Battle of the Rabaciauskas Plains

Battle of the Rabaciauskas Plains
Part of Vinyan War
Anglian tanks during the battle
Date 18 - 22 October 1976 Location Zavijava Result Tactical Stalemate Withdrawl of VMF from Zavijava
Belligerents
Kolodoria	Tír Tairngire Tír Glas New Tyran Tír Ealga Tír an Fáill Crioch Fuinidh Hallia Themiclesia
Commanders and leaders
Oktavians Zvinelis	Marcus Hefferman
Units involved
Fourth Army Group 4th Corps 67th Guards Mechanized Division 73rd Guards Mechanized Division 86th Infantry Division 29th Tank Division 8th Corps 46th Mechanized Division 79th Guards Tank Division 80th Mechanized Division 90th Infantry Division 16th Corps 59th Guards Mechanized Division 62nd Mechanized Division 99th Guards Tank Division 104th Infantry Division	First Army I Corps 7th Cavalry Regiment 1st Homeland Division 2nd Homeland Division 6th Homeland Division 8th Homeland Division IV Corps 9th Cavalry Regiment 9th Homeland Division 10th Homeland Division 11th Homeland Division Third Army III Corps 1st Armored Division 1st Infantry Division 3rd Infantry Division 5th Infantry Division Anglian Corps 1st Armoured Division 3rd Armourded Division 5th Infantry Brigade Themiclesian Corps 1st Division 2nd Division Hallian Corps 3rd Mechanised Division 7th Mechanised Division Vinyan Corps 3rd Brigade
Strength
335,000 troops 2,745 tanks 2,292 IFVs 1,989 APCs 1,844 artillery pieces	300,000 troops 1,975 tanks 1,895 IFVs 1,640 APCs 1,105 artillery pieces
Casualties and losses
14,292 killed 23,459 wounded 2,382 captured 1,588 AFVs destroyed	9,497 killed 19,644 wounded 4,850 captured 1,021 AFVs destroyed

The Battle of the Rabaciauskas Plains was major engagement during the Vinyan War. It occurred betwen 18-22 October 1976 in Zavijava, a disputed territory fought over between Kolodoria and the Vinyan Multinational Force. The battle took place on a nearly 300 kilometer front about 175 kilometers west of the city of Haldana, in the middle of the Rabaciauskas Plains. With nearly 5,000 tanks involved, and many additional armored vehicles, it was the largest armored battle to take place in Septentrion since the Pan-Septentrion War.

General Marcus Hefferman, commander of the Vinyan Multinational Force, hoped to draw the Kolodorian Fourth Army Group into a battle of maneuver where they could be defeated in detail. Having already failed to stop the Kolodorians from crossing the Azuolas River, Hefferman concluded that a direct engagement was the only remaining option to prevent Kolodoria from seizing control of Zavijava again. Colonel General Oktavians Zvinelis, commander of Fourth Army Group, hoped to encircle and annihilate the First Tairngiric Guards Army and Third Glasic Guards Army to pave the way for a recapture of Zavijava. Although the two sides were largely equal in manpower, the Kolodorian Corps were significantly more mechanized than their VMF counterparts, giving Fourth Army Group significant advantages in armor and artillery.

Although envisioned as a battle of maneuver the fighting quickly bogged down into an attritional engagement defined by heavy usage of artillery and costly mechanized assaults. Efforts by both sides to maneuver were halted by fierce counterattacks and deep reserves each force could field. VMF efforts to outmaneuver Kolodorian forces were undermined by the high mobility of Kolodoria's mechanized divisions, while Kolodorian efforts at encirclement were undermined by hasty redployments of VMF reserves of the Hallian, Themiclesian, and Anglian Corps. After four days of fighting that left thousands killed and wounded, as well as over a thousand armored vehicles destroyed on both sides, neither side had accomplished their objectives. However the mass engagement had distracted VMF attention long enough for the Kolodorian 27th Corps to cross the Arins River further east, which threatened to outflank VMF forces and cut off their escape through Ino Valley. On 24 October Hefferman ordered VMF forces to withdraw, ceding Zavijava to Kolodoria.