The Montana Incursion

The Montana Incursion was a military operation carried out by the United Commonwealth in the former U.S state of Montana, specifically against the Montana Chapter, a sect of the Church of Yelloman that adhered to the beliefs of Chuck Temple. 
The incursion began at the request of Prophet Robert Collins who insisted that the United Commonwealth assist the civilian groups in the area in their efforts to resist the Montana Sect. The incursion, beginning in 2008 would prolong well into 2015 with the United Commonwealth needing to directly intervene in order to prevent a total collapse of the civilian resistance.
=== Birth of the Montana Chapter ===
The Montana Chapter, an offshoot of the Church of Yelloman was founded by Daniel Brodrick, one of the close friends of Chuck Temple. Following the death of Chuck Temple during the 1999 April Coup, Brodrick fled Eastwards with his surviving Templists to spread the word of Yelloism. Having contacted elements in Montana by radio, where the previous transmissions from the early 90s had launched a new chapter in Montana. Brodrick arrived in Montana in 2000 and began reforming the organization into a fully functional state.
The Montana Chapter was chosen as the name for the newly founded Church territory, but they maintained their opposition to the original Church of Yelloman in Kodiak. Efforts were made to improve the infrastructure of the Montana Chapter, specifically their capitol of Citadel Sonne, formerly Great Falls, where roads were rebuilt and agriculture was improved. 
=== Early Resistance to the Montana Chapter ===
The Montana Chapter almost immediately met resistance from the native Montana population, especially Native American and minority groups. This is largely due to the racist beliefs of the Montana Chapter, introduced by preacher Dennis Eiferer who believed that the the children of the sun was specifically applied to Europeans, especially those of German ancestry. These beliefs were largely accepted by the majority white population of Montana, but a portion of the population would resist these changes.
The Native Americans of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation would be the first to resist the spread of the Montana Chapter, arming themselves into the Blackfeet Warparty, a militia organized among the natives and sympathetic locals. They would kill missionaries sent into their territory from March to June, at which point the Montana Chapter would send forth armed groups to crush the resistance. 
This erupted into the Battle of Kipp Lake, fought on June 16th 2000 between around a hundred or so Blackfeet Warparty members and the Montana Chapter's militias. It ended with the Montana Chapter's forces being driven off, but serious damage was sustained to the town of South Browning. After the events of the battle, further civilian groups would join the Blackfeet in their resistance of the Montana Chapter. 
=== The United Commonwealth Intervention ===
The United Commonwealth would first begin assisting the civilian militias in their resistance of the Montana Chapter in 2004 through actions carried out by the Sovereign Veil Directorate, funding and arming the civilian militias. The Commonwealth officer Alexander Nelson was assigned to the mission, which became known as the Montana Incursion, but later as Operation Reformation, brought with him a small squad of rangers which were actually engaged in the Battle of Scapegoat Mountain. 
When the Commonwealth pursued an alliance with the Church of Yelloman in 2007, there was much fear about hostility from the Kodiak Chapter due to the Commonwealth's war against the Montana Chapter. However the Commonwealth was surprised to hear that they had the full support of the Kodiak Chapter, whose leader Prophet Robert Collins declared the Montana Chapter to be 'worse than the Malthesians, traitors.' Additionally, Collins urged further involvement against the Montana Chapter in order to prevent a split in the belief of Yelloism. After the conclusion of the Kodiak Civil War, the Commonwealth and Church of Yelloman would make plans to stamp out the Montana Chapter.
=== Operation Reformation ===
Operation Reformation was a military operation carried out by the United Commonwealth with limited involvement by the Church of Yelloman in the form of preachers to try and convince the Montana Chapter's followers of their failure. The operation would begin with a full invasion of the Montana Chapter's territory on May 1st 2008. Commonwealth troops poured into the Montana Chapter at Heart Butte, where they quickly overwhelmed a limited Montana Chapter defensive action. However after a few scattered battles until the 20th of May, the Montana Chapter's forces scattered across the rolling countryside, tying the United Commonwealth down into a war of attrition. 
Despite the efforts of the Montana Chapter to engage in irregular warfare, their forces were encircled and engaged at the Battle of Dupuyer, which saw Commonwealth troops kill or capture the entire force of 750 Montana Chapter fighters. After this success the Commonwealth would largely engage in search and destroy missions in an attempt to crush the Chapter's will to fight. These efforts would drag on well into 2012, eventually culminating in the Eclipse Offensive. 
=== The Eclipse Offensive ===
The Eclipse Offensive was an offensive carried out by the Montana Chapter in an effort to turn the tide of the war in Montana. In preparation for the offensive the Chapter had willingly given up much ground in order to draw the outside forces further into their territory, as they built up their forces even more. On May 20th 2012 a solar eclipse would occur, which the Chapter's leadership believed to be a sign from Yelloman himself to begin the offensive. Immediately as the sun was covered in the eclipse, the Chapter's forces moved forward rapidly, catching all the defending Commonwealth and militia forces off guard. They retreated from their positions at Fairfield all the way back to Heart Butte and even Lincoln, losing an estimated 25 miles of hard fought progress in a few days worth of fighting.
The Southern front would see a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Wolf Creek, being largely made up of inferior civilian resistance. The Battle of Wolf Creek saw a force of nearly 1,000 concentrated civilian militiamen who were gathering for an offensive towards Great Falls be routed by a numerically inferior force of Montana Chapter soldiers. The Montana Chapter soldiers utilized the temporary loss of visibility afforded by the eclipse to overwhelm the defenders and create mass confusion, dealing a significant blow to resistance in the region.
Category:Events
Category:Church of Yelloman
Category:Battle