Kalistan

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War Dispatches-  Artanian Sea Campaign Report
Declassified details show poor planning, near disaster by Kalistani Navy
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
January 18, 5612


Artanian Sea Campaign, July 5611, Tactical Map

The Declassified Final Report of the near disaster in the Artanian Sea Campaign which led to the complete destruction of Kalistani IV Fleet and the ultimate destruction of the majority of Kundrati's Naval Capacity has been released by His Imperial Majesty's Ministry of Defense today.  The Ministry of Defense said that the report was being released as an effort toward full disclosure and an effort to learn from past mistakes so they can be avoided in the future.  The Report was originally published in Kalistani Naval Journal, an academic journal covering strategic analysis and excerpted here.

Excerpts from Davis, Julie and Nathan Balderas.  5611.  "PUBLIC REPORT ON THE ARTANIAN SEA CAMPAIGN, JUNE - AUGUST 5611." Kalistani Naval Journal. (Dec., 5611) 12:123-142.

Ministry of Defense- Empire of Ananto and Kalistan
De-Class FORPUBINF

Preface
We wish to thank first the veterans of both the Kalistani IV Fleet and the I Fleet for their candidness in the collection of our data.  Those individuals were on the front lines of the battle and their debriefing took place from August 31, 5611 to October 20, 5611.  All those who were able and willing to speak contributed stories and accounts to the report that filled in our understanding of the four major naval battles that took place during the period of July 6 5611 and July 21, 5611.  Interviews were conducted at Newport Naval Logistics Station in Lodamun, where the First Fleet was in port for repairs and hospital.  The Series of Battles is collectively known as the Artanian Sea Campaign, and the operation was code named Operation Tsunami.

Prelude to conflict- Strategic Aims
On June 8th, following the declaration of War, the Fourth Fleet received orders to seek out and destroy all Kundrati naval shipping in the Artanian Sea.  Satellite phots revealed the location of the main body of the fleet to be about 185 nm south south west of the Island of Etxea, in the Artanian Sea.  

It was believed that Kundrati submarines had been dispatched east of the main body of the fleet to intercept the Kalistani Fleet.  Kalistani planners were confident that IV Fleet possessed a tactical advantage in submarine power, and once the Kundrati submarines were gone, the main body would be exposed to the full force of the Kalistani Fourth Fleet and would be neutralized with moderate damage and casualties.  I Fleet, which was more than 650 nm east of IV Fleet was designated as reserves and would assist in the battle against Kundrati Capital Ships once the submarines were cleared.  

Following the neutralization of Kundrati Naval Forces in the Artanian Sea, the combined IV and I Fleets would proceed to the Strategic Objective, and bombard the Kundrati Coastline to wipe out whatever stragglers remained, and then cripple Kundrati Naval Infrastructure.  

Kalistan had no air cover itself:  Its only air assets were 70 NH 64 ASW Helicopters on two Thiers Class Amphibious Assault vehicles, which were tasked with locating the Kundrati Submarine Force using Magnetic Displacement sensors.  It was unclear how much air power Kundrati had on station, but Kalistanis knew that Kundrati Air would be a significant issue in the battle.  Luthori Air and Navy was reportedly operating in the Artanian Sea, but it was not expected to play a role in what was intended to be an overwhelming and swift attack against Kundrati Naval Forces.

Battle 1 of the Campaign:  Battle of La Boca de Artania
The Kalistani Submarine detachments IVa and b were deployed ahead to hunt the Kundrati submarine units.  Between July 6 and July 9, a major underwater battle occurred between Kalistani and Kundrati Submarine units that led to the sinking of 12 Kundrati submarines (or roughly half of their underwater assets) and 18 Kalistani submarines (or about 40 percent of the IV Fleet's submarine component.)  

The Magnetic Displacement Helicopters played little role in the detection of the Kundrati subs, and the Kalistani units detected the Kundrati subs when it was too late, leading to early losses of two Kalistani Subs.  Over the three days and nights of the battle, the Kundratis, who submarines were more familiar with the Artanian Theater took advantage of their tactical knowledge to score several wins, and while Kalistan subs held their own, the damage was not enough to clear the entire sea of Kundrati submarines.  The battle was still raging as Kalistani surface vessels arrived and began assisting Kalistani submarine crews.  Surface vessels counted two subs destroyed, while the remaining 13 submarines of the Kundrati Navy tactically retreated to the second line of defense.  

The battle, which left a lethal number of Kundrati submarines alive, did not achieve Kalistani tactical objectives, failing to provide any assistance for the second wave of ships as they arrived to the theater.  Notable casualties on the Kalistani side included Captains Ryan Lonnigan, Rachal Rodriguez, and Gerald Benson, and the crews of the 18 submarines which were destroyed at sea and could not be evacuated.

Battle 2 of the Campaign:  Battle of Etxea Deeps
Satellites reported that the main body of the fleet had pulled north toward Kundrati, and Kalistani IV Planners decided to attempt to intercept them before they made for port, where they would be covered by shore batteries.  When IV Fleet engaged the Screeners of the Carrier Group, on the morning of July 12, they were still more than 120 nm from shore.  Here Kundrati air was launched from the Kundrati Aircraft carrier and flew sorties.  Kalistani anti-aircraft had some success against the aircraft, but most had not been launched, as only a few of them were designated as surface attack planes.

More destruction, however was accomplished by the multitude of smaller craft (frigates, corvettes and PT Boats) many of which possessed surface launched torpedoes which had a devastating effect on Kalistani surface craft.  Combined with the remaining submarine threat, which Kalistan was not able to successfully counter following the introduction of of surface ASW, and Kalistan suffered a withering defeat at the hands of the Kundrati Navy.  During this battle, they lost another half of their remaining subs (15 in all) and suffered a one third losses in remaining surface ships.

One quarter of all Kundrati Screeners and another three submarines were also destroyed during this battle, but like the first conflict, enough of Kundrati's surface fleet survived the battle to provide excellent support for the Main Carrier group that consisted of an Aircraft Carrier and two main battle cruisers.  Several skirmishes took place between July 12 and July 22 during this phase of the battle, before the battle was joined by the strongest of Kundrati's ships which had not even been engaged yet.

Battle 3 of the Campaign:  The Doom of the Fourth Fleet
On July 22, the Battle Cruisers and the remainder of the Kundrati Fleet maneuvered to begin an encirclement of the remaining Kalistani IV Fleet.  At this point, as the situation was getting critical, I Fleet was less than 65 nm away from the battle, and were headed toward the conflict at flank speed.  

But it was too late for the Fourth Fleet.  Several major battles were fought during the day of July 22, and by the evening of July 22, the Kalistani Fleet called a full scale retreat, as they were running low on ammunition.  More than 10 days of constant battle had crippled many of the remaining ships, and they had few munitions left and we running low on fuel and other supplies as well.  During the night, the Kundrati forces decimated the withdrawing ships, as Kundrai air harassed the 4th Fleet from the sky.  Remaining Kundrati submarines also harried the retreating Fleet as it pulled back to the east toward the 1st Fleet.  

By the morning of the 23rd, the Fourth Fleet had either been sunk or was in the process of sinking.  The destruction of the fleet was complete.  IV Fleet losses were 100 percent, and crew fatalities were are about 67% with another 33 percent of the crew wounded and adrift at sea.  On the morning of the 23rd, Kundrati Naval units proceeded to attempt to capture the wounded troops, who were instructed to give no quarter, leading to them attempting to fight from life rafts with small arms and 50 caliber mounted machine guns on LAFA ships that were deployed from sinking vessels.  Many of those encountered by Kundrati forces were killed in the water, and at the end of the battle, only 6% of the total of 14,000 sailors were rescued uninjured by the I Fleet.  The carnage and destruction was absolute.

Kundrati, for its part, lost one half of its remaining fleet in the fierce battle of the 22nd, but the Aircraft Carrier successfully made it back to the Artanian Coast in Kundrati, and its remaining air was transferred to bases in Kundrati.

Battle 4 of the Campaign:  Mop Up
The arrival of the Kalistani I Fleet was the end of the remainder of the Kundrati Fleet, who, like the Kalistanis the day before were now low on fuel and ammunition, and attempted to follow the Aircraft carrier back to shore.  As the First Fleet arrived, Kundrati remnants put up a fierce defense once more before being completely destroyed themselves.  What did them in more than anything was the shortage of munitions and the inability to resupply over such a short period of time following such fierce fighting the day before.  But they still did damage to the I Feet's submarine component as well as scoring hits on a handful of surface ships.

Kalistani subs took revenge against the surface ships, targeting and destroying nearly all of the capital ships in the Kundrati surface fleet, while surface crews made short work of most of the smaller ships and the remaining Kundrati submarines.  Like the Kundratis the day before, no quarter was given to Kundratis in the water, who themselves fought to the last man, but were ultimately dispatched by deck gun fire as revenge for the loss of the IV Fleet.  The remaining battles took place between July 23 and July 26.  Kalistani crews also dispathed several corvettes for search and rescue detail, and picked up whoever remained alive of the Kalistani naval personnel who were at sea.  Very few submariners were rescued:  nearly all went down with their ships.

Following the battle, I Fleet regrouped, and using the munitions it was carrying to restock supplies in the now obliterated IV Fleet, turned its guns and missile batteries on the Kundrati Coast.  It bombarded the shore of Kundrati for two days and nights, using realtime satellite forward observation as well as LAFA FOs who were dispatched from the main fleet.  In all, the First fleet destroyed a total of 60 percent of all Kundrati Naval facilities and ship yards, including dry docks, sub pens, refueling depots, and fabrication facilities.  It did not, however, hit the Aircraft Carrier which refueled on the night of the 24th and shipped out toward Kundrati Livonian facilities the next morning, before surface spotters could get into place to call fire missions.  The cloud cover over the shore hindered satellite observation, and by the time the cloud cover decreased, the carrier was well out of range of Kalistani I Fleet.

The Artanian Sea Campaign:  Aftermath
On July 30, the First Fleet was given orders to withdraw to Lodamun.  They had to save munitions for the possibility of encountering Likatonian Naval vessels which were rumored to exist and, it was suggested, could be making their way into the theater while the bombardment was taking place.  Kalistani Submarines cast a wide screen in front of the retreating Fleet, but no Likatonian ships were encountered over the route of withdraw.  Kalistani I Fleet dropped anchor in New Port on August 6, 5611.

Total Kalistani Casualties:
11,385 Regular Naval Personnel dead, 3,165 wounded, 783 rescued unharmed at sea.
IV Fleet Utterly destroyed and unsalvageable, I Fleet damaged
IV Fleet Losses
4 Kaliburg-C Class Destroyers
2 Luxon Class (Guided Missile Cruisers
4 Daniel Guzman Class Multipurpose Frigate
2 Ontiveros Class Frigates
12 Victor Class attack submarines
31 Indica-C Class Defensive Submarines
6 Sulari Class Corvettes
1 Thiers-Class Amphibious Assault Ship with 35 NH-64 ASW Helicopters

I Fleet Losses
1 Ontiveros Class Frigate
1 Victor Class attack submarine
1 Indica-C Class Defensive Submarine
1 Sativa Class Submarine
1 Gallegos class Patrol Ship
7 NH-64 ASW Helicopters
Most ships in I Fleet sustained heavy battle damage, but are being repaired.

Kundrati Losses
Kundrati Personnel Lost- Unknown, est 12,000 total casualties both dead and wounded
2 destroyers
2 battlecruisers
6 cruisers
24 submarines
17 frigates
12 corvettes
10 missile ships
40 patrol boats

Analysis
The reason Kalistan lost were two fold.

1. IV Fleet possessed a tactical superiority only in Submarines, as it was built primarily to defend the Karzon Strait and was not configured as an attack fleet, while it suffered a major disadvantage in surface ships.  Using it for an attack therefore was a misuse of its strengths, and even in its strengths, it failed to accomplish its primary tactical objectives of wiping out Kundrati subs in the first battle, and failed to do so in subsequent battles, and those Kundrati subs then provided an additional advantage in later battles.  And
   
2. An underpowered IV Fleet engaged a waiting Kundrati adversary without any air support, or reinforcement from I Fleet or any potential help from Luthori.  As a result, Kundrati forces possessed a number of advantages, both in terms of sheer numbers of surface ships, but also command of the air, which, even with modern radar driven anti-air gunnery, still did serious damage to Kalistan's exposed surface fleet.
   

The Battle was a minor strategic victory, but a tactical catastrophe for Kalistan.  While Kalistan did accomplish its primary and secondary war aims, the price it paid, with the loss of its premier front line fleet, as well as more than 14,000 battle casualties, about 70 percent of whom died in the battle, was a very high cost for the partial destruction of Kundrati Naval production capacity. 

Could anything have been done differently?  Yes

1. Kalistan excels in defense.  On the defense, the advantages Kundrati had would all be Kalistan's.  Kaistani subs ran into an underwater wall of submarines that were watching all approaches, and employed essentally wolf pack tactics to allow them to operate independently in a relatively combined battlefield and as such they were far more agile and mobile in the Artanian sea than Kalistani subs were.
   
2. Kalistan was far from any friendly territory.  Luthori is technically a coalition partner, but they played no role in this battle.  If Kalistan were defending the Karzon Strait, more reliable units, like Kalistani Air could shift to Lodamun and participate in the battle, and instead of having I Fleet in reserve, they would have also had II Fleet in reserve as well that would have swelled the naval ranks similar to a hive of bees alerted to a threat.  As it was, it was 1 Kalistani fleet, which on paper looks to have parity in terms of overall firepower, but that firepower was simply misallocated to tools which were not appropriate for this battle, against several major capital ships which were not even engaged until the Kalistani Navy was severely damaged. and whom themselves had taken comparatively minor casualties to that point.
   
3. And short of luck being on Kalistan's side, which by definition is beyond anyone's control, the most important thing Kalistan could have done is simply not attack.  It is unclear whether Luthori or any of the other erstwhile "partners" will follow up with an invasion or air war in Kundrati, so it is not even clear if the war's overall strategic goals will be met anyway.  It is likely that Kalistan simply sacrificed its fleet so that Kundrati cannot do to Kalistan what they did to Xsampa with impunity.  While that cost is one that is worth paying, the cost of that is far too high to ever ask Kalistan to do it alone again.
   

@WarDispatches