Battle of Kyustendil (1944)

Battle of Kyustendil
Part of Pan-Septentrion War
Clockwise from top left: Civilians clamor to evacuate Kyustendil as Ostlandic forces close, Sebrenskiyan soldiers move from cover, destroyed Ostlandic PZIV tank, Letnian Yak-9 shot down, Children in Kyustendil armed after seige, Letnian Army T-34s advance
Date 15 March 1944 - 19 July 1944 (126 days) Location Kyustendil and outskirts, Central Maldanian Republic, Sebrenskiya Result Strategic Allied victory: Ostlandic forces repulsed from Kyustendil's outskirts Sebrenskiyan XII corps destroyed Letnia enters the war in Casaterra in support of the Allies
Belligerents
Sebrenskiya Letnia (starting 5 June 1944)	Ostland
Commanders and leaders
Vinicus VII Dimitrije Kovac Jakov Tadić Alexis III Ilia Matveev Arkhip Viktorov
Units involved
XII Corps XVI Corps 14th Air Division 19th Tank Army 109th Army 18th Air Army
Strength
Initial: 319,000 soldiers 413,000 armed civilians 519 tanks 1,209 artillery guns 185 combat aircraft At the time of Letnian offensive 510,000 soldiers 301,000 armed civilians 1,013 tanks 3,114 artillery guns 704 combat aircraft

The Battle of Kyustendil was a major battle front on the Northern Casaterran Front of the Pan-Septentrion War where Ostland unsuccessfully attempted to push for a rapid defeat of Sebrenskiya following the defeat of the Sebrenskiyan IX Corps.The battle is marked with close range air raids, fierce close quarters combat, and urban insurgency. The battle is regarded as one of the deadliest battles in Sebrenskiyan history, with hundreds of thousands of causalties as Sebrenskiya waged a final stand battle with Ostlandic forces. While the battle itself is not regarded as the turning point of the Pan-Septentrion War, Letnia's counterinvasion to keep Kyustendil from falling solidified Letnia's entry into the Casaterran Theatre, which is credited with hastening the end of the war in Casaterra.

Kyustendil was considered highly strategic by Sebrenskiya, as the sudden collapse of the IX Corps and Ostland's rapid advance left no time for Sebrenskiya to raise forces to defend its interior. If Ostland could defeat the Sebrenskiyan Army at Kyustendil, then "there is nothing standing in the way of Pancevo and Sebrenskiya's total defeat", as written by King Vinicus VII to Letnia in March of 1944. Sebrenskiya itself waged no counteraction to the Northeast of the city, instead intentionally basing its defences around the southern and western outskirts to prevent encirclement and the city itself, however, Ostlandic Forces had the city completely encircled by 1 June 1944.

On 5 June 1944, the Letnian Army initiated Operation Red Fields, a full scale counteroffensive into Sebrenskiya to break the seige of Kyustendil, sending two armies to challenge the Ostlandic seige and liberate Kyustendil if needed. The Letnian offensive caught Ostland's (unit) off guard, rapidly encircling them and ending the siege of Kyustendil after a surrender in 17 July 1944.