Battle of the Big Indian

Appalachian and Seaboard territorial map with battling county in yellow

## Strength

### Strength

18,000 Appalachian Marines and Army infantry including Alpha division, 35,000 Seaboard trailblazer infantry, various heavy sentinels

## Casualties and losses

### Losses

800 Appalachian deaths and over 2,000 injuries, Unknown or minimal Seaboard casualties

The Battle of the Big Indian was a major battle between Appalachian forces of the Harrisburg Committee, led by Colonel Krauss, and Seaboard offensive forces, led by Major Yudhan. While the majority of the Second Army Corps fought and held their positions to the Northeast, the Appalachian Marine Alpha Division sought to break through the Seaboard installment that cut them off from the rest of their army.

Originally, Colonel Krauss proposed that gorilla warfare in the Catskill mountains would be relatively easy, especially since prior engagements with Seaboard militants proved them to be fairly inept. However, in the first half of 2019, significant improvements were made to the Seaboard Army, including change of leadership, mass-production of new weaponry and gear, and increased training.

One of the most significant battles in the Catskill Offensive, the Appalachian defeat in the Big Indian wilderness paved way for a rapid retreat and subsequent cornering by two different Seaboard Army Corps.

## Events

In the end of august, the commanding officers of the Appalachian forces in New York realized too late that they would not be able to retreat back to Pennsylvania without a direct engagement. Colonel Krauss and others chose the Catskill mountains as the region to break through the Seaboard blockade, since he believed that it would be unexpected. Reasons for this were that major highways didn't run through, and it wasn't the route originally taken to get to Cooperstown, where the force was stationed. Beyond that, reports had been that it was one of the weakest links in the blockade.

Aerial reconnaissance and bombing runs occurred from 30 August to 2 September. Believing that the Seaboard defense was mostly crippled, Colonel Krauss began the counter-offensive on 3 September. By 4 September, things had gone fairly successfully, and Krauss thought that by the end of the day they'd have a link back to their original territory. However, Seaboard anticipated many of Krauss's assumptions, namely that the trailblazers wouldn't be familiarized with the mountains. Not only this, Seaboard General Sherman correctly assumed that Krauss would not go west to break through the blockade, even weeks before.

On 4 September, 2019, Alpha Division was split into many different parts. Among them were the one-hundred elites. Once the main force was in the mountains, Seaboard forces used guerilla-tactics to repel them, and thousands of Appalachian troops were routed. Officers were targeted, and sooner rather than later a retreat was called.

By the evening, most of the force had withdrawn back to Cooperstown defeated.

## Commanders and Leaders

* **Harrisburg Committee, Alpha Division**
	+ Colonel Krauss
	+ Major Bolt
	+ Captain Gonzales

* **Seaboard, Eastern Army Corps**
	+ Major Yudhan
	+ General Sherman
	+ Captain Erdogan