MKSheppard wrote:Hum, perhaps I should add a sort of East Shepistan (aka Bangladesh) situation where the Old Dominion defeated Shepistan in a war 30 years ago, and imposed a partition plan...
A history of Old Dominion/Shepistan relations: 1960-Present
1962: Surveyor Incident
Since the departure of the Raj, the subcontinent remained divided between Shepistan and the Old Dominion(given such a name due to it's loyalty to the Crown). Shepistan was the larger and more powerful of the two, although it had to struggle to control East Shepistan, and the Old Dominion's entry into the MESS did much to ensure it's security against Shepistan.
On August 12th 1962, the Old Dominion AGI
Surveyor was operating off the Northwest coast of West Shepistan, tracking a Shepistani naval exercise. At 1317 a Shepistani frigate opened fired on the
Surveyor with both 5 inch guns. After shelling the
Surveyor 7 times, the Shepistani Frigate departed the area.
Onboard the
Surveyor fires and flooding raged out of control. The crew was forced to abandon ship, and only a handful were able to make it off the vessel(due to confirming the destruction of sensitive material) before it went underwater. The survivors(7 of them) were picked up by a passing Shinra freighter.
The Old Dominion military rapidly mobilized, as did the Shepistani military, and shots were exchanged across the disputed borders. The Shepistani government announced that the
Surveyor had entered a live fire exercise, and yes it was very sad they got shot. After a 7 week standoff(during which airborne regiments from various MESS nations were flown in) Shepistan and the Old Dominion agreed on a phased demobilization.
Winter 1965-66: First Shepistani-Old Dominion War
Prelude to War
By October of 1965 the various MESS intelligence agencies had received indications that Shepistan was preparing for an invasion of the Old Dominion.
Tensions had been high, and artillery barrages were exchanged on an almost daily basis along the border. Hardliners had in recent years taken control of the Shep party, and loudly talked of "Cavalier slights!". Indeed, with gloom the Old Dominion leadership looked at the correlation of forces. And they weren't good.
Of the less than 2000 tanks in Dominion inventory, the most modern were the 300 Centurion tanks, followed by 570 AMX-13. The army had over 800 M4 Shermans, but only 430 were upgraded to "Super Sherman" standard. In fact, over 400 still had 75mm guns! Most of the APCs were M3 Halftracks.
The Shepistan army had recently finished a massive and thorough modernization program, with over 1500 M48 MBTs, and 200 M60 MBTs. There APCs consisted of M113s, BTR-50s, and BTR-60s. There sadly was no real comparison between the armies in terms of firepower on the ground(although during the war poor maintenance practices would "ground" over half of the AFVs).
The situation in the air was a little better. The ODAF had over 600 combat aircraft, the oldest and least capable being the F-104 starfighter. F-8 Crusaders and F-4 Phantoms(then entering service with the ODAF) rounding out the rest. Attack aircraft consisted of A-4s, Buccaneer S.2s, and A-7s. In addition, due to the fact that the ODN's sole large carrier was in drydock undergoing an extensive(and expensive!) modernization overhaul, the "homeless" 30 ODN Phantoms and 20 or so Buccaneer S.2s would be able to be put to use.
Shepistan had close to 900 combat aircraft, the vast majority being MiG-21s and MiG-19s.
A naval standpoint is where the OD had clear superiority, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Of the two belligerents, only the OD had aircraft carriers, the small 27,000 ton
Victory and the larger
Centurion which was unfortunately undergoing an overhaul to "phantomize" it. The ODN had over 50 escorts, most of then new or recently refurbished. 8 SSKs rounded out the force.
The Shepistani navy, on the other hand, had 30 surface combatants, none of them younger than 15 years old. It had had one SSK and 4
LPDs.
Most of the crossing points across the border would be blocked during the winter, with this in mind(and after conversing with MESS allies) the Old Dominion decided to launch a pre-emptive strike.
Operation Rattlesnake
Shepistani LPD Frederick underway during a peacetime exercise
Victory preparing the airstrikes associated with OPERATION RATTLESNAKE
On December 3rd the ODAF and ODN launched over 150 warplanes in one sortie, attacking 8 Shepistani airbases(7 in West Shepistan, 1 in East Shepistan)and destroying 200warplanes on the ground.
Off the coast of East Shepistan the
Victory attacked the naval base located in East Shepistan, sinking the Shepistani LPD
Frederick, then in the middle of offloading a Naval Infantry battalion. Follow on airstrikes destroyed marine and aviation fuel containers, as well as two minesweepers and inflicted damage to a frigate. The
Victory taskforce would effectively blockade East Shepistan for the war's duration.
A second ODAF sortie of 80warplanes in the evening destroyed another 92 Shepistani aircraft, still on the ground. Due to the lack of challenge from the SAF, the Dominion JCS correctly assumed that there was disorder in the Shepistani chain of command, and proceeded to bomb command and control targets, exasperating the problem.
It wasn't until the afternoon of the 5th that SAF fighters began to challenge ODAF planes, and the quality of the SAF pilots proved inferior, on average, to the ODAF pilots.
With air superiority secured, airstrikes began to hit bridges, powerplants,and fuel depots, whenever possible near populated areas. The intent was to galvanize the Shepistani leadership into launching a land offensive before spring, forcing the invading force to enter thought the few routes cleared of snow and ice.
It worked.
Land campaign
The Shepistani 1st Army entered Rogers Pass on 12 December, brushing aside the pickets and guards. On the Dominion side they crashed into the XII Corps. In a three day battle XII Corps held off the onslaught, destroying almost 200 M48 MBTs at the loss of 12 Centurions and 22 AMX-13s. But little by little, the flood of Shepistani armor and infantry pushed the XXII Corps back, and the Dominion forces retreated 15 miles to Wythe Ridge.
There the XII Corps commander used the superior terrain to once again block the 1st Army advance. Progress began to be measured in meters. Even worse, MESS airborne regiments had begun to arrive in theater, bolstering the Dominion forces. Farther North at Lynchburg, the 13th Shinra Infantry(air assault) threwback a probing attack.
By the 20th of December the Shepistani advance had virtually ceased, and the arrival of MESS air units had confirmed the denial of the air to Shepistan. Skirmishing continued until 3 January, when Shepistan agreed to return to the prewar borders.
Aftermath
The Shepistani government decided to end the conflict before a spring campaigning season for several reasons. The first was East Shepistan, isolated under the Dominion Blockade, was on the verge of revolution, and the Shepistani army units couldn't control both the populace and defend the borders.
The second was the rapidly movement in theater of MESS units. 3 armored divisions were on their way and would be in-country before the end of January. More would be arriving shortly there after, bringing fresh troops as their own forces withered from the disrupted supply and chain of command that the MESS control fo the skies entailed.
The third was the distinct lack of international sympathy and support for Shepistan, and in fact many nations outside of the MESS began an embargo against the country.
The borders returned to their pre-war location, and the blockade of East Shepistan was lifted. Internally, much of the officer corps was purged by the Shepistani Interior Ministry, and "The Great Shep" took over the reigns of party leadership. He vowed revenge. He would have it.
Dominion/MESS Deaths:
4,672
Shepistani Deaths:
8,965
[OOC: Man, took longer than I thought it would...will write the second war later)
) but are great assets for the game due to their storytelling potential, like Shroom.