Battle of Pannonhalma
The Battle of Pannonhalma was a battle between Ruvelka and Syara during the Zemplen War fought from 16 September to 23 September 2008.
Pannonhalma, located just 54 kilometers from the pre-war border with Syara, was originally deemed indefensible by Chief of Staff Áron Surány. Insistence from Chancellor Edviná Molnár to defend the major city, home to nearly a million inhabitants prior to the war, led General Tibor Fehér to assigned nearly a quarter of a million Ruvelkan troops to defend the city. Despite their numbers, the still mobilizing Imperial Armed Forces of Ruvelka were short of heavy weapons and armarments and were in poor position to defend the city. The Syaran forces, composed of elements of 5th Army under Colonel General Kakig Torossian and XX Corps Emanuel Bilić, fielded 180,000 troops and were better armed than their Ruvelkan counterparts, but separated into different units faced issues of effective command and control.
Syaran forces began shelling the outskirts of the city on 16 September before driving the Ruvelkans from their elevated positions among the hills north-west of the city on the 18th. Ruvelkan forces regrouped closer to the city and launched local counterattacks along the Pannonhalma River. While General Torossian wanted 5th Army to push south of the city around Lake Avraly while XX Corps pushed into the city, Lt. General Bilić insisted on avoiding a pitched urban battle. Bilić eventually relented, but the slow rate of XX Corps advance led Torossian to push 5th Army to circumnavigate Lake Avraly. The ensuing armored clash in the plains south of the city proved to by a costly victory for the Syarans, who found themselves under repeated attacks from Ruvelkan attack helicopters, losing more than 100 tanks. Sensing their defeat, General Fehér ordered Ruvelkan forces in the city to retreat eastward. The slow rate of XX Corps allowed more than 140,000 Ruvelkan troops to escape by 23 September, when the Syarans finally captured the city.
The capture of Pannonhalma allowed the Syarans to cripple Ruvelkan efforts to reinforce their formations near Aszód, although the city would not be fully cut off until Operation Synaspismos.