1st Armored Division of Aturai

Aturai Division 1st Armored Division of Aturai
Flag Emblem
Founded		15th June, 1943
Type		Armored Division
Branch		Fegeland Army
Motto		Death Or Glory
Headquarters		Aturai, Fegeland
Commander		Great General Heiki Ten-Paufanga

The 1st Armored Division of Aturai (Feguan Army: 1^st DB Aturai), more commonly known as the Aturai Division, is an elite corps of the Feguan Army located in the state of Aturai, Fegeland. Founded in 1943 as the first fully-mechanized division of the Fegeland Army, replacing the 207th Aturai Cavalry Regiment, it quicky accumulated military successes in all kinds of land-based operations. The Aturai Division's Special Operations Section of Aturai (SOSA) was one of the first Special Sections of the Feguan defense forces and was responsible for most of the popular aura surrounding the Division as a whole, rendered famous by its rapid blizkrieg-like incursions deep into enemy territory and famed secret undercover missions. From a purely armored division to its current form as an almost independent elite corps, the Aturai Division gradually grew in renown in the past century, becoming one of Fegeland's most recognized military units.

History

Foundation (1943)

Recognizing the obsolescence of its doctrines regarding the employment of novel mechanized warfare and tanks in the 1930s, the Imperial Command of the Armed Forces (ICAF), headed by then Great General Chief of Staff Paofu Hei-Pomare IV, decided the creation of a series of new fully-mechanized divisions, comprised of 4 Armored Battle Regiments and 2 Spearhead Mechanized Infantry Regiments. These Armored Divisions, labelled "DB" in the Feguan Army hierarchic notation, were supposed to form the spearhead of the Feguan armed forces in the event of a land-based mechanized conflict. They addressed Fegeland's notable lag on the shift away from infantry-based warfare and towards armor-based warfare in the 1920s-1940s ; a domain were Fegeland's doctrines were becoming critically outdated compared to its neighbors. At the time, the canonic doctrines of the Fegeland Army were still inherited from the era of cavalry and infantry-based warfare, with cavalry regiments still largely equipped with capals and cavaliers, and very little mechanization (including light vehicles). The Army relied mostly on Fegeland's formidable train network to supply and transport its logistics and troops. It was common for entire units and regiments to move around by foot or by capal, meanwhile the attention of the Imperial Command was almost exclusively focused on naval and air theaters, seen as the main focuses of Feguan military strategies. Fegeland had no known land enemy, and the main asset of the Empire was its large oceanic imperial foothold and influence all across the Central Sea. The land arm of the Feguan defense forces was notably neglected in the doctrines of the time, calling for a deep actualization program.

The 1^st DB Aturai was the first of the new Armored Divisions created, on the 15th of June 1943. It replaced the 207^th Aturai Cavalry, although the new division was much larger than the former regiment. The state of Aturai was originally planned to have 3 armored divisions, but the 1^st Aturai later incorporated them, making it the largest armored division in the Commonwealth of Feguanesia, and the only state in Fegeland with only one Army division in its Corps. The Aturai Army Corps is therefore solely comprised of the 1^st Armored Division itself, and all military presence in the state is colloquially agglomerated to the Aturai Division in popular lingo as a result.

Early doctrine under Ten-Paufanga

Great General Heiki Ten-Paufanga, native of Fau'go Ten, heir of a family of long military ancestry (notably including Ten of the House of Ten) and personal friend of Paofu Hei-Pomare was appointed by the latter as commander of the Aturai Division. Hei-Pomare wanted to entrust his first (and then experimental) Armored Division to a man of confidence in whom he placed his greatest hopes. The stakes were high, as he stood against the main policies of the Imperial Command at the time, whose interest for the land arm was then near nonexistent. Heiki Ten-Paufanga was reputed for his sharp tactical thinking and coolheadedness, and shared Hei-Pomare's visions of mechanized warfare. He bolstered what is today recognized as the foundation of armored warfare tactics in the Feguan military. His contributions to military doctrine in Fegeland were compiled -by his hand- in a series of monographs later recollected in an omnibus, the New Recueil of the Strategies of Ten adapted for the modern use, more commonly known as the Shin-Ten. This work collects and adapts the tactics of Ten of the House of Ten, Ten-Paufanga's ancestor, to modern warfare, arriving to conclusions very similar in general shape to the Zokesian mechanized warfare doctrines of the time.

Foundation of the SOSA

During the experimental years of the Aturai Division, it was quickly realized that the new Armored Battle Regiments were plagued by two key weaknesses, namely

• that they needed a substantial logistic train in their trail, to supply both munitions and oil ;
• that deep scouting into enemy territory and regional surgical strike means were key in destabilizing regional enemy defenses

The issue of logistics was quickly addressed by the addition of a dedicated Logistics Genie Regiment to each Armored Division, but the need for deep penetration and scouting capabilities could not be addressed by the units of the time, especially the two Spearhead Mechanized Infantries attached to the division. By the time the Imperial Command was entirely convinced of the need for an entirely new corps within the Fegeland Army and then within the Feguan military at large, the Aturai Division had already expanded to the state-wide Aturai Army Corps, counting no less than 13 Armored Battle Regiments, and still no dedicated means to project in deep enemy-controlled terrain. As a result, Gen. Ten-Paufanga ordered the creation of a dedicated section for all "special operation" needs - the Special Operations Section of Aturai. Made of experienced volunteers well-acquainted with guerilla warfare, infiltration techniques and sabotage, the SOSA provided the Aturai Division the capabilities it missed. The newly-formed section rapidly saw itself in direct competition with the Feguan Foreign Legion in trainings, sprouting a rivalry of form between the two formations, which greatly contributed to the image and elitism of the SOSA.

The SOSA specializes in many aspects of spec-ops warfare, including

• Guerilla warfare and asymmetric warfare, behind enemy lines
• Infiltration
• Sabotage and destabilization of the rear lines, anti-material destruction
• Anti-personnel warfare and target eliminations
• Kidnapping
• Recovery of assets and personnel in enemy territory
• Extra-judicial affairs and coups-de-main in politically tense contexts, most often under mercenary or non-endorsed policies
• Ranked war-criming

Notable engagements

Against Dust Harvest

• Operation Combinee
• Operation Combinee 2

In the TIGER Reclamation War

• Loyalist Insurrection of Aturai
• Campaign of Raifatu
• Battle of Bankan-Sei Pass
• Liberation of Ranga Bay

Other

• Post-Shattering involvement in rescue operations in Lanu and Algiza