Tarsan Military Doctrine

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Tarsan Military Doctrine, or the Dual Facet Defensive Doctrine, is the main operational doctrine of the Imperial Tarsan Armed Forces. It is designed to fight a symmetrical conflict against an enemy force on land, in the air, and on the sea.

Origins

The current operational doctrine of the military first came about in1972 after the some conflict. It was heavily influenced by known Ulthrannic tactics. It was assumed that the Tarsan military would be outnumbered, as its main enemy possessed a higher population. If Tarsan units could remain well equipped with plenty of supplies and a significant amount of firepower at lower levels within the organisation, it could maintain superiority over a much larger force. It was determined that, with the terrain involved being mostly flat and open, high levels of artillery formations could be utilised to deadly effect. With little to no visibility hampering obstacles available on such terrain, mid level highly mobile anti-air capabilities would be a necessity. Mobile formations would need to be able to quickly get to the area and intercept enemy aircraft. Denying enemy aircraft airspace by working on conjunction with aircraft would also require mobility. The largest concern with mobility was outrunning supply convoys. Logistics units would need to have extensive range and travel great distances, as Tarsas is a vast country. Extensive use of railraods and trucks capable of travelling long distances to Allied forces would be a necessity as railroads often do not cover the full distance required. With that in mind, the current combat doctrine was born.

Overview

The Dual Facet Defensive Doctrine has two primary directives; fielding mobile formations capable of rapidly heading off enemy advances over long distances and quickly reorganising to switch to offensive operations against enemy forces once they are stopped. To accomplish this, all forces would have to be able to move quickly. The first directive would come through a joint effort by the air force and ground forces. Reconnaissance is the most important aspect of the initial stages of movement.

Land

Land forces play the largest role in operational doctrine. This is mostly because Tarsas is an land empire and all of the most immediate threats to its sovereignty are on land. For the primary defensive aspect, divisional level Cohorts are broken down into battalion level Phalanxes. Cohorts are further broken down into interchangeable groups known as Battalia (Singular: Battalius). Phalanxes are designed to quickly move to engage enemies and possess all the firepower and supplies needed while still remaining mobile. Both Phalanxes and Battalia are designed to act as puzzle pieces and can be seamlessly swapped between different Cohorts. Phalanx formations and higher receive the IFVs and APCs for infantry to be fully mobile. Smaller formations have a Logistics Battalius with enough trucks to transport infantry within the formation. Heavy armour is not attached until Cohort level. The main armour at lower level formations is composed of light tanks. The light tanks provide high mobility and heavy firepower and are capable of eeffective hit and run operations. The Tarsan deployment method for heavy armour is to put it where the enemy attack is the heaviest. Armour is kept in its own Phalanx formation and attached where necessary. Anti-aircraft capability is treated in a similar manner as armour. Lighter, medium to short range AA Is attached to each Phalanx. To provide interception power at long ranges against massed enemy air attack, a separate Phalanx of heavy Surface to air missiles is present within range of every frontline formation. These are utilised to deny enemy aircraft the capability to hamper unit mobility and to provide support for the air force.

To stop the enemy, the Legion operates a significant number of artillery and assault guns. Highly mobile self-propelled guns are attached to each Phalanx. These are combined with MRLS to offer a deadly capability to fire vast ranges on the flame steppes of the border region. These are arranged in mobile formations and static defensive Phalanxes composed of towed guns and assault guns. Static formations are designed to hold a defensive line. Should enemy forces manage to invade far enough to breach the steppes region, they will next encounter hills and eventually mountains. These formations usually form a defensive line around a fortification and are supported by one of the massive pillbox guns that were designed to cover the region. These are exclusively aimed towards Ulthrannia. Most of the guns and pillboxes have been maintained since the 1940s and 50s and the army acknowledges the concept of static fortified guns is out of date. It proved a waste of resources to abandon the fortifications, however and the guns have continued to operate. Static artillery and assault guns can open fire on enemy forces from long range and destroy entire formations before the enemy gets off of the flatlands and hills of the border.

The border with Irkutia mostly comprises mountainous terrain and has historically prevented the desertification of the border region and catches the vast majority of the rain that would fall on the desert region. In this area, the military has always maintained a low number of roves. The terrain is utilised to great effect with a series of fortified artillery bases along the border region. These have been present for many years and the choice was made to simply maintain and update them. To cut costs, this region operates no static guns and relies totally on mobile artillery. Only a few Cohorts are theoretically stationed on this border during wartime.

Sea

The Navy's role is mainly focused around two aspects. The Imperial Sea Legion is a defensive force, designed to keep friendly ports and sea lanes open, defend shores from landing enemy forces, and interdict and destroy approaching enemy fleets. An offensive alternative does exist in the event that the Empire decides to strike first but the primary purpose is solely for defence. Tarsas does not operate a large carrier force and instead relies on heavy cruisers to interdict and destroy enemy carriers with speed, manoeuvrability, and heavy armament. Another doctrinal based design is a significant number of smaller escort vessels in the form of destroyers and frigates. Tarsan ships generally sacrifice things such as extra crewmen and armour for speed and a heavy weapons load. In the event of war, ships are divided into surface groups and are capable of escorting ships straight away. A large number of vessels are kept on active reserve and are fully supplied to move out within twenty-four hours of a declaration of war. Peacetime forces are kept at one fourth the ships in each fleet active and patrolling and another fourth of each fleet on active reserve.

Air

Air power is employed primarily for scouting and recon operations in the early stages of a defensive campaign. A fleet of high altitude, extremely fast aircraft and drones are maintained by the Air Force to conduct scouting operations. Current doctrine lands aircraft almost exclusively responsible for tracking and monitoring enemy force movements in conjunction with high powered radars. In addition to tracking movements, once the defensive movements begin, the Air Legion is responsible for repelling enemy fighters and bombers. Tarsan doctrine does not use Close Air Support by aircraft. Instead, a combination of helicopter gunships providing long range and direct fire support for ground forces and multirole fighters to provide high altitude direct strikes are utilised in support of attacking Phalanxes. To cover the vast amount of territory Tarsas possess, instead of large numbers of aircraft, a well equipped force of interceptor aircraft to quickly launch at incoming aircraft. They generally work closely with the large numbers of static Surface to air missile launchers that make up the Nation's air defence network. Aircraft formations are generally assigned wherever enemy air presence is the thickest or at the sight of an enemy attack. When the strategy switches to its offensive system, aircraft are to support ground forces and coordinate to maintain air superiority over the battlefield.

Unit Structure and Organization

Land

A divisional formation known as a Cohort makes up the primary operational unit of the military. The Phalanxes are composed of groups known as Battalia (singular: Battalius). The Battalia act as smaller, interchangeable formations that can quickly formulate a Phalanx. A common Phalanx is composed of ten Battalia, five infantry, two armour, one anti aircraft, one logistics, and one artillery. Signals, recconissance, and maintenance is attacked to each Battalius.