The Great Siege: Kanarucan Preparations
Background
Admiral Dražen Pavlović, Comte de Bellecombe was rather cross about ultimatum, but he retained his typical solemnity in spite of what he perceived as a major blunder by the powers at be. If it had been to his doing, the ultimatum would been backed up by the guns of the Combined Fleet when it was sent out. Alas, the Lunesians insisted that the ultimatum be delivered with 'honour', entailing that the Coalition would wait a whole two days for a response before acting. Politicians interfering in military operations was the bane of Bellecombe's existence, and once again they were proving to be quite a thorn in his side...
Bellecombe had a lot on his plate. He had been selected as the commander of the Combined Fleet when the plans for this joint operation were concocted by the Admiralties of Kanaruca, Deuxlunesia, and the Zetan Republic just a few months before. Trying to get the fleets of three separate nations to work in unison was a daunting task, but it was only made worse by the insistence by the politicians yet again. The agreement that was reached between the three powers would see the Kanarucans placed as the de facto leader, but that the Zetans and Lunesians would have de jure autonomy as well. To add insult to injury, the Combined Fleet would be ruled in part by committee to preserve this de jure autonomy.
There were so many issues with this arrangement, that several examples must be drawn to show just how much Bellecombe's hands were tied behind his back.
Example One:
If the Praefectus Classis of Lepidia did not approve of the Kanarucan plans, he did not have to participate in them unless the Princeps Civitatis or Magister Equitum explicitly ordered him to. This is because of the decentralised nature of the Zetan Navy, and that they had no command structure beyond their three Classi (of Lepidia, Vestia and Thebais) and their respective admiralties.
Example Two:
Though Deuxlunesia had a High Command, they refused to be integrated directly into Kanarucan formations, and insisted that any formation that contained either of them would have a Lunesian Commander was either equal to the Kanarucan Commander in authority or could refuse an order in battle.
With friends like these who needs enemies? The whole 'honour' part of the ultimatum was just another example of this ridiculous attitude that plagued Bellecombe's efforts once again and would certainly in the future as well.
Bellecombe's Background
In spite of all of this, there were few better positioned than him in the whole world for dealing with this task and bringing a victory out of it.
The 57-year-old is widely regarded as the most capable admiral in the entire Kanarucan Fleet. He had a distinguished and decorated career up to this point having won great victories over the Black Fleet, the Agnami Fleet, and the United Provinces in the past. He had also experience leading a coalition fleet before during the famed Kizuna Ocean Campaign of 1138-1141 alongside the Marina Stellare during 4th Golden War.
As a commander, he is known for his 'tempered aggression', cleverness and thoroughness. His signature victory at Cape Bellecombe (1136) against the Black Fleet saw him hold back half of his force behind his vanguard, allowing the deadbeats to experience the illusion of crossing his T before he sent forth the other half of his fleet to cross their own T, while his vanguard turned about face to double envelope them at the same time. During the 4th Golden War, he managed break the blockade of Luciana by tricking the larger Florian Fleet into believing that he had a much larger force on hand than he did through optical illusions and pure audacity.
His style of command is a reflection of his personality in part. Headstrong, intelligent, and of a phlegmatic nature: his rise to greatness from his humble origins is often attributed to his quick wits, and calm demeanour which captured the attention of his officers. After one instance where he went above and beyond his duty as a common sailor to take leadership and restore order after his ship had been captured for a brief time by Chumbuds, he was quickly enrolled into the Naval Academy at the 'old age' of 21. After graduating with honours, he quickly rose through the ranks to where he is today. A commoner turned noble, respected and beloved by his men: Bellecombe is one of the greatest success stories that Kanaruca has to offer.
The man who is known as the 'Blue Devil' by both his friends and enemies stands ready to add yet another victory to his illustrious résumé, Kobo willing. He knows rather well the man he faces as well, Louis d'Avranches. The tales of his grandfather had inspired a young Dražen Pavlović to join the fleet and forsake his future as a farmer.
On a more personal level, he also knew Louis a bit from some of their interactions during the 4th Golden War. Though the Empire was not directly involved in the war, they sent neutrality patrols regularly, several of which were led by D'Avranches. He was impressed by the then 32-year-old Rear Admiral, but at the same time was rather envious of him at the same time. While Bellecombe had to earn his way to the top, it seemed that this 'kid genius' had been given everything he needed to succeed with from the start.
When he found out that it was D'Avranches that was the commander of the Naval Station at Bergazeet, he cherished the opportunity he had now to humiliate this cocky son of a bitch. He knew very well that his opponent was a very talented commander but did not think his genius would hold up in action. Nonetheless, the ever-thorough Bellecombe wasn't going to give him the opportunity for success either. This wasn't going to be an easy fight, he knew. Bergazeet alone was quite the obstacle, and with the forces under Louis' capable command, he earnestly believed it was going to be a much tougher fight than anyone else seemed to believe.
This is ultimately why the whole affair about 'honour' with the ultimatum infuriated him deep down. Giving your opponent, regardless of ability, time to prepare was a grave error. If it was up to him, he would have tried to perform a Coup de Main on the northern end of the Peninsula during the middle of the night, take the Grand Fort, and then see what would happen. Surely, it would end this struggle rather fast! But, deep down inside his heart, Bellecombe's envious heart was somewhat happy that the logical plan he devised was rejected. The humiliation he wanted to deal to D'Avranches wouldn't happen under those circumstances, unfortunately.
Bellecombe's Plan(s) for the Campaign
As he met with his subordinates in the weeks before the campaign was to begin, Bellecombe laided out his plan in detail of how he planned to overcome the 'Greatest Fortress' in the world. With considerations given to the egos of the Zetans and Moonmen, his planned Operation, codenamed Pike, was as follows:
Operation Pike
- Bergazeet must be taken before the Imperial Navy can bring reinforcements. It is thus imperative that a rapid strike with all forces available must be made against the following points, with importance going from top to bottom:
- The Grand Fort and supporting Fortifications.
- The Grand Harbour and supporting Fortifications
- The Southern Redoubts
- The Eastern Harbour and the 'Broeck' Forts that protect them.
- The Imperial Naval Force at Bergazeet must be destroyed as soon as possible.
- This must be done within one month at most, two weeks ideally.
- With these three principal objectives required to achieve success identified, the following outcomes will determine the future course of action.
a. Total success, which is all objectives are taken, which would by the essence mean that point two has been also achieved, revert to 'Plan Omega' against the inevitable counter-attack.
b. Partial success, which would be completing three of the objectives from point one, or point two plus two objectives in point one, revert to 'Plan Delta' against the inevitable counter-attack.
c. Failure, which would be the inability to achieve no more than two of the objectives from point one but no less than three, revert to 'Plan Gamma' against the inevitable counter-attack.
d. Total failure, which would entail none of the objectives were achieved even if point two is achieved, revert to 'Plan Mu' against the inevitable counter-attack.
Operational Details
- The 'Zetan Fleet', and the 'Augusta Force' shall proceed to strike towards the western side of Southern Redoubts, with Zetan Marines conducting landing operations.
- The 'Heavenly Sea Fleet' (Kanaruca) shall proceed to strike towards the Grand Fort and Grand Harbour, aiming to also destroy the ITN Squadrons in the process. No landing operations shall be conducted until the fortifications are neutralised.
- The 'Lunar Fleet', and the 'Dominica Force' shall strike towards the Eastern Harbour and the 'Broeck' Forts, with Lunar Marines conducting landing operations.
All Forces listed above shall be in position by two hours before the ultimatum (300hrs October 16th) at their respective zones. Further operational groups shall be used on the night of the 16th (conditionally).
- 'Force Pemberton': consisting of fireships, submarines, demolition ships, and other unorthodox weapons shall be used during the night after the first day against points deemed to be of urgency at the time should the first day not be a total success.
- 'Force Carthalo': consisting of Kanarucan and Lunar Marines specialising in night operations shall raid Bergazeet the same night regardless of the degree of success.
Insert Map here
Order of Battle
See separate document below:
https://rentry.org/Great-Siege-Combined-Fleet-OOB-1144
Contingency Plans
As listed above, and typical for his nature Bellecombe made four contingency plans that would be executed per the result of Operation Pike's results. They were left vague aside from Plan Mu intentionally given that the situation would dictate that a more detailed plan would need to be made in any event.
You may skip the details of the following unless they interest you.
Plan Omega
- All haste must be taken to repair the existing fortifications.
- Operational details will be given at the moment based on the status of the Combined Fleet, and other forces, including enemy forces.
- A Further plan, codenamed Zeta, will be drawn up immediately upon the sitrep.
- Attempts should be made at negotiating a peace.
Plan Delta
- All haste must be taken to repair the existing fortifications and build off the success.
- Operational details will be given at the moment based on the status of the Combined Fleet, and other forces, including enemy forces.
- A Further plan, codenamed Psi, will be drawn up immediately upon the sitrep.
Plan Gamma
- All haste must be taken to repair the existing fortifications and prepare for the counter attacks.
- Operational details will be given at the moment based on the status of the Combined Fleet, and other forces, including enemy forces.
- A Further plan, codenamed Kappa, will be drawn up immediately upon the sitrep.
Plan Mu
- Immediate preparations must be made for a counter-attack by the Imperial Navy.
- In turn, a strike against this counter-attack will be prepared to be delivered upon it when it is practicable.
- All efforts must be directed towards the immediate defense of the coastal towns, villages and ports of the Republic of Zeta and Kingdom of Deuxlunesia. We cannot allow failure at Bergazeet cascade into a large disaster.
- The Kizunican Fleet shall be placed under the Combined Fleet, where it shall either reinforce the Combined Fleet directly, or conduct operations in the Heavenly Sea against Imperial Forces.
- A Further plan, codenamed , will be drawn up immediately upon the sitrep.
- Attempts should be made at negotiating a peace.