Craziness in the Caucasus!

Mortars in the Mountains

As the Mountainous Republic desperately prepared for what they knew was an inevitable invasion by the recently-victorious Russian government, they seemed to throw a million different plans at the wall to see what would stick. These had varying levels of success:

• A system of caves, tunnels, and bunkers across the mountainous spine of the Republic went along surprisingly well, and while the final construction output of these tunnels was at times suspect at best, they were certainly livable and usable for purposes of transporting goods, people, and fighters between ridgelines in unpredictable and unfollowable ways.

• A network of tunnels around the outskirts of larger towns and cities in the republic went alright, with the best ones appearing around Grozny and Vladikavkaz

• The setup of artillery, mines, and MG nests along expected routes of advance did not go super well, as these supplies were mainly used in the defensive setup for major population centers, and the ones that did get set up were manned mostly by men with little to know training as to their function.

• The attempt to rig explosives at the peaks of mountains to use for avalanche ambushes went horrifically. It was incredibly difficult to rig such traps, and they repeatedly went off accidentally, killing dozens of service members and civilians in the process. Eventually military command simply called off the endeavor.

When the Russians finally made their move, things started out about as well as they could have possibly hoped. Spotter planes revealed many of the areas most heavily fortified along their advancement route, and the men of this force, mostly hardened veterans of WWI and the revolutionary wars, were barely phased by the sporadic and inaccurate artillery barrages they faced. Initial guerilla ambushes caught the advancing forces off guard once or twice, but these were quickly beaten back by a Russian force that was significantly more experienced, and far better equipped.

The first Russian advance group, lead by Kutepov and made up of the Russian 7th and Terek Cossacks, reached their first target, the city of Prokhladny. Defenses here seemed minimal, and the few resistance forces found quickly surrendered to an overwhelming Russian force. Kutepov, wishing to be cautious, took his time to sweep the area for stragglers, but in doing so allowed a number to escape back to Nachik. Eventually the secondary Russian advance group, made up of the 8th and 9th, caught up to Kutepov’s divisions, and took over the sweeping of the area while he advanced towards Nachik.

Nachik was a far different story than Prokhaldny. Bolstered by extra defenders and supplies, including extra artillery pieces and some mines, gave Kutepov’s forces an incredibly difficult time at taking the city. Guerilla hit-and-runs from tunnel systems, sporadic mining and artillery fire, and a generally spirited defence caught the Russians off guard. Eventually they gained control of the area, with the Russians taking far more losses than they would have liked, though the Nachik defenders were all but wiped out. This difficult capture caused a bit of a stir among the Russian 7th, which was only fostered by a host of Terek Cossacks known to be brutal in their methods after winning a battle such as this. Reports would later come out of significant looting, burning, murder, and sexual assault by the combined forces in the town, which took Russian command almost two days to calm down. Reprimands for this event would be harsh, and it was made clear that successive events such as this would not be tolerated among the troops.

Following the shitshow at Nachik, Kutepov’s forces worked their way towards Vladikavkaz, and in doing so got even closer to the well-prepared mountainous areas. This slows the Russian advance even more, with constant raids from MR militia members. They are fended off at each impasse, but the stress of the attacks is taking its toll, and Kutepov’s caution begins to get the best of him, with his slower advance giving more opportunities for attacks. Eventually, however, they reach Vladikavkaz, where like with the previous cities, the question isn’t if they will take the city, but how costly that attack will be. And the answer here is a resounding success for the MR defenders, who not only manage to inflict significant losses on Kutepov’s forces, but also get themselves out almost unscathed.

Up to this point, the Cossacks and 7th have served as the hammer, with the 8th and 9th serving as a dustpan to clean up what was left and secure the towns and cities they have taken so far. This has gone fairly well, and they are relatively certain that they have cleaned up all the major resistance pockets at their backs so far, leaving a perfectly secure supply network for their advance. But now, they would become their own hammer, and head east to Nazran. Again, the city was never going to hold, it just needed to hold out as long as possible, and thanks to the reinforcements that made it out of Vladikavkaz, it did quite well doing just that. The outskirts of Nazran turned into a pitched defensive battle that raged on for over a week, with neither side facing significant losses, but both staying entrenched in their sides of the fight. Eventually, however, the battle had gone on too long for the MR to handle, and they found themselves flanked by Kutepov’s forces who had finished cleaning up the area around Vladikavkaz. Now completely encircled, the remaining MR forces fought tooth and nail, but eventually seeing no way out save for a slaughter, they surrendered en masse, with the combined Russian forces taking the city without too many losses to speak of.

Russian forces now controlled everything north and west of the Terek River, and were ready to resupply and cross the river in order to march on Grozny. Unfortunately for them, the cleanup team managed to miss a decently well-connected resistance group, who managed to derail a major ammo shipment 10km outside of Prokhladny. This group was quickly rounded up and executed, but the damage had been done, and the Russian advance would be delayed by another ten days while they awaited a replacement shipment of ammunition. This would give defenders across the Terek valuable time to prepare a defense for the coming advance, through it also provided time for the Russian forces to rest and recuperate, helping to bolster their morale.

The plan, for the Russians, was simple - the Russian 9th and Cossacks would follow the Terek northeast towards Grozny, while the 7th and 8th would head due east to clear out towns and villages on their way to the capital. On paper, it seemed simple. On the ground, however, things were miserable. The week provided to MR militia had proven vital, and between mines, sporadic artillery fire, and raids on troop formations and supply trucks, this march to the capital was slow, bloody, and grueling. Russian losses were not insignificant, and MR militia seemed to be able to escape at-will through tunnels and networks of local resistance members. Incredibly, despite all this stress, the Russain commanders were able to keep their troops and even the Terek Cossacks in check, preventing any significant retaliation against locals, and keeping their image above board.

Eventually, after an absolute slog, the two halves link back up outside of Grozny, where a significant MR defense has been erected to defend the capital. Fighting here was significant, and after over a week of fighting, the Russians had only managed to gain control of the city outskirts, Grozny proper still holding out among supply stockpiles and impressive fortifications. Unfortunately, this defense was coming at an incredible cost to the MR defenders, and after another five days of valiant defense from the Grozny garrison, they were simply unable to hold on against a fully-armed russian advance supported with supplies, planes, and better weaponry. A few MR troops managed to get out and report the loss of the capital to the remaining bulk of the MR forces at Makhachkala, but the rest all surrendered in order to save their own lives.

The fall of Grozny is celebrated wildly by the Russian troops, but again the Russian command is able to hold back their men from any over-the-top looting, an impressive showing of control by their officers. Continued local resistance in the area around the city is moderate, but a continued occupational force should be able to keep them in check until they can calm down on their own.

Russian Losses:

• 13,859 soldiers killed

• 16,076 soldiers wounded

MR Losses:

• 8,625 professional troops killed

• 6,147 professional troops injured, of which 5,000 were captured

• another 1,100 professional troops captured

• 13,848 militia members killed

• 11,975 militia members injured, of which 7,000 were captured

• another 5,826 militia members captured

Troubles in Transcaucasia

Following the collapse of the Transcaucasian Federation, nationalist militia groups had risen up across the region, looking to assert their nation’s control over contested regions. Looking to protect their allies, Turkey prepared to mobilize close to 50,000 professional soldiers with the intent of securing a supply corridor into Azerbaijan proper, and to solidify the border of their puppet, the South-West Caucasus Republic. 20,000 of these men would be sent to confront the Armenian general Andranik, who had built his own force of militia fighters outside the purview of the Armenian government to protect the state in areas it said the government had failed. This confrontation, Turkey hoped, would go down in the Aras Valley, where they could overwhelm the less-equipped Armenian militia and secure a steady supply corridor for Azerbaijan.

Entering the Aras Valley region, the Turkish forces began to methodically sweep their entire advance zone, moving valley by valley, ridge by ridge. Sporadic resistance and guerilla ambushes were common, and caused some difficulties for the advance, but the methodical sweep seemed to be working as intended, and far fewer of Andranik’s troops were encountered than they had expected. Maybe he exaggerated the size and capability of his force? Whatever the reason, within a few weeks, a supply corridor had become secure, and they could say with near certainty that all resistance had been nullified.

Unfortunately, they soon realized why resistance had been so light. Andranik, seeing the collapse of peace talks and the Armenian government, had rallied not only his forces, but further local militia forces and even some defecting Armenian military troops to head east into the Karabakh region. Bolstered by local support from the Karabakh Council and many local Armenians, Andranik’s forces had quickly established a decent level of control over the Karabakh region spanning from the Armenian border to Stepanakert. The Azerbaijani government, unable to control its troops or much of its government after its collapse alongside the Federation, found itself unable to stop this organized advance, and has reached out desperately to the Turkish military for support.

Meanwhile in the west, sporadic fighting has been ongoing between disorganized Armenian militias and Turkish troops stationed in the SWCR. The most organized fighting has occurred between a local Armenian general who has rallied some militia support around him and pushed to the outskirts of Kars, and a Turkish garrison that has pushed back into Armenian territory to defend Turkish peoples in the city of Gyumri from local retaliation. These forces have clashed on multiple occasions, but neither seem willing to thrust themselves into full-blown conflict… yet... Another group of semi-organized Armenian militiamen have pushed to the outskirts of Iğdır with the intent of reclaiming Mount Ararat, but have been unable or unwilling to fight local defenses. Finally, a small push of Georgian nationalists have begun to push into the north of the SWCR to “reclaim the land that is rightfully theirs.” They are significantly disorganized, but as of yet have faced little resistance.

And with the invasion of the Mountain Republic by the Russian Provisional Government, militia groups in Georgia and Azerbaijan have taken the opportunity to jump on land claimed by the MR that they consider to be their own. A decently organized group of Georgian militia have moved north into the Abkhazia region, facing equal resistance from local militias, with the battle continuing to rage outside Sokhumi. In the Kvemo Svaneti region, both local Georgian and Azerbaijani militias rushed to claim as much of the area as possible, looking to avoid engaging each other but finding it unavoidable at times.

Turkish Losses:

• 972 troops killed

• 3,286 troops injured

Other Regional Losses:

• I literally have no fucking clue thank God they aren’t claimed

MAP!

Please don’t hate me if there are issues with this map the region is absolutely impossible to map properly in this time period.