Battle of Mokany

The Battle of Mokany was the first ground battle fought by the Theykan Expeditionary Corps to SiWallqanqa during the SiWallqanqan Civil War. The nocturnal airborne assault, performed the 27th of May 2015, had the objective to secure the town of Mokany, in the outskirts of Vilk. This would allow friendly armored forces to reach the major city and setup a staging ground for the assault on it.

Background
With the SiWallqanqan Civil War, the Theykan Armed Forces hastily assembled the Theykan Expeditionary Corps to Siwallqanqa. The 7th Airborne Regiment was the first unit to arrive in theatre, landing in Zahava in late april to prepare for operations in SiWallqanqa. Mokany was selected as the target, to allow for operations to seize the major city of Vilk, to then support the main front towards Hineni.

Preparation
The plans were elaborated in early may, and were presented to the Theykan Joint Chief of Staff, theykan politicians and siwi officials. Theykan officials criticized the plan, deeming it too risky. A nocturnal airdrop so close to the enemy was considered too bold of a move, and a failure would have put the future of the Theykan Expeditionary Corps at risk, in addition to humiliating the Theykan Armed Forces on a global scale. The 16th of may, after adjustments and persuasion by Colonel Raiepe "Waaka" Keeti, commander of the 7th Airborne Regiment, the plan was approved for execution. The plan would entail a nocturnal, low level drop in close proximity to the enemy position. The troops would then leave their backpacks (containing enough supplies to last approximately 3 days), and perform the assault. Once the assault was over, they were to take defensive positions and block the main road going into Vilk. Theykan, Zahavan and Loyalist air assets had been fighting for air dominance in the air, in addition to pounding enemy positions and performing reconnaissance, including the area around Vilk. At 17:00 of the 26th of May, paratroopers began to board their transport planes, which due to limited availability of Theykan aircraft, would be both theykan and from other loyalist forces, and would board more equipment and paratroopers then security protocols allowed. One of the airborne companies would perform their drop from helicopters. The aircraft took off at 18:00.

Parachute landing
The aircraft used for the mission were a hastily assembled mix of Theykan (TZ Karoro, TZ Kaiarahi, TZ Pelikana A), Zahavan and Siwi transports. Taking off at 18:00, they took a southern route, as to avoid the high mountain range between Zahava and northern SiWallqanqa, and to avoid flying over rebel held territory. The southern route forced entry into kayan airspace, but the kayan autorities authorized the passage the day earlier. The paratroopers would land in 2 different drop zones (DZs): 2 airborne companies, the HQ and HQ troops and the engineering company would land at DZ Lamara, the remaining 3 airborne companies and the reconnaissance company would land at DZ Jatha, approximately 1 km south east of DZ Lamara. The paratroopers jumped at 500m of altitude. The only parachuting incident was an aerial collide between 2 soldiers: both were injured, and one of the pair was deemed combat ineffective. The first boots touched the ground at 00:23. All equipment and personnel was on the ground by 00:39. After a reorganization, all combat personnel left their backpacks at the DZs (guarded by Company Sergeant Masters and loyalist militiamen) to perform the attack without the added weight. At 1:08, 3 minutes later than planned, the combat troops began their movement towards the town of Mokany.

The assault
The assault commenced at 1:40, a 5 minute delay against the planned time of 1:35. The 3 rebel strongholds were attacked by 4 of the regiments 5 companies, as one was kept in reserve, ready to be deployed when needed. Indirect fire support was provided by the 81mm mortars organic to the regiment. The assaulting troops used the grid of trees to cover their advance, while bounding towards their respective objective. At the same moment, the reconnaissance platoons and the anti-tank troops were stalthily bypassing the town to cut down possible escape avenues. First contact was made at 1:49, when the forward platoon of B company received fire from the smallest rebel stronghold. Theykan troops started to move faster, as the surprise element was lost. The fire from defending troops has later been described as mostly uneffective, as it was reported that the defending troops were not equipped with, while each theykan soldier was equipped with one. Once the strongholds were reached, the mortar fire was interrupted as to not cause friendly casualties. The mortars then aimed at the roads going into the town, as to provide fire against possible reinforcements or fleeing troops. The battle turned to a violent house-to-house fight, where superior theykan equipment and training proved effective again: despite that, 3 theykan soldiers were killed in the urban fight: the leader of 2 Platoon, E Company was killed by an explosion caused by a rebel rocket launcher, which struck a nearby truck, igniting its fuel. The other 2 soldiers, privates from A and D company respectively, were killed by enemy fire while clearing houses. The last pockets of resistance surrendered by 3:19 AM. The regiment then regrouped, taking defensive position inside the town, waiting for reinforcements expected by midday.

Rebel Counter Attack
At around 4:00 AM, the reconnaissance troops at the entrances of the town reported a column of vehicles approching. The anti-tank teams prepared the missiles to destroy the incoming vehicles, while the regiment prepared to fight the counter attack. Theykan air controllers, called for (CAS) to help deal with the mass of incoming vehicles. At 4:13, the order was given to discharge the first anti-tank missiles. It was reported that of the first 9 missiles fired, 7 successfully destroyed their target. The rebel force fired on the anti-tank positions, but the troops vacated their fire positions as soon as the missiles were fired. The first AF-14s delivered their ordance at 4:28, but one of the aircraft was hit by a burst of 40mm anti-aircraft fire. The burst caused critical damage to the airframe and set the craft on fire, forcing the crew to eject. The crew later landed in loyalist territory. A second wave of armored vehicles then hit the theykan lines, which the theykan forces were unable to repell due to the scarcity of missiles. They resorted to luring the enemy AFVs in the town itself and destroying them with unguided launchers, such as the Zahavan produced HAMMER. A third wave of rebel troops, this time largely non-motorized, used the chaos created by their armored counterparts, to approach the town largely undetected, and commenced a fierce and violent gunfight in the outskirts of the town. The superiority of theykan equipment proved again valuable, with rebel troops not being able to maneuver and fire properly without night vision equipment. The last enemy troops surrendered or fled by sunrise, at 5:58 AM. 6 theykan soldiers died in the counter attack, including the second in command of A company.

Aftermath
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Theykan Armed Forces
7th Airborne Regiment "Buzzard" Supporting Aircraft Assets
 * HQ and HQ Troops
 * Airborne Reconnaissance Company
 * A (Airborne) Company
 * C (Airborne) Company
 * D (Airborne) Company
 * E (Airborne) Company
 * F (Airborne) Company
 * Airborne Engineering Company
 * Air Operations Command (SiWallqanqa)
 * 2x ZuB12IK (Only used before the infantry assault)
 * 4x AF-14 Harpe
 * Joint Helicopter Command SiWallqanqa
 * 6x HU-ZR6D Custos

Casualties
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