Battle of Rezanof Road

The Battle of Rezanof was an engagement between the Only the Hated militia against the Church of Yelloman and the United Commonwealth. It was fought amidst the limited Yelloman raids against Only the Hated territory but was supported by troops of the United Commonwealth and as a result was more of a pitched battle than other engagements during the time. 
The aim of the raid was to cause as much damage to the Only the Hated holdings in the area as possible, hoping to divert their precious resources from holdings closer to the Monaska Mountains.
=== Background ===
Leading up to the battle, there had been numerous Church of Yelloman raids on neutral or OTH territory, nearly all carried out in efforts to inflict material damage or recruit converts into the church. These raids were enabled by guarantees from the United Commonwealth that the Church of Yelloman had a free hand over the greater Monaska Mountain range area, and allowed them to expand in the Northern part of Kodiak as long as they did not prevent the Commonwealth's expansion in the South.
The United Commonwealth discovered much of Southern Kodiak and the wilderness around it to be patrolled by forces of the Only the Hated militia, identifying them as a threat to further expansion into Kodiak. In light of this, they made further agreements with the Church of Yelloman to combat Only the Hated and reduce their power. 
The Church of Yelloman and the United Commonwealth saw an opportunity to strike when they learned that Only the Hated would be transporting a large quantity of equipment. The equipment as well as a few of the vehicles used to transport it came from a civilian militia who wanted to join Only the Hated.
=== The Ambush ===
The Battle of Rezanof would first begin with an ambush along the Rezanof road, where a small convoy of Only the Hated vehicles and foot soldiers were moving towards their base at Anton. Along the road near a small settlement, they were fired upon by saboteurs from the Church of Yelloman who had blocked the road with fallen trees. The saboteurs disabled the leading vehicle on the road with an improvised explosive buried into a pothole on the road. After the lead vehicle was disabled by the explosive, the saboteurs fired upon the convoy and succeeded in killing a few OTH troops as well as disabling their vehicles. As the OTH troops were tied down in a shootout with the saboteurs, the Commonwealth troops began moving towards the Rezanof road from the South.
=== The Battle ===
As the prolonged firefight from the ambush dragged on, the Commonwealth troops arrived at a position South of the Rezanof road, firing upon the OTH troops who were taking cover from the Yelloman saboteurs attack. In this initial engagement, ten OTH soldiers were killed in the fighting before reorienting their defensive position and combating the Commonwealth troops. 
The newly stiffened OTH defense would initially prevent an advance by the Commonwealth troops who were now bogged down in a shootout against the OTH troops. However the OTH troops would struggle to defend themselves from both sides, and soon considered abandoning the position and taking what they could back to Anton. The troops quickly realized that they could not safely retreat while carrying much of the equipment they were transporting, and so left it behind while they fled West to Anton. As they retreated, they continued exchanging fire with the Yelloman and Commonwealth soldiers. The fighting left ten dead OTH soldiers and several injured Commonwealth troops, but no Yelloman saboteurs were seriously injured.
=== The Aftermath ===
After the OTH troops retreated, the Yelloman saboteurs and the Commonwealth troops would inspect the disabled convoy for any equipment worth seizing. The Yelloman saboteurs found that they were transporting several machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weaponry. In addition to this, they also found numerous firearms and a few thousand rounds of ammunition. The Commonwealth forces allowed the Church of Yelloman to seize these supplies, correctly identifying that they were inferior to their own but still superior to the equipment of the Church of Yelloman. The Commonwealth troops would however attempt to seize the vehicles, finding that a few were still operable even after damage during the ambush, and so took them for their own use.
As the forces of both sides began to consider retreat from the territory with the seized supplies, the saboteurs of the Church of Yelloman would target several local homes. Because the saboteurs came from the infamous 'Yelloman's Missionaries' they burst into the homes and demanded the conversion of the inhabitants. When the confused inhabitants refused, they were verbally berated and beaten by the saboteurs who attempting to get them to convert by force. When the inhabitants again refused, the saboteurs exited the homes and firebombed them, causing the 7 homes they targeted to burn to the ground. The saboteurs would take a few survivors from these houses prisoner, marching them back to the Monaska Mountains, where they were believed to have been tortured in Yelloman conversion chamber named 'The Hole.'
Category:Battles