Battle of Mab

The Battle of Mab was a confrontation between the Charnean Army and the forces of the Azdarin Liberation Front which took place in the Charnean Far East in and around the town of Mab between the 15th and 18th of December, 2004. It is used to mark the culmination of the 2004 Hatherian Rebellion which saw a general uprising and spike in insurgent activity across several Azdarist and Gharib separatist groups in the long-embattled region of Charnea, although low-level conflict in this region would continue for many years thereafter. The Battle of Mab is remembered as the largest and costliest battle of the ongoing Charnean-Gharib conflict since the end of the Ninvite War nearly two decades prior, having retained that title ever since.

Prelude

During the last months of the year 2004, the explosion in military activity in the Far East was coming to a close. The popular uprising in the city of Hamath had been repressed, and units of the Charnean Army were pouring into the region to mop up

Battle

Failed Ahoyy assault

The opening of the Battle of Mab itself followed a period in which an ICA reconnaissance element hounded a force of ALF partisans for a period of 9 days across the Hatherian desert. This flight culminated in the town of Mab, situated in hills which abut the border with Kembesa. The recon element identified a larger force of insurgents in the town and, as had become standard procedure during the mop-up operations, called for an Ahoyy helicopter raid to hit the enemy forces entrenched in the town. The call was taken up by Azabenia Forward Air Base, home to two company sized detachments of the vaunted 1st Air Calvary of the Charnean Army specializing in airborne helicopter assaults. The call was received at 0634 hours on the morning of December 15th, with the unit's air group of eight helicopters and one fixed wing support craft taking off from Azabenia at 0639. Standard procedure during an Ahoyy raid was to deploy to the scene as fast as possible, with command staff utilizing flight time to analyze the target area using topographical maps and satellite imagery to plan their assault. In this circumstance, the town of Mab was well known to the ICA as it had been the site of skirmishes on and off for many years thanks to its strategic location near the border zone with Kembesa which made it ideal for illicit trafficking of arms. The attack plan would be to use helicopters to land teams of soldiers in the hilly terrain to the northeast of the town at tactically advantageous positions, while the fixed wing aircraft would deliver a platoon of paratroopers to the flat land near the main road on the southwest side of town. The plan would then have the paratroopers attack the town, driving the insurgents into the hills where they would be ambushed by the infantry holding the heights and reduced between them and the paratroopers, with the helicopters providing fire support.

The ICA assault fell into problems almost as soon as the actual assault began. Expecting the ALF insurgents to be lightly armed based on the reports of the recon team which had tracked them to Mab, the helicopters were unprepared for the force which held the town which was armed with heavy weapons and MANPADS capable of taking down their aircraft. One helicopter with its passengers still aboard was shot down at 0701 hours on its approach to a drop site in the hills north of town by a detachment of ALF fighters in the perimeter defenses of Mab. At the same time, the paratrooper detachment was assembling and beginning its attack on the town from the southwest, for which another of the gunships was called around to provide fire support. This helicopter was also targeted and shot down by ALF fighters with a MANPADS weapon. A third helicopter, along with the fixed wing transport, were damaged by heavy machinegun fire. The ICA commander of the operation recognized that the force in Mab was not an exhausted and lightly armed band which could be pushed into an ambush and wiped out but rather a much larger and better armed force determined to hold the town against them. Already facing casualties of at least a quarter of his force, the commander ordered a general retreat on foot until reinforcements could arrive at 0746 hours. To this point, the ICA had lost 2 helicopter gunships, two more aircraft damaged and 21 men killed to the insurgents mere 2. Upon hearing of the fiasco, regional command issued orders for a major force to be assembled from the roving units combing the warzone of the Far East to say siege to Mab, determined to make an example of the ALF fighters attempting to hold the town. The first of these units arrived shortly before noon, establishing a loose perimeter surrounding Mab.

Main battle

With the failure of the Ahoyy operation, the ICA bided its time preparing its next attack on the ALF. Aerial harassment was light compared to the first day of battle, which the ALF command attributed to the ICA lacking the means or inclination to bring swift retribution for their earlier victory. This seemed to be corroborated by what appeared to be a lack of presence by the ICA in the area, with the only fighting being small skirmishes in the hills north of town between recon units of either side. In fact, the ICA was low on aviation fuel from months of operation in the east and was stockpiling its reserves for a massive assault which would fall in the late hours on December 17th. The battle was reopened by the dropping of a single 3000lb bomb dead center on the town of Mab, which was done virtually without warning. The resulting blast destroyed the town's government buildings and the Azdarist temple, which were being used by the ALF as command and control centers. The strike decapitated the ALF command of their fortress of Mab, as well as dealing significant collateral damage to the civilian center of the town. The bomb detonated seconds before 2100 hours, with a major ground-based advance on Mab from three directions beginning immediately after the town was lit up the blast. Charnean ground forces, transported by A84 Inabarom, A45 Torka and unarmored trucks had advanced to the ALF perimeter with no helicopters overhead, knowing of the ALF's stockpile of MANPADS. They had also waited until sundown to begin their attack, seeking to leverage an advantage in night-vision equipment against their adversary.

By midnight, the ICA had penetrated into the center of fortress Mab from multiple axes, cutting off and encircling pockets of ALF fighters in their perimeter defense positions. One squad of infantry had even managed to reach the edge of the crater left by the 3000lb bomb which opened their attack. Bombing by ICA aircraft had been heavy during the opening minutes of the attack but was called off once the Charnean vanguard began to break through the ALF rings of defense in order to avoid friendly fire. In many instances, the Charneans were mere meters away from their enemies fighting door to door in the close quarters of Mab's winding streets and alleys. Charnean spearheads would divide the insurgents into a series of pockets and insulated positions, exploiting the ALF's decapitated leadership to split up their units and destroy them piecemeal. Nevertheless, the ALF defense ferocious. Many fighters chose to fight to the death, holding out for hours through the night and well into 18th. Loss of life was significant on both sides, although the ALF would pay a disproportionate cost.

Aftermath

Mab Massacre

The striking Battle of Mab resulted in tremendous collateral damage on the civilian population of the town, for which it was reported the Charnean Army forces held almost no regard whatsoever. An independent observer would note of the operation that the entire town of Mab, populated by some 30,000 civilians of which an estimated 4,000 were aligned with the ALF, was treated as an enemy stronghold. ICA air assets following no procedure for differentiating civilians from military targets during their bombing campaign on the town. The decision to mount the attack at night also carried a cost. Although they had a clear advantage in night-vision equipment, not all Charnean troops involved in the assault were so equipped, and those that were still suffered to differentiate between ALF fighters and Gharib civilians of Mab in the night fighting.