News:Tiperyn

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2022

Feb 4: Declassified report from Santa Magdalena tells harrowing story of heroism

Before Tiperyn committed large forces, their special troops embedded with locals were often at risk of being overrun.
By STAFF WRITER | 4 February 2022 — 7:00 (UTC+1)

Tiperyn troops.jpg
A Tiperyn Marine from the 5° Intervention Brigade advising Santa Magdalenian forces, 2010.



CIUDADELA, Santa Magdalena — The Secretariat on War and Crisis has declassified after action reports from early in Tiperyn's involvement in Santa Magdalena, including one incident where special troops had to call in naval gunfire to avoid surrender.

Before Tiperyn committed large numbers of ground troops in 2014 to support the legally recognized government of Santa Magdalena, special Realm Defence forces were already in the country advising government forces. This was, of course, to prevent the fall of another South-Central Avalonian state to global socialism. Concordant ally Arbenz had already fallen in 1991, and SiWallqanqa would later be embroiled in a bloody civil war instigated by communist insurgents.

The Secretariat on War and Crisis clandestinely deployed special forces as early as 2006 when it became evident Santa Magdalena needed aid to stem the tide of internationally-backed socialist provocateurs. The first unit to be committed was Half Troop A, a contingent of elite commandos from the 5° Intervention Brigade's Special Action Troop which is regionally aligned to the East Tethys.

These troops immediately went to work supporting Santa Magdalenian operations and teaching them critical skills. However, being Tiperyn's only combat troops in theatre at the time, it was not uncommon for them to become isolated during fights with large insurgent forces.

One such incident was on 4 February 2007 near the lakeside village of Toca about 5 kilometres northeast of the capital of Ciudadela. On that day, a 15-man Tiperyner patrol was supporting a Santa Magdalenian sweep of the area north of Lake Candon, attempting to root out socialists safe havens.

At 5:35 a.m., a firefight broke out as the Santa Magdalenians made contact with a large force of insurgents, potentially accompanied by foreign agitators.

Tragically, one Tiperyner was slain that day. Lance Corporal Lutsma, the patrol's lead scout, was killed in the opening vollies of the engagement.

"The enemy took us by surprised," Patrol Leader Ensign Foko Petstra recorded in the after action report. "L/Cpl. Lutsma, who was at the head of the formation, was killed by a burst of insurgent machine gun fire."

During the exchange, the Tiperyn patrol became separated from the Santa Magdalenian company they were embedded with. Pinned down on the bank of Lake Candon and with no Magdalenian support in sight, the special action troops were out of options.

In 2007, there weren't any Tiperyn fighter-bombers or helicopter-gunships in Santa Magdalena ready at a moments notice to support Tiperyn troops in contact, as there are today. But, luckily for them, Tiperyn destroyer TNV Fredesmakyst was standing by in Ciudadela Bay just west of Lake Canton.

"Surrendering to the insurgents was never an option, and neither was swimming the Canton," Ensign Petstra wrote. "Our only option was our warship in the city bay. For that patrol, I had taken out my naval fires liaison instead of the normal air controller due to there being no allied aircraft tasked in support.

"At about 6:14 a.m., I ordered for 2.5-inch [82mm] naval gunfire on insurgent positions to help us break contact."

And the gunfire came. The fires provided by TNV Fredesmakyst are reported to have suppressed the frontline insurgent forces pinning the Marines down. The angel on their shoulders bought the Tiperyners enough time and space to make a hasty sprint back to the Santa Magdalenian line, after which Ensign Petstra rallied allied forces and pressed the attack.

The First Fight at Toca, as the engagement has been notated as, was just one of many battles Tiperyn special forces won for the legally recognized forces. Petstra estimates in his report that allied forces killed up to 200 insurgents to the tune of only 42 friendlies deaths, although he states that there was no time to conduct a full body count.

Today, on the 15th anniversary of the battle, Tiperyn forces are still in Santa Magdalena, heroically defending the legitimate government from the threat of the socialist malefactors.