Battle of Kolobok

Belligerents| * United Nations of Earth
	+ 2nd Russian Republic

Commanders| * COL Georgiy Kabinov†
* ADM Aleks Sergeev
* ADM Boris Nikitin†

Strength| * 214,000 ground infantry
* First Marsianin Fleet
* Second Marsianin Fleet
* 237 air assets
* 2 atmospheric destroyers
* 30 surface-to-air defences
* 12 type-5 ships
* 18 type-3 ships
* Hundreds type-1 Leaches
* Thousands of Alnatoids

Casualties| **Catastrophic*** c. 972,000 civilian casualties
* c. 110,000 infantry
* First Marsianin fleet lost
* Majority of Second Marsianin fleet
* 192 air assets
* 2 atmospheric destroyers
* 4 type-5 ships
* 7 type-3 ships
* Dozens of type-1 Leaches
* Numerous Alnatoids

The **Battle of Kolobok**, also called the **Siege of Kolobok** or the **Fall of Kolobok**, was a large-scale engagement between Russia and the Eyustaki, fought from March 21, 2111, to June 12, 2111 in and around the city of Kolobok on Mars.

## Background

### Contact with Eyustaki

First recorded contact with the Eyustaki came with the destruction of the Argyre battle cluster, in March 2111. The Russian navy had been put into red alert on March 3 as a result of the Eyustaki attack on the Jovian settlements, but had most of their ships prepared for a defence of Earth rather than Mars. When the Eyustaki attacked Amazonas, the few Russian ships in orbit were left outnumbered and overwhelmed by the attackers.

All Russian ships, save for the *RFS Samara*, were destroyed over Amazonas. The *Samara* attempted to assist Hungarian and Serbian forces in their respective Martian territories, but was ultimately redeployed to the nearby Zhukov Oblast as the first and second marsianin fleets arrived at the planet. As the Eyustaki advanced continued, hiving Amazonas and many other small settlements, Russian High Command ordered the first and second marsianin fleets to defend Kolobok, as civilian evacuations were still ongoing. Thus, the Battle of Kolobok began.

## Battle

### Opening Skirmishes

Initial forecasts of the battle were bleak. The RFS *Gagarin* the strongest ship available to the Martian fleets, was destroyed while protecting evacuation ships in orbit on the first day of the battle. In addition, Kolobok and its surrounding settlements had already been cut off from other Human forces on Mars, leaving the Russian Navy to effectively fend for itself.

As the Eyustaki had mostly controlled the space above Kolobok, Russian ships used their limited atmospheric capability to clear paths for evac ships to head northeast, where European and American forces could assist them in escaping to Earth. Two atmospheric destroyers arrived around Kolobok on April 3 and assisted further in clearing Eyustaki ships, but were ultimately destroyed on the 4th. A large battle in the Martian thermosphere on the 6th resulted in the largest Eyustaki loss of the battle, as well as the total destruction of the first Marsianin fleet.

### Encirclement of Kolobok and standoff

Following the destruction of the first fleet, the Eyustaki stood seemingly unopposed to encircle, bombard, and hive Kolobok. The second fleet, though still nearly at full strength, didn't have the power to take on the Eyustaki alone and thus, defeat seemed inevitable. On April 6, Russian High Command ordered all flight capable civilian vessels, as well as the second fleet, to depart Kolobok.

However, the numerous surface-to-air defences around the city and its outskirts proved enough to stop the Eyustaki. Though Kolobok was still encircled, the defences proved near impossible for the Eyustaki ships to get through, and those that did were damaged enough to be taken out by remaining fighter jets around the city with relative ease. The second fleet had already departed though, and enough Eyustaki ships remained in the area to make breaking through to the city again impossible. The rest of Zhukov Oblast was lost by April 29, completely cutting off Kolobok from the rest of the planet.

This encirclement continued for months, resulting in mass starvations and unrest throughout the city. Russian soldiers struggled to keep the civilian populace at ease and, come late May, it was a common sight for brawls to breakout between soldiers and particularly violent civilians. Rare instances of ships, both military and civilian, attempting to flee the city were also reported but would always lead to the destruction of said ship by Eyustaki fighters. As food shortages grew and the siege drew on, some surface-to-air defences were left abandoned by their crews, who retreated back to settlements for supplies.

### Deployment of Alnatoids and hiving of city

The hiving of numerous cities and settlements on Mars over the course of the invasion led to the first Alnatoids completing their growth cycle in early June. These were deployed from orbit aboard Type-22 "Aphids", impacting both the city's biosphere and the remaining open-air settlements. While the Aphids hitting the biosphere were destroyed on impact, those that hit the settlements successfully deployed their Alnatoids. The small garrisons were quickly overwhelmed by the Alnatoids, leading to the hiving of the settlements.

The small number of Alnatoids that survived the biosphere impact were quickly dispatched by infantry in the city. However, just days later, those deployed to the settlements attacked Kolobok. The military was quickly overrun and the biosphere's breached, leading to catastrophic civilian and military losses. Kolobok was declared lost on June 12th, but isolated resistance continued in the city until the 14th.

## Aftermath

Following the end of the battle, Kolobok was hived by the Eyustaki. Radio transmissions from the few surviving soldiers in the city gave the first descriptions of Alnatoid hives, something only observed from orbit prior to this.

An effort by the Second Marsianin Fleet to break through and evacuate Kolobok was undertaken on June 11th, but the fleet was ordered to turn back before they could reach the city. However, 6 H-9 Vultures were able to escape the city, primarily carrying soldiers which would later be redeployed to Hellas.

Despite catastrophic losses the Russian High Command saw the loss of Kolobok as a pyrrhic victory for the Eyustaki and, along with the battles of New Phoenix and Republic, helped prove to Earth nations that Humanity could in fact fight the Eyustaki head-on.