Talaharan Black Guard Corps

TCDF Black Guard Corps
TCDF Black Guard Corps
ⵛⴰⵛⵀⴰⵜ ⵉ’ⴷⴰⴼⵯⴰⵯⴰⴱⴰⵛⴰⵏ; Šašhat I’Daf’a’abašan
	Roundel of the Talaharan Black Guard Corps
Active	Since 1836; 188 years ago
Country	Talahara
Type	Militia
Role	Land warfare
Size	119,500
Part of	Talaharan Commune Defense Forces
Colour	Black
Engagements	List Talaharan Revolution;
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	Executive Council
Executor of Defense	Taos Jebar
Defense Committee Senior Representative	District Colonel Akzi 'Albun
Defense Committee Enlisted Representative	Sergeant Amastan Tsahana

The Talaharan Black Guard Corps (Takelat: Šašhat I’Daf’a’abašan N'Talahara; ⵛⴰⵛⵀⴰⵜ ⵉ’ⴷⴰⴼⵯⴰⵯⴰⴱⴰⵛⴰⵏ ⵏ'ⵜⴰlⴰⵀⴰⵔⴰ), officially the Talaharan Commune Defense Forces Black Guard Corps and commonly referred to as the Black Guards, is a community militia branch or national guard of the Talaharan Commune Defense Forces. Both the oldest and largest branch of the TCDF, the Black Guard Corps is a volunteer organization of part-time members. The Black Guard Corps's members live in their own communities and work in normal industries. However, they also dedicate a significant amount of time to training and other activities associated with the national defense of Talahara. On average, Black Guards have a greater number of training hours than reservists in most armies, though proportionally they dedicate more time to service. In addition, Black Guards are limited to territorial defense and cannot assist in offensive actions or deployments. The term "Black Guard" can be used to refer to the Black Guard Corps as a whole, regiment-sized guard units in the force, or individual members of the force, interchangeably.

Unlike the rest of the TCDF, the size of the Black Guard Corps is not limited by statute. As of 2022, the total number of Black Guards is 119,500. This equates to an average of 95 service members per Local Council Region, though the distribution of Black Guard units is not consistent across the country. Many of these members are not standard militia members of the Black Guard Corps, but rather perform administrative functions for the branch or other service branches of the TCDF. The typical Local Council Region is thus able to support two platoons of combat-ready Black Guards.

While small units of the Black Guard Corps maintain the typical Talaharan advancement system based on elections and seniority, the appointment of officers differs. Rather than qualified candidates being put forward for election, Local Legislative Councils appoint officers subject to ratification by the entire Local Council Region. Units that span multiple council regions are subject to coordination between councils. At the Defense Committee, the Black Guard Corps has two seats as with any other branch. The senior representative is District Colonel Akzi 'Albun. The enlisted representative is Sergeant Amastan Tsahana.

History

Origin

The Black Guards emerged in the early period of the Talaharan Revolution as peoples' militias opposed to both the Third Talaharan Kingdom and the competing Constitutional Republic of Talahara. The organization of different Black Guard units varied greatly, but in general the militias were radically democratic units who accepted combatants from all walks of life. The name of the forces came from the black banners and armbands the members used to identify with the people's cause. The first Black Guard movements carved out independent communities, some forming alliances with neighbouring communities. With the arrival of Ziri Akli, a revolutionary scholar and organizer in February 1836, the Commune Council was founded as a central coordinating body for the various Black Guard units.

By April 1836, the Black Guards was between 8,000 and 9,000 strong. The Commune Council had convinced many units to consolidate a foothold in Takalt. For many, this meant abandoning villages, fields, and mines to pick up arms and fight the monarchists and capitalists. By mid-summer, the area from the hills west of Takalt to the Tyreseian border were under Communard control. The fall of 1836 brought another coup for the Communards as the 3rd, 5th, and 6th regiments of the Royal Talaharan Army defected to their cause, forming the Central Commune Army. In the west of the country, Yisraeli forces landed in northern Kirthan and annexed the region into a protectorate. Many of the displaced residents fled east to join the Communards.

Over the next year, the Third Kingdom was battered into a few noble household guards and warlords. The Constitutional Republic and the Commune Council remained the two major belligerents of the conflict. While the Central Commune Army became the driving force of Communard offenses, the Black Guards defended against Republican raids and offenses, reinforced cities and forts, and protected workers. In January 1838, Communard forces had encircled the capital of Maktarim. A short-lived Black Guard Navy was organized to counter Republican ships, quickly succeeding in locking down the harbour.

The Constitutional Republic of Talahara fell in June 1838. The Commune Council convened and set a mandate of writing a new constitution for the country but also arrived at a consensus for the interim form of governance. One of the interim measures called for the dissolution of the Central Commune Army, leaving the Black Guards as the sole military power in the Commune, albeit a decentralized and democratic force.

Modern form

In the years following the revolution, the Black Guards were largely demobilized to their home communities. Despite demobilization for most units, the retained cohesion, training, and supplies made them a major stabilizing factor and successfully dissuaded foreign invasions and opposition to the revolutionary state. Many other units remained engaged in hunting down remnant monarchist and capitalist warbands. At the same time, the Black Guards struggled to remobilize into a large-scale offensive force. Plans to retake northern Kirthan from the Yisraeli-backed Protectorate of Tarshish never came to fruition.

In order to supplement the land power of the Black Guards and protect the Talaharan stretch of the Rubric Coast, the Talaharan Navy was founded in 1845. The Black Guards's irregular nature and niche of territorial defense was further enshrined in 1854 with the formation of the Talaharan Army Corps, one year after the Talaharan Navy and the Black Guards were renamed to the Navy Corps and Black Guard Corps, respectively.

Over the course of the next century, the Black Guards remained an important civic and military fixture in a defensive capacity. However, the Black Guard Corps was not mobilized for either the Annexation of Amara, nor the Liberation of Kirthan. During the Social War, a number of Talaharan Black Guards were likely among Tyreseian volunteers who travelled to Latium to assist the Latin Social Republic. The effort ultimately failed and the Social Republic fell in 1947. As offensive participation fell beyond the mandate of the branch, any evidence of Black Guard activity in the war effort was suppressed, though culturally some fighters were seen as martyrs for international socialism.

In the present day, Black Guards have less cultural capital but remain an important component of the TCDF. Many administrative and auxiliary tasks in the unified armed forces are fufilled by semi-civilian specialists who operate through the Black Guards. Furthermore, the Black Guard Corps is relied upon for national defense plans and a significant amount of personnel and equipment.

Structure and organization

Western District	Northern District	Central District	Southern District	Eastern District
8th Black Guard 12th Black Guard 14th Black Guard 34th Black Guard 37th Black Guard 38th Black Guard 39th Black Guard 41st Black Guard 42nd Black Guard 44th Black Guard	1st Black Guard 7th Black Guard 16th Black Guard 17th Black Guard 26th Black Guard 33rd Black Guard 35th Black Guard 43rd Black Guard 45th Black Guard 49th Black Guard	3rd Black Guard 9th Black Guard 11th Black Guard 18th Black Guard 23rd Black Guard 24th Black Guard 25th Black Guard 27th Black Guard 29th Black Guard 30th Black Guard	2nd Black Guard 5th Black Guard 6th Black Guard 28th Black Guard 32nd Black Guard 36th Black Guard 40th Black Guard 46th Black Guard 47th Black Guard 48th Black Guard	4th Black Guard 10th Black Guard 13th Black Guard 15th Black Guard 19th Black Guard 20th Black Guard 21st Black Guard 22nd Black Guard 31st Black Guard 50th Black Guard

The structure of the Black Guard Corps differs significantly from that of the Army Corps, adhering more closely to the legislative structure of the Talaharan Commune than to military organization. Each Local Council Region raises a company of Black Guards. The size of a company can vary between two and four platoons. Auxiliary staff such as medical professionals and administrators are siloed off into auxiliary companies. At present, there are 1,250 Local Councils in Talahara and thus there are 1,250 Black Guard companies of varying strengths.

Groups of 25 companies are made into "black guards", regiment-equivalent units which are organized at the Superior Council Region level. Each black guard is subdivided into five battalions, each with five companies. Black guards generally count between 2,300 and 2,500 troops. At least one of the five battalions in a black guard is a tank battalion. Three of the five battalions are infantry battalions. Mechanization is rare and most are simple light infantry. The last battalion is an artillery battalion. There are 50 black guards in Talahara, distributed across five military districts.

The auxiliary forces of the Black Guard Corps are also organized into auxiliary guard units at the Superior Council level. An auxiliary guard may be an auxiliary administrative guard or an auxiliary medical guard unit. These units maybe seconded on a long or short term basis to the administrative or medical divisions of other branches.

Equipment

Infantry equipment

Personnel protection
Model	Image	Origin	Type	Notes
Tryamut 42		Rubric Coast	Combat helmet	Constructed from proprietary polyethylene fibres, protects against fragmentation and pistol-calibre bullets
'Awansunfas 40		Ostrozava	Gas mask	Includes a voicemitter, a drinking system, and ambidextrous filter mounting, filters up to 17 different agents
Small arms
Model	Image	Origin	Type	Calibre	Notes
Raza 78T2		Rubric Coast	Assault rifle	7.5×35mm	Standard service rifle
TA-WMJ 04TT		North Ottonia Ostrozava	Battle rifle	7.5×54mm	Imported rifles, converted to 7.5mm
Baz 5T4		Rubric Coast	Battle rifle/DMR	7.5×54mm	Former service rifle, conversion to DMRs
Isk 00		Rubric Coast	Pistol	9×25mm 10×25mm	Standard service pistol
StKbA 2T3		Rubric Coast	Medium machine gun	7.5×54mm	Section support weapon
Qajarsin 92T2		Rubric Coast	Sniper rifle	7.5×54mm	Bolt-action, converted from Qajar 92 service rifles
Personnel ordnance
Model	Image	Origin	Type	Notes
Qanbulagar 40		Rubric Coast	Infantry mortar	Fires 51mm HE or smoke grenades and 47mm flares
OSDM 101		North Ottonia	Grenade	Explosive weight of 60g, 3-5 second fuse
OSPF 137		North Ottonia	Rocket-propelled grenade	Fires 110mm HEAT or HESH grenades
Mintagar 44		Rubric Coast	MPATS/MPADS	Wire-guided, fires 137mm HEAT missiles

Vehicles

Armoured fighting vehicles
Model	Image	Origin	Type	Armament	Quantity
S65T3 Ahera		Rubric Coast	Gen 2 MBT	105mm tank gun 20mm coaxial autocannon 7.5mm pintle machine gun	754
Armoured transports
Model	Image	Origin	Type	Armament	Quantity
A26T2 Alɣem		Rubric Coast	Armoured personnel carrier	7.5mm pintle machine gun	988
Reconnaissance vehicles
Model	Image	Origin	Type	Armament	Quantity
R35 Ušan		Rubric Coast	Scout car	MPATS/MPADS 7.5mm machine gun	205

Artillery

Model	Origin	Type	Calibre	Quantity
G40 'Ajiliya	Rubric Coast	Howitzer	155mm	296
G11 Dadub	Rubric Coast	Heavy mortar	120mm	266
G47 Iyidi	Rubric Coast	Medium mortar	80mm	98

Ranks and insignia

Officer ranks

	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1
Insignia
Takelat name	ⴰⵇⵍⴰⵍ ⵏ'ⵎⵓⵏⵞⴰⵇⴰ	ⴰⵇⵍⴰⵍ ⵉ’ⴷⴰⴼⵯⴰ	ⴰⵇⵍⴰⵍⴰⵛⵉⵔⵡⴰ ⵉ’ⴷⴰⴼⵯⴰ	ⴰⵎⵣⵡⴰⵔ ⵏ'ⵜⴰⴱⴰⵡⴰⵔ	ⴰⵎⵣⵡⴰⵔ ⵏ'ⵛⴰⵔⵉⴽⴰ	ⴰⵎⵣⵡⴰⵔ ⵏ'ⵜⴰⵣⵍⴰ
Transliteration	Aqllal N’Muntsaqa	Aqllal I’Daf’a	Aqllalaširw I’Daf’a	Amzwar N’Tabawar	Amzwar N’Šarika	Amzwar N’Tazla
Translation	District Colonel	Guard Colonel	Adjutant-Guard Colonel	Battalion Commander	Company Commander	Platoon Commander

Enlisted ranks

	OR-8	OR-7	OR-6	OR-5	OR-4	OR-3	OR-2
Insignia
Takelat name	ⴷⵔⵉⵡⴰⵛⵀⵍⵓ ⵏ'ⵜⴰⴱⴰⵡⴰⵔ	ⴷⵔⵉⵡⴰⵛⵀⵍⵓ ⵏ'ⵛⴰⵔⵉⴽⴰ	ⴷⵔⵉⵡⴰⵛⵀⵍⵓ ⵏ'ⵜⴰⵣⵍⴰ	ⴷⵔⵉⵡⴰⵛ	ⵉ’ⴷⴰⴼⵯⴰⴽⵔⴰⴷ	ⵉ’ⴷⴰⴼⵯⴰⵙⵉⵏ	ⵉ’ⴷⴰⴼⵯⴰⵢⴰⵏ
Transliteration	Driwašhlu N'Tabawar	Driwašhlu N'Šarika	Driwašhlu N'Tazla	Driwaš	I'Daf'aširwa	I'Daf'asin	I'Daf'ayan
Translation	Battalion Sergeant-Major	Company Sergeant-Major	Platoon Sergeant-Major	Sergeant	Guard III	Guard II	Guard I