Istrenyan Crisis: Difference between revisions

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==== Battle of Teremba ====
==== Battle of Teremba ====
Teremba was the key entryway to Lokokeja. Taking the town would allow for use of its wharf, rail junction between the coastal rail line and the mountain rail line, as well as access to Highway 1 - which ran the length of Istrenya to Karaba. The Norham Light Infantry encircled the town, and with fire support from the Craigfearn Fusiliers, managed to seize key objectives by June 17th, even with rebels in the city putting up stiff resistance. Within the town, parts of two Liberation Battalions, including the headquarters from the 1st Battalion, were destroyed due to combined mortar fire and the Combat Controller Section from the Arcer Air Force attached to 2nd Battalion, Norham Light Infantry coordinated with the Royal Arcerion Naval Air Service, coordinating air strikes and close air suppor to the infantry as the conducted the tough job of deliberate clearance in Teremba.  
Teremba was the key entryway to Lokokeja. Taking the town would allow for use of its wharf, rail junction between the coastal rail line and the mountain rail line, as well as access to Highway 1 - which ran the length of Istrenya to Karaba. The Norham Light Infantry encircled the town, and with fire support from the Craigfearn Fusiliers, managed to seize key objectives by June 17th, even with rebels in the city putting up stiff resistance. Within the town, parts of two Liberation Battalions, including the headquarters from the 1st Battalion, were destroyed due to combined mortar fire and the Combat Controller Section from the Arcer Air Force attached to 2nd Battalion, Norham Light Infantry coordinated with the Royal Arcerion Naval Air Service, coordinating air strikes and close air suppor to the infantry as the conducted the tough job of deliberate clearance in Teremba.  
Despite a successful seizure of the town, and the now limited ability to Liberation forces to defend Lokokeja, there was a significant amount of damage to the civilian infrastructure, including the local electrical stations which had been destroyed by Arcer mortar fire. Then commander of the Norham Light Infantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Iain Gonnegal remarked on the performance of the Istrenyan National Guard, "..at times we spent more staff hours and effort try to deconflict the armed rabble that we had fighting alongside us, than fighting the communists in the town."
[[File:Airborne drop 11 brigade.jpg|thumb|Members of 11 Para Brigade are inserted into Drop Zone 'Mike' near Mogtepeni, Istrenya during their 1960 air assault as part of Operation Insolent. ]]


Despite a successful seizure of the town, and the now limited ability to Liberation forces to defend Lokokeja, there was a significant amount of damage to the civilian infrastructure, including the local electrical stations which had been destroyed by Arcer mortar fire. Then commander of the Norham Light Infantry, Lieutenant-Colonel Iain Gonnegal remarked on the performance of the Istrenyan National Guard, "..at times we spent more staff hours and effort try to deconflict the armed rabble that we had fighting alongside us, than fighting the communists in the town."
==== Battle at M'kelo Airport ====
==== Battle at M'kelo Airport ====
7 Rifle Brigade after two months of patrolling and fighting with the fifth and sixth Liberation Battalions through the Southern Mountains of Istrenya had arrived at their objective, and began to engage Communist forces at M'kelo Airport, which was the largest civilian air freight airstrip in Istrenya. McAdams was determined to seize it for the Joint Task Force, as the ability to do so would allow them to stage fighters deep within Istrenya, as well as allow for a forward medical facility as 7 Rifle Brigade's deep drive into the Istrenyan foothills had meant evacuating their wounded had become more and more difficult.  
7 Rifle Brigade after two months of patrolling and fighting with the fifth and sixth Liberation Battalions through the Southern Mountains of Istrenya had arrived at their objective, and began to engage Communist forces at M'kelo Airport, which was the largest civilian air freight airstrip in Istrenya. McAdams was determined to seize it for the Joint Task Force, as the ability to do so would allow them to stage fighters deep within Istrenya, as well as allow for a forward medical facility as 7 Rifle Brigade's deep drive into the Istrenyan foothills had meant evacuating their wounded had become more and more difficult.  
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With the situation now stabilised, the remainder of the year was spent assisting the OPSNS and SASR as they looked to arrest the remaining political dissidents that had subverted the existing government's rule. President A'kale Treo, despite formal protests against continued economic sanctions from Arcerion against Istrenyan agriculture, permitted the continued actions of the Arcer Armed Forces as they quelled further unrest. Specific attention was paid to Malentine and Porlosi foreign fighters and ensuring they were handed over to Istrenyan authorities. The Istrenyan National Guard consolidated their few divisions and attempted to reconstitute, with both 11 Parachute Brigade and 7 Rifle Brigade being withdrawn to Arcerion, leaving only 8 Rifle as a stabilisation force. The remaining Arcer troops assisted the reconstruction of the National Police Forces, and utilised helicopters to move individual companies around Istrenya throughout 1961 to put down smaller riots and uprisings to prevent another surge of violence. As of fall 1961, the Arcer Armed Forces began a full withdrawal from Istrenya, leaving the country to the Presidential Office and Security Forces.  
With the situation now stabilised, the remainder of the year was spent assisting the OPSNS and SASR as they looked to arrest the remaining political dissidents that had subverted the existing government's rule. President A'kale Treo, despite formal protests against continued economic sanctions from Arcerion against Istrenyan agriculture, permitted the continued actions of the Arcer Armed Forces as they quelled further unrest. Specific attention was paid to Malentine and Porlosi foreign fighters and ensuring they were handed over to Istrenyan authorities. The Istrenyan National Guard consolidated their few divisions and attempted to reconstitute, with both 11 Parachute Brigade and 7 Rifle Brigade being withdrawn to Arcerion, leaving only 8 Rifle as a stabilisation force. The remaining Arcer troops assisted the reconstruction of the National Police Forces, and utilised helicopters to move individual companies around Istrenya throughout 1961 to put down smaller riots and uprisings to prevent another surge of violence. As of fall 1961, the Arcer Armed Forces began a full withdrawal from Istrenya, leaving the country to the Presidential Office and Security Forces.  
==== Arcer Embassy Closure ====
==== Arcer Embassy Closure ====
With the fallout of the candal being sustained assaults against Arcer citizens and diplomatic infrastructure, the [[Arcerion Foreign Office|Foreign Office of Arcerion]] formally withdrew its embassy and permant staff from Istrenya in 1961, including the closure of the consulate in Iraso. Prime Minister MacCallough commented publicly in the Kinnaird Financial Times that Arcerion's engagement in the Southwestern Cronan Peninsula was no longer to be centered around Istrenya and ties with their government, but instead would shift to a larger whole-of-peninsula approach that would see an increase in Porlosi diplomatic overtures.
With the fallout of the scandal being sustained assaults against Arcer citizens and diplomatic infrastructure, the [[Arcerion Foreign Office|Foreign Office of Arcerion]] formally withdrew its embassy and permant staff from Istrenya in 1961, including the closure of the consulate in Iraso. Prime Minister MacCallough commented publicly in the Kinnaird Financial Times that Arcerion's engagement in the Southwestern Cronan Peninsula was no longer to be centered around Istrenya and ties with their government, but instead would shift to a larger whole-of-peninsula approach that would see an increase in Porlosi diplomatic overtures.
== OPSNS Involvement ==
While the Arcer government has rarely commented on the official nature of the Office of Public Safety and National Security or its missions, several news articles, books, and undisclosed interviews with former employees during the 1980s and 1990s highlighted the extensive role of the OPSNS in Istrenya. The OPSNS would use its secretive and privately-owned airline, [[Air Crona]], to insert members of the Special Arcer Service Regiment, as well as its own Intelligence and Operations Directorate operatives. Air Crona and the OPSNS also conducted secretive resupply missions to the Istrenyan resistance West of the Line of Contact, providing weapons, equipment, and training to combat and tie down NIPF forces. The OPSNS also was alleged to have undertaken a series of assassinations, car bombings, acts of arson, and other clandestine missions to degrade the NIPF's ability to fight.
 
OPSNS involvement culminated in the death of Ma'kle Tytosh, who was shot to death at his new headquarters in Sofrine, Istrenya.
 
It has been alleged in several newer sources of media that the two politicians that were attacked, John Francis and Nathan Phillips, were actually OPSNS Intelligence Officers working in Istrenya and they were attacked by the Istrenyan National Police Forces, who used the communist and socialist riots as a cover-up to hide their activities intimidating Arcer influence in Istrenya. The Istrenyan government and the Arcer Foreign Ministry have both openly decried and declared such allegations outlandish and false.  


== OPSNS Involvement ==
== Aftermath ==
== Aftermath ==
[[Category:Arcerion]]
[[Category:Arcerion]]
Istrenya would continue to be a relatively poor economic and Indigenous nation in South Crona. Continued economic sanctions from Arcerion, relatively weak and unstable currency, as well as continued instability crippled its growth and development until the 1990s and Arcerion re-establishing a diplomatic presence with a consulate in Karaba. Arcerion's long term public opinion of the conflict was of a necessary police action to suppress communists that were a short ferry ride away from one of Arcerion's largest cities. Many regiments and squadrons in the Arcer Military still remember the conflict as the first major action after the Second Great War, with the Royal Moorden Regiment still celebrating July 23rd as the anniversary of the victory at M'kelo Airport. The Norham Light Infantry have named their main garrison in Arcerion the 'Teremba Barracks' after their engagement in Istrenya. In Istrenya, the conflict is more commonly remembered as a civil war, with Ma'kle Tytosh being one of the few individuals from that period still considered a national person of significance despite attempts by the Populist Government to destroy any national memory to prevent another uprising.