Battle of the Abronian River

Battle of the Abronian River
Part of Black February
Imperial Marines seek cover in rocky ground
Date 18th February 1991 Location Salorka Province, Prodava Result Vionna-Frankenlischian Victory Successful Monarchist evacuation
Belligerents
Vionna-Frankenlisch Prodavan Sultanate	Prodavan Republicans
Commanders and leaders
Commodore Sir Arthur Cavendish Brigadier Harriet Mackensen Mehmet Mustafari Pasha	Yusuf Slatir
Units involved
3rd Light Squadron
Strength
7 Destroyers, 500 men 2,500 men	6,000
Casualties and losses
11 killed, 24 wounded 300 casualties	400 casualties
3000 civilians were evacuated and 102 killed during the fighting

The Battle of the Abronian River was an incident during Black February, an intense period of civil violence in Prodava which saw its transition from monarchy to republic. It is considered by some to be the first engagement of the Prodavan War. The 3rd Light Squadron of the Vionna-Frankenlischian Imperial Navy, under the command of Commodore Sir Arthur Cavendish, oversaw the evacuation of Prodavan monarchist civilians and troops from Salorka Province in northern Prodava. Three-hundred Imperial marines and 2,500 Prodavan monarchist troops held off an assault by six-thousand republican rebels, ensuring a successful evacuation.

Background

In the wake of the death of the last Prodavan Sultan, Abu Taiseer Al-Shahid, Prodava had wasted no time in falling into anarchy and civil violence. The police were unable to contain the unrest and, in a vain attempt to stem the unrest that would become Black February, the two paramilitary units that served the Prodavan government were ordered into the streets: the monarchist Mameluk Guard and the nationalist Bedouin Guard. In a matter of hours, the the two groups began to fight each other in the streets of the capital. Once this had happened, there was little chance of saving the situation. In the so-called Greenshirt Coup, the Bedouins began a nation-wide takeover in aid of a Prodavan republic. Massacres and other atrocities were commonplace amongst the violence and Mameluks and suspected royalists were killed en-masse.

In northern Prodava, where monarchist support was highest, escape to Vionna-Frankenlisch was the obvious choice. Under the command of Osman Majid, the Ramubad Mameluk Guard simply marched across the border to be interned. Nobles and detracters from the republican cause fled across the Imperial border in Kundaki Province, Salorka Province and Ramubad Province. HMNS Odon, carrying a new consul to the Prodavan posession of Caledonia was swarmed by local notables attempting to flee the country. A decision by the Vionna-Frankenlischian government to begin evacuations came far too late to help most people, but for the 11,000 refugees hoping to flee Salorka Province by sea it would be a deliverance. Mehmet Mustafari Pasha, with 2,500 men of the Salorka Memeluk Guard, led the refugees to the coast along the River Abronia where they were to meet the Third Light Squadron of the Imperial Navy.

Under the command of Sir Arthur Cavendish, the Third Light Squadron was made up of seven River-class destroyers and was escorting thirty civilian ships which were to carry the refugees for safety. With Republican forces closing in swiftly on Mehmet Mustafari's camp, the squadron abandoned the civilian ships to gain speed and sailed up the River Abronia to land marines and help defend the camp. Led by Brigadier Harriet Mackensen of the Imperial Marines, three-hundred marines and two-hundred armed sailors came ashore on boats to bolster the defence.

Battle

Yusuf Slatir, commander of the Salorka Bedouin Guard, had force-marched his 2,000 Bedouin guardsmen and 4,000 republican rebels to keep pace with Mehmet Mustafari's retreating refugees and Mameluks. By the time Mustafari had set up his camp, the pursuing republicans were exhausted from the march and low on supplies. They rested during the 17th rather than attacking, a decision which allowed Sir Arthur Cavendish's Third Light Squadron to sail up the River Abronia overnight and land 500 men in small boats in the early hours of the morning. Besides their Metford rifles, the Imperial marines were armed with mountain guns and their odd M1895 machine guns. Imperial Navy sailors, 200 of which landed with the marines, mostly caried surplus Metford rifles but some carried the outdated Snider instead. Ammunition for this weapon was scarce and, of the forty-four Snider rifles issued on 17th February, nine were returned on 19th February and not a single round of .577 ammunition could be found. However, twenty-eight Mauser rifles were handed in by sailors, all of which bore Prodavan markings.

Mehmet Mustafari's men had formed a perimeter around the refugee camp but he persuaded Brigadier Mackensen that it would be more sensible to march to meet Slatir's republicans. The further away the engagement was from the camp, the less danger the civilians would be. Mackensen agreed and led her contingent of 500 troops to a length of rocky hills, a mile to the east, where the cover of the rocks and the sharp ascent would provide a tactical advantage. Outnumbered 2-1, the monarchists and Vionna-Frankenlischians had to make every advantage count and the hills provided the most commanding position for miles. Mustafari took the risky decision to divide his force and allow Mackensen's better trained marines make up the center of the line. Five hundred Mameluks spread out in cover on the right of Mackensen's position to ambush any attempt to outflank them. A thousand Mameluks formed lines on the left of the hilly ground to extend the line and form the left flank. Though efforts were made to entrench their positions further, there was little time to prepare anything more than the most basic fighting pits. The remaining men were kept in reserve and a hundred stayed back to guard the camp.

With noon swiftly approaching and the first boats begining to take off the civilians, the Bedouins realised their time was running short. Slatir wanted to starve out the monarchists and refugees into surrendering, but the arrival of Imperial forces had removed that possibility. Though anxious about facing well-trained Imperial soldiers, Slatir was excited by the opportunity to prove the mettle of his men and to prove himself as a commander. At 11:45 he ordered his men to array for battle. Worried that his irregular troops, mostly levies from the countryside surrounding Salorka, might prove unreliable, Slatir had several sections of his Bedouin guardsmen placed behind them as blocking troops. Though he did not explicitly order them to shoot those who retreated, it was understood that this was his expectation. At the strike of noon the first republican attack begun.

Advancing over broken ground, the first attack consisted of five hundred of the republican irregulars. The attack was launched against the monarchist right flank and came under long-range fire from the Imperial mountain guns. Once the republicans had come into range, the Mameluks on the far right of the monarchist line opened fire with their rifles and a single machine gun. The republicans were caught by surprise but at long range, with plenty of cover, they were able to go to ground without taking heavy casualties. Seven-hundred more irregulars were sent into the battle to relieve the struggling attack. Led by Bedouin officers, the levies were inspired to carry on their attack but took heavy casualties as they went forward. The republicans did posess some light artillery but a lack of ammunition compelled them to save their fire. Only when the attack became completely bogged down in a recess in the terrain was Slatir persuaded to lend the support of his guns, four field guns from the Salorka arsenal. Though outdated compared to the Imperial mountain guns, the republican artillery fired a larger shell and was able to cause havoc amongst the monarchist right flank. Suitably supported, the attacking levies closed the distance and a brutal melee erupted.

On the opposite flank, Slatir unleashed his Bedouins. Four hundred of his best troops advanced in a staggered formation, firing with rifles and bursts of machine-gun fire. Firing while on the move, the republicans found little accuracy and, low on ammunition themselves, the monarchists allowed them to draw closer. Mehmet Mustafari rode up to the line to command his left flank in person. When the republicans were about 100 yards away and their bullets were starting to cause casualties, the order to fire was given and rifle fire broke out along the monarchist line. Shooting from crude rifle pits or behind small wooden and stone barricades, the monarchist gunfire was slow but accurate and deadly. The attack was repulsed with heavy losses for the Bedouins.

Heavy fighting continued until late in the afternoon with successive republican attacks bogging down under monarchist rifle fire and, with Mehmet Mustafari firmly refusing to allow any counterattack, actual casualties amongst both sides were not high. Only on the monarchist right flank, where hand-to-hand combat broke out on several occasions, were casualties heavy and Mustafari was forced to throw in his reserves to repulse strong Bedouin attacks. With the last of his artillery ammunition, Slatir fired into the refugee camp which set the tents on fire and killed 102 civilians. By this point, however, evening was swiftly approaching and most of the civilians had been evacuated in boats. Deeming their duties done, and desperate not to be left behind, the monarchists began to withdraw under the cover of the Imperial marines. Brigadier Mackensen and her 500 men held their position amongst the rocks for another hour before themselves withdrawing to the coast. Here, it appears, a short stand took place when Slatir threw forward his main force to break the monarchists before they could escape but rifle volleys stopped this attack and fire support from Commodore Cavendish's destroyers prevented further attempts. By 10pm the whole force had been carried away.

Civilian Evacuation

The evacuation of the refugee camp was organised by Captain Felix Slater-Jones of HMNS Achola. Under Slater-Jones' direction, the evacuations began at 9am on 18th February. Small boats carried refugees to the destroyers of Third Light Squadron for the first three hours, moving around 1,500 people during this period. An Imperial Navy sloop, HMNS Lithe, ferried refugees between the squadron and the civilian ships until they arrived at noon. The process of moving people from the boats to the destroyers and then from the destroyers to HMNS Lithe and finally to the moving civilian vessels was tricky and dangerous but, miraculously, nobody was lost.