Military of the Earth Kingdom



The military of the Earth Kingdom is the military organization responsible for the defense of the Earth Kingdom. It consists of an Army, a Navy and several Special Forces. It wields considerable power, having held off Fire Nation assaults for a century.

The Earth King is the constitutional overall commander, although at times his actual power has been very limited. The main commanding authority is the Council of Five, a council of five senior generals who oversee any war effort from Ba Sing Se.

The Earth Kingdom military forces are large but are technologically inferior to that of the Fire Nation. However, this makes the Earth Kingdom military the second most powerful in the world, and the Earth Kingdom has considerable projection capabilities around the world.

Army
The Earth Kingdom Army is the largest and most important branch of the military of the Earth Kingdom. Like the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom armies consist of benders and normal foot soldiers.

Infantry


Soldiers, both benders and non-benders, carry a wide variety of weapons, from spears, swords, and other various polearms, to more unusual weapons such as hammers, axes, and sickles. Soldiers typically wear a helmet that's a mix of a Conical straw hat and a spinning top. Non-bending soldiers also wear a headdress underneath, appear to be more armored, and wear boots. Earthbenders' helmets are pointed and are decorated with the Earth Kingdom emblem. They are also barefooted, as called for by a principle of Earthbending. Officers wear yellow armor in place of the regular green armor.

Infantry clothing color appears to be color-coded. Out of bending soldiers:
 * Omashu soldiers wear leaf green.
 * Iroh's kidnappers wear yellow and light brown.
 * General Fong's soldiers wear light green.
 * Ferry guards wear brown on tan uniforms.
 * Ba Sing Se soldiers have more diverse uniforms with black and yellow colors. Non-benders wear an olive drab green.

Heavier Equipment
The cavalry consists of Ostrich Horses, which can vertically climb short distances and run at high speeds. They are also used as transports.

Earthbenders use stones shaped like the Earth Kingdom emblem as artillery and catapult projectiles. These person-sized round coins are invaluable weapons to the Earthbenders. The coins can be lined up side by side to make a defensive (and mobile) wall, or stacked to make an impromptu lookout tower. Skilled Earthbenders can use these coins as a vehicle and "ride" in the hole in the middle of the coins.

Recently, the Mechanist, a brilliant Earth Kingdom inventor, designed and produced several highly-advanced Earth Kingdom Tanks for the Earth Kingdom to use in what was ultimately a failed attempt to invade the Fire Nation. These tanks, which travel on treads, are powered by four Earthbenders and can travel over virtually any terrain. They carry at least a dozen troops and possess side hatches that allow Earthbenders to hurtle earthen projectiles at enemy forces. These tanks are multi-segmented, so they can be manipulated to travel on or over any obstacle and can make wide turns when necessary. Such a feature allows these vehicles to crush Fire Nation Tanks. They also have incredibly thick armor that can deflect all fire blasts. These new vehicles are more than a match for Fire Nation armored forces.

List of Known Commanders

 * General Fong
 * General Sung
 * General How
 * Captain Yung

Navy
Not much is known of the Earth Kingdom Navy, except that it is inferior to that of the Fire Nation. It is considered "suicide" for any Earth Kingdom fleet to launch a naval attack against any Fire Nation fleet.

One mention of the Earth Kingdom Navy was in The Avatar Returns, when the exiled Fire Nation Prince Zuko was questioned by Admiral Zhao how his ship had undergone the damages it had sustained. Zuko told the Admiral a lie that he had crashed into an Earth Kngdom ship, and not the truth that the Avatar had inflicted it.

Kyoshi Warriors
The Kyoshi Warriors are an all-female group of fighters led by Suki on Kyoshi Island. Their fighting style and clothing mimic those of their founder, Avatar Kyoshi, although the most current fighters do not implement any of the bending arts in their physical movements. Clad in ornate, green armor and Kabuki-like makeup, designed to intimidate opponents, Kyoshi Island Warriors use metal fans as their main weapons. It was later revealed the warriors also utilize katanas and wrist shields. Holding the fans like extensions of their own arms, they aim to turn the strength of their opponents against them, a principle also hinged upon in Waterbending. The female warriors do not take kindly to training outsiders, let alone men, in these unique methods. Traditionally, only women are trained as Kyoshi Warriors, however there have been exceptions over the years.

Terra Team


The Terra Team is an elite platoon of Earthbenders under the command of General Sung. In "The Drill", the platoon was ordered to destroy the Fire Nation Drill that was about to bore through the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. When the Earthbenders were near the machine, Ty Lee pointed out "musclely guys" approaching the drill through a periscope, and she and Mai were then sent to take them out. Unprepared to have their chi blocked by Ty Lee, the Earthbenders succumbed to being unable to bend and move. They had to be brought back to the outer wall and healed by any means necessary.

Royal Earthbender Guards
The Royal Earthbender Guards of Ba Sing Se are affiliated with neither the Dai Li nor the military, and instead serve as personal protectors of the Earth King. There seem to be hundreds of them guarding the Royal Palace. They have also been seen as the gate keepers of the outer and inner walls of Ba Sing Se. The guards use specialized surface-to-surface rocks against invaders approaching on foot, but the projectiles are displayed to be able to also serve as surface-to-air rocks against airborne intruders. They sport dark green armor with a green feather at the top of the helmet.