from Octan on the 2nd, the same day it had been formed, but the dates suggested to Salahe's staff ranged from 30th March right up until the morning of the 5th. Inter-service rivalry between the Republican Army and the PAF was strong at the time and aerial reconnaissance was in its early days so the intelligence reported by the PAF was disregarded erronously - the PAF reports were the most accurate of those which survive. The Prodavans also did not fully trust their local scouts, most of them Agrean muslims, and their advice was often not sought. When Salahe ordered the first attacks to begin at 0600 on 5th April, he and his staff were under the inaccurate belief that Lord Rachdale's force had left Octan the previous day and consisted of an infantry division and a cavalry brigade (the total was estimated at 14,000 troops). The source of this information is still unknown, though a common (unconfirmed) suggestion is that a Prodavan spy in Octan was deceived or bribed into reporting it.

Although under the misguided belief that he had several days to take the city, Salahe wanted to secure the bridges across the Achola early. With several already destroyed, there remained twelve bridges into Oliv. Three of these were road bridges, two were railway bridges, and the remaining seven were single-lane or footbridges. 1st Armoured Car Detachment, along with 20th Brigade, were assigned to take the Vinicius Severus Bridge. Binay el-Sattar's 23rd Brigade was prodvided with motor vehicles and ordered to seize as many of the other bridges as possible. 4th, 5th, and 7th Brigade Cavalry Squadrons rode hard to be in position to the south of the city. 80th, 84th, 89th, and 94th Infantry Battalions made up 23rd Brigade and, divided into companies, they began the battle at 0615 by attacking several bridges on the south-western side of the city. The infantry battalions drove up in motor vehicles (mostly Kiurcu trucks and motorcycles) and stormed the bridges. The two road bridges in the area were succesfully detonated by the defenders before fighting could begin but four footbridges and a tram bridge in the sector of the Royal Eglantine Dragoons were taking in swift attacks. Stretched thin, the Imperial defenders could not effectively defend the whole area. The Royal Eglantine Dragoons took 100 casualties but inflicted 300 casualties on the Prodavans and successfully held the Sir Hubert Blackstone Railway Bridge.

A crude sketch of the area found in the diary of Captain G.H. Walcott.

23rd Brigade's cavalry contingent (300 troopers in total) moved against the south of Oliv, where the River Achola bulges southwards. This was the sector of the King's Agrean Lancers under Colonel C.V. Palmer and his 600 troopers had taken up positions in the buildings on the north bank of the river. These included a branch of Lowrey's Bank and the vaunted Guthrie's Hotel.