San Rositan invasion of Kenega

San Rositan invasion of Kenega
Part of Kenegan War
From top right and in clockwise direction: HMNS Kenega damaged under missile attack; Imperial troops of 3rd Battalion, Royal Erin Regiment in action in Kenega City; Two aircraft of the San Rositan Navy above Kenega; San Rositan troops in Terelenga
Date Late 2022 Location Kenega, Northen Wishtonia Result San Rositan victory
Belligerents
Vionna-Frankenlisch Kenega	San Rosito
Commanders and leaders
Baroness Bamber   Christina Wappelode   Sir Edwin Fitz-Bryce † Edith McAdam   Kendal Devarnum Ewan MacTavish	Efrain Veracruz Jorge Sepulveda
Units involved
Imperial Garrison of Kenega Royal Gendarmerie Royal Coast Guard Royal Park Ranger Service	La Armada de San Rosito Ejército de San Rosito Fuerza Aérea de San Rosito
Strength
Ground Forces 2,200 troops, 75 armoured vehicles around 4 battalions Naval Forces 5 ships 3 corvettes, 31 patrol cutters Air Forces 24 aircraft 10 turboprop aircraft, 125 helicopters

The San Rositan invasion of Kenega, named Operation Barracuda by the San Rositan military, was an operation launched in late 2022 by forces of the Republic of San Rosito to invade and capture the island of Kenega a protectorate of Vionna-Frankenlisch. The operation was the opening of the Kenegan War. With an overwhelming superiority in numbers and materiel, the San Rositans were able to land amphibious and airborne forces on Kenega and seize strategic points on the island, inflicting heavy losses on the Vionna-Frankenlischian and Kenegan defenders. After a short period of sporadic and (in some places) intense fighting, the Kenegan and Imperial authorities surrendered to the San Rositans. Despite scoring a decisive victory, the San Rositans were unable to eliminate the defenders entirely and significant portions of the Imperial garrison and the Kenegan forces were able to escape to form a guerilla insurgency which lasted for the rest of the conflict.

The island was eventually retaken by an Imperial task force, bringing an end to the Kenegan War several weeks later.

Background

Ownership of Kenega

San Rosito had long maintained a claim to the island of Kenega. Considered a joke by many observers, the claim to the island rested on claimed descendance of the founders of San Rosito from the families of the original Espicutan colonial settlers of Kenega. Espicutan colonists had founded the settlement of Terelenco (now Terlenga) in 1570 and coexisted relatively peacefully with the native population. Though Terelenco expanded over the following centuries and other settlements were established, the colonists never laid claim to the whole island. The first power to claim the entirety of Kenega was Gaul. The Gauls ejected the Espicutan colonists from Terelenco in 1769 and expanded their control over the whole island with the construction of a fort and naval base on the eastern coast (approximately where Kenega City is today). The Kenegan Revolution of 1813 saw the Gaulic government forces overthrown on much of the island and the remains of the garrison besieged in the fort. The fort fell when Frankenlischian forces arrived the following year and the Battle off Hutanjia of 1815 brought an end to the colonial wars in the region with Kenega and other Gaulic possessions in eastern Wishtonia being ceded to Frankenlisch. In spite of Frankenlischian decolonisation in the region of Wishtonia in the 1950s, Kenega and Owaya remained Imperial possessions. Kenega remained peaceful from that point until the San Rositan invasion.

Failed Diplomacy

In the lead-up to the invasion, both Vionna-Frankenlisch and San Rosito displayed only minor interest in resolving the claim diplomatically. In June 2021, in the latter days of Dochlov Zimmermann's Conservative government, Vionna-Frankenlisch was presented with an ultimatum by San Rosito. The ultimatum demanded Imperial withdrawal from Kenega and a handover of power to San Rosito with a deadline set in the following year. The general who delivered the ultimatum, coincidentally, was Jorge Sepulveda, who would go on to be one of the principal San Rositan commanders during the invasion. The ultimatum was ignored and the Conservative government in Vionna-Frankenlisch was soon replaced by one led by the Imperial Party under Arthur Astron and the Kenega situation was swiftly forgotten by the new government.

Continued San Rositan petitions to the Teremaran Security Organisation and other international bodies to support them over Kenega were ignored as well. In fact, San Rosito's standing in the TSO particularly was at rock bottom due to border conflicts with its neighbors. The Queendom of Espicuta, similarly, had complaints ignored by the TSO as their government and portions of the Espicutan public were furious about San Rosito's claims to former Espicutan possessions. The Espicutans were further insensed by the genealogical aspect of the San Rositan claim, which was unverified.

Kenegan Defence Forces

Responsibility for the defence of Kenega was down to Vionna-Frankenlisch and a combined arms force was spread across the island as a defensive garrison. Imperial forces were dispersed across four locations on Kenega: the main garrison station at Port Faronham, Ewickford Barracks in central Kenega City, Terlenga Coast Guard Station at Terlenga on the island's eastern coast, and Hilton Barracks at Wexborough on the island's south-western peninsula. Overall command of the Imperial garrison fell to the Governor-General, but Brigadier Christina Wappelode (the commander of Port Faronham and the ranking Imperial officer on the island) was generally accepted as the de-facto commander. Kenega had never been fortified to the extent of other Imperial colonial outposts. Budget constraints had led to planned defensive networks around Terlenga and the Wexborough peninsula being cancelled in the 1990s and more recent proposals were rejected due to political concerns involving the Kenegan administration. The proximity of Owaya also contributed to the lack of fortification on Kenega as the strong garrison of Owaya was considered strong enough to reinforce Kenega in the event of a war. Fixed guns and coastal fortifications, common of other Imperial possessions, were therefore unavailable to the defenders except at Port Faronham which boasted some minor defences.

The Imperial ground forces on Kenega totalled 2,274 troops. 1,460 of these were based at Faronham in four units: the Imperial Kenega Rifles (a locally-recruited rifle battalion), 14th (Independent) Company of the Imperial Army Corps of Marines, 201st Independent (Rocket) Battery of the Royal Artillery, and B Company of 3rd Battalion the Royal Erin Regiment. 400 troops were stationed at Ewickford Barracks under Lieutenant Colonel Alexandra Fitz-Morton: A Company of 3rd Battalion the Royal Erin Regiment, and 2nd Squadron of the Earl of Hackett's Own Lancers. At Terlenga Coast Guard Station, 74th (Independent) Platoon of the Imperial Army Corps of Marines (40 troops) was stationed under Lieutenant Garret Haye. And at Hilton Barracks under the Viscount Dyfenrir was: the Grenadier Company of 2nd Battalion the Duke of Glynmoran's Regiment, 1st and 2nd (Kenega) Troop of the Imperial Frontiersmen, and a company of armed sailors designated Naval Infantry Company Hilton (374 troops total).

Imperial naval and air forces were mostly based at Faronham while at Terlenga, Commander Elizabeth Molland commanded HMNS Kenega City, a large patrol vessel. The Imperial naval station at Faronham consisted of three Town-class frigates (Terlenga, Ourapeka, Marousha) and the Colony-class destroyer HMNS Kenega. The station was commanded by Commodore Sir Edwin Fitz-Bryce. Major Edith McAdam commanded the small IAS station at Faronham. The Port Faronham Air Group consisted of: 44. Independent (Reserve) Flight from Fighter Command, 51. Independent (Reserve) Flight from Strike Command, and the locally-recruited Royal Kenega Air Squadron. These three units only totalled 24 aircraft, mostly of outdated designs and vastly outclassed by the San Rositan aircraft.

Kenegan local forces took the main role in the defence. Four battalions of the Royal Gendarmerie alongside units of the Royal Park Ranger Service and the Royal Coast Guard. These local forces were equipped with large numbers of helicopters and modern small arms which put them generally on-par with the Imperial and San Rositan infantry, but they were not trained for conventional warfare which proved a major disadvantage when they came into combat during the invasion. The 34 vessels of the Royal Coast Guard were mostly destroyed or captured during the early stages of Operation Barracuda. Several of the RCG's patrol cutters were able to escape and these were involved in the insurgency which followed the island's surrender.

Aftermath

Imperial response

Something of a rarity for the Imperial Armed Forces, widely considered a lethargic and slow to react military, planning for a response began before the situation had even been fully understood in Frankenlisch. Felix Morrison, Director of Special Operations, began planning for Operation Overcoat before the first day of invasion was over. Orders for the Imperial Navy's Quick Response Force to sail for Wishtonia were issued late on the first day of invasion and the force set sail fifteen hours later.

Within three days of the first San Rositan landings, significant preparations for war had already been completed. Task Force Kenega was officially established in expectation of a counter-invasion, Princess Adelaide of Riverland-Palatinate was appointed as overall commander. The Prime Minister, Arthur Astron, addressed the House of Commons the day following the invasion, stating clearly the Imperial government's dedication to Kenega and its willingness to fight the war. A War Cabinet was established on the first day of the war. A significant war credit was approved by Parliament and, the following day, King James made a formal address to the nation. Though forces on Owaya were unable to reinforce Kenega before the overall surrender of the defenders, the colony began its own preparations including the imposition of martial law.

In Owaya, the closest Imperial possession to Kenega and the only other Imperial possession in Wishtonia, there was a brief panic but a swift response by the colony's Governor General, the Earl of Amin, calmed the situation and allowed for a measured response to the crisis in Kenega. Martial law was invoked and a series of restrictions to civil liberties were grudgingly accepted. The Imperial garrison was placed on high alert but the deployment of ground forces to Kenega (the intended first response if Kenega came under threat) was considered too risky. Acting against orders from Frankenlisch, the Earl of Amin ordered the deployment of the Owaya Division of the Imperial Navy towards Kenega to link up with vessels escaping from the invasion. Under air cover from Owaya, this force would prove instrumental in protecting the few evacuees from Kenega. The Owaya Defence Force was mobilised and work immediately began on preparing the island for the arrival of fresh troops from Vionna-Frankenlisch.