Kolodorian Ground Forces
| Kolodorian Ground Forces | |
|---|---|
 Insignia of the Kolodorian Ground Forces | |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Country |  Kolodoria |
| Type | Army |
| Size | 450,000 active duty 2,550,000 reservists |
| Garrison/HQ | Salhar |
| Motto(s) | Until the last chain is broken |
| Engagements | Vinyan War Cherniyan War 2019 Invasion of Vyzhva |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Marshal Ambrozijs Zvejnieks |
The Kolodorian Ground Forces (Kolodorian: Kolodorija Sauszemes Spēki) is the land component of the Kolodorian People's Defense Forces. The largest and most promiment branch of the KPDF, the Ground Forces are responsible for the land based defense of Kolodoria. Officially created in 1954, the Ground Forces have taken part in a number of armed conflicts since their inception, including the Vinyan War, the Cherniyan War, and the 2019 Invasion of Vyzhva. At it's peak during the Kraulis era the Ground Forces numbered over two million men in uniform. Following reforms in 2006 and 2010 the Ground Forces began shifting away from its traditional mass mobilization and decreased the size of it's regular active duty forces to 450,000 troops, where it remains to this day.
History
Directive No. 7 officially created the Kolodorian People's Defense Forces in 1954, and with it the Ground Forces. Originally envisioned as a territorial defense force of 250,000 troops organized into 25 divisions, with support from Letnia and Polvokia the Ground Forces steadily expanded both in size and arsenal and by 1970 numbered over a million men under arms. In preparation for Operation Viper, the invasion of Tír Tairngire, the Ground Forces further expanded to nearly 2 million troops, making them the largest army in all of Vinya. On 11 April 1975 the Ground Forces led the invasion of Tír Tairngire sparking the Vinyan War. After initial success the KPDF was pushed back across the border and into Kolodoria. With much of Kolodoria's industry and agricultural centers under threat of occupation by the combined Anglian-Ivernic forces, the Ground Forces shifted momentum by invading Tir an Crainn in what became known as Operation Copperhead. With a two front war Kolodoria was able to push the coalition forces out of southern Kolodoria and re-establish control of Zavijava, which it held onto until the end of the war.
In 1996 the Kolodorian Ground Forces (KGF) launched Operation Diamondback, the invasion of Cherniya, and set off a larger conflict with Letnia that came to be known as the Cherniyan War. Initial success by the Ground Forces was countered by the arrival of large scale Letnian reinforcements, which caused the war to bog down into a battle of attrition. Neither side made major gains but after four years growing economic issues destabilized Kolodoria's position; following the death of Aleksis Kraulis in mid-2000 Kolodoria withdrew and negotiated a ceasefire, ending the conflict. Despite hundreds of thousands of dead, wounded, and missing, there was no exchange of territory. In the subsequent civil unrest that followed the death of Kraulis the KPDF as a whole was downsized, with much of the deductions falling on the Ground Forces. In 2005 the Ground Forces were reduced to 700,000 regular troops, then later to 550,000, and finally 450,000. Beginning in 2006 the Ground Forces began abandoning the decades old mass mobilization principles in favor of increasingly flexible modular brigades. In 2010 Kolodoria amended its conscription policy, reducing it to a lottery system and increasing the number of professional volunteers within the armed forces. In the 2010s Kolodoria slowly mended relations with members of the Vinyan Defense Union, which culminated in Kolodoria's assistance in the 2019 Invasion of Vyzhva, for which the Ground Forces contributed over 500,000 personnel, 3,300 tanks, 5,500 armored vehicles, and 2,900 artillery pieces.
Structure
As a branch of the Kolodorian People's Defense Forces, the Kolodorian Ground Forces fall under the State Bureau of Defense. The President of the Council of Ministers is the supreme commander-in-chief of the KPDF. The State Bureau of Defense is headed by the Defense Administrator. The main command of the Ground Forces is known as Ground Forces Central Command (GFCC), who's headquarters is located in the capital of Salhar. The supreme operational commander of the Ground Forces is known as the Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief (GFCINC). Ground Forces Central Command is subdivided into Directorates responsible for specific functions within the Ground Forces, namely the Operations Directorate, the Intelligence Directorate, the Logistics Directorate, the Training and Administration Directorate, the Personnel Management Directorate, the Medical Service Directorate, and the Military Technology Directorate.
The Ground Forces are divided between Kolodoria's five military districts, East (3rd, 15th Corps), Central (6th, 4th Corps), South (2nd Corps), West (17th, 8th Corps), and North (7th Corps). The total strength of the Ground Forces amounts to roughly eight full strength regular divisions and 12 full strength regular combat brigades. The Ground Forces Reserve Component consists of reserve personnel and formations that exist on paper, to be called up in the event of an emergency. Approximately 325,000 reservists were mobilized for the 2019 invasion of Vyzhva, many of them directly taking part in combat operations. Fully mobilized the Reserve Component is expected to field some 130 divisions and 85 independent brigades. Such units are organized into Operational Reserve Groups, consisting of three mechanized infantry divisions and one tank division, supported by 3-4 independent brigades.
Doctrine
Experience in the Northern War heavily shaped the doctrinal development of the Kolodorian Ground Forces. Kolodorian commanders see war as a mass maneuver of powerful mechanized forces. During much of the Kraulis era the Ground Forces operated on the principle that wars would be fought and won ultimately at the operational level, and Kolodorian doctrine reflected this by envisioning operation as grand maneuvers of divisions and brigades, supported by mass directed fires against enemy forces and positions. An essential characteristic of Kolodorian tactics and operations was speed; the KGF sacrificed many things for speed, including tactical flexibility. After speed the second most important aspect was shock, which the KGF defined as the combination of surprise and firepower. Speed and shock would be delivered by a mechanized force supported by fires from artillery, aviation, or rockets and missiles, with the main goal being to rupture enemy lines and pave the way for an insertion of a mobile armored force into the enemy's tactical, and later operational, rear echelon. Disruption of the enemy's rear services was an essential aspect of Kolodorian planning, based on the assumption that Kolodorian forces deeply interwoven within the enemy's rear echelon would prevent the full utilization of an enemy's fires or weapons of mass destruction.
The advent of precision guided munitions, long range ballistic and cruise missiles, combined with the reforms of the 21st century, have altered the manner in which the Kolodorian Ground Forces operate, but some key aspects remain the same. In recent years the emphasis of combat operations being conducted primarily by combined arms regiments has shifted towards what has become known as 'battlegroups'; reinforced battalions capable of conducting their own combined arms operations. Said battlegroups remain largely ad hoc formations, and it remains to be seen whether there will be any official acknowledgement of their role as the primary combat force in the Kolodorian Ground Forces. In recent years the primary focus and development of the KGF has centered around the increasing sophistication of their artillery and fire support systems. In addition, reconnaissance, both technical and otherwise, have also become a predominant aspect of Kolodorian combat doctrine, with combat brigades now boasting an entire battalion of reconnaissance forces both mechanical and digital. In essence, the ability to identify the location and disposition of hostile forces, as well as the ability to deliver munitions beyond nominal weapons range, has become the focus of the KGF in combat.
To ensure success in this complex synchronized form of mechanized maneuver warfare, the KGF depends wholly on established and prescriptive processes. Such conventional processes make up the doctrine. Doctrine is studied in depth and adhered to faithfully, without question. The Kolodorian military tradition is far from the only military to rely on process-driven tactics. The logic behind this is rather simple; if six artillery troops working on a gun cannot speak to each other (a very real problem throughout Kolodorian history) except through the most rudimentary battle drill, that every prescriptive process becomes critically important to success. Likewise, if an infantry platoon commander lacks the decision-making authority to vary from any plan, the prescriptive process of the battle order must be adhered to faithfully and without question. To offset the rigidity of this system Kolodorian officers are highly educated individuals who develop a simple plan, built a complex series of branches and sequences. While tactically inflexible, such basic processes combine exponentially at each subsequent higher level of command to give operational leaders the full ability to make use of their combined arms forces.
Personnel
The officer corps makes up the professional nucleus of the Kolodorian Ground Forces. Scholars receive at the least the equivalent of a bachelors degree prior to their commission as an officer, and many branches such as engineering require a masters degree at the minimum. Officers must undergo further training and education in doctrine and junior officers must serve in a variety of staff and service support roles prior to being assigned a coveted command position. In this manner, the junior officer's leadership competencies are mentored carefully before being offered a leadership post.
The most common recruitment method within the KGF remains conscription, which as of 2010 is done through a lottery system. Conscripts within the Ground Forces serve for two years, after which they are discharged and returned to the civilian economy or enrolled within the reserve system. A small percentage of senior enlisted troops and junior sergeants who demonstrate adept competency in their craft are offered the opportunity to remain in service on a multiple-year contrac.t Such contracts are the path to a military career and retirement benefits. Contracted troops make up the backbone of the junior leadership and technical specialists within the KGF. Conscript troops receive initial and advanced training over a three to six month period. These troops are then sent forward as replacements to regimental units. There they will receive further specialized training unique to the regiment's mission.
Personnel within the KGF are organized into "troop categories" based on their role within the KGF. For administrative purposes, the Kolodorian Ground Forces comprise three categories; combat arms, special troops, and services. These are administrative categories pertaining to personnel, not organization categories pertaining to units. Thus, troops of one combat arms branch, such as artillery, may organizationally be in support units subordinate to a unit made up of troops of another combat arms branch (for example, mechanized infantry or tank). These support units may also include special troops and services. Combat arms includes the mechanized infantry, tank troops, missile troops and artillery, air defense troops, and airborne troops. Special category includes engineers, signals, chemical troops, motorized transportation, railroad and maintenance troops. Services include medical, veterinary, topographic, finance, justice, administrative, quartermaster troops, and the military band.
Equipment
Much of Kolodoria's military equipment is descended from armaments supplied by Letnia during the early years of the Socialist Republic. Beginning in the 1960s Kolodoria's defense industry began mass production of Kolodorian variants of Letnian weaponry and technology, eventually producing domestic tank, aircraft, artillery, and ship designs, in addition to numerous small arms. Although never top of the line, Kolodoria's industrial base ensured that the armed forces were never short on armaments and munitions.
At their peak, the Kolodorian Ground Forces fielded
- 28,000 tanks, including 2,000 Kr-92, 3,000 Kr-83, 5,000 Kr-76s, 11,000 Kr-67, and 7,000 Kr-58
- 45,000 armored personnel carriers
- 17,000 infantry fighting vehicles
- 21,000 towed artillery pieces
- 4,000 self-propelled howitzers,
- 5,000 rocket artillery
- 750 ballistic missile launch systems
- 855 surface-to-air missile launch systems
- 7,000 towed anti-aircraft guns
- 11,000 towed anti-tank guns
- 2,000 helicopters
Beginning in 2004, Kolodoria began selling and dismantling large portions of its dated arsenal. Between 2005-2016 Kolodoria is estimated to have destroyed or sold 16,000 tanks, 22,000 personnel carriers, 10,000 infantry fighting vehicles, and 15,000 artillery pieces, both towed, self-propelled, and rocket artillery. Despite such reductions, it was estimated in 2018 the KGF still fields some 8,500 tanks, 23,000 armored personnel carriers, 9,000 infantry fighting vehicles, and 18,000 artillery pieces of all kinds.