Adrián Katona
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Adrián Patrik Katona | |
|---|---|
 General Katona in Kaposvár, ca. 1918. | |
| Born | 16 November 1874 Ajka, Ruvelkan SR |
| Died | 5 December 1954 (aged 80) Veszprém, Ruvelka |
| Allegiance |  Ruvelkan SR |
| Service/ | Red Army |
| Years of service | 1888–1918 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Socialist Republic |
| Commands held | Western Army Command Red Army Command |
| Battles/wars | Ruvelkan Civil War |
Adrián Patrik Katona (16 November 1874 - 5 December 1954) was a Ruvelkan general who served as the Chief of the General Staff and overall operational commander of Red Army forces during the Ruvelkan Civil War. He directly commanded the Western Army against the Imperial Separatists from 1914 until his surrender at the Siege of Kaposvár. A member of the Politburo in the time period leading up to the war, General Katona was known to have been an advocate for any possible peaceful solution between the Communists and Anarchists, citing his fear that their neighbors in Syara and the Cacertian Empire would take advantage of their political divisiveness.
Katona was overseeing the training of Red Army forces in Törökszentmiklós when the 1914 Ruvelkan Revolution broke out in November. Upon returning to Kaposvár, he sharply critiqued the armed response conducted by the local garrison; Katona was later appointed to the position of Marshal of the Socialist Republic by Premier Ábel to begin coordinating forces in response to Anarchist threats of rebellion. The uprising in Debrecen that followed the Revolution in December took Katona by surprise, but he refused to commit the bulk of his troops into the Kurilla Mountains as the winter season was beginning in earnest and he feared the Imperials terrain and weather advantages. Confronting two unconventional forces that heavily utilized ambush and guerilla tactics proved difficult for Katona and, after launching several failed offensives in late-1915, he switched to a defensive strategy in 1916 from which the Red Army was unable to recover.
Following his surrender in August 1918, General Katona left Ruvelka and went into exile in Hirakawa, Akashi. He remained there until 1935 when the outbreak of the Akashian Civil War forced him to move to Alscia, then a part of the Cacertian Empire. Katona returned to Ruvelka in 1940 after making an agreement with the government and settled in Veszprém where he spent the remainder of his life.
Katona is often considered a somewhat controversial figure in modern Ruvelkan history. He is sometimes interpreted as a tragic hero with a deep love for his country and the ideologies of Ruvelkan Communism. However, his implementation of anti-retreat barrier forces in the Red Army and the brutality of the Commissars under his command is often sharply criticized. Debate still exists today regarding how aware Katona was of his Commissars and their usage of summary executions on the frontlines.