The Battle of St. Petersburg --- History of Rimskaya

Considering the time it has been since out first publication of the History of Rimskaya, we aim to continue the series as a placeholder while the Publication Committee and news channel desperately sorts through concurrent events to find something to blabber about.

Please note, this refers to the St. Petersburg on the Floridian Peninsula, that is now the city of Milania, as opposed to the city in the former Russian Federation.

See episode one here: The Battle of Tampa --- History of Rimskaya

The Battle of St. Petersburg

December 26th, 2020

Prelude

Having successfully captured the City of Tampa and defended it from several counterattacks, Democraticus was feeling confident in the Revolution's ability to hold out. The United States had already fallen into chaos following the actions of his army, and the U.S. Military could only divert so many resources to the original spur of it all, along with trying to ensure that an invasion from China or Russia doesn't occur.

Having taken a time of peace to celebrate Christmas, Democraticus began planning his next moves.

St. Petersburg was the house of local government in Pinellas county, a small peninsular county that, if controlled, would grant total control of the waters of the bay, as well as access to the Gulf of Mexico.

Again in the early morning, the day after Christmas, Democraticus readies the Revolutionary Army for yet another offensive. He was expecting far more resistance, though because of the U.S. Military being overstretched, MacDill had been captured, and they could conduct the attack with a lot more certainty than Tampa.

Dec. 26th, 2020, 4:30am EST

Inside the former Central Command of the United States Armed Forces, Democraticus and his officer corps gaze over a map of St. Petersburg. Democraticus himself hadn't been to St. Pete that much, as he was still young, but he had done enough analysis to gain something of a plan.

St. Petersburg was situated on the southeastern tip of the peninsula of Pinellas County, meaning that there would also need to be an invasion from the north where it bordered the now Revolutionary Hillsborough. The northern part of the peninsula was centered around the city of Clearwater, which Democraticus decided to set aside for a later offensive after the south was secured. 

Another key objective was the capture of the north end of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge south of the city, which stood connecting Pinellas to Manatee county, and if held, would control access from the outside to the bay.

For the attack on St. Petersburg, there would be, like Tampa, a three-pronged offensive, two groups approaching from the Howard-Franklin (center) and Gandy (southern) bridges, and a naval invasion from MacDill's small peninsula (The northern Courtney Campbell Causeway bridge was reserved for the Clearwater section of the offensive.)

All three groups were made of the troops of the previous Battle of Tampa, as new recruits were still being trained.

DIVISION GROUP AKASHEV

Size: Approximately 10,000 troops including 1,800 cavalries; 90 transport trucks; 20 armored vehicles

Being stationed were they were, Akashev was sent across the Howard-Franklin bridge, and tasked with taking the towns in the central part of Pinellas, and the northern parts of the St. Petersburg. Their route took them comfortably along I-275, making travel for them exceedingly easy.

Akashev's final objective was Tropicana Field, a baseball field in the western part of the city, marked by a star on the map.

Because of their position on the interstate, they also were tasked with the capture of the Sunshine Skyway's north end, though this was not to be attempted until the other division groups had achieved their objectives.

DIVISION GROUP ALTFATER

Size: Approximately 30,000 troops, 150 small naval craft, 1 Age-of-Sail Ship

Altfater had grown considerably stronger after capturing Tampa. Though most of the cargo ships were still under conversion, one sail-ship, used for the Gasparilla celebrations, was decidedly converted into a warship with functioning guns.

They were ultimately tasked with two key positions, arguably making them the more important division of the three in the battle. 

The first position was the recently renovated St. Pete Pier, a large fishing pier and market place sticking out from the coast.

Further south, they would also need to capture the St. Pete Airport, which would allow for close air support for defense of the city.

After that, the division would need to lock down the entire coastline of the city, including the local university campus, Salvador Dali museum, the city port, and numerous docks containing many ships for them to use later on, should the people allow.

DIVISION GROUP TROTSKY 

Size: Approximately 75,000 troops including 20,000 cavalries, 700 transport trucks, 100 armored vehicles, 50 experimental tankettes

Crossing over from the Gandy Bridge, Trotsky, once again commanded by Democraticus himself, would be in charge of taking the suburbs in their path (not shown on the map), and securing downtown, the central part of the city. being experienced in urban combat, they believed they would do significantly better in the fight than in Tampa, though the defense was again expected to be fierce in all areas.

Democraticus was keen on seeing the capability of their tankettes, which had been minimally used in Tampa so as to conserve them for defense. They had been improved upon from their original armored car look, and now appeared more tank-like, and tests had proven them resistant to sniper bullets and light mortars. He didn't know it, but these tankettes and their design would evolve with the decades, and to this day are still the base design for the Rimskayan MBT brigades.

Like in the past, Democraticus planned for the attack to occur at sunrise, though this was not the actual beginning of combat.

Courtesy of the capture of MacDill after the Battle of Tampa, the Revolution was able to send out its rudimentary air force (the fighter jets and U.S. planes left behind could not be used as they didn't have enough experienced people yet), which used the cover of night to soften up the defenses of the city. There were a few loses from planes shot down, and even a dogfight over the coast as some Cessnas were scrambled by the counterrevolutionaries. In the long run though, the air attacks were ultimately successful in weakening the fortifications of the city.

December 26th, 2020, 8:00am EST; 6 minutes to sunrise

About the same time prior to the attack on Tampa less than a week prior, Democraticus found himself riding his horse across the Gandy Bridge. In the soft light of the morning, partially shrouded by the flaming city of St. Petersburg, still recovering from the bombings, he could see Akashev moving across the Howard-Franklin bridge to the north, and the boats gliding across the bay to the south. He found himself at the center of his army, and later recalled that it felt as if he was on his way to liberate the world.

As they approached their end of the bridge, he turned yet again to his soldiers, and provided them the same collection of powerful words he had six days prior. The confidence of the army was far greater than before, and now, they believed themselves at the gates of a new state, that would change the course of history forever.

And once again, at the crack of dawn, the crack of gunfire was heard across the bay.

The Nation Guard had managed to land extra reinforcements from the gulf coast, so the defense of the city was indeed stronger than Tampa, but this was counterbalanced by the higher morale of the Revolutionaries. Tallahassee was again desperate to send in more forces, but in the end, they had to hold back, as other cities across the state were rioting in ever increasing numbers, and were threatening to turn over to the Revolution, so the guard was too spread out to act accordingly.

The suburbs of Pinellas are taken without much bloodshed, and the Revolution even picks up some extra foot soldiers and trucks as they traverse the roads towards the city.

Altfater, as expected, faced the harshest of combat early on. They found themselves in a naval battle as civilian and Coast Guard ships blocked their path to the city, but managed to pull through after about half an hour, thanks to support from the air force. Their landings were met with fierce resistance, fighting tooth-and-nail for every inch of land. Once again, the air support aided Altfater in taking their objectives, and by 9:30am, they had secured necessary gains.

Akashev didn't face much hard resistance until nearing Tropicana Field, upon which they were stalled by intense fire from the stadium. The air force was called in to take the defenders out, but were forced back the first few times by defenders in the downtown area with machine guns aimed up as anti-aircraft.

Realizing Akashev could not take its objective without air support, Democraticus' push in the central parts of the city was forcibly hastened, though remained cautious as to prevent excess losses.

December 26th, 2022, 10:00am EST

Altfater's objectives had been successfully defended, though St. Petersburg was still holding out. The police were proving to be not nearly as negotiable as that of Tampa, and the National Guard still held some buildings in the downtown area. Akashev had been unable to capture Tropicana, and were even being pushed back in some areas.

Democraticus realized the seriousness of the situation: if Akashev was pushed back too far that would endanger them getting encircled from behind. They had to take the city, then rapidly push west.

Democraticus gathered some reserve troops, and took some forces from Altfater, and ordered an immediate attack from all sides into the last strongholds of the city. Casualties proved to be significant, with estimates for the Revolution being in the thousands, and even after the eventual fall of the central part of the city, Democraticus was distraught, believing that this would not only prevent further attacks for the time being, but also impede a possible defense of the city, which was still prone to the south.

Nevertheless, Democraticus took the forces and swung west as quickly as possible. They caught the forces in Tropicana lacking from their counterattacks, and managed to capture Tropicana and rescue Akashev shortly before noon.

St. Petersburg's southern districts were cleared as the day dragged on, and by sunset, the Revolutionaries had reached the southern coast of Pinellas, and secured the north end of the Sunshine Skyway.

Epilogue

Though it stood to be another victory for the Revolution, Democraticus hardly called it so. The losses taken did in fact limit the Revolution's fighting capability, and forced a delay to the attack on Clearwater.

On the brighter side however, the Revolution had demonstrated capabilities never thought possible of them, and were evolving into a more well-trained army. Cities across Florida, including Miami, Jacksonville, Orlando, and even Tallahassee itself, were falling into disarray from the chaos. Democraticus decided to reach out to possible Revolutionaries in the cities, as they could allow for the overcoming of the fascists across the rural regions, and Florida's liberation by the Revolution.

The United States in the meantime, had become an absolute disaster. Rebellions were breaking out everywhere, Communist and not. Several new states began to rise up, a notable one being the entirety of Virginia, now the Commonwealth of Virginia, to which Rimskaya holds as a close ally, in Aequitas and diplomatically. Though only a few of these rebellions would see true success, their existence served an impeccable purpose to Rimskaya: the diversion of enemy forces.

Democraticus, aware that the military would be getting new recruits in the coming weeks, decided to take the time to consolidate the gains of the Revolution thus far.

As the Revolution entered into 2021, it began to evolve the Roman look that it eventually defined the imagery of the Revolution outside that of Communist display. At the time, the flag of the Revolution was an alternate of the Fourth International, an organization that had expressed total support for the Revolution:

In time though, the people believed they needed a new banner to represent the struggle. Though the emblem of the Fourth International wasn't on the new flag, it came to symbolize the dawn of a new state, that would define regional, and to an extent we still see growing today, global history:

Though Democraticus wished to turn his attention south to Manatee, the National Guard of Florida had begun landing forces in Clearwater, and footage even revealed the presence of National Guard forces from other states, notably and mostly being Texas. Some even feared an intervention by the Mexican Army. As such, Democraticus decided it was best to take Pinellas in full to cover the coast of the Revolutionary State, build up a sizeable fleet of more advanced warships, and then go back to the offensive in the south. The Gasparilla ship for one had survived the battle, and was already docked back in Tampa, eagerly awaiting its next mission, as was the rest of the new Revolutionary Army.

Tune in next time for:

THE BATTLE OF CLEARWATER