The Trench War was a war on Dantooine.
History[]
Following the outbreak of the war in 214 ABY, the Republic army opened the front by first invading Khoonda and Matale, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in Tanak. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Maind. Both sides then dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the Matale Sea to the Kalon frontier with Tanak. This line remained essentially unchanged for most of the war.
Between 216 ABY and 218 ABY there were several major offensives along this front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun nests, barbed wire, and artillery repeatedly inflicted severe casualties on the attackers and counter attacking defenders. As a result, no significant advances were made.
In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new military technology, including poison gas, aircraft, and tanks. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored.
In spite of the generally stagnant nature of this front, this theater would prove decisive. The inexorable advance of the Mandalorian armies in 219 ABY persuaded the Republic commanders that defeat was inevitable, and the government was forced to sue for conditions of an armistice.
At the outbreak of the Trench War, the Republic army (consisting in the West of Seven Field Armies) executed a modified version of the Seante Plan, designed to quickly attack Tanak through Khoonda before turning southwards to encircle the Mandalorian army on the Republican border. Armies under Republic generals Alexander Lakall and Hess Junne attacked Khoonda on August 4, 214 ABY. Matale had been occupied without opposition on August 2. The first battle in Khoonda was the Siege of Liks, which lasted from August 5–16. Liks was well fortified and surprised the Republican army under Junne with its level of resistance. However, Republic heavy artillery was able to pound the key forts into ruin within a few days. Following the fall of Liks, most of the Khoonda army retreated to Shen and Rahesha. Although the Republic army bypassed Shen, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Tok, lasting from about 20–23 August.
For their part, the Mandalorians had five Armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war Mandalorian offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsac following the outbreak of hostilities. On 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsac with its objectives being to capture Mul and Colm. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarr in Lorra. In keeping with the Senate Plan, the Republic withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the Mandalorians. The Mandalorians advanced the 3rd and 4th army toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saaraa, attacking Briey and Neuf, before being driven back. The Army of Alsac captured Mul but abandoned it to reinforce the greatly weakened forces in Lorra.
The Republic army swept through Khoonda, causing great suffering on the part of the civilian population. After marching through Khoonda, Matale and Ardu, the Republic Army advanced, in the latter half of August, into northern Tanak where they met both the Mandalorian army, under Josa Klomm, and the initial six divisions of the Sith Expeditionary Force. A series of engagements known as the Battle of the Frontiers ensued. Key battles included the Battle of Charl and the Battle of Moon. In the former battle the Mandalorian 5th Army was almost destroyed by the Republic 2nd and 3rd Armies and the latter delayed the Republican advance by a day. A general Allied retreat followed, resulting in more clashes such as the Battle of Lecat, the Siege of Maubagg and the Battle of Quenns.
The Republic army came within 43 miles (70 km) of the Khoonda building, but at the Battle of Manna (September 6–12), Mandalorian and Sith troops were able to force a Republic retreat by exploiting a gap which appeared between the Republic 1st and 2nd Armies, ending the advance into Tanak. The Republic army retreated north of the Amaar River and dug in there, establishing the beginnings of a static western front that was to last for the next three years. Following this Republic setback, the opposing forces tried to outflank each other in the Race for the Sea, and quickly extended their trench systems from the Matale Sea to the Kalon frontier. The resulting Republic-occupied territory held 64% of Tanak's pig-steel production, 24% of its carbon manufacturing and 40% of the total tibanna mining capacity, dealing a serious, but not crippling setback to Tankan industry.
On the Erete side, the final lines were occupied by the armies of the allied planets, with each nation defending a part of the front. From the coast in the north, the primary forces were from Khoonda, the Mandalorians and the Sith. Following the Battle of the Yassa in October, the Khoondan forces controlled a 35 km length of Flekka territory along the coast, with their front following the Yassa river and the Junim canal, from Calicc to Gorrl. Stationed to the south was the sector of the Sith Expeditionary Force (SEF). Here, from 19 October until 22 November, the Republican forces made their final breakthrough attempt of 214 ABY during the First Battle of Reden. Heavy casualties were suffered on both sides but no breakthrough occurred. By December, the SEF guarded a continual line from the Rattak Canal to south of Lambasabak in the Randsam valley. The remainder of the front, south to the border with Kolan, was manned by Tanak forces.
Between the coast and the Vosa was an outward bulge in the trench line, named the Nona salient for the captured Tanak town at the maximum point of advance near Campa.