Operation Overshadow

Operation Overshadow
Part of Zemplen War
Syaran armor and infantry during the battle
Date 16 September - 23 September 2009 Location Kunhegyes Distrct, Ruvelka Result Tactical Stalemate Ruvelkan operational failure
Belligerents
Ruvelka	Syara
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Vászoly Roland Apród Dominika Surány Armenag Marutyan Mariami Gruzinsky	Nikodemos Cvetkov Vedran Kučina Alan Golubić Miroslav Troske Matej Yaponski
Units involved
6th Army 11th Army 24th Army	2nd Army
Strength
375,000 personnel 1,112 tanks	260,000 personnel 1,645 tanks
Casualties and losses
10,439 killed 26,809 wounded 348 tanks destroyed	6,004 killed 19,233 wounded 186 tanks destroyed

Operation Overshadow was a Ruvelkan military offensive launched in September 2009 during the Zemplen War. The aim of the operation was to destroy the offensive capability of Army Group Alpha and prevent further Syaran efforts towards the vital port city of Mateszalka. With over a thousand tanks committed on each side, it was the largest single armored engagement of the entire war, and the largest tank battle since the Eracuran War.

Following the conclusion of Operation Harpe in July 2009, the Syaran Commonality Armed Forces held control over much of the Kunhegyes District in northern Ruvelka. The Imperial General Staff of the Imperial Armed Forces of Ruvelka feared the Syarans would attempt to seize the port city of Mateszalka and use it as a springboard to circumnavigate the Kurrila Mountains and threaten Eastern Ruvelka, potentially dooming the Ruvelkan war effort. Although the Syarans had suspended major offensive operations following their heavy losses during Harpe and the Battle of Sagerejo, minor actions against Ruvelkan forces around Mateszalka by the SCAF convinced the Imperial General Staff of the threat. To undermine Syaran capabilities, Army Group North's commander General Alexander Vászoly devised an armored thrust against the Syaran 2nd Army, codenamed Overshadow. Overshadow called for the employment of three cavalry divisions and two mechanized divisions, some of the heaviest formations in the Ruvelkan Imperial Army, to strike Syaran positions held by III and IV Corps. The Ruvelkans hoped to rupture the corps boundaries between the Syaran forces and destroy the bulk of IV Corps around the towns of Tulca and Salonta.

Overshadow began on 16 September with more than a hundred sorties carried out by the Ruvelkan Imperial Air Force and was followed up by assaults by Ruvelkan armored and mechanized forces. Initial success by 11th Army under Lt. General Armenag Marutyan pushed III Corps out of Ghiorac, but efforts by 6th Army under the command of Dominika Surány to dislodge IV Corps from Olcea and Petid failed. On 20 September Ruvelkan forces regrouped and attempted to launch another assault in the vicinity of Prisaca, but Syaran counterattacks by V Corps forced the Ruvelkans on the defensive. Colonel General Vedran Kučina, commanding 2nd Army, ordered a general counter-offensive but was halted by 23 September by the 24th Army under Lt. General Mariami Gruzinsky. The operation was called off by Vászoly later the same day.

The clashes between III and IV Corps against the 6th and 11th Armies between 17-20 September represented the largest single armored engagement of the war. Although the Ruvelkans had been able to recapture the town of Ghiorac, counterattacks by the 46th Mechanized Infantry Division and stiff resistance from IV Corps prevented further Ruvelkan advances. The inability of Ruvelkan armored forces to defeat their Syaran counterparts one on one remained a major obstacle to Ruvelkan operations; as a result, later Ruvelkan efforts during Operation Southern Spear were geared more towards heliborne forces and infiltration. Both sides committed over 1,000 tanks to the battle, with Syara fielding 1,645 tanks against 1,112 Ruvelkan vehicles. Ruvelkan casualties amounted to over 10,000 killed and 348 tanks destroyed, while Syaran losses totaled 6,000 killed and 186 tanks destroyed.