Exercise Armageddon

In 1969, during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland considered intervention on the side of the Catholics.

Background
Riots broke out in the Catholic areas of Derry and Newry, Northern Ireland, in 1969. The island of Ireland had been partitioned, with the predominantly Catholic counties of the South and Northwest forming the independent Republic of Ireland, while the predominantly Protestant Northwestern counties remained under British rule. Inter-sectarian riots broke out in the border areas, and the Republic, sympathetic to the Catholics, deployed the Irish Army near the border to set up field hospitals for the injured. In a televised speech on the Irish national broadcasting corporation, RTE (Radio Telifis Eireann), Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Jack Lynch stated that the Republic could no longer stand by while innocents continued to be hurt. This was interpreted by many as a call for military intervention. Although many, including the British, dismissed Lynch's claims, Lynch was already drawing up plans for the Republic of Ireland's military (Irish Defence Forces) to protect the Catholics.

The Plan
Believing that the British were failing to stop the violence, Lynch instructed the commander of the Irish Defence Forces, General Sean McEoin, to draw up plans for intervention. McEoin and his General Staff realized that the plans would expose the country to military retaliation, and could be defeated if it entered the North, but proposed a three-point plan:


 * Specially trained Irish commandos would infiltrate Belfast and launch a series of bombing and machine-gun attacks on the BBC studios, docks, airport, and key industries, which would draw security forces away from the border areas.


 * Following the withdrawal, the Irish Army would invade with 2,817 soldiers. Four infantry brigades operating in company-size units and three armored squadrons would attack. The infantry would seize the Catholic sections of Derry and Newry, while the motorized squadrons would provide armored reconnaisance and launch lightning strikes on security forces.


 * The Irish forces would dig in for a protracted defense against vastly superior British forces, and County Donegal would prepare for a long siege in case British forces captured the thin strip of land connecting the Northwestern county to the rest of the Republic.

However, the planners also realized that Ireland stood no chance of defeating Britain. The plan was code-named "Operation Armageddon", or "Exercise Armageddon", as the General Staff predicted catastrophic results.

Special Operations
Ignoring the concerns of his planners, Taoiseach Lynch decided that Ireland had a moral duty to respond. He ordered the newly formed Irish Army Ranger Wing to begin training for guerilla-style operations inside Northern Ireland, ordered a full mobilization of the Irish Defence Forces, and brought home all Irish troops on UN peacekeeping missions. In mid-1970, highly trained and equipped Army Rangers infiltrated Northern Ireland, and began their operations. The first target was the BBC studios. Army Rangers smuggled in a bomb, machine-gunned several British soldiers who were guarding it, and blew it up moments later, destroying part of the building, and killing or wounding dozens of civilians. The Belfast docks were then blown up, killing several dozen workers and disabling the port facilities, and damaging some ships, followed by a machine-gun attack on the terminal of Aldergrove airport, after which the Rangers used mortars to crater the runway. Several of Northern Ireland's key industrial plants were also destroyed and almost a hundred laborers were killed by massive bombs smuggled in by Rangers.

Within a matter of two days, much of Northern Ireland's economic and transport infrastructure was destroyed. British forces and Northern Irish Police were forced to shift the bulk of their forces to the Belfast area to counter the sudden outbreak of violence, but British Army units stayed behind to guard the rioting Catholic sections.

Irish invasion
Following the pullout, four Irish infantry battalions operating in company-strength units attacked Derry and Newry. The Irish Army Transport Corps ferried them to the front in its own trucks, and also in buses from Coras Iompair Eireann. The armored forces provided reconnaisance on British positions, and launched lightning attacks against British positions. The British garrisons were caught by surprise and took heavy losses, while Irish casualties were minimal. The Catholic parts of Derry and Newry quickly fell, and the Irish soldiers were welcomed as liberators. The armor then withdrew and the infantry subsequently dug in, knowing that the British would soon strike.

British counterattack
At the same time, security forces had largely quelled the guerilla campaign in Belfast. Most Army Rangers simply melted away as the British arrived, but a few were taken prisoner, and confessed their true identities and purpose during interrogation. At the same time, news reports began surfacing from the border areas that the Irish Army had moved in and restored order. The British instantly realized what had happened.

The British immediately transferred armored and infantry units to retake positions. However, several of their head-on infantry assaults were repulsed with heavy losses by the dug-in Irish. The Irish then raked British lines with well-concentrated mortar and machine-gun fire, causing British casualties to rise and morale to steadily drop. Realizing that their strategies were not working, the British resorted to a massive artillery and air bombardment, followed by armored and infantry attacks from several directions, who relentlessly attacked. Irish casualties were heavy, with only minor British losses, and within several hours, they had been completely cleared from Derry and Newry, and were retreating towards the border. The Royal Air Force then located and bombed two retreating columns, killing hundreds of soldiers and destroying dozens vehicles. Most of the Irish troops, vehicles, and military equipment, however, escaped, and regrouped at the border.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council met, and adopted a British-drafted resolution harshly condemning Ireland's "unprovoked and aggressive military action against the sovereign territory of the United Kingdom". The Security Council imposed a complete arms ban on Ireland. The European Economic Community, under heavy British pressure, cancelled Ireland's application for membership, and imposed total economic sanctions. All NATO states suspended their trade relations with Ireland.

British invasion of Ireland
The British then crossed into Ireland, striking towards Ballinamore. The British took severe losses from air attacks by the Irish Air Corps, but the Royal Air Force bombed the Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel, the only Air Corps base, cratering the runway and rendering it unusable, and forcing the Air Corps to scatter its planes across the country and hide them to avoid destruction.

The Irish Army initially put up resistance, and managed to stall the attackers, inflicting and suffering heavy losses. However, it began retreating towards Dublin. British troops pushed several miles into Ireland, encountering no resistance, before pulling back.

Aftermath
Ireland's desire to help the Northern Catholics had ended in disaster. The econimies of Ireland and Northern Ireland were shattered, thousands were killed, and Ireland had been internationally isolated and humiliated. Angry, senior Defence Forces officers staged a military coup and established a military junta.