Battle of Kraw-tju (1941)
| Battle of Kraw-tju 交州之役 交州の役 交州之役 (교주전투) | |||||||||
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| Part of Pan-Septentrion War | |||||||||
| File:BattleofKrawtju.jpg Nom-dad Rd., 1st. Aug 1941 | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
Template:Country data Organized States Themiclesia |
 Greater Menghean Empire Imperial Dayashina | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Template:Country data Organized States Davis MacDowell Template:Country data Organized States Alexander Vandegrift Template:Country data Organized States Alphonse DeCarre |
Yoshimi Nishida | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
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Seventeenth Army 2nd Infantry Division | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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Template:Country data Organized States 150,000 150,000 |
200,000 | ||||||||
The Battle of Kraw-tju (12 July - 6 August, 1941), also known as the Liberation of Kraw-tju (Themiclesia), was the first and largest confrontation between Imperial Dayashinese Army and the Allies prior to the start of Operation Leapfrog in 1942. Intent on securing a port with connections to Themiclesia’s railway network, Allied Forces under the command of General Davis MacDowell launched “Operation Troy” to secure the city, codenamed “Pegasus” within Allied communications. On July 12, 1941, the OS Marine Corps’ I Marine Amphibious Corps moved into the outskirts of Kraw-tju following an amphibious landing just a few days earlier about 30 miles away. Encountering little resistance, OS forces moved deeper into the city, where they engaged in deep and determined fighting with the forces of the IDA’s Hemithean Army. Following the stalling of progress within the city, MacDowell planned and ordered the execution of “Operation Archer”, a joint encirclement of IDA troops within the city by Themisclean and OS armor units, which cut off IDA forces inside the city from both supplies and support by their Menghean Allies. Recognizing the danger of the encirclement, IDA forces began a fierce fight to the death within the city center, formerly the OS Legation, with OS Marines finally securing the city center in early August. The Battle of Kraw-tju is considered by many to be among the fiercest urban fighting in the Pan-Septentrion War and led to the near wholesale destruction of the city.