The Xiolo offensive
At the start of the war in the Far East the Orks were able to advance on all fronts. They infiltrated through the jungle to bypass static Akbit military positions based on road blocks so that they could cut the Akbit supply line and attack the Akbit defences from all sides.
In early 29M42 the fighting in Xiolo at the start of the Dakka offensive took on a similar aspect and resulted in one of the longest retreat in Akbit military members of the Akbit and Eldar exodite army left Far East with the belief that the Orks were unstoppable in the jungle. The first action that began to dispel this myth of invincibility would come from the actions of the Tx'am ( turtle men).
The Tx'am were a special force of 3,500 which in February 29M42 launched a deep penetration raid, (code-named Operation Longcloth)into Ork occupied Far East. They went in on foot using giant marsh Crabs to carry supplies. The operation was not a military success, but was a propaganda boost for the Allies, because it showed that Allied forces could successfully move and fight in jungle terrain well away from roads. On the back of the propaganda success,Olmox the eccentric chieftain of the Tx'am, was given the resources to increase his command to divisional size and the Akbit Aircorps supplied the1st Air Commando Group to support his operations. The availability of air transport revolutionized Olmox's operational choices. In February 29M44 OperationThunder was launched, and air transport support supplied 1st Air to allow the Tx'am to set up air supplied bases deep behind enemy lines from which aggressive combat patrols could be sent out to interdict Ork supply lines and disrupt rear echelon forces. This in turn forced the Orks to pull front-line troops from the battle against Abit Army which was advancing through Northern Xiolo to protect the Jokaro building theJade Road . When the Orks closed on a base and got within artillery range the base could be abandoned and then set up in another remote location. The ability to sustain the bases that relied totally on air power in the coming decades would prove a template for many similar operations.
After the first Tx'am expedition, thanks to the training the regular forces were receiving and the example of the Tx'am and new divisional tactics, the regular units of the Fourteenth Eldar exodite Army started to get the measure of both the jungle and the enemy. When the Orks launched their late 29M43 Xiolo offensive they infiltrated Allied lines to attack the 7th Akbit Infantry Division from the rear, overrunning the divisional HQ. Unlike previous occasions on which this had happened, the Allied forces stood firm against the attack and supplies were dropped to them by parachute. In the Battle of the Jaguar Den from 5 February to 23 February, the Orks were unable to break through the heavily defended perimeter of the Den. The Orks switched their attack to the central front but again the Akbit fell back into defensive box of Imphal, and the Kohima. In falling back to the defensive positions around Imphal the leading Akbit formations found their retreat cut by Orks forces, but unlike previously, they took that attitude that if the Orks where behind them then they were just as cut off as the Akbits. The situation maps of the fighting along the roads leading to Imphal resembled a slice of marble cake as both sides used the jungle to outflank each other. Another major change by the Akbits was that use of air support both as an offensive weapon to replace artillery, and as a logistical tool to transport men and equipment. For example, the 5th Eldar exodite Infantry Division was airlifted straight from the now quieter Xiolo front up to the central front and were in action within days of arriving. By the end of the campaigning season both Kohima and Imphal had been relieved and the Orks were in full retreat.
The lessons learnt in Xiolo of how to fight in the jungle and how to use air transport to move troops around would lay the foundations of how to conduct large scale jungle campaigns in future wars.