Marko Kukolja
Marko Kukolja | |
|---|---|
 Kukolja in 2007 | |
| Born | 23 July 1957 Slocova, Syara |
| Allegiance |  Syara |
| Service/ | Syaran National Army |
| Years of service | 1988 - 2014 |
| Rank | Colonel General |
| Unit | 1st Army |
| Battles/wars | Refusal War Zemplen War |
| Awards | see below |
Marko Kukolja is a Syaran former general best known for commanding 1st Army during the Zemplen War.
An ethnic Scitarian, Kukolja fought for the Wardens in the Refusal War and was commissioned into the Syaran National Army as a Lt. Colonel in 1988. In 1996 Kukolja was promoted to Colonel, and then to Brigadier General in 2000. Kukolja was promoted to Major General in 2004 and given command of the 25th Mechanized Infantry Division on the eve of the Imerti Conflict, but did not directly take part in the fighting. In 2007 he was promoted to Lt. General and given command of X Corps, only to then be promoted to Colonel General in July of 2008 after the outbreak of the Zemplen War. Kukolja was placed in charge of 1st Army for Operation Aspis which drove Ruvelkan forces from Zemplen. Kukolja advanced his forces on Sagerejo but halted following the commencement of the Ruvelkan Winter Counter-Offensive. In the spring First Army was assigned the task of supporting the 6th Army in the Battle of Sagerejo. Kukolja's repeated attempts to break through Ruvelkan lines north of the city resulted in heavy losses but little gains. After Syara's breakthrough, Kukolja kept First Army in defensive positions around the city and amid the foothills of the Kurilla Mountains, where his forces quickly parried Ruvelkan attacks during the Ruvelkan Autumn Offensive. His forces then attempted local offensives during Operation Epitagma, but were unsuccessful. During Operation Homefront 1st Army managed to largely hold its position, but the collapse of the rest of the Army Group forced 1st Army to retreat. It's last efforts during the war were defensive operations east of Sopron until the war ended. Kukolja remained in uniform until his retirement in 2014.
Kukolja's reputation during the Zemplen War has been the subject of both criticism and praise. Kukolja's repeated failures on the offensive stood in sharp contrast to his success at defensive operations, commanding one of the few Syaran forces that held its own during the final Ruvelkan offensive of the war. Despite his mixed success he was popular among his peers for his jovial attitude and pleasant nature, though his commanding officer Field Marshal Arisdages Koundakjian expressed dissapointment in his performance, a view that Kukolja reciprocated in his memoirs which were published in 2016.