Kanjor

[Drax]

CLAIRON PICARD
 
ALDURIAN CAPITAL RETAKEN
 
Defense Ministry, February 17, 5609:   The National Army together with the Aldurian Military Contingent and Royal Mordusian Armed Forces had been besieging the Aldurian capital City held by its terrorist regime.
 
Since quite a few of the residents of the Capital did not escape before the terrorists retreated into the city, General Marc-Paul Montague, the General Commanding, Aldurian Expeditionary Force (AEF), recommended that  the Capital be stormed rather than suffer a prolonged siege. His plan was endorsed by the National Army Staff and National Defense Staff and approved  by Defense Minister Marcel Augereau.
 
Accordingly, an infantry division of the AEF’s 4th Corps entered the Capital from the northeast while a division of the Royal Mordusian Amed Forces entered from the northwest and the Aldurian Military Contingent (AMC) came in from the south.  Each of the three columns was supported by a tank battalion from 1st Corps.
 
The defending terrorist forces had managed to retreat from their defenses outside the capital bringing with them quite a few machine guns while having to abandon their artillery under heavy bombardment.  They also were able to salvage some shoulder mounted  rocket and grenade launchers and a few portable mortars.
 
The approach was somewhat cautious since it was unknown if the terrorists had any flamethrowers or shoulder mounted anti drone weaponry (such as that long in use by Kanjorean infantry) or had learned how to rig heavy duty explosives in buildings to blow up when entered.  As it turned out it was no to all three with the primary terrorist skill set being aptitude for murdering civilians and their doctrine of willingness to die to the last man.
 
The terrorists did have a lot of machine guns which turned out to be their primary defense.  In the outer areas there were a lot of individual enemy shooting from windows, and some dug in or barricaded positions particularly in streets flanked by sizeable buildings.  The AMC also encountered one community gymnasium complex that was rather heavily defended.
 
Further in as residential areas gave way to urban barricaded streets and somewhat fortified buildings  both of which were heavily defended were numerous while at the center of the city entrenchments were present in a park area almost constituting a fort.
 
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) and helicopters that were divisional assets preceded the advance. Once fire from windows was detected it was silenced by machine gun and rocket fire from the helicopters. Tear gas canisters launched by the advancing troops and helicopters cleared a number of buildings where terrorists were located. Terrorists fleeing the building rarely surrendered but were shot fleeing or trying to fire.  Further many Aldurian civilians escaped to Allied lines once beyond terrorist reach.
 
The enemy defending barricades in the street was a somewhat different story.  After challenging the advance with machine gun fire, their firepower was simply overwhelmed by numerically superior machine gun fire, explosive projectiles from tanks and air to surface rockets from rotary craft followed by storming the position by advancing infantry often from multiple directions.  Which led to a number of enemy captured as they either tried to stand fast or pull back but could do neither.
 
At to the gymnasium complex bristling with machine guns,  AMC silenced the fire on one facing with machine guns and grenade launchers supported by rocket fire from rotary craft and stormed the building using a lot of hand grenades to open the way. Once in, the AMC took the building room by room which did tend to let the terrorist display their aptitude for dying to the last man.
 
As Allied Forces moved into the urbanized center it was pretty much the same story with street barricades but with less opportunity to storm from more  than one direction so fewer prisoners were taken.
 
As to the defended buildings, some were sufficiently isolated that rocket fire from helicopters and tank fire and superior machine gun fire made storming manageable, but a number in much better tactical positions so once identified by reconnaissance UAV’s, the AEF called in elements  of the National Air Forces’ multirole fighter bomber wing of Fantome 2000 – 5F’s to reduce them to rubble so survivors could be shot down unless they surrendered which of course almost none did.
 
The final fortifications in a  park in the city center featured a a lot of machine guns. The helicopters and tank battalions together with superiority in machine gun fire from the infantry began to steadily weaken the fortifications and reduce enemy fire.
 
The Royal Mordusians had brought with them a sizeable number of portable mortars with which they seriously discomfited the front line enemy in their sector which suddenly tried to relocate to more interior position.  Seeing an opportunity the Royal Mordusians surged forward whereupon hand to hand combat ensued with the enemy being pushed back upon other sectors some of which found themselves in an untenable position and tried to escape.
 
Quite a few of the terrorists were able to die  facing the fire of infantry of 4th Corps or the AMC or fighting the Royal Mordusians but a number of others died or were captured trying to escape as  their final defensive position collapsed.
 
The Capital City of Alduria had been liberated.