The Battle of Bremen

"Course of the Battle of Bremen - Solid arrows represent attacks, double triangle arrows represent reinforceing, clear arrows represent movement or retreats. Circle arrowheads are the general direction of rout"

## Quote

*"A feat comparable to the masterpieces of Cannae, Austerlitz, Guagamela...commandeered by a United Nations General standing no higher than 5'2, wearing hot pink ribbons in her hair..."* - French Field Marshall L'Hirondelle, Paris 2052

## Context

Shortly after being routed at the Battle of Munster, The 3rd American Army, 17th French Army, and 8th Polish expeditionary army retreated hastily north towards Bremen, intending to reconsolidate defensive positions there. Maja Kaminska, present nearby with her 14th United Nations army, just arrived in Bremen the day before the disastrous Battle of Munster. Acting as a vanguard force, her 14th army was the only United Nations army nearby, with the rest of her allies still grouping up in the beaches of North Germany. Observing that her Coalition allies needed a rearguard in order to minimize casualties, Maja's field staff encouraged her to set up strong defensive positions south of Munster to support them. However, seeing the 3rd German Army and the 9th Russian Army overextended, she decided to prepare for a pitch battle to decisively defeat them in battle, much to the disbelief of her field staff who encouraged her to rethink her decision. Being resolute, Maja began to draw up plans on the 12th of March, and prepared meticulously for the 14th.

## Composition of Armies

Led by Maja Kaminska, the 14th United Nations Army was unique in that it was trained to be an offensive vanguard, and was consequently smaller than most other armies, numbering only 40,000 compared to the usual 80,000. Her main line consisted of 20,000 Infantry Regulars primarily from Poland, Latin America, Morocco, India, and Italy. 3,000 Sword Hoplites came from Greece, acting as the main offensive power of the army, along with 7,000 Tajik, Turkemen, Russian, and Uzbek Calvalry, a mobile infantry force able to mount swift attacks. 1,000 Chinese Jian Sword Guards acted as an elite force of Infantry, coupled with 2,000 French Elite Legionaries. 2,000 Pacific Mercenaries and 2,000 Turkish Infantry acted as a capable reserve force. Smaller forces include 500 West Caribbean Sea Guard Infantry, 500 Indonesian Infantry, 1000 infantry from Flanders and Wallonia. A force of 1000 Australian Infantry also supplement this army, consisting of the famed "Diggers" who were skilled with siege works. In addition, Maja was Supported by 150 mobile artillery pieces.

On the Russian side, the overextended 9th army only had 40,000 Infantry, and 1,000 Calvalry present during the main stages of the battle, led by General Andrei Kopsnov. Although another 5,000 infantry would trickle in over time, they played a small role as they were immediately routed afterwards. The German 3rd Army consisted of 55,000 Infantry and 1,000 Calvalry, supported by 250 artillery pieces, led by General Muller Munstein. In terms of elite infantry, the Russians had 1,000 Red Guard Infantry, and 3,000 Free Guard Infantry. Germans fielded the famed "Swift Lancer" legion, consisting of 3,000 German Black Guards.

## Battle Positioning

Anchored by the river Weser behind her, Maja marched 30 miles south of Bremen to meet the now partially reorganized German army, who had heard of her arrival recently. Past her, were the scattered remnants of the Coalition armies. Arranged in an oblique formation, the left flank of the German army consisted of a staggering 20,000 infantry, intended to overwhelm Maja's right flank. In the forefront of the formation was the German Swift lancer legion. The Russian Army was positioned behind the German Army, intending to pressure Maja's center with the sheer weight of the combined Germany and Russian center. The 3rd Red Guard and 5th/6th Freedom Guard regiment were positioned as reserves. A force of 6,000 infantry was also instructed to sweep and flank from the Russian Right into Maja's left flank. Maja anticipated that not only would her center be heavily pressured, but she expected strong enemy offensives from both of her flanks. Facing off the 50,000 strong Russian and German center, was a force of her 18,000 regular infantry. To counter the overwhelming oblique formation to her right flank, she placed her 5th Elite Hoplites to directly attack the oblique formation, supported by a small force of 2,000 infantrymen and 1st Jian Guards that will flank the Swift Lancers. Positioned behind the 5th Elite Hoplites was the entire force of Maja's mobile cavalry force, instructed to strike the side of the oblique formation. The rest of her infantry was instructed to guard the left flank, supported by her elite reserves placed behind the front line. Pacific Mercenaries, instructed to flank the flanking force of the 6,000 Russian infantry, were hidden in a nearby forest.

## Course of the Battle

   Understanding that her center would need to hold out as long as possible, Maja decided to lead from the front lines in order to encourage her troops. Weather was fair, and the ground was unimpeded. Artillery began preliminary exchanges at 8am. At 9am, the German and Russian forces advanced forward in good speed, driven on by high morale due to their recent victories. Very swiftly they clashed into the lines of the United Nations, which held fast due to Maja's presence. The oblique order, led by the Swift Lancers, was ineffective at countering the line of Elite Hoplites supported by infantry - as the Hoplites advanced towards the Lancers, their morale began to falter. Meanwhile the Mobile Tajik, Russian, and Uzbek cavalry began to move across the battlefield at full speed, aiming towards the flank of the Oblique formation. On the Russian right, the attack against the United Nations left flank proceeded as planned, and slowly began to drive them back.

Shortly after some several minutes, the Hoplites made melee contact with the Swift Lancers, who were still untested in this type of fighting. They began to waver and rout, to the disappointment of the next rank of oblique soldiers. The Hoplites pushed onwards, driving forward with unprecedented with shock value. In the center, Maja's line began to slowly retreat, giving ground due to heavy fighting. On the United Nations left, Pacific Mercenaries charged from their hidden position and made their way around the attacking Russian flank and managed to flank the flanking force, forcing them back. The ferocity of the Pacific Mercenaries in melee combat was unmatched, and elements of the Russian flank began to rout. As Hoplites continued to push into the large but gradually disorganized Oblique formation, elements of the Russian and German center began to reinforce the front line on order to make a decisive center breakthrough. Although wavering, Maja encouraged the center onwards in the thick fighting, pointing out that she is about to surround the enemy on three sides.

At 9am, The Hoplites began to lose their offensive momentum, and they were stopped in face of the overwhelming mass of the German Left. Meanwhile in the center, the formation continued to give ground, becoming gradually disorganized. However success was evident on the left, where Pacific mercenaries and infantry finally routed the Russian flank, and they continued to push onwards with the infantry. Another half an hour passed, and the Mobile infantry finally made full contact with the flank of the Oblique line, shattering their morale. At this decisive moment, the 1st Jian Sword Guards, still fresh from combat, also flanked the head of the Oblique order, threatening to collapse the entire formation. As Maja's center began to crumble, she ordered the entirety of her elite reserves forwards, drastically boosting the morale of the current defenders and managing to effectively stabilize the line. Meanwhile the Caribbean Mercenaries and mixed infantry elements continued to move down the now unguarded Russian right, pursuing routing units. Now forced to reinforce the crumbling oblique line, reserves from the Russian and German army reinforce the flank in order to hold off the Mobile Infantry, at the cost of weakening the center push. After several more hours of fighting, at 3pm, the United Nations left flank of Infantry and Pacific Mercenaries made it to the flank of the Russian and German center, which immediately caused a mass rout. Upon seeing the center collapse, the oblique order formation also crumbled, allowing the triumphant mobile infantry to take thousands of prisoners by circling around the retreating soldiers. By 6pm, the battle was effectively over, and now Maja ordered her army to regroup with the elements of the remaining coalition armies at Bremen, to regroup and rest. Mobile Infantry continue to pursue the remnants of the German and Russian armies well into night.

## Consequences

Casualties were heavy for the Russian and German forces, who lost all of their artillery pieces and suffered a huge loss to their previously impetuous morale. In addition, this victory allowed the Coalition army to regroup and reorganize, which would lead to their successful campaign against Germany a a week later. On the German side there were 32,000 casualties, of which 26,000 were prisoners, due to their unfortunate positioning against the Mobile Forces of the United Nations Army. On the Russian side they suffered 12,000 casualties, 8,000 being prisoners. In total 44,000 casualties out of an army of 97,000 soldiers, which was tremendously high for such a short battle. On Maja's side there were still notably moderate losses, as heavy fighting against the center and flanks were sustained for long periods of time. 4,500 was the official number, most of them being the direct result of battle as opposed to prisoners. The Elite Sword Hoplites of the United Nations army became Maja's go-to offensive unit for the rest of the war, due to their exemplary performance in this battle. It is notable that shortly afterwards, Maja took special notice of the effectiveness of a mixed formation of Hoplites and Line Infantry, and would go on to create her own special unit - the 33rd Legion, consisting of the 16th and 17th Hoplite Swords, and the 67th and 56th United Nations Line Infantry.

Maja's victory at Bremen also greatly improved the morale of the Coalition forces, as a string of defeats had plagued them since the beginning of February. As a result of Maja's actions, she was promoted to High General of the United Nations Army, and offered to lead the 2nd army, which was much larger than her vanguard force. Maja declined, stating that the 14th army was her "love and joy." Her fellow commanders and soldiers nicknamed her "The Red Gale" for the first time, which would stay throughout the rest of her campaigns during the war. Field marshalls and generals from around the Coalition praised her actions, stating that she had a bright future ahead of her and were confident in her abilities to further the war effort. Even generals from the Democratic Council praised Maja, as Field Marshall Klaus Donner called her a "worthy opponent to face in future battles," and "an adversary to hold high respect for."