Warden invasion of Galania

Warden invasion of Galania
Part of the Refusal War
Warden troops in Galania
Date 12 April - 28 May 1986 Location Durova, Galania Result Warden Victory
Belligerents
Wardens Cacerta	Royalists Acrea Ossoria
Commanders and leaders
Saša Mlinarić Hovsep Galstyan Nenad Jakovac Souren Gharakhanian Denis Volarić Kaitlyn Quintilian Lavinia Doria	Vitomir Gavrilov Varbanov Hristos Zlatanovski
Units involved
Army of Danjusha Army of Malonrana Army of Amant Army of Thanor 5th Guards Mechanized Division	3rd Army 4th Army
Strength
~1.5 million 35,000	~700,000
Casualties and losses
55,000 killed 190,000 wounded	45,000 killed 160,000 wounded 90,000 captured

The Warden invasion of Galania (also known as Operation Jasmin) was a strategic offensive launched by the Wardens against Royalists holdings in Galania during the Refusal War. It was launched on 12 April 1986 and lasted until 28 May the same year.

The offensive began after months of secretive build up by the Wardens, who had launched an elaborate deception campaign to deceive the intelligience services of the Royalists and their allies into believing that the Wardens intended to invade Makedon to drive on Zovahr. In the meanwhile the Wardens secretly positioned hundreds of thousands of troops along with equipment and supplies along the border between Scitaria, Hayreniky, and Galania, helped by the capture of Durova earlier in the year. Elements from four Warden armies, supported by Cacertian ground and air forces, launched the invasion on 12 April, taking the Royalists by surprise. With the strategic initiative on their side, the Wardens proceeded to inflict heavy losses on Royalist forces. By the end of April Royalist forces had been driven back north of the Thanor River and east of the Vitmira River, while Myzova was surrounded by Warden troops.

Despite frantic air strikes and counter-attacks by the Royalists and their allies, fighting did not cease until late May, with 28 May typically being given as the end of the offensive. The fighting resulted in heavy losses on both sides. More than 55,000 Wardens were killed and 190,000 were wounded. Losses among the Royalists and their allies numbered nearly 300,000 killed, wounded, and captured, along with large losses of material, including over 100 aircraft shot down.

The invasion of Galania is often seen by historians as signaling the beginning of the end for the Royalist cause. The loss of so many troops, coupled with the immense psychological and strategic boost it provided to the Wardens, crippled the Royalist capacity to continue the war. The sharp uptick in recruitment that followed the campaign provided the Wardens with a significant advantage in manpower that would continue for the rest of the war, while the demonstration of the Warden capability for large scale strategic operations only further dampened Royalist morale. King Vasko of Makedon would later lament that the invasion "signaled, in a final sense, the seemingly inevitable resolution of the struggle".