Battle of Santa Marta
The Battle of Santa Marta was a battle 3045 between the defending Grand Colombia against the attacking NAA and WTMA forces.
Background
The ongoing war between Grand Colombia and NAA had for some time taken a toll on both sides with no decisive winner, but in time Grand Colombia began to have problems maintaining the army which behooved them to draw back their offensive forces. This lead to a shift in momentum for the whole war. For the first time since the beginning of the conflict the NAA was on the offense. However, the NAA army was also badly bruised and could not by it self make a counter attack on Grand Colombian territory. This lead NAA to ask their ally WTMA to make a joint attack. WTMA that just had significantly pushed back the CLA forces on the eastern front could spare military support.
Invasion
In the early morning of 7th November 3045 the NAA and WTMA troops made landfall at the beach of Santa Marta. The Grand Colombian troops that were heavily outnumbered mainly used turrets for their defenses. The attacking troops were well prepared for the turrets equipped with grenade and rocket launchers. Even though, both the NAA and WTMA had heavy casualties mainly due to the heavy fog in the early phase of the battle since the turrets had an easier time to spot the attacking forces. The attacking forces on the other hand couldn't use their weapons effectively. When the fog finally disappeared the battle shifted and the attacking forces gained the upper hand. The main goal was to create a kilometer long "safe zone" where all turrets were destroyed and then focus the attack on that weak spot. It took the attacking forces a good three hours to establish the safe zone, but when the goal finally was achieved the Grand Colombian forces couldn't hold on for much longer since they couldn't move all remaining forces to the turret free zone without risking letting attacking forces through on the flanks. Therefor, two hours after the safe zone was established the Grand Colombian forces retreated.
Aftermath
The battle resulted in NAA getting a foot hold on Grand Colombian territory, which in turn meant that Grand Colombia for the first time in the war truly was on the defense. This was a major psychological setback and the Grand Colombian forces were ill-prepared for a defensive war. Many historians mean that the Battle of Santa Marta was the decisive blow for Grand Colombia in the war which lead to its downfall. After the battle a long campaign followed with NAA and WTMA troops slowly marching towards Bogotá.
