no part in the battle. Operation Maestral In the south of Croatia, the HV deployed to protect the Dubrovnik area against the VRS Herzegovina Corps and the Yugoslav Army situated in and around Trebinje and the Bay of Kotor. The plan, codenamed Operation Maestral, entailed deployment of the 114th, 115th and 163rd Brigades, the 116th and 156th Home Guard Regiments, the 1st Home Guard Battalion (Dubrovnik), the 16th Artillery Battalion, the 39th Engineers Battalion and a mobile coastal artillery battery. The area was reinforced on 8 August with the 144th Brigade as the unit completed its objectives in Operation Storm and moved to Dubrovnik. The CAF committed two MiG-21s and two Mi-24s based in Split to Operation Maestral. The Croatian Navy supported the operation deploying the Korčula, Brač and Hvar Marine Detachments, as well as missile boats, minesweepers, anti-submarine warfare ships and coastal artillery. In the period, the VRS attacked the Dubrovnik area intermittently using artillery only. Assessment of the battle Operation Storm became the largest European land battle since the Second World War, encompassing a frontline. It was a decisive victory for Croatia, restoring its control over of territory, representing 18.4% of the country. Losses sustained by the HV and the special police are most often cited as 174 killed and 1,430 wounded, but a government report prepared weeks after the battle specified 211 killed or missing, 1,100 wounded and three captured soldiers. By 21 August, Croatian authorities recovered and buried 560 ARSK servicemen killed in the battle. The HV captured 4,000 prisoners of war, 54 armoured and 497 other vehicles, six aircraft, hundreds of artillery pieces and over 4,000 infantry weapons. Four UN peacekeepers were killed—three as a result of HV actions and one as a result of ARSK activities—and 16 injured. The HV destroyed 98 UN observation posts. The HV's success was a result of a series of improvements to the HV itself and crucial breakthroughs made in the ARSK positions that were subsequently exploited by the HV and the ARBiH. The attack was not immediately successful everywhere, but the seizing of key positions led to the collapse of the ARSK command structure and overall defensive capability. The HV's capture of Bosansko Grahovo just before Operation Storm and the special police's advance to Gračac made Knin nearly impossible to defend. In Lika, two Guards brigades rapidly cut the ARSK-held area lacking tactical depth or mobile reserve forces,