History:
The first army of the Alversian People's Republic was officially created in the year 1604 to support the new government formed by Trezan Baxtor in the south of Icor, due to differences with the established government of his former lieutenant, Sammi Mathias. It was named the Army of the Alversian People's Provisional Republic and initially commanded by another one of Baxtor's former Lieutenants from the Black Falcons, General Samuel Tate, who was tasked not only with assembling and equipping this new force but suitably preparing it for the inevitable action against the Republican Army assembling further north. This was a daunting operation as, aside from a few units which had defected from the Republican Army on Baxtor's orders, the bulk of the Provisional Army's volunteers were poorly armed, trained and equipped with little in the way of artillery or armour. Worse than this, Tate tried to follow Baxtor's directive of protecting the entire PPR, which meant his forces were spread thing over open ground they were very poorly suited to defend. The Republican offensive came the following year and was utterly devastating. Under heavy pressure, most Provisional units routed and fled deep into their own territory, allowing the Republicans to rapidly conquer most of the PPR, including the important cities of Illesia and Arlowe. Indeed, it was not until they reached the southern most point of the continent that order could be restored and defensive lines rebuilt.
Their forces shattered, the Provisional Army fought a vicious defence for over thirteen months to hold the line while on Sirite, their forces had likewise been driven back, eventually regrouping around the city of Las. It was at this point that Adrian Cavourna defected with his troops over to the Provisional side and took control of the forces on Sirite. Here, he was able to reverse the situation and counter-attack, establishing a credible holding for the PPR on the continent. Seeing his success and recognising that the main Icor campaign needed someone with his skill, Baxtor promoted Cavourna to commander in chief of the Icor front. His first goal was to take the Provisional Army, exhausted and demoralised from the static, back to the wall defence of the Oakhelm – Sienna line and regroup them. Most of the soldiers were volunteers, still poorly armed and trained while desertion was a serious problem and exhaustion rife. He spent six months intensively training the new recruits, rotating units on a regular basis to give new soldiers a taste of battle and to let the more experienced forces retrain, regroup and rearm.
By the beginning of 1607, the Provisional Army was ready to go on the offensive. Cavourna initiated a series of brilliant feints and bluffs to leave the Republican army in confusion before his main attack. The Cavourna Offensive threw the Republicans back in disarray and allowed the Provisionals to retake Arlowe, Venner and Illesia. They were eventually stopped at the border of Sannigran, having overextended their supply lines. Cavourna ordered the troops to dig in and prepare to hold their new takings. This did not last long before General Given, C-in-C of the Republican Army, launched the massive Given Offensive at the start of 1608. Attacking with massive numbers of armour and infantry, the Republicans hoped to cause the same collapse as 1605. The Provisional Army of 1608 was a different animal to the one that had started the war. They were battle-hardened, experienced and, thanks to overrunning many depots in the Cavourna Offensive, as well armed as their counterparts. Despite this, the overwhelming numbers against them and a dangerous flanking manoeuvre forced the Provisional Army into a fighting retreat. After weeks of bitter fighting they lost the city of Venner before finally stopping the Given Offensive at the River Rhen. Although he had lost most of the territory taken, Cavourna had saved the bulk of the Army from destruction.
As the 1609 Battle of Arlowe raged (an average of 20,000 casualties a day) the Army regrouped. The Republicans were unable to cross the Rhen until they had taken Arlowe and so both sides threw troops into it. Cavourna was happy to use it as a block action while he prepared for a counter offensive against the rapidly collapsing Republican Army, a process helped by the 260 elite Black Falcon Commando divisions operating behind enemy lines. In late 1609, the Provisionals counter attacked and their opponents simply collapsed, liberating the almost conquered city of Arlowe. It was at this point, that the Provisional People's Republic became known as the People's Republic and the Army, the People's Army. By the start of 1610, they were just outside the capital Icoras, closing in from two sides after a steady advance from the west. After fierce fighting, the capital fell and the Republic officially surrendered.
Though the war raged on for another nine months, mostly reducing the final few Republican strongholds in northern Sirite, the bulk of the fighting was over. By the time the Civil War ended in 1611; 234 million soldiers had been called up to fight across Icor and Sirite and they had paid a heavy price for victory; 55 million had been had been killed, 83 million wounded and 14 million missing.
The next engagement of the Army came in the form of the Delan War against the natives of Alversia's biggest moon, who felt that they should remain independent while Alversia believed that Dela was a part of Alversia's sovereign territory. The Alversian Army was ordered to invade and take the planet, the first offensive action of a united Alversian Republic. The force that was initially dispatched consisted of 8m troops and was commanded by General Robert Jameson.
At first, the campaign went as expected. The battle-hardened and experienced Alversian troops brushed aside their poorly armed Delan counterparts and approached the capital. Here however, the situation degenerated for the Alversians as former Photenican defences around Mastan proving more extensive than first thought. The invasion quickly stalled and turned into a long, protracted siege. The Alversians lacked both the required armour and artillery to break the siege and so were forced to engage in frontal offensives with infantry which produced few results and suffered very heavy casualties. The numbers of Alversian troops grew until eventually the Army reached 40m of which 25m were engaged in the siege of Mastan against around 12m defenders.
The rest of the planet fell quickly under Alversian control, the People's Army proving too strong for the Delan militias they encountered. Guerilla campaigns were quickly defeated. Despite these successes, the capital continued to stubbornly hold out. Conditions within the city were terrible but, for three full years, they suffered a blockade from Alversian vessels and constant bombardments from Alversian artillery batteries.
In 1621, the scope of the war widened as the Silarians joined the war on the side of the Delans. The Silarian navy quickly broke the Alversian blockade over Mastan and landed supplies and reinforcements. The 3m amphibious troops were well equipped compared to the Delans but inexperienced and poorly trained for surface warfare, most of their planet consisting of ocean. Regardless of this, their presence freed up Delan troops who, starving and outnumbered, were thrown into a concentrated offensive against Alversian positions around the village of Oakhelm.
The attack catches Jameson off guard and his forces are driven back from the capital, breaking the four year siege. The defeat is a humiliation for the Army and James is swiftly replaced by General Ryan Steele, a former Republican commander from the Civil War. He quickly consolidated the Alversian position and halted the already faltering Delan offensive. A rapidly organised counter-attack overwhelms the Delans and drives them back, beyond their defensive positions and into the city itself, the alliance no longer having the strength to resist the Alversian tide. Dela surrenders just days later, less than three weeks after the beginning of their offensive after suffering 6m military deaths and many more through disease and malnutrition. The Alversians lost over 9m killed in the battles on Dela while the Silarians dead reached 500,000. Silaria surrendered before a ground campaign against them could be launched but it was APA units who occupied the floating cities that dot the planet's landscape although their impact on the underwater world was minimal at best.
The Army only had to wait until 1640 for it's next offensive action against the Photenicans in the Second Alvo-Photenican War, the first involving no ground combat. The Alversian Army here proved itself to be much more capable than in the Alversian Systems War, easily grinding down and capturing the static defences that formed the bulk of Imperial defences. Photenican troop numbers were rarely encountered however as the Army mostly faced locally organised militias. The war ended with a resounding victory for the Alversians.
By the midway point of the century however, the confidence in the Alversian Republic is quickly waning. The public opinion within the Army is that the government has weakened considerably and many believe that it is being manipulated, deployed as a deterrent against the riots sweeping the country, with units being deployed in their local areas to contain friends and family. Desertion is rife and mutinies become alarmingly common, particularly on Alversia. This action culminates in the Saneesh Mutiny of 1666 when an entire Regiment eject their commanding officers from their barracks and take control. Loyal government units react quickly to place the barracks under siege but the action drags out, weakening the government's position. The garrison surrenders after two weeks when their supplies run out. Too late, the government reacts, trialling 2,000 men for mutiny. All are convicted and executed. The move outrages the Army Commanders who, in a meeting which becomes known as the 'Hurst-Delaney meeting' Commander in Chief Hurst privately informs Prime Minister Delaney that he cannot guarantee the Army's loyalty.
This apathy is demonstrated during the Silarian Civil Rights movement which the Army refuses to move against. Without their primary defence, the Alversian government is eventually forced to agree to the protester's demands, after the political system is torn by four consecutive votes of no confidence. The Army's leaders are replaced but this does not stabilise the situation. Indeed, in protest to the stance, the new Prime Minister, Michael Carter, is assassinated by an Army sniper, Private Patrick Cole taking advantage of his sharpshooter duty to shoot him through the heart in 1705 while giving a speech in Illesia. The action provokes outrage throughout the Republic and even the Army chiefs quickly distance themselves from the act. Cole takes his own life two days later after being cornered by Police units.
The tension continues for the rest of the decade until the emergence of the SASM in 1710. For the first time in nearly a century, the Army is required to defend the Republic against an external threat and finds itself badly wanting. Military units on the outer colonies are quickly overwhelmed by Bioroid attacks, suffering 100% casualties in most cases and unable to prevent their worlds falling to the SASM threat. Following these devastating defeats, the government fears that the already torn Army will simply collapse.
However, to the surprise of the government and, indeed, the population as a whole, the resolve of the Army actually stiffens following these heavy casualties. Acts of heroism are reported all over the Republic as units stand their ground and sacrifice themselves to allow the evacuation of civilians on a dozen colonies. Entire units are destroyed but their stories strengthens the determination of the entire Republic. The formation of 'People's Brigades' occurs all over the Republic, with huge numbers of volunteers bolstering the Army's numbers. The emergence of new technology eventually leads, in 1713, to the successful defence of Aretia, in which the Army finally manages to repel a SASM land assault, albeit at a heavy price. A counter-attack two days later destroys the SASM presence on the ground, marking the first Alversian victory against the SASM threat. Two days later, Marshall Smith annihilates the SASM fleet in space and the SASM war ends. The manner in which the Army and population have rallied together to defeat the SASM heals many wounds suffered by both sides.
In 1770 however, the Alversian government decided that it was time to bring the continent of Carv into the Republic as it had been independent in the 170 years or so since the liberation of the planet. The reptiles had become increasingly aggressive over the past century, attacking Alversian settlements and outposts on their continent, established decades earlier with Carvon permission. This culminated in the Tai Li massacre in which forty Alversian workers and their families were killed by Carvon warriors. Outraged, the Alversian Army mobilised and dispatched a force 2m strong to take the continent. It was believed the operation would take two months to complete.
This, however, turned out to be a tremendously optimistic estimate as the Carvon proved much more difficult to defeat than first anticipated. The Carvon were normally separated into disparate and warring tribes, armed with weapons that were at least 170 years old and unable to combat the massive Alversian advantage in terms of aircraft and tanks. Despite these advantages, the Carvon warriors offered stubborn resistance, conducting hit and run campaigns in their rocky and mountainous homeland, ambushing and destroying entire Alversian units on multiple occasions. The war turned into a long slog as People’s Army troops were forced to clear every rocky outcrop and hill range virtually by hand. Even here, the Carvon inflicted heavy losses.
Final victory did not come until 1777 when General Nielson took command of the Alversian Army on Carvon, which now totalled over 12m troops facing less than a quarter that number of Carvon. Nielson reorganised the Army fighting the Carvon general Nisilmax, who had already destroyed an entire corps and who now commanded the bulk of all reptilian forces. His two biggest revelations were the creation of the Droptroop Corps; Infantry specially trained for airborne assault and the changed emphasis from large, foot-based Infantry Divisions to smaller, more flexible Mechanised and Armoured Divisions with Infantry units in support. These changes, plus a more co-ordinated role with the Air Force, soon led to the Battle of Hilario Pass, in which the Droptroops made their debut, saw Nisilmax’s army all but destroyed and the war won. The Carvon were formally annexed into the Alversian Republic two days later.
This was to be the last major Alversian action for nearly two hundred years until the launching of the first Danaversian War. Following the destruction of the Ascension and the declaration of war between the two nations, Alversian military forces were mobilised and deployed to Gerral to face the Danaversian Army for the first time. It was not a sparkling debut as Alversian forces, inexperienced and outnumbered, struggled to break through stubborn Danaversian resistance. It took skilled tactical manoeuvring from General Rob Hurst, commander of the force, to finally eject the Danaversians from the planet. Following the peace treaty at the end of the war, Gerral became an Alversian planet and the Army underwent a major overhaul, its equipment being updated and improved using lessons from battles with the Danaversians.
The second Danaversian war came twenty years after the first, giving the Alversian Army ample time to prepare for the inevitable renewal of conflict. The Imperial Shoals broke through the DMZ defences and launched an invasion of Gerral, now a thriving Alversian colony. Heavily fortified in preparation for this attack, Gerralian resistance was fierce; both from the garrison and the local militia. The Danaversians made little progress on the ground and when General Rob Hurst, who was now commander of the Gerral garrison, smashed the flank of the Fascist attack, they were forced to retreat. Although the damage done had been significant and casualties heavy, the Army had performed infinitely better than in the first war, now clearly outmatching their Amphibious rivals. A key part of the defences were the Silarian and Carvon Divisions.
Fortunately, the DMZ defences were repaired and strengthened, meaning that Imperial forces did not actually set foot on Alversian soil for another two centuries.
Seven wars later, the Danaversians finally managed to land on the colony world of Eresi in 2308. The planet had a population of just 10,000 and a garrison of less than 500 troops but it was estimated they were attacked by upwards of half a million Danaversians. Reacting quickly, a response force was hurriedly assembled and rushed to the theatre, landing just five days after the Danaversians. Although the situation was not ideal (most of the units had left their non-essential equipment behind in the rush to deploy) the Alversian troops fought fiercely and decisively broke the Danaversians at the Battle of Milito, killing almost the entire force in a fierce bayonet charge. The entire campaign lasted less than two weeks. Despite the war dragging out for another two years, the decisive reaction from the Army had ensured that no Alversian colony fell and the casualties were minimal.
The 10th and 11th Wars passed off with minimal Army involvement, including minor skirmishes on several outer colonies; indeed, it was not until the 12th War in 2384, that the next major ground campaign would be launched. Less than a month into the war, massive Danaversian forces landed on the colony world of Aridia, completely catching the Alversians off-guard. Flat footed, an expedition was quickly mobilised to reinforce the Aridian garrison. At first, the campaign seemed to be moving smoothly, with Alversian units making steady if unspectacular progress against the Imperial forces. Two months after the invasion however, Imperial troops launched a counter attack in far larger numbers than had been anticipated. The Alversian Army was thrown back to the city of Honour, where a brilliant and heroic 6 day defence by the 32nd Corps allowed the bulk of the Army to be evacuated across the ocean to a continent untouched by the Danaversians. This early campaign is also marked by the siege of Tamas, in which a green Battalion of 3rd Regiment, High Illesian Rifles, managed to hold an old Photenican mountain fort against Danaversians ten times their number for several weeks with air drops their only supplies. The unit eventually suffered 85% casualties before it was relieved by the Alversian counter-attack.
Indeed, the Alversian Army on Aridia was reinforced with several units, including a Guard’s Corps, before it counter-attacked the Danaversian controlled continent, launching landings from both sea and air, it quickly retook the ground lost in the Danaversian offensive three weeks earlier. The offensive gained momentum until eventually the Imperial forces were surrounded. Refusing to surrender, they were pounded for three days and nights by artillery and air until none remained. The campaign, although it included several defeats, was counted as a success both for the heroism displayed by Alversian troops in the battle of Honour and Siege of Tamas.
Three years later, the Alversians were at war again, this time against a new enemy. The Korr War started when Alversian troops were deployed to the Xiscapian Empire to reinforce their exhausted troops and to bolster the line against Korr attacks. The Alversians, having fought no one but the Danaversians for nearly five hundred years, excelled against the Supremacy troops and distinguished themselves in the moon-hoping battles against the Korr around Jomstar. In particular, Herman Jacobi, who led the force, utilised the Droptroop corps and mechanised units to overwhelm powerful fortresses and strong garrisons. He eventually led the offensive on Korr itself, in which the Alversians suffered heavy losses in close quarters street fighting. When the war ended, the Alversians withdrew.
In 2395, the SASM returned and began a second campaign against the Alversian Republic. As before, the Alversian Army was poorly prepared to meet this expected threat and very losses were encountered as entire worlds fell to the Bioroid threat. Indeed, the Alversian Republic was spared only through Naval campaigns as the Alversian Army this time proved incapable of matching the threat of the Bioroids. Despite this, the destruction of the SASM once again left the Army bloodied but unbowed.
A year later, in 2396, the Connolly Rebellion began, involving an Alversian force calling itself the Alversian Republican Army, after the force from the Civil War. Although threatening much, the only major land battle of the ground campaign proved to be massively one sided; with the Rebels proving no match for the heavily armed Alversian troops. Indeed, the only serious losses were inflicted on the 2nd Battalion, Pierce Rifles as they advanced on the Rebel headquarters, elite Kitsune troops ambushing and inflicting heavy losses before eventually being overwhelmed and killed.
At the turn of the new century, the Alversians faced yet another new enemy in the form of the Greali Empire. Although ground action between the Republic and Empire was limited, the Alversians did manage to land on the planet of Miller, where Alversian forces proved to be superior. The planet was secured with minimal resistance.
Just after Miller had been secured, the Alversian Republic was formally invited to send troops to the planet of Macronia, to aid an alliance of city states there that were struggling against bandits to the north of their planet. The Alversians dutifully deployed troops there and dispatched a diplomat to negotiate with the northern kingdoms. Rather than persuade them, however, the Ambassador took over control of the bandits and united them under his banner, creating a powerful army to threaten the planetary Alliance. The Alversian Army on the surface, bound by the politics of the nation they used as a base (due to fierce sandstorms which crippled most machinery, the Alversians were forced to centre their headquarters around ‘sky funnels’ in the desert). The Army fought major battles against the Bandits, defeating them in pitched battles around the village of Kaffur and aiding the Alliance Armies in the final battle, during which the rogue Ambassador was killed and the war ended. The Alversian Army withdrew from the planet shortly after, although they continued to provide military assistance to the fledgling Federation Army, most of which they had trained anyway.
In 2402, the 13th and Final Danaversian war was launched. The first ground engagement of the war for the Alversians was a defeat, as the Army was forced to evacuate the planet of Miller. As with Honour two decades ago, the rearguard action was brilliantly carried out by Kitsune Regiments of the Alversian Army and by the Xis-Setulan Joint Division, ensuring that the Army was evacuated virtually untouched from Miller.
The next land campaign was on the planet of Ferra, a recently declared Danaversian ally. The campaign here consisted almost entirely of a rapid Coalition advance, with Alversians providing the bulk of the troops. The only serious losses were occurred during the battles in the Southern mountains against Danaversian troops and when attempting to force a river crossing in the centre of the line. Aside from these, the Alversian Army suffered minimal casualties during the campaign. The war also brought Alversian troops across the Danaversian and Boolean nations, although heavier losses were suffered here in the face of suicidal Fascist resistance and extensive defences. At the end of the war in 2406 however, the Alversian Republic had secured half a dozen Ternion planets, ranging from Ferran to Danaversian.