Arzell Crisis

2018 Arzell Crisis
Date 16 - 20 Jan 2018 Location Arzell Islands
Belligerents
Shalum	Ossoria
Commanders and leaders
Imperator Tyler Holland Field Marshall Urban Holland General Leon Reimann General Viktoria Masur	High Queen Tara Ní Sionán Leasmarascal Mearáin Marascal Catháin Marascal Ghallchóir
Units involved
185th Hussar Brigade Combat Team 188th Combat Aviation Brigade 267th Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team 7th Imperial Battlegroup	28th Reisimint Fiúsailéirí 37th Reisimint Airtléire 52nd Reisimint Marcra Armúrtha 93rd Reisimint Marcra Aeir 21st Reisimint Paraisiúit Arzell Home Guard
Strength
23,500 (Initial) 42,480 (End of conflict)	22,900 (initial) 54,000 (End of conflict)
Casualties and losses
698 killed 1,341 wounded 102 captured 189 tanks and AFVs destroyed 29 aircraft destroyed	427 killed 1,509 wounded 65 captured 1,049 civilians killed 2,397 civilians wounded

The Arzell Crisis, or the Fifty-Seventh Ossor-Shalumite War, was a five-day undeclared war between Shalum and Ossoria over the disputed territory of Arzell. The crisis began when an airspace violation by the Imperial Shalumite Air Force escalated into an air battle, which led to the Imperial Shalumite Army invading the Ossorian Grand Duchy of Arzell. After more than a week of fighting, a ceasefire was declared and the two countries negotiated an end to the hostilities at a conference at the Revjakoyia Estate in the Syaran city of Corchia.

Background

The Arzell Islands have been a battleground between Ossoria and Shalum for centuries. Originally the homeland of the Osraí people who became the core of Ossoria, the islands were invaded by the Shalumites, and over the years the island has changed hands countless times.

A permanent Ossorian military presence in the islands was reestablished during the Thirteenth Divine March with the capture and founding of Dún Léire at the island cluster’s extreme north-western terminus in 1592 CE. Since then, the islands of the Arzell cluster have played a prominent and central role in the conflicts between the two realms, with the seven of the last ten declared wars fought between them being fought primarily in and around these islands.

The Fifth Arzell War, fought between Ossoria and Shalum in 1919-1927, saw the main island divided roughly in half between the two nations along the line of contact. The subsequent peace treaty did not settle the issue of who held sovereignty over the islands and merely ended active hostilities. The unresolved sovereignty issue nearly led to a resumption of hostilities during the opening stages of the Great Eracuran War in 1937, but a promise by Acrea and Shalum to discuss the issue helped to bring the Ossorian war effort against Azurlavaj into the greater war effort upon their entry in 1940.

Following the end of the war, Shalum reneged on the pledge to discuss the Arzell issue, which was a factor in the post-war Ossorian realignment towards and rebuilding of Azurlavaj and Svinia. In the decades following the war, the line of contact, which had become the ‘’de-facto’’ border, became a constant source of tension between Ossoria and Shalum, with artillery duels and skirmishes being an intermittent threat in the area.

Forces

Ossoria

Initially deployed

• 28th Reisimint Fiúsailéirí
• 37th Reisimint Airtléire
• 52nd Reisimint Marcra Armúrtha
• 93rd Reisimint Marcra Aeir

Reinforcements

• 21st Reisimint Paraisiúit
• Arzell Home Guard

Shalum

Initially deployed

• 185th Hussar Brigade Combat Team
• 188th Combat Aviation Brigade
• 267th Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team

Reinforcements

• 7th Imperial Battlegroup

Air Engagement of 16 January

The crisis that would bring the two nations to the brink of another war began with a confrontation by armed warplanes over the Arzell Bank, a shallow region off the northern coast of the main island popular with local fishermen. The confrontation was the result of a map error, either by Shalumite aircraft or by ground control, which asserted that a pair of Ossorian aircraft had violated Shalumite airspace while on patrol over the Bank..

• 09:10: Two T-32 Spéirling jet fighters belonging to the 46th Tactical Fighter Squadron, callsigns Mage 5 and Mage 6, arrived on their patrol station above the Arzell Bank north of the main island on the Ossorian side of the maritime border.
• 09:15: Two Shalumite EF/A-106 Lycan fighters challenge the Ossorian fighters, claiming they were intruding on Shalumite controlled airspace.
• 09:17: Both fighter elements order the other to withdraw, both sides activate their targeting radars, with the Shalumite aircraft locking onto the Ossorian fighters. Reinforcements are vectored in on both sides.
• 09:18: Both Ossorian fighters fire a volley of missiles in response to being radar locked.
• 09:19: One aircraft from each element takes damage, the Ossorian fighters begin to withdraw.
• 09:21: Four Ossorian T-32s arrive on the scene and shoot down both Shalumite fighters.
• 09:24: Sixteen EF/A-106s engage twelve T-32s in a ten-minute dogfight. Eight Shalumite fighters are shot down in exchange for three Ossorian aircraft. Both sides withdraw from the battlespace.
• 09:47: Ossorian SAR helicopters arrive with fighter escort and recover survivors from both sides of the engagement. Ossorian personnel losses are reported at one pilot killed and four wounded, with Shalumite losses reported at six killed, four wounded, fourteen captured.

Invasion of Arzell

The Imperial situation on the ground during and immediately following the air engagements was one of great confusion. Security forces stationed along the border, primarily gendarmerie, immediately locked down all crossing points but did not report the presence of enemy troops. Equipped only for policing operations, the commander of these forces, Major Sybil Leiber, requested assistance from the Army in the event that Ossorian ground forces took action against her positions.

The first detachment of the Imperial Army to arrive on scene, at approximately 14:17 local time, was a motorized infantry battalion from the 185th Hussar Brigade Combat Team which had been hastily mustered from their garrison twenty kilometers to the east. In the hour that followed, their position at the border was reinforced by a mounted reconnaissance squadron as well as a tank destroyer platoon from the same base. The rest of the mustered forces in the area were dispatched to other border checkpoints.

Although no hostile forces had been recorded as attempting to cross the border by 15:00, the command staff of the 185th Hussar BCT feared that an invasion by the Royal Ossorian Army or Arzelli Home Guard was imminent. Intelligence assets on the island speculated that their forces may not have been prepared for an immediate engagement. While a request was officially relayed to the army headquarters in Aragon to take preemptive actions, Brigadier Leon Reimann ordered his troops to prepare for an immediate advance into enemy territory.

Acting with his autonomous authority, Brigadier Reimann approved an advance against West Arzell. The first of his troops, primarily motorized infantry supported by lightly armored vehicles and fifteen main battle tanks, crossed the border at 17:39 and were met with minimal resistance. Divided into three groups, they continued to push further west until their supply situation (primarily fuel related) became an issue. While logistics units were supposed to have been deployed to support the advance, the rapid nature by which the forces present had been mustered and deployed meant that they were far from prepared for a long term engagement. As a result, Imperial supply units were caught unprepared for the sudden surge in demand and struggled to bring necessary supplies forward, leaving the Imperial forces stalled a few dozen kilometers from their jumping-off points. Additionally, numerous units were unable to deploy due to being unprepared for their deployment orders and were scrambling to recall their personnel. By the end of the first day, it was reported that only half of the Imperial troops stationed on the island were combat capable, with the rest still mobilizing.

On the Ossorian side of the border, the Shalumite invasion came as a complete surprise to the lightly armed and scattered border troops belonging to both the Arzelli Home Guard and the 28th Reisimint Fiúsailéirí, who immediately declared a Case Róslabhras, brevity code for an imminent or underway attack against Ossoria. As the border troops fell back, Ossorian forces in Arzell scrambled to mobilize and deploy to the border as rapidly as possible, resulting in a piecemeal and haphazard deployment based on whatever reports the border troops were able to get to their commanders. This inevitably resulted in the chain of command being completely scrambled as the marshals sought to shore up the front, with many sectors being placed under ad hoc battlegroups. By the end of the day, the Arzelli Home Guard had ordered an emergency muster and the Royal Army was still scrambling to deploy against the invasion, while the Chiefs of Staff Committee had convened in an emergency session to discuss how to respond to the unexpected crisis unfolding on Arzell.

17 January

Due to the increase of insurgency in the Shalumite Duchy of Maldoria, the Imperial military had been in a slightly heightened state of alert for several weeks. With High Command's focus primarily fixated on that region, few had expected a conflict in the Arzell sector. An emergency session was called by the cabinet and took place throughout the course of the night, and by morning it was determined that coastal areas of the Empire might face threat if the situation further deteriorated. As a result, army units garrisoned in these zones were placed on alert, while naval and air force groups were mobilized.

Meanwhile, on Arzell, the supply situation of actively engaged forces had slightly improved, while the general supply situation remained tenuous at best. While the garrison depots had been well supplied for emergency situations, their assigned logistical units struggled to resupply the advance forces which had crossed the border the day before. Unable to advance, and increasingly uncertain if that was even necessary, Brigadier Reimann ordered his forces to dig in in their current zones while High Command and the Imperial Government investigated the situation. Meanwhile, as more prepared and better equipped ISAF squadrons began to arrive in the theater, numerous anti-aircraft battalions were also dispatched from their positions around Westerberg to protect allied airspace in the event of enemy incursion.

At the same time, elements of the 267th Airborne BCT stationed in the Duchy’s capital began to mobilize. The unit, made up of infantry deployed via gunship and supported by attack helicopters, was notorious for its lack of available aircraft. Although its infantry companies were all full strength at the onset of the conflict, less than 50% of its aircraft were capable of deploying due to maintenance issues. As more army forces were drawn away from the border and into newly occupied positions, its commanders were called forward to reinforce the now vacant positions with heli-borne troops.

On the Ossorian side, the Royal Army was still trying to regain its balance. The 28th Fiúsailéirí and 52nd Marcra Armúrtha were mixed in alongside units of the Arzelli Home Guard, their battalions and even some companies broken up across a dozen battlegroups arrayed along the front. Only the 37th Airtléire, which was beginning to bring heavy artillery support to bear on the most threatened sectors, and the 93rd Marcra Aeir, which had been based on Dún Léire as a reserve, were operationally intact. As additional units of the Home Guard formed up, they were sent to reinforce the battlegroups considered most under threat.

During the night, the Chiefs of Staff Committee had issued a flurry of orders as they pieced together what information they had available of the situation. The 21st Paraisiúit, one of the Army’s rapid response units, was ordered to make an emergency deployment to Arzell, but they wouldn’t be ready to move until evening. Additional regiments were put on alert and were preparing to deploy, but their equipment needed to be shipped to the island before they could move to the front. Thus the Third and Seventh Fleets of the Royal Navy were ordered to prepare to sortie, but held in port until the vehicle transports were readied. Fleet units in the Malian Sea were directed to make best speed to the Éirne Islands and await new orders. Additional squadrons of fighters and attack aircraft were ordered to deploy to Arzell to support the Army. Finally, a directive was issued to transport all prisoners taken to the Home Islands for detention and interrogation by the Ministry of National Intelligence.

Meanwhile, the Privy Council was attempting to figure out what had prompted the attack. Attempts to contact the Shalumite government were ignored or rebuffed. By the end of the day, with diplomatic efforts going nowhere and a hostile army on Ossorian soil, the Council unanimously endorsed making all practicable efforts to regain the occupied territory and if necessary to push into Imperial territory.

18 January

With a state of emergency in effect, issued by Duke Mathias Hirsch shortly following the initial incident, the East Arzell Imperial Guard began a full scale mobilization effort. It did not take long, however, for their duty stations and depots to become overwhelmed as the stations struggled to process the number of incoming recruits. By the afternoon, only a regiment’s worth of guardsmen had been properly equipped and pressed into service. Armed primarily with surplus military equipment, and aging armored vehicles like the M20 Dobermann and M13 Sentinel, these groups were dispatched to secondary defensive positions behind Imperial Army lines.

While the official government response in Aragon was to decline any communication with Ossoria for the time being, the same could not be said for behind the scenes. Over the course of the day, Foreign Minister Michael Austad with the Prime Minister and several other members of the cabinet in an attempt to open a line of communication. He also attempted to contact nobleman Jason von Grath, consort of the Ossorian High Queen, through familial back channels with the help of his parents.

But by this point, the Ossorians were no longer interested in talking after their attempts of the previous days were rebuffed and were preparing to launch their counter-attack. The attack began with an artillery barrage on several sectors of the front, followed by two attacks centered on the towns of Aitern and Luteia by tanks and infantry. While Luteia would be secured before the day’s end, the fighting around Aitern would continue through the following day.

After sunset, five ships of the Royal Ossorian Navy launched several dozen cruise missiles against strategic targets in Eastern Arzell. Primary targets were important roads and bridges to strain Imperial supply lines as the Royal Army escalated its offensive.

With the situation becoming increasingly uncertain and forces retreating in several sectors, the Shalumite Army decided that the 7th Imperial Battlegroup, stationed on Iron Island near the city of Kaiserworth, would be deployed to Eastern Arzell to provide further support. The rapid reaction force, a smaller unit made up of only around four thousand troops, began to depart the island as soon as 0109 the following day and arrived in increments at NAS Westerberg throughout the course of the night. While fully prepared for immediate combat operations, they were only deployed into defensive positions at the border, and did not entirely arrive until afternoon of the following day.

19 January

While engagements lasted well throughout the night, the true scope of the bombardment was not realized until the following morning. With several bridges and roadways destroyed by Ossorian cruise missile strikes, the already strained supply chain soon hit a bottleneck in several sectors as their convoys ground to a halt. Combat engineering groups arrived soon after, but it quickly became apparent that the damage could not be easily remedied. While assault bridges were deployed in some areas, most logistical groups were forced to take longer, secondary routes.

At the frontlines, Imperial troops felt increasing pressure as supplies dwindled and casualties mounted. While some major positions had managed to hold through the course of the previous night’s battle, others had been forced to withdraw to newly established fallback positions. Air support groups based out of Westerberg and nearby airbases managed to launch a limited number of sorties, primarily along the border, while artillery groups moved in to provide support for beleaguered Hussar forces.

Ossorian forces continued their offensive across the line of contact, with Aitern falling to the Royal Army around midday. Ossorian airstrikes were directed against the Imperial artillery, while fighters sought to keep Imperial aircraft away from the ground troops’ positions.

At local noon, the Third and Seventh Fleets departed the Heartwater with heavy equipment and supplies to reinforce the Arzell garrison. An hour later, the Second Fleet departed the Éirne Islands, on course for the sea north of Shalum and to blockade the main Imperial naval bases along the northern coast. High Queen Tara also declared the waters around Shalum to be a total exclusion zone, warning all shipping that it may be subject to attack if it remained in the area. Additional missile strikes, backed up with strikes by stealth aircraft, were again carried out, again targeting supporting infrastructure.

20 January

While the Imperial military was confident that it could maintain its positions on Arzell, even in a prolonged engagement, the declaration of Ossorian naval intentions sent unease through High Command. As naval forces began to muster along the coast, it was decided that army forces on the island would withdraw to their pre-war positions in order to consolidate positions along the border. The supply chain remained in a state of disarray, and reinforcements were slow to arrive to the island due to constant clashes with enemy aircraft across the theater.

In the capital, another emergency cabinet session took place. Foreign Minister Michael Austad, now armed with an official blessing from the Imperator, once again took to back channels in order to open talks with High Queen Tara before the situation escalated further.

When the initial offer to talk came in, the Privy Council did not initially believe it to be made in good faith. It wasn’t until they had confirmed reports that the Imperial Army was pulling back from their positions that opinions changed. Ultimately, the High Queen offered a ceasefire and proposed that the two nations hold talks in a neutral setting, inviting the Imperator to name the site. Upon the acceptance of these terms, both sides ceased fighting across the theater at 19:00 local time.

Conference

After deliberation by both sides, it was determined that the conference would take place in a location neutral to both parties. While several were considered, the final location was decided to be Revjakoyia Estate located in the city of Corchia of the Commonality of Syara.

The conference was attended by both the High Queen of Ossoria and the Imperator of Shalum, and lasted two days. This was largely due to Imperator Tyler Holland publicly admitting, both before the Imperial Parliament and in the opening statement of the negotiations, that the Empire of Shalum had instigated the conflict.

Aftermath

The terms reached at the conference were:

• Both nations would withdraw all forces to their pre-crisis territory.
• Prisoners captured by either side were to be returned under international observation.
• Shalum would accept all responsibility for instigating the crisis.
• Shalum would pay reparations for material losses incurred by Ossoria as a result of the crisis.
• Both nations would establish a hotline between Kenlis and Aragon for direct communication between the two governments.
• A 15-kilometer wide demilitarized zone would be established along the line of contact, extending 5 kilometers into Ossorian-controlled territory and 10 kilometers into Shalumite-controlled territory. The zone extended into the territorial waters on either side of the island.
• All military infrastructure inside the demilitarized zone was to be dismantled within six months by unarmed personnel under international observation.