First Battle of the Plateau (1944)

First Battle of the Plateau
Part of the White War
Site of the Battlefield
Date December 4, 1944 - January 19, 1945 Location Gold Plateau on the border between Bodny and Shohuan Result Decisive Shohuanese Victory
Belligerents
Shohuan	Bodny Ohanian Liberation Front Supported by: Balakia Komania
Commanders and leaders
Fvost Tsuvbic	Matna Dalir Talirno Hrama Tciskp Markha
Units involved
6th Hurdwau Padron Later 7th Hurdwau Padron	TBD
Strength
35,400	Estimate 65,000 - 100,000+
Casualties and losses
12,742 killed 26,628 wounded 26 Tanks 143 Aircraft	23,728 killed 23,572 wounded 172 Tanks 272 Aircraft

The First Battle of the Plateau was a battle fought primarily between Bodny and Shohuan. The battle lasted slightly over a month and played a pivotal role in Shohuan's successes early on in the war as well as preventing a vast encirclement of the Shohuanese Home Army ensuring the survival of the Shohuan's capital. The battle is noted for being the first major victory for Shohuanese forces as well as for Supesta (General) Fvost Tsuvbic.

Prelude

The situation in Vaniua was unfolding quite rapidly. Numerous exercises were underway with all four major powers of Vaniua and war was ever more so becoming a definitive result. The main concern from all powers was who would start the conflict. As Komania and Balakian forces neared a unification of their borders in the East, Shohuan at the last minute allied Bodny, a lesser of the four powers of Vaniua.

The alliance itself was shaky as Shohuan was dominated by the Sannist Government and the Bodnians by a Balkist Government. The Shohuanese in response to the conflict erupting in the East sent most of their home forces out to engage the Balakian-Komanian Alliance in an effort to delay the respective nations' actions.

Several units were left behind to ensure the Bodnians were not quick to dishonor their alliance which they as a result had done as expected. The situation was precarious as the Bodnians were heading north with a Bodno-Ohanian Force to liberate the Gold Plateau which has always been occupied by Ohanian peoples. The estimates of how many troops altogether this force would arrive with was innumerable to Shohuanese observers.

Last Minute Changes

One factor that is argued to have saved the Shohuanese position in the south was the dismissal of Kacubv Jukob, an Ohanian officer who was originally in charge to ensure the locals would not resist Shohuanese assimilation. However, a week before Bodny declared war on Shohuan, Jukob was accused of being a Pashaist and having Kuulist ties. He would be given a show trial before his execution in the capital and Fvost Tsuvbic would replace him, another Ohanian officer but of mixed descent.

Tsuvbic despised the Ohanian separatists and knew that the Bodnian alliance would not be effective, ordering the positions that could not be occupied effectively by his troops be mined and the major transportation routes be defended with the utmost priority to ensure a potential breakthrough could not succeed. Owing to luck, a Shohuanese-Bodnian defected to the troops two days before the attack and forewarned the defenders of the imminent threat. Tsuvbic warned the High Command of this new information but his report was placed on low priority due to the lack of an actual conflict on the border, meaning his reinforcements and spare supplies were not guaranteed.

Initial Battle

The battle officially began with a bombing run on the forts along the border followed by Bodnian air-dropped pamphlets demanding the defenders surrender. Tsuvbic ordered that those who wished to desert could ask for their papers of leave prior to the full engagement. Only 27 took the offer and only one would not return willingly to the unit before the end of the week.

Western Siege

Ohanian troops spearheaded an assault on the Western fortifications of Fort Ktsana while Bodnian troops provided support. The assault on the Western Plateau was a failure as a sandstorm built up denying the Bodnians an opportunity to utilize air support as well as properly send volleys of artillery attacks on Shohuanese locations. Several volleys of the Bodnians misfired on Ohanian troops resulting in a full retreat of the Ohanian troops.

Bodnian armored formations attempted to encircle the fortress but were bogged down in the sand and became victims of long range anti-tank guns from Shohuanese units once the sand storm broke off. The Bodnian 6th Kanuvo attempted to utilize the mountains for a side route but were harassed by loyalist units of Ohanian troops. This conflict for the mountain pass would last several days until Shohuanese reinforcements would arrive to dislodge the Bodnian forces.

Eastern Flank

The main brunt of the Bodnian forces would attack the Eastern Flank in an effort to dislodge the defenders before aid from the Center could arrive. The main force struck the forces along the Ohanian lowlands, dealing near fatal blows to the Shohuanese positions, but luckily pulled through when Ohanian troops mistaking Bodnian forces for the Shohuanese, engaged and defeated their own support units. The Bodnian forces would soon collapse into a full retreat as the first wave broke and the Shohuanese air force dislodging the Bodnians from the main road, denying them armor access to the fortifications.

Situation Worsens

As time began to pass, the Bodnians had regained their offensive momentum and restarted their offensive, this time focusing full initiative on the center. The Bodnian air force took part in bombing defensive positions of the Shohuanese with elements of the division falling into retreat as the Bodnians attacked the now destroyed positions.

The majority of the 2,750 men stationed in the Jaksf Heights fled their positions as the Bodnians scaled the mountains to meet their foe. The remaining beqant of 26 men on the 728th Beqant managed to hold strong against the intense assault under the command of Padronkjeg Vbulk Uvasi. The twenty six men managed to hold in their immensely outnumbered position for two days against the thousand strong Bodnian force laying siege to their position on top of the heights. On the third day's morning, the Bodnian guns silenced their fire on the position with a request for the Shohuanese Beqant to surrender in sight of the odds against them. The remaining eight soldiers of the Beqant responded to the Bodnian parley by executing the messenger as he returned to his lines. The Bodnians rebegan their assault and after six hours of intense fighting, the Bodnians managed to finish off the remaining eight soldiers and took the heights. This major delay would play an vital role in Bodny's defeat.

Shohuanese Aid Arrives

As the battle began to stall as Shohuanese defenders still held key positions, the Bodnians planned to dig in and reorganize their troops. Believing the Shohuanese to be disorganized and diminished of major supplies, the Bodnian officers agreed to wait for their own supplies to ensure a victory.

This stall would be their undoing as the Shohuanese 7th Hurdwau Padron was en route with an armored column of tanks and mechanized beqants. On December 29, the initial thrust began to drive the Bodnians from their gains and almost entirely returned the borders back to their prebattle positions. Almost the entire Ohanian liberation front withdrew its support for the operation as a result and turned to begin a guerilla war while the Bodnians fell back. This offensive would end by January 6th.

Counter-Attack

The Bodnians, now on equal footing with Shohuan in terms of available manpower, began to entrench their reserves and consolidate whatever ground they still held on the battlefield. Most troops were in poor morale as most armored units were now at 35% of their original strength and the air cover was denied as cloud cover made accurate air missions impossible.

The Shohuanese started their own offensive by January 9th, engaging the Bodnian units with reinvigorated morale and supplies as the armored units engaged the now dimished Bodnian resistance. The offensive would only last two days as the Bodnians entered a full retreat recognizing that their offensive had been faltered. The 7th Hurdwau had effectively surrounded several retreating contingents and as a result, several thousand Bodnian troops surrendered.

Aftermath

The battle was devastating for Bodnian morale. It paved the path for a later Shohuanese victory through the White War. The Bodnians would later surrender on July 18, 1945 once Galadrosia had been occupied by Shohuanese marines. The campaign would be a success and beginning of the end for Vaniuan Unity forces which would eventually end the war in Vaniua in 1949.