Khalistan campaign

Khalistan campaign
Part of the Meridian War, Pan-Septentrion War
Clockwise from top left: Anglian commandos preparing an ambush; Dayashinese Type 97 wrecked during the Battle of Lahore; Sikh soldiers during the Battle of Anderson Point; Menghean soldiers assaulting Crown Army positions; Imperial Dayashinese army securing the Aligarh oilfields; bombing of Peshawar.
Date August 1938 - September 1944 (6 years, and 1 month) Location Khalistan and Azbekistan Result Allied victory
Belligerents
New Tyran Dominion of Khalistan	Greater Menghean Empire Dayashinese Empire Liberation Army Azad Legion
Commanders and leaders
Anthony William David O'Connor Robert Stirling Lee Goddard Ishaan Amarjit Harpal Bajwa Jasveer Narindra	"general" "general" Yutaka Ueda Shigeharu Takagi Tadamichi Obata Koichi Inada Jawed Ahmed Akal Sidhu
Strength
1938-1940 250,000 initial invasion. 140,000 initial invasion. 1940-1942 46,000 80,000 - 100,000 1943-1944 230,000 - 350,000 200,000 - 600,000	1938-1940 100,000 initial invasion. 200,000 initial invasion. 110,000 - 200,000 1940-1942 100,000 50,000 280,000 20,000
Casualties and losses
31,234 killed 43,371 wounded 51,250 captured 42,892 killed 72,569 wounded 45,239 captured 400,000 to 1,000,000 civilians killed	"killed" "wounded" "captured" 30,000+ killed 38,000 wounded 10,000 captured 81,438 killed 58,237 wounded 53,128 captured 7,000+ killed and missing

Background

The Khalistan campaign was a military campaign involving the forces of the Allies; the Anglian Crown Empire and the Dominion of Khalistan which fought against the invading forces of the Greater Menghean Empire and Imperial Dayashina, who were supported by collaborationist independence movements, the largest being the Azbekistan Liberation Army that fought to establish an independent Azbekistan free from Anglian and Khalistani rule.

The Menghean Empire's primary strategic objective was to secure and control of Khalistan, to create a strong defensive position to prevent Allied naval forces breaking out into the South Menghe Sea. Menghean forces were able to progress rapidly along Khalistan's coast, reaching Naseristan by 1940.

This rapid advancement spurred large-scale uprisings of Azbekistanis in Khalistan in support of the Axis war effort; this would be the start of the Azbekistan Liberation War. More than 110,000 Azbekistanis in the Crown Army would defect, throwing the Anglian battle plan into disarray. Several bases would be overrun and supply lines attacked. Large uprisings occurred in Al-Basrah and Asmara quickly swelling the rebellion’s ranks. Long standing ethnic tensions and conflict between Khalistan and Azbekistan see atrocities committed by both sides during the war. It was one of the longest continuous campaign in PSW and both Menghean and Dayashinese holdouts would continue to fight several years after the war.

Anglian rule in Khalistan

Before the Pan-Septentrion War, Khalistan was part of the Crown Empire, having been progressively occupied and annexed during the Anglo-Sikh wars in the middle of the 17th century. While there was significant economic and social development, some of the Sikh people loyal to the overthrown Mahajara Sidak Singh became resistant, and a series of uprisings occurred in 1820. While these rebellions were quickly dealt with, it prompted Anglia to create the Dominion Act to give Khalistan and other colonies a degree of self-governance. The Shahidism majority of Azbekistanis living in the region of Azbekistan however, were denied any kind of autonomy and had land their transferred to Khalistani plantation owners. When Khalistan came under attack, the Azbekistani people were largely unwilling to contribute to the defence of Khalistan or the Crown Empire, and many readily joined movements which aided the invading Axis powers as their diplomats had promised them independence post war.

Defence plans

Anglian defence plans for Khalistan and Portcullia mainly involved using strong coastal defences and fortifications to throw back an enemy force. Fort Grey at Port Arthur featured three large 15-inch naval guns that overlooked the strait. Two more were being constructed on Portcullia to defend the approaching path to the east of the island, but due to the restrictions of the Selkiö Naval Treaty, they were forced to be scrapped.

While still formidable post the Selkiö Naval Treaty, the Royal Navy was diminished after losses sustained during the WSS, and it was believed the Royal Navy couldn't effectively deal with simultaneous crises in Casaterra, Meridia, and Vinya. Admiral Andrew Hurst was commander of Force Q, a task force put together from the Eastern Fleet aimed at deterring the Menghean navy. Admiral Andrew Hurst believed that as long as the RN controlled the Strait of Portcullia, the Royal Navy could defeat the Menghean and Dayashinese formations in detail by preventing the two navies from linking up.

When the brief but bloody Parliament Revolt broke out in Anglia and Lechernt in January 1937, the majority of the Eastern Fleet in Sundan was ordered to sail home as the internal conflict left the nation vulnerable to attack from a foreign power. This left the Eastern Fleet greatly weakened, but it was thought the presence of the veteran battleships HMS Indomitable, HMS Indefatigable, and the large battlecruisers HMS Resolute and HMS Warchild, supported by the carrier HMS Furious, would act as a credible deterrent to an attacking force.

On land General Anthony William was Commander-in-Chief of Khalistan Land Forces, alongside General David O'Connor and Lieutenant-General Robert Stirling. The 14th Army had a strength of 250,000, but many of these units were raised and trained for colonial policing duties and were ill-equipped and prepared for jungle warfare. The 14th Army was made up of four corps that were each around 57,000 strong and included several smaller units.

David O'Connor was given command of IV Corps in 1934 and was one of the few commanders of 14th Army to realise the need for training in jungle warfare that would be necessary in order to defeat an invading army. David O'Connor began rigorously training his men and developing new tactics to fight in all of the hostile natural terrain encountered in Khalistan. He was a pioneer on the concept of 'mobile defence' and formed small independent units capable of rapid mobility to effectively harass the enemy, or attack their rear areas. These small independent units formed the bases of the Special Service Brigades which would end up being some of the most effective units in the 14th Army.

Landing on Portcullia

Main article: Battle of Portcullia (Pan-Septentrion War)

Royal Artillery crew rush to man 9.2-inch coastal guns during the battle of Portcullia.

On the 15-16th of June, the Imperial Menghean Navy and Imperial Dayashinese Navy defeated the Royal Navy at the Battle of the Portcullia Strait, opening the way for a Menghean-Dayashinese invasion of Khalistan and Portcullia in mid 1938.

On July 17th 1938 the Menghean-Dayashinese invasion of Portcullia began. RAF light and medium bombers attacked IMN and IDN ships off the coast but due to lack of proper escort were forced to switch to night time raids to reduce losses, as Meridia was a lower priority theatre, the RAF had comparatively few modern aircraft to challenge the Axis. Air Marshal Henry Wavell held back the few Hurricanes and Spitfires available to defend the Khalistan mainland and relied on the Gloster Gladiator, which while performed well against the Menghean Type 34 fighter and performed adequately against IDN fighters of this period, the growing numbers of Menghean and Dayashinese fighters and increasingly better types of aircraft soon overwhelmed the Gladiator pilots, both in the air and on the ground, securing Axis air supremacy over the island.

On the beaches the joint Menghean-Dayashinese landing immediately ran into fierce Anglian resistance, who had established artillery and machine gun posts overlooking the beaches which made progress difficult, but the Axis forces were able to create several beachheads that would be gradually expanded but sustain heavy casualties. Crown Army and RN intelligence were led to believe that the next objective of the Axis would be to land on Khalistan itself near Moradabad to seize or destroy the gun batteries and capture the naval port, diversionary attacks near Port Arthur reaffirmed this belief. Because of this only two divisions worth of troops were stationed in Portcullia.

The Axis forces quickly made sweeping advances into central Portcullia and fended off several Allied counterattacks, but their advance was checked at the Battle of Anderson Point, which allowed the Crown Army to evacuate some of its remaining forces on the island and civilian personnel to Khalistan but over 10,000 Crown Army troops would end up as prisoners of war. Within four weeks, Portcullia was lost to the Axis powers, which would be used as a staging area for the invasion of Khalistan.

Air campaign

The RAF in Khalistan and Portcullia had around 700 aircraft available, but most were single-seat biplane fighters like the Gloster Gauntlet and Gladiator. While the RAF pilots were well trained, they lacked the experience that the IDN and IMN had gained earlier in the war which gave their pilots an edge during engagements. On July 17th the first day of the invasion of Portcullia, many Gauntlets and Gladiators were destroyed on the ground before the pilots even had a chance to scramble. However, the aircraft that did manage to take off held their own against the Mitsubishi A5M and performed well against the Menghean Type 34 and 27 but had no answer to the A6M Zero. The most significant threat to the Axis invasion fleet was a number of torpedo and medium bombers that were operated by the RAF Coastal Command. Earlier on June 16th, a wave of Beaufort bombers from No. 235 Squadron attempted to find and attack the Dayashinese carrier Akagi, but while they failed to locate the carrier, they did come across a convoy of transport ships headed to Khalistan and proceeded to attack the convoy instead, sinking two of the transports and one of the escorting destroyers.

IDA G3M formation approaching Khalistan.

By August 13th, Portcullia was in Axis hands. Menghean and Dayashinese fighters and bombers were operating from captured RAF airfields and began making sorties into Khalistan proper; this allowed the IMA and IDA to enjoy close air support from the start of the campaign. Aircraft from the RAF 34, 72, and 100 Squadrons would attack the Axis troops advancing from their bridgeheads, but would sustain heavy losses and be forced to withdraw further inland. Air Marshal Henry Wavell had 110 Hurricane Mk.1 and 90 Spitfire Mk.1 fighters under his command. Initially, these aircraft held back as there were precious few of them, and reinforcements were unlikely to be sent anytime soon due to war in Casaterra. However, due to the high rate of losses the Gladiator and Gauntlet squadrons were sustaining, Wavell began deploying the Hurricane and Spitfire to the front. Briefly, the RAF could fight the Axis on equal terms; the Hurricane and Spitfire possessed a decisive advantage over the Menghean biplanes and made short work of the Type 34 and A5M. Prompting Menghe to purchase the Dayashinese Nakajima Ki-27 fighter to fill the gap.

G3M shot down over Multan.

The RAF could now more effectively intercept Menghean and Dayashinese bomber raids and inflict a growing number of casualties; in one engagement, all but one Mitsubishi G3M was shot down. When the Spitfire and Hurricane first faced the Zero, the Zero had all the advantages in combat maneuverability at slower speeds, and both aircraft almost always lost to the Zero in a dogfight. It was only at higher speeds and altitudes that the Spitfire and Hurricane could effectively combat the Zero. From a height advantage, the Spitfire and Hurricane could make hit-and-run 'boom and zoom' attacks on the Zero with relative ease and was more maneuverable than the Zero at high speeds. Both fighters came as a surprise for Zero pilots, as it was first better performing aircraft they encountered. However, due to the lack of reinforcements and spare parts, losses started to mount, and as the Menghean and Dayashinese armies captured more territory and airfields, the RAF was forced to retreat deeper inland and was only able to engage the bomber raids in hit-and-run attacks, operating from improvised airfields such as forest clearings as the main air bases were captured by the Axis.

Invasion of Khalistan

After consolidating their hold on Portcullia and finishing off the last pockets of resistance on the island, the Axis powers launched an invasion of Khalistan. During the retreat from Portcullia, the Crown Army attempted to blow the Jubilee bridge connecting Portcullia with Khalitstan, but the charges failed to detonate. This allowed Menghean and Dayashinese troops to pour into Khalistan and gain a foothold. Over the next several days, Crown Army artillery and RAF bombers would make attempts to destroy the bridge and score a number of hits, but the bridge held firm. Eventually, a 15-inch shell fired from the gun batteries at Fort Grey, near Port Arthur, caused the bridge to partially collapse. By that point, though, the Axis had firmly established a bridgehead and began ferrying more troops and supplies ashore.

Landings in Multan and Amritsar

After being defeated at the Battle of Portcullia Strait, the Royal Navy didn't have any significant naval presence past the strait, the Crown Empire was unable to challenge Menghean or Dayashinese naval operations off the eastern Khalistani coast, which Imperial Dayashina would exploit to support the main Axis advance and divide the attention of the 14th Army.