Ospeletto Incident
| Ospeletto Incident | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of of the Mariranan Insurgency | |||||||
| File:OspelettoBattle1.jpg Marines fighting their way towards trapped Army Rangers deep in cartel-controlled territory - August 9th, 2018 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| File:FedFlag.jpg Federation | Ospeletto Cartel | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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File:FedFlag.jpg Benjamin Avery | TBD | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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21 Army Rangers | 400-500 fighters | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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11 Army Rangers killed | Est. 300-400 fighters killed/wounded | ||||||
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31 wounded (23 children) | |||||||
The Ospeletto Incident was a large-scale military engagement that took place in the southeastern district of Ospeletto, in an area referred to as a "Dark Zone" by JDF personnel. The battle was the result of a botched military operation being carried out by the Federation's Federal Army Rangers. It embroiled into a much-larger engagement as cartel "Sicarios" and local fighters amassed and assaulted the Rangers with overwhelming numbers while they took cover inside a building which intelligence had failed to identify as a school, which at the time, was in session.
It took Federal Marines advancing up the "Devil's Corridor" to eventually puncture the cartel's encirclement and allow the Rangers - alive and dead - to evacuate. The Federation was slammed by the international community in response to the Incident, where 19 children were killed as a result of the fighting. The Ospeletto Incident is mostly seen as the "final straw" for President Ochetto's government, and the Asterian people, who were infuriated by the deaths of 19 Asterian troops in a single engagement.
Background
By the summer of 2018, Federation & JDF forces had been actively operating in Marirana for nearly two years, with varying levels of overall success. In regards to cocaine, the ability for many organizations - namely the Red Army and Ospeletto Cartel - to make and distribute cocaine and other drugs had been severely crippled due the JDF's relentless targeting of coca fields, laboratories, and distribution centers. The flow of cocaine, a multi-billion dollar industry, had slowed severely as a result, and prices globally skyrocketed as overall quality plummeted.
Despite this, groups like the Ospeletto Cartel managed to recoup their losses through a number of means, though the primary source tended to be arms smuggling and distribution-- especially in JDF countries. In May, a Federation intelligence team stationed in Marirana intercepted a radio message in the city of Ospeletto, identifying a high-ranking member of the cartel who'd been responsible for overseeing arms smuggling operations into the Federation, Roeselle, and Duquesne. The target, Gillo Tassinari, had been found to make frequent visits at an apartment complex in southeastern Ospeletto, was marked for capture by the Citadel, which dispatched FIS agents to gather information about the target.
On August 6th, Secretary of Defense Maximus Randolf approved Operation Blood Moon, and dispatched a platoon of Army Rangers to infiltrate deep into cartel-controlled territory, capture a cartel kingpin, and extract him.
Rangers Infil & Ambush
Heavily armed but dressed in civilian clothes, 21 Army Rangers slipped into the "Southeast Dark Zone" in six local vehicles from four directions, parking about a quarter-kilometer from the target building at approximately 6:45am local time. Regrouping in an alley behind the building, the Rangers quietly entered the building, making their way to the third floor, where the target's room was supposed to be. From eyewitness reports given by Rangers present, the room was empty, with only a man tied to a chair in the middle, and a bomb strapped to his chest. Rangers pulled back down the stairs before the explosive went off, and none were injured.
Within moments of the explosion, the Army Rangers came under immense fire from numerous buildings, and from hostiles inside the building. Clearly a trap, Major Eric Bauman ordered his Rangers to pull back into the alley, where they established a temporary defensive position and hailed command to update them on the situation. Major Bauman was instructed to relocate his forces to the Nearest Defensible Position, or NBT, which was a three-story commercial building across the street from the target building. The Rangers immediately began fighting their way to the building, not knowing that it was in fact an in-session school that intelligence had failed to identify as such during the mission's preparation. Upon entering the building from the rear, still under fire by cartel gunmen, the Army Rangers were greeted by crowds of children and school staff as they attempted to flee. Major Bauman at this time ordered his troops to hold their fire and remain in cover, though cartel forces did not let up on their attack. Specialist Devin O'Brien, a Ranger who was present during the operations, watched civilians - many children - get gunned down as a result of cartel fire. During an interview, he called it "cold-hearted-- gunning down their own people like that, without second thought".
By 7:15, the majority of students and staff in the school had evacuated, but not before 42 had been killed-- 19 of which being students. Without any immediate escape route, the Rangers were forced to stand their ground and defend against hundreds of armed combatants until reinforcements could arrive.
Overnight Battle
Fighting between the Army Rangers and cartel forces, which comprised mainly of local fighters led by cartel Sicarios, died down periodically as the day progressed. In between six major assaults on the Rangers' positions between 8am and 8pm, the cartel launched at least thirty smaller attacks. Overall, the situation developed more into a standoff, which either side trading fire only when someone were to expose themselves from cover.
At around 10:00pm on August 8th, the Rangers were informed that Marines were preparing to leave and push to the school in order to extract them, though, their arrival wasn't expected until mid-morning. This meant that the team of Rangers - now having suffered two wounded and one dead - would have to hold their position through the night. Against far superior numbers and with only six sets of night vision goggles, the odds certainly became pitted against the Rangers. To make matters worse, the Citadel had stopped authorizing airstrikes in urban areas since 14 civilians were killed in 2016, when an Asterian fighter jet accidentally bombed an apartment building.
This policy, however, was reconsidered by President Avery as he learned of the situation that was unfolding. With no means of support, it would be very unlikely that the Army Rangers - despite their superior training, weaponry, and tactics - would be able to repel the sheer numbers brought by the Opsletto Cartel. At 2:36am, President Avery cleared the use of an armed drone to support the Rangers overnight. WIP.