First Intervention

Soldiers of Jabeyrack's Formation 20 near Neopolis

Numbers|  **Jabeyrack*** 60,000 Infantry (January 1927)
* 250 Armored Vehicles (January 1927)

The **First Intervention** was a failed invasion of the Socialist Republic of Kokinos conducted by the Raghdad Pact- consisting of Jabeyrack and the Sultanate of Kherfiyyah- with the aim of bringing an end to the chaos and violence of the Novo Gavian Bush War, bringing an end to the violent and supposedly 'Johnist Socialist' *(not to be confused with Johninian Socialism*) SRK and establish a friendly client nation in the region. It was the first major offensive in the Interventions, and was followed by the Jabeyracki Winter Offensive- another SRK victory- and eventually the longest and bloodiest Third Intervention, which would bring an end to the conflict with an SRK defeat.

The intervention was motivated by a variety of reasons. The foremost- and most reiterated- was to bring peace, stability and democracy to the region and establish a state which was not as radically anti-blues (most significantly Lespians) and was not blatantly killing political opponents in the name of 'Johnist Socialism'. Additionally, Jabeyrack's Regent Veeldin- who had seized power in the wake of the death or disappearance of the Valos Regime Council of Six- saw the intervention as a good move to rally support for herself domestically and cripple the socialist opposition, while the Sultanate of Kherfiyyah worried that the SRK would support the fledgling Kherfiyyan Worker's Republic and turn it once more into a prominent military threat.

The victory of the Socialist Republic of Kokinos over the Raghdad Pact in the war came as a major blow for the coalition and helped consolidate the SRK's dominance in the Novo Gavian Bush War.

## Leadup

### Rise of Veeldin (1925-1926)

Normally, spearheading a military intervention into a foreign country which didn't share any land borders would be unthinkable for Jabeyrack. The most recent foreign conflict it had been involved in was the Jabeyrack-Pelaros War, which was a result of the Pelarosi Triumvirate directly treading on Jabeyrack's sphere of influence by invading its ally the Lemetiate of Jazberk.

Things had changed however since 1924. With the brief Gedshiv Affair leading to rapidly rising tensions internally and creating the circumstances for the Rise of Veeldin- during which the military took over Jabeyrack's government, with the official reason being the death or disappearance of the entire Valos Regime Council of Six. Following the military takeover, Veeldin- an elven officer with reported ties to elf supremacist groups- taking charge as Regent of Jabeyrack.

Veeldin's reign however was not without challenges. While the patchwork coalition of independents that had held a majority in the Margov during the Gedshiv Regime and Valos Regime posed no challenge to Veeldin, the country's organised political parties did- particularly those which had constituted the First Grand Alliance, which had undergone significant internal reforms since their disastorous stint in government from 1917 till 1922.

With Veeldin's power and support seeming to erode in favour of the socialist parties of the Grand Alliance as well as the Fulcrumite Socialist Fulcrum of Jabeyrack, Veeldin was desperate to create an environment where left-wingers and socialists would be unpopular and the populace would rally around her. She found a perfect target in the form of the Socialist Republic of Kokinos- the largest group partaking in the Novo Gavian Bush War. Although Jabeyrack was by no means supportive of the Principality of Novo Gavia- indeed, a statue of Spiro Floros had been erected in Quesi following his execution- the Jabeyracki people did believe, naively, that someone like Vasco Antonis- an intellectual living in Volaysia- would be able to lead an independent Kokinan- or, as it was called at the time, Vermelhan- state.

And so, Regent Veeldin saw in the SRK a perfect opportunity to rally support in her favour, cripple support for the left-wing opposition and also expand Jabeyrack's influence throughout Helinska. In preparation for an intervention to bring 'stability' and democracy to the region, JCP operatives were sent to establish contact with sympathetic locals as well as with the leader of the Red Rebel Alliance- Marco Spyros. Operative Ozenti in particular organized a large scale network of informants and moderate democratic individuals to help coordinate operations in the region.

### Shaking Sultanate (1925-1926)

The Sultanate of Kherfiyyah- under Sultan Mehred V- also saw the situation in Kokinos as extremely threatening. Mehred V worried that the fledgling SRK would emerge as a significant supporter of the Kherfiyyan Worker's Republic- which the Sultanate had, after a long and painful campaign, confined to the regions of Kirlan, Agranid and Arkhanbad, with the two opposing groups settling into an uneasy ceasefire as the KWR's Head Councillor Maghreb Al-Kassani turned his focus to domestic policy. If the Kokinans were to provide support to the KWR, it was worried that Kassani would once again turn his ambitions outward and attempt to reach the heights the KWR had reached in 1925, controlling towns as far as Barghsdan.

## Timeline

### Mobilization (1926)

In preparation for the intervention into the SRK, Jabeyrack- under Regent Veeldin- underwent large scale military reforms, replacing the old JSR-3 rifles with JSR-4s, introducing the Davanpor Sub Machine Gun, making steel helmets standard for the military and introducing the Amstern L3 Tank alongside the Bulrav Armored Car. With much of Jabeyrack's old high command- most notably Valos and Eck Dremand- being either dead or irrelevant, new officers and generals- most loyal to Veeldin- also took charge of the newly reformed Jabeyracki military, with Omvols and Velnis III quickly rising the ranks.

### Spyros's Condemnation (1927)

Marco Spyros- a major leader of the Red Rebel Alliance and often dubbed the successor of Spiro Floros- was the head of the Republic of Vermelho during the mobilization of the Raghdad Pact. While Spyros had initially maintained some contact with Jabeyrack via JCP operatives- specifically those who were of Quesi descent, allowing them to mix with the Kokinans more effectively than the blue Jabeyracki could- he knew that openly supporting the pact would mean the end of any support he had left. Indeed, many of his aides had defected to the SRK upon learning of his communications, and in view of not alienating his dwindling support further, President Spyros condemned the Raghdad Pact's intervention, warning Jabeyrack, Camaria and Kherfiyyah that the war against the SRK was an internal matter which did not require foreign interference.

### First Advances (January 1927)

With no signs of the SRK's surrender, the combined forces of the Raghdad Pact launched an unannounced offensive into western Kokinos. Spearheaded by Formation 20 of the 1st Army of Jabeyrack, and under the overall command of General Omvols, the combined coalition forces made massive gains at first, with Formation 20's leader- Major General Vandrei Vilkan- making efficient use of the Jabeyracki armored contingent under her command and using the large supply of automatic weapons supplied to her to vastly outstrip the Kokinans initial defenses. However, the invasion would quickly stagnate as the rest of the coalition forces were unable to make advances at the same pace as formation 20.

Throughout the early weeks of the First Intervention, a trend emerged where the Camarian Provisional Guard, Kherfiyyan Army and Jabeyrack's Formation 10 found it hard to make rapid progress as shown by Formation 20 and the New Model Army of Kherfiyyah. With the latter constituting only a small part of the invading force, much of the advance came to a grinding halt as even Formation 20 had to bunker down to stay in contact with their supply lines, with the war settling into a temporary stalemate.

Following two weeks of stalemate, General Omvols decided that the cities of Neopolis and Retgard would be the best targets for the coalition forces, being the closest to the ongoing offensive and being important cities to reach for morale. Owing to their good performance in the offensive up till that point, Vandrei Vilkan's Formation 20 was tasked with seizing the city of Neopolis- with support from Kherfiyyan armoured units- while Omvols would lead Formation 10- alongside Jabeyrack's armoured contingent- to Retgard.