Battle of Einanen (2915)

The Battle of Einanen was a battle of the Arjentrian Revolution, taking place outside the city of Einanen, the industrial core of the Conoilithian Empire. It proved to be a decisive victory for the Arjentrians.

PRELUDE
3 days before the Battle of Einanen, Arjentrian revolutionaries had marched on the city, with the entire 1st Revolutionary Army emerging from out of the Heinrikanen mountains and entering the city with little resistance; much of the garrison had been sent off to the front lines in the war against Mittelrijk, so as a result Einanen was relatively defenceless at the time. The massive city was completely within rebel hands by the end of the day, as the city had a large ethnic Arjentrian population sympathetic to the revolutionary cause, and also due to the fact that there was simply no organised resistance strong enough to stop the 1st Revolutionary Army. The garrison which had remained in the city all surrendered within hours, and like that the industrial core of the entire Conoilithian Empire had been captured.

The Imperial Conoilithian Army found out about the city's fall relatively quickly, and the 12th Field Army was formed, consisting of the 12th and 13th Infantry Divisions, made up largely of reservists (and the 12th Field Army was relatively understrength for Conoilithian field armies at the time). It was immediately dispatched to retake the city from the rebels, alongside the 4th Dragoon Brigade, which had already been engaged in suppressing rebellious Arjentrian activity.

The revolutionaries immediately began digging fortifications around the city, and seized the city armoury, which gave them much needed weapons such as machine-guns and light artillery, and even several heavy field guns. They acquired a very sizeable inventory of these, as Einanen was the main production centre of the Conoilithian Empire, and had the largest number of arms factories in the entire empire. The Arjentrians would also find 11 of the new Imperial Armoury 'Year 15' tanks, which were secretly being produced in Einanen at the time, and managed to figure out how to operate them. These tanks would prove to be instrumental in the upcoming battle.

1st Arjentrian Revolutionary Army:
Just under 30,000 men in total, consisting of 5 infantry brigades and 1 cavalry brigade, the 1st Arjentrian Revolutionary Army was the largest formation of the Arjentrian Revolutionary Army at the time. It initially lacked heavy equipment like machine-guns and artillery - they only had a handful of Mittelrijkian machine-guns and light mountain guns acquired previously - although it would capture many of these when it seized the armoury in Einanen. It also had 11 captured Imperial Armoury 'Year 15' tanks.

12th Army Group
The 12th Army Group had at its disposal around 25,000 men, with 20,000 infantry from the 12th and 13th Infantry Divisions, and 5000 dragoons from the 4th Dragoon Brigade. The Imperial Army forces had at their disposal during the battle a 60-gun strong arsenal of artillery (understrength due to most guns being deployed at the front), consisting of a mixed array of 75mm howitzers, mountain guns and 100mm field guns.

ARJENTRIAN PREPARATIONS
Einanen was surrounded by hills, with a logging camp in a partially deforested wood to the northern side of the city, and the Heinrikanen mountain stretching north to south on the east. The Arjentrians quickly established a complex network of fortifications around the city, taking advantage of the hilly landscape. Machine-gun nests and trenches were dug along ridges, and barbed wire was laid out to funnel Imperial Army attacks down bottlenecks, which were covered by artillery pieces. Some of the machine-gun nests were camouflaged, hidden among bushes, tall grass or fallen logs. The logging camp would become a strongpoint for the revolutionaries, as a major railroad ran through it; the Arjentrians placed the heavier field artillery which they had captured there.

It was decided that the Year 15 tanks would be used to provide mobile heavy supporting fire (as intended in their role as assault guns), and at the beginning of the battle they were to be kept behind reverse slopes so that they could be hidden from enemy view, or were placed within protective earthworks that they could easily drive out of by reversing. Along the main road leading to the city from the west, which was predicted to be the main route of approach for imperial forces, explosive charges were placed where the terrain surrounding the road was rocky and steep; the Arjentrians hoped to trigger landslides that would delay the Conoilithians.

In case the Imperial Army managed to break through all their outer defences, barricades had been set up in the city, and a handful of machine-guns were spared for placement within the city even prior to the battle. High-ranking Revolutionary Army officers also ordered for the bridges in Einanen - which had numerous ravines crossing through it - to be rigged with explosives, although not all troops were willing to carry out this command.