Kalistani Major History

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Battle of Eshar ends in Victory for Regulars
With liquidation of last insurgents, manhunt for leadership continues
Eshar, Duchy of Odufaray
April 4, 5558


Eshar, the last hold out of the Insurgents is finally pacified with widespread property and infrastructure destruction

The anti-Monarchist insurgency is finally at an end. But the manhunt continues for the leaders of the movement that led to the death of the Emperor. Leo Ingelton is Kalistan's most wanted, and he is believed to still be in Kalistan. Also wanted are his co-conspirators James Wilson, Brent Guerrera, Katherine Talbot, Steven Brown, Alberto Gomez, and Henry Jones-Nettleson. Eshar joins the list of several Mainland cities that are significantly damaged. The battle for Kalistan's cities lasted for just over three months, and more than 12 million people are displaced.

The insurgencies in Suldanor and Neveras were quelled pretty quickly, due largely to lack of popular support. But in Odufaray, where violence was the widest spread, nearly the entirely Duchy was lost to Government for more than a month in February, before Regular forces arriving from the South, and supported by Institutional Militia and auxiliary units from Kundrati put Odufaray's cities under siege. Civilians were permitted to leave most of the occupied areas, and in the end downtown areas of Eshar, Gendaris, Senvias, Springfield, and Port Swedes remained under insurgent control.

Port Swedes was the first city to be recovered, as Kundrati marine units stormed the city from the port area, while Regular army pushed in from the west and south. More than 320 insurgents surrendered and loss of life was minimal. Senvias surrendered to Government forces five days later, and Odufaray remained in rebellion. Eshar refused to surrender after Gendaris fell, and Regular artillery was called in the begin bombing insurgents out of the downtown area. The last insurgents called for a cease fire last night and voted to surrender. Overall, more than 600 insurgents were killed in the combat, while more than 4200 surrendered and are being held and interrogated.

The commercial and residential centers of downtown Eshar, Gendaris and Springfield are all utterly destroyed. It will take years to rebuild and allow people and businesses to fully return. Dame DuMont, acting Chancellor of the Empire, has stated that the National Service Program will be sent into affected areas to begin working on temporary housing structures for displaced individuals, and repairs and restoration will likely be in the tens of billions. "More than the damage to the cities caused by occupation by the insurgents and then the taking back those cities," said Dame DuMont, "is the damage the insurgents did to the infrastructure in the areas they occupied. Several sections of the National Railway in Suldanor, Odufaray and Vrassa were utterly destroyed in an attempt to stop the Government from effectively moving along the rail line. Bridges were destroyed, crop land was utterly ruined, and the Port of Eshar is completely closed due to docks being destroyed and rubble being dumped into the harbor. This will end passenger ferry service between Ananto and Eshar for the time being, until the harbor can be cleared, if at all."

Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Pavlina I Ananto, who remains in Gaduridos has spoken on the tragedy:

"We are saddened by this entire tragic episode. Our heart is with our People, and it is our desire to return home as soon as security will permit and will do all we can to contribute to the restoration of our nation and the succor of our People."

The Empress said that she intends to return as soon as possible, but the Crown Princess will likely remain in Gaduridos until IBSI can assure her safety in Ananto.

As efforts now turn to finding the main conspirators, insurgents with operational knowledge of the inner workings of Democracy Forum and related groups will be interrogated by IBSI and their Kundrati colleagues. Dame DuMont stated that she believes most of the insurgents will be charged crimes related to civil disturbance, and will receive lighter sentences than the leaders of the movement, due to an expressed desire to re-integrate Kalistanis back into society. "Many of these people were used," said Dame DuMont. "Most of them had no military experience whatsoever, and most of them were sincere about their desire for reform and were swept up in this movement by demagogues. But it does no good for us to deliver harsh punishment onto those who can be rehabilitated and reintegrated into Kalistani Society, and in the creation of a future grievance against the Government, it might actually hurt the Empire more to punish all participants equally severely." The detention process will work to determine which category each captured insurgent fits into, and then based on any actionable intelligence, most could see parole within six months.

"Those who planned and executed the assassination of His Imperial Majesty, and who orchestrated this wide scale destruction in Kalistan will forget the definition of the word leniency, though," said Dame DuMont. "Once they are captured, it is King's Island for them, at the very least and we will see to it that the Trustees on the Island there give these terrorists a warm welcome."

Dame DuMont also commented on the recovery of the Chancellor of the Empire, Dame Ontiveros. "The Chancellor has entered physical therapy. The bullet wounds she suffered damaged her spine, collapsed her lungs, and left her with severe cognitive damage. It is unlikely that she will ever fully resume her life as it was before, and the doctors have said she has a less than three percent chance of ever walking again. But Lindsay is a strong willed lady. I have known her for a long time, and if she says she will walk again, she will. Meanwhile, I shall continue in my post serving Her Imperial Majesty until either I am allowed to return to my post in the Foreign Ministry, or Her Imperial Majesty gives me another task to fulfill." Dame DuMont has been serving in the position since the night of the shooting, and has passed a number of emergency measures by fiat while the Empress has been out of the nation. The emergency security fiat acts, including suspension of freedom of movement, suspension of certain rights in court, and the mandatory curfew, are now slated to end May 1st, and full civil liberties will be restored at that time.

Elements of the Kundrati Army and Navy will remain in Kalistan for the time being to serve with Kalistani Regular forces in a security role, and elements of Kundrati Intelligence will continue working with IBSI in monitoring both the borders with Lodamun and Baltusia, but also helping locate and capture the Democratic Forum Leadership, and co-conspirators in other groups.