Kelang Incident

Kelang Incident
Part of the Great War
File:Kelang incident.jpg
Date 22 May 1926-6 June 1926 Location Kelang, Negara Result Negaran victory
Belligerents
Republic of Negara	Nusantaran Empire
Commanders and leaders
Jusuf Haz Sinta Bimaputri	Surya Darma
Strength
30,000 troops 31 tanks 22 aircraft	16,500 troops 9 tanks 16 aircraft
Casualties and losses
1,550 killed 250 injured or missing 1,800 casualties	4,200 killed 1,250 injured or missing 5,350 casualties

The Kelang Incident refers to the first battle in the Great War, as well as the event which sparked it and the war as a whole. Negara claimed that Nusantaran troops violated the ceasefire line in the city of Kelang by having military police patrols cross the Red Bridge. These claims were initially rejected by Nusantara, but the latter country soon changed its stance to asserting sovereignty over the whole city, upon which skirmishes broke out along the entirety of the Negaran-Nusantaran border.

Background

The battle was preceded by a more aggressive stance taken by Negara after agreements with Caltarania ensured support in the Negaran-Nusantaran conflict, which led to a number of border disputes between the Nusantaran Empire and Negara. Negotiations between the two states led to a redrawing of the ceasefire line in the less densely populated West of the country in Negara's favour. This led to in the number of border incidents, but nonetheless Negara retained an aggressive stance, repeatedly accusing Nusantara of crossing the ceasefire line in order to obfuscate its own operations which tended to cross the border.

Negaran claims that Nusantaran troops attempted to cross the ceasefire line which divided the city of Kelang were more frantic and grave than earlier accusations, staged and otherwise, and as a result they carried a greater degree of international credibility, which forced Nusantara to respond. The inter-city border was closed to officials by Negaran troops, which led to Nusantaran police units being unable to reach their garrison on the west bank of the Ceram river. Eventually members of the Nusantaran municipal police began to cross the border in secret, which resulted in accusations by the Negaran government of a covert invasion by Nusantaran troops. Nusantara began to claim and demand control over a greater extent of the inner city, to which the Negaran government responded with mobilisation of the XVth Division based in Kelang, and on the 15th of May Negara declared a return to a state of war, although it took no action to attack Nusantara and both sides continued to negotiate until the 22nd.

Negaran troops first crossed the Ceram river on the 23rd of May, seeking to displace Nusantaran military police from bridge crossings and garrisons in the city. As a result, the Nusantaran authorities mobilised the local Kelang Division, and by the 24th open fighting was taking place in Eastern Kelang.

Battle

Order of Battle

The Negaran XVth Division, based out of Kelang and led by Division Commander Jusuf Haz, which included the 1st Tank Battalion. The XIIIth Division headquarters, under the command of Sina Bimaputri were moved to Kelang at short notice to provide support around the south of the city. They were faced by the Kelang Division, commanded by Surya Darma, supported by the Nusantaran Kelang Armoured Battalion, which at the time was severely under-strength due to equipment shortages, only able to field one company. The Kelang Division also received support from the 1st Ceram Regiment on the 30th of May.

Initial Negaran Assault

Soldiers of the XVth Division were given orders to cross and secure the Red, Green, and Yellow bridge at 5:30 local time on the 23rd of May. By 5:36, Nusantaran military police units reported shooting on the Red Bridge when elements of the XVth Division forcibly removed Nusantaran Army soldiers, and the XVth Division moved to secure positions along the East bank of the river by 6:00. Negaran Army soldiers then seized the Southeast and Northeast district military garrisons, taking the 500 soldiers stationed there as prisoners of war. The Central-East district garrison saw fierce fighting between elements of the Kelang Division's 3rd Battalion throughout the day, which by the morning of the 24th led to a Nusantaran surrender, but allowed the rest of the Kelang Division to withdraw to fighting positions further East in the city.

The 24th saw further encroachment by Negaran forces into Kelang, with open fighting taken place throughout the eastern districts of the city. Due to the difficulty of dislodging the Nusantaran defenders from fighting positions in Kelang's urban terrain, the XIIIth Division was called on to provide additional manpower and artillery support: elements of the XIIIth first crossed into eastern Kelang on the 26th. The Negaran Army managed to retain a degree of initiative until the arrival of the Nusantaran 1st Ceram Regiment on the 27th of May, which allowed Nusantaran forces to attempt a counteroffensive to push Negaran troops back to the Ceram river.

Nusantaran Counteroffensive

Elements of the 1st Ceram Regiment launched an attack on the XIIIth on the day of their arrival, pushing them back to positions behind the Southeast Garrison, but supporting elements from the XVth Division blunted the counteroffensive and returned the battle to a state of attrition. Desperate to keep momentum, the Kelang Division pooled Armoured Battalion elements along the northern front, but the intervention of the Negaran 1st Tank Battalion resulted in the first tank battle of the war, which was won handily by Negaran forces supported by infantry elements of the XVth Division.

Battle for the Suburbs

The Negaran offensive regained momentum by the 30th of May, and Nusantaran forces were pushed out of the city proper by the 3rd of June, where the suburban terrain allowed for more mobile warfare. Nusantaran units managed to cling to the outer edges of the city until the 4th, when they were finally pushed out of the metropolitan area, until a failed counteroffensive by Nusantaran troops on the 6th led to them being pushed out of the city entirely.

Aftermath

The battle at Kelang allowed Negaran troops to secure control of the Ceram river, a vital artery for supplies and reinforcement along the southern front, and also vindicated Budi Dianputra's strategy of mass mobilisation and a higher degree of mechanisation than Nusantaran Army elements. The battle also gave the Negaran political establishment the confidence to assert control over Euclean concessions on the Negaran mainland, which was the immediate cause of the Great War, and the rout of Nusantaran forces eroded much of their political support as their cause was seen as increasingly hopeless.