Battle of Belgrade

Battle of Belgrade Part of: The Incursion Initial Celtic artillery barrage. Date 17th February 2024 Location Belgrade Result Celtic pyrrhic victory Belgrade captured Some objectives not met Serbia pushed back Celts take huge casualties Status Ended. Territorial changes Belligerents Celtic Union Serbia Commanders and leaders killenoob08 Elit_Serbia Strength 3 7 Casualties and losses 12 ERC-90 Armoured Cars 1 Attack Helicopter shot down 20 Corkonians dead 100~ to 120~ Celts dead 4 BMP-1 destroyed 70~ to 100~ serbs dead Other Casualties and losses 20~ Civilians dead.

The Battle of Belgrade was a battle between the Celtic Union and Serbia. It resulted in the fall of Belgrade from Serbia to the Celtic Union, however at huge expense of both Celtic and Corkonian lives.

Prelude

The battle happened after the incredible success of the Celtic Airborne Invasion of Belgrade the Celtic Army decided to launch an attack north, with the help of Corkonian civilian volunteers from the Rathlin Royal Militia. The Rathlin Royal Militia were frequently used as flanking troops.

The Battle

The battle started with a Celtic artillery bombardment that killed some Serbians and damaged the buildings, however the Serbians were able to entrench and held onto the buildings for a while. Eventually the Celts, desperate for progress called in air support which mostly failed and resulted in the loss of a attack helicopter. The initial attack also saw huge use of armoured cars in the assault, the ERC-90 was used on the Celtic side with the Serbians deploying their own BMP-1 (and the Serbians made extensive use of AT weapons which devastated the Celtic attack)

The Siege

It was clear the Celtics were not making progress and by halfway through the battle they had already lost 7 armoured cars, 1 helicopter and 70 dead. The Celts decided to settle down into a night time artillery bombardment, which somewhat worked however the Serbians fortified and dug trenches which resulted in the bombardments failing.

Tunnels

With no clear way to progress, the Celtics resorted to digging tunnels, a already proven strategy which helped extensively in the 4th-Cork Celtic War war. So the Celtic troops and Corkonian volunteers attempted to dig tunnels which started to show success. A detachment of Corkonian volunteers from the Rathlin Royal Militia were able to flank right in a tunnel and start attacking the roof tops, which still proved hard. Celts were able to make progress left and centre and eventually the Serbians lost the building.

The Defense

With the building now occupied the Celts rushed to re-fortify it, with a Corkonian manning the machine gun actively shooting at Serbian soldiers re-advancing. The Celts almost lost the building when the Serbians launched 2 front pincer attack however failed to re-occupy the building.

Around 2 more armoured cars were re-deployed too attack the Serbian attackers which resulted in one Cork operated armoured car on top of a hill successfully killing up to 14 Serbians whilst being pounded with RPG rockets.

The End of the Battle

The end of the battle came when the Celts were able to hold onto the buildings and repel Serbian flanking attacks, the Serbian soldiers, running out of men, decided to withdraw to defensive operations and trench warfare kicked in, which was not long lasting.

War Crimes

A Corkonian operated ERC-90 is supposed to have killed up to 13 civilians.

Aftermath

The attack led to the complete capture of Belgrade and the Celtic Union started re-organising to attack north. Multiple miles of field were captured along with the river. The Serbians had lost some front line BMPs and with their airforce already in shambles they decided too retreat.