1st Foreign Mechanized Cossack Regiment
| 1st Foreign Mechanized Cossack Regiment 1er Mécanisé Étrangères Régiment Coyssaqa | |
|---|---|
| File:Cossackbadge.png Badge of the 1st Foreign Mechanized Cossack Regiment | |
| Active | October 12th 1893 – present |
| Country |  Republic of Sieuxerr |
| Branch | Sieuxerrian Army |
| Type | Mechanized Infantry |
| Role | Elite Light Mechanized Infantry |
| Size | 1,500 |
| Part of | Sieuxerrian Foreign Legion |
| Motto(s) | Фоис Де Вардшем, Онигласи Баххиы For the Worst, they Send The Best |
| Colors | Red, Green, and Blue |
| March | "The Cossacks Ride Onward!" |
| Anniversaries | October 12th |
| Engagements | Sieuxerrian Ashizwe War
|
| Commanders | |
| Major | Ivan Vyhovsky |
The 1st Foreign Mechanized Cossack Regiment (Sieuxerrian: 1er Mécanisé Étrangères Régiment Coyssaqa) of the Sieuxerrian Foreign Legion is one of the longest continuously serving regiments in the entire army and has been serving since its formation. It holds the title of having the last cavalry charge in Pardes during 1964. Like most Foreign Legion formations, 1MÉRC has a very long and colorful history before and since its formation. 1MÉRC is comprised mostly of native Dniegua Cossacks with the officer corps being a mixture of both Cossack and Sieuxerrian nationalities. This is the only unit in the Foreign Legion to allow non-Siexuerrian born officers.
Formation
Traditions
Sieuxerrian Ashizwe War
The 2nd Company of the 1MÉRC arrived in early April 1964 in Grand-Santi with 196 men and equipment. They were deployed to the town of Guillaume, which had been targeted by People's Front for the Liberation of Husseinarti for a few weeks before. The 2nd Company arrived by May 18th at the forward operating base in the town and had begun combat operations by the 21st.
Second Battle of Guillaume
On the 24th of May in 1964, a forward post, which was manned by 2 platoons from the 1st Infantry Company, 1st Overseas Light Infantry Battalion came under heavy assault by PFLH forces. Serious complications including record rainfall of 11+ inches rain coming down in just a few days and a lack of proper ammunition storage meant that local artillery support had been made ineffective and was unable to support the embattled FO. The FO would been assaulted on and off for periods until the early on the 26th, when a battalion sized force began to assault the FO. Air support had been grounded due to the weather, and artillery was available, but it was token and barely effective. Desperately needing reinforcements, the FOB dispatched the 3rd Platoon, 2nd Company, 1MÉRC to reinforce the post.
The commander of the platoon, 1st Lieutenant Sven Holmqvist, refused to use their armored personnel carriers, AMX-VCIs, citing that the extensive rainfall would only cause issues with the vehicles and end up with them stuck mid-way, requiring more troops to be sent to help Instead he proposed requisitioning horses from a nearby stable, who had become normalized to gunfire after the many weeks of being exposed to it. After an intense debate, Lieutenant Holmqvist and his men, 43 in total, and acquired the horses. As they left for the FOB, it was noted that the entire 43-man formation was singing the traditional folk song, "The Cossacks Ride Over the Danube" and that the men had brought along with them their Shashkas as well.
Lieutenant Holmqvist organized his men into 3 formations, 2 10-man formations would be the flanking elements, who would assault the sides to allow for the charge of the main force of 23 men including Holmqvist himself. His NCOIC would lead the flanking formations and would commit his men to running down any enemy forces that retreated from the battle. They positioned themselves just over a kilometer away from the battle and began their charge with the distinctive whistle and an order to draw swords. As they began their charge the weather had cleared up for some time now, however fixed wing aircraft were still at least a half hour away and would not be present for the battle.
While the FO had been alerted to the incoming reinforcements, they had no idea that the force would be coming in by horseback. The platoons had fortified themselves in a final layer of defense, comprised of 60 or so men. As they were assaulted, they spotted the cavalry advancing on the sides charging into the side of the enemy's assault. Confused, but recognizing the uniforms as their own, continued the fight. As the sides of the Cossack assault collapsed upon the PFLA troops, the main body of 23 horsemen advanced past the regular army troops, who had become very much so confused at this time. It was reported that Lieutenant Holmqvist himself leaped his horse upon the roof of a building and then down the other side in order to maintain the speed of this assault.
As the cavalry engaged the exposed infantry, the PFLH troops, totally and completely shocked by the Cossacks, began a frenzied retreat into the woodline a few hundred meters or so away from the FO. Also at this time, a pair of Alouette III light helicopters from 1BILOM's attached helicopter squadron which had been fitted with 2 MAC-58 machine guns had arrived to support the now developing counter-attack, having taken off at very end of the rainstorm. With little coordination, but speed and shocking power, the ground and air cavalry forces managed to push back the PFLA force with no losses to the Cossacks. An estimated 150 PFLH troops had been killed, with many more injured and a dozen captured.
After the battle, the platoon was awarded the National Order of Military Valor, with the commander, Lieutenant Holmqvist being awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honor due to their heroic actions in the face of a mounted enemy assault. It also has gone down as the last cavalry charge in history, which has been a source of much pride from 1MÉRC.
3rd Platoon would later regroup with the rest of 2nd Company and would perform admirably during the next few weeks. Overall, 2nd Company would lose only 19 men during the 4 week battle.