War of Lost Brothers: Difference between revisions

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{{flagicon image|Flag USSO 3.png}} [[USSO]]
{{flagicon image|Flag USSO 3.png}} [[USSO]]
*{{flagicon image|Jingdao flag.png|23px}} [[Jingdao]]
*{{flagicon image|Jingdao flag.png|23px}} [[Jingdao]]
**{{flagicon image|Flag Hondon.png|23px}} [[Hondon]] <small>(from 17 November 2017)</small>
*{{flagicon image|NETC.png}} [[Nova English Trading Company]]
*{{flagicon image|NETC.png}} [[Nova English Trading Company]]
*{{flagicon image|Passasflggz2.jpg|23px}} [[Passio-Corum]]
*{{flagicon image|Passasflggz2.jpg|23px}} [[Passio-Corum]]
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{{flagicon image|Passasflggz2.jpg|23px}} 689,453 <br>
{{flagicon image|Passasflggz2.jpg|23px}} 689,453 <br>
{{flagicon image|NETC.png}} 19,590<br>
{{flagicon image|NETC.png}} 19,590<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag Hondon.png|23px}} 1,024
| strength2  =  
| strength2  =  
{{flagicon image|Shire flag.png}} 2,537,884<br/>
{{flagicon image|Shire flag.png}} 2,537,884<br/>

Revision as of 17:55, 18 November 2017

War of Lost Brothers
Date 21st October 2017 - present
Location Florian Republic
Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Krasnarus-Corian Pact

USSO

Florian Republic

Shireroth

Rivorian Liberation Army

Support:
Senya

Strength
848,631

5,369,797
1,784,791
689,453
19,590
1,024

2,537,884

2,791,966
944,000
48,000
120,000
611,291
185,698

3,044

481,733

The War of Lost Brothers is an ongoing conflict originating in Apollonia. The war was triggered by the assassination of the Corian King in a visit to Astaronia. It was believed that the assassin was from the Florian Republic. This set off a diplomatic crisis and both the Florian Republic and Coria exchanged declarations of war against each other. It was announced later in the evening that Krasnarus would become allies with Coria in the war. It was also known that Coria had plans of annexing Srbozemlje, which the Florian Republic has reacted badly to. A day afterwards the Florian Republic started negotiations with Jingdao and Shireroth; however it has been marred as both countries are still technically at war.

Background

Arms race

A result of the War of Jingdaoese Immolation was the huge investments in military equipment and expansion of both the navies of Jingdao and Shireroth. Jingdao's fleet, plagued by budget cuts and investments in huge construction projects, made it look good on paper and a worthy rival of the Imperial Navy of Shireroth. However, at the outbreak of the war, several members of the naval staff warned the Jingdaoese Headquarters for the Navy's lack in both ammunition, training upkeep of the older ships. The Imperial Navy of Shireroth, which had been substantially built up during an earlier phase in the Sxiro-Jingdaoese Confrontation, meanwhile had suffered from becoming a lower budget priority whilst the Imperial Army's relentless pursuit of gravimetric technology.

It should be noted that the Shirerithian figures only cover the Imperial Navy and not the naval assets maintained by the defence forces of the largely autonomous Imperial States, such as Elwynn and Goldshire. These coastal defence forces, by their nature, remained confined mostly to home waters during peacetime in any event, and would take time to be integrated into the overall operations of the Imperial Forces.

Both Coria and the Florian Republic, being comparatively young nations, were still in the process of establishing naval traditions and acquiring the engineering knowledge base and industrial capacity to sustain their own domestic shipbuilding industries. To this end both nations pressed a number of training vessels into service in the roles that would be performed ordinarily by capital ships. The Florian Republic, with the assistance of Shirerithian naval instructors, was able to make ready a number of warships acquired via the USSO Common Market and return the training vessels to a more sustainable inshore support role. Coria meanwhile had equipped itself with a formidable selection of short-range coastal submarines and submersibles, which would make venturing into its littoral waters a more risky venture than might otherwise have been the case.

It might be worth noting that the systematic overmanning of the naval arms of all the major combatants opened up the possibility of large numbers of "naval infantry" making an appearance during the war, as surplus personnel could be formed into battalions and transferred to the land theatre of operations.

The naval strength of the major forces at the start of the war, not counting air assets and hybrid vessels, was as follows:

Country Personnel Aircraft carriers Battleships Cruisers Frigates / destroyers Corvettes Submarines Auxiliary vessels
Shireroth 399,900 5 2 2 35 20 126 1,035
Florian Republic 350,000 1 0 5 0 5 6 169
Total 849,900 6 2 7 35 25 132 1,204
Kingdom of Coria 154,367 0 0 4 7 6 18 175
Jingdao 351,045 4 5 17 27 17 120 378
Krasnarus 199,037 0 0 5 9 8 22 214
Passio-Corum 863,201 1 4 0 14 10 8 --
Total 1,567,650 5 9 26 57 41 170 767

In contrast to the naval arms raise, where Shireroth had been content to maintain parity with Jingdao, the Imperial Republic had placed a great emphasis on trying to build up a comparatively large long-range strategic bomber force. Supporting this force, in addition to the 1,626 multi-role strike aircraft, notably the now venerable F8 Shrike, was a nascent emergency fighter programme based around an existing light attack aircraft that could be rushed into full scale production if the attrition of its existing air assets proved unsustainable and the conflict carried on longer than envisaged.

Jingdao's standard jet-fighter meanwhile was the Raven IV, whose storied operational history had included being used as a kamikaze delivery vehicle for a thermobaric device used in an attack on Pontus Felix during the Euran War. Whilst Passio-Corum was not known to have a dedicated multi-role fighter aircraft, it had however developed indigenous ground attack aircraft and attack helicopters, and had proven itself to be a pioneer in the use of unmanned aerial combat vehicles on Micras.

The comparative standings of the aerial armadas available to the initial participants in the war was as follows:

Country Personnel Strike aircraft/fighters Stealth/advanced fighters Bombers Light attack aircraft Attack helicopters Utility helicopters Hybrid air vehicles
Shireroth 433,078 1,626 24 2,602 120 180 180
Florian Republic
Total
Kingdom of Coria 215,132 329 20 44 14 0 12 0
Jingdao 1,324
1,009 (IAF) & 315 (IJN)
241 2 12
Krasnarus
Passio-Corum
Totals

Political and military alliances: A web of intrigues

Alignments at the start of the Lost Brothers War.

During the period following the War of Jingdaoese Immolation, the major powers of Micras went to great length to strengthen their positions throughout the planet. While during the Hammish Civil War and the subsequent conflict between Shireroth and Jingdao, the war had remained limited to certain regions (mainly Keltia and Northern Apollonia), the first direct conflict between the great powers and following armistice had convinced both sides that the key to victory was on Apollonia.

The run-up to the war saw some very important shifts, changing the balance of power. A staunch ally of Shireroth, Alexandria, collapsed under the pressure of the Alexandrian Flu which killed over 60% of its population but could eventually be contained to the Alexandrian territories, while the USSO grew both in numbers as strength. The occurrence of the Auspicious Occasion in Shireroth, saw the nation also losing the possibility of Stormark joining their sides in any armed conflict. Now confronted with the possibility of being unable to fend off all the strength that the USSO was gathering, Shireroth started an intensive campaign in the small, but strategically located Florian Republic. The nation, slightly impoverished during the Xhusor War and subsequent changes in government (including a shift from a very democratic to a strict Police state), felt betrayed by the lack of support it received from the members of the Union. In the end, the Florians were downgraded from a full-fledged Member State into an Associate Member. Not much later, on the 22nd October 2017, they signed a treaty with Shireroth, effectively turning over any defence capacities to Shireroth.

The Jingdaoese Grand Secretariat felt alarmed by the sudden changes near its doorstep. Tensions further increased when the Tegong confirmed potential Shirerithian-backed plots to further increase their influence in the Eastern Apollonian territories, which Jingdao considered their own sphere of influence. It found allies in Coria and Krasnarus, who felt threatened by the recent policies of the Florians.

Conflicts in Eastern Apollonia

Prelude

The Astaronia assasination

The assassination marked the start of increasing tensions in Eastern Apollonia.

On 21st October, Nikolaj I of Coria visited Astaronia, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Coria. During his visit, he was killed in public by a long-range sniper firing from a concealed position. After a brief manhunt, the assassin, known only by the nom de guerre of "Stronk", was run to ground and captured. It transpired that this Stronk was reputedly a citizen of the Florian autonomous region of Srbozemlje.

It has been claimed that the alleged assassin was hired by Florian Secret Intelligence to stop Corian King from performing his plan of expanding his state, and most likely forcing Srbozemlje to become independent[1]. The sudden and brutal slaying of the Corian monarch, at a well-publicised public gathering, caused an outpouring of grief and anger on the part of the Corian people, the effect of which was to drive its politicians towards an alliance with Krasnarus.

Expansion of violence in Apollonia

The assassination of the King of Coria fuelled indignation in that country and played into certain pre-existing propaganda narratives.

Even with the capture of the assassin Stronk peace did not return to the streets of Coria. Emergency meetings were held in the capital of Grandbay and preparations made to crown a new king as fast as possible. Voices in favour of war, fuelled by the outcries in several newspapers (and sponsored by several industrial and nationalist groups), were increasingly heard. In the meanwhile, protest marches and the anti-Florian riots in several Corian towns and cities spread to nearby Krasnarus.

In Jingdao, the Grand Secretariat first reacted with caution, but when the news was leaked to the public, people saw in the assassination an international Shirerithian ploy to increase its influence on the continent, as it had done recently before in Floria. A war scare broke out across the nation, soldiers were mobilised and the Army and Navy put on highest alert.

In the meanwhile, the Apollonia Command reacted swiftly by launching a twelve days-campaign against Xhusor. This attack on a neutral nation, with the goal of establishing a better front line, angered the public even more. Those who had doubts about possible Florian accomplishment in the assassination were now decreasing quickly in numbers.

Ultimatum and taking sides

Confronted with the assassination, an angry population and strengthened with Krasnarus and increased tensions between the Florians and Jingdaoese, the Corian Kingdom decided to send an ultimatum to end the Florian menace once and for all.

Progress of the war

The Apollonian Theatre

The Florian campaign

The Eastern Apollonian Front

The Benacian Theatre

The Keltian Theatre

The Xang Muang Civil War

Naval war

Aftermath

Belligerent parties

Summary

  • 21st October:
    • Nikolaj I of Coria is shot on his trip through the autonomous region of Astaronia. The murderer is suspected to be a Florian and backed by the Florian intelligence service.
    • The assassin, called Stronk by authorities, is captured after a brief manhunt. Start of the process.
  • 22nd October:
    • Ongoing conflicts between the USSO and Florians led to the downgrade of the nation from Full Member to Associate. The Florians find support in Shireroth, with whom they sign a treaty. All defence capacities are turned over to Shirerithian control.
    • A pre-emptive invasion of Xhusovo by Florian-Shirerithian troops starts. This leads to public outcry in Jingdao.
  • 25th October: With ongoing tensions, the USSO ends formal ties with the Florians and strips it of its Associate status.
  • 29th October: Shireroth begins the forward deployment of certain assets from Goldshire to Kezan.
  • 31st October:
    • The Corian government delivers an ultimatum to the Florians. Demanding compensation and revenge for the loss of their king. For a moment, the Florians seem to accept, but in the end, refuse. This slight moment of doubt leads to a strengthened feeling of euphoria in Krasnarus and Coria.
    • After more than a week of public pressure, the Grand Secretariat proposes to send an ultimatum to the Florian authorities.
    • Goldshire announces the construction of an East Wall, to fend off any potential Jingdaoese invasion [1].
    • Jingdao evacuates a significant part of its population from Tianhoucheng to its other Benacian territories.
  • 1st November: The Florian government refuses to agree with all articles of the November ultimatum.
  • 2nd November:
    • Xantus Yastreb, the reclusive and unconfirmed leader of Kalgachia is approached, via esoteric means, by agents of the Tegong and the Vigiles Arcani to act as a discrete intermediary for their interests in the forthcoming conflict, namely preserving balance and order in the face of an impending cataclysm (OOC: Krasniy agrees to become the recwar's judge).
    • The impending prospect of invasion prompts a political crisis in the Florian Republic, resulting in the unexpected resignation of Edwin Farrar.
    • Debate in the Natopian legislature on taking steps to respond to the Jingdaoese violation of the armistice.
  • 3rd November: After a hastily convened show-trial, the former Prime Minister of the Florian Republic was sentenced to a maximum of thirty years imprisonment for sanctioning the genocidal response to the initial Xhusor uprising.
  • 4th November:
    • Shireroth begins mobilising reserves and state troops, shifting to a wartime economy.
    • In a snap election, Jessica Smith becomes the first woman and liberal party leader to be elected as president of the Florian Republic, after her promises of stabilising peace in the country and Apollonia.
  • 9th November:
    • Massed Jingdaoese artillery barrage on entrenched Sxiro-Florian forces along the entirety of the Florian Front. Jingdaoese General Staff ordered to commence general harassment of front line in support of an advance against Xhusovo.
    • Edwin Farrar, the deposed Florian president, reappeared in Shirekeep following what was reported as his escape from custody. Owing to his ambiguous circumstances, his application for asylum was rejected and he presently remains a guest of the Imperial Government in the Mango Suite of the Golden Regent Hotel, Shirekeep.
  • 10th November:
    • Jingdaoese forces begin an overwhelming advance into Xhusovo, led by the 19th Armoured Corps which attacks and captures the city of Chuan Ke.
    • The new adminstration of Jessica Smith announces the Florian Republic's immediate withdrawal from its treaty with Shireroth, refusing to honour the treaty's delay clause which requires a period of two Norton years before its termination takes legal effect. Sxiro-Florian relations begin a period of rapid breakdown.
  • 11th November:
    • Outnumbered Shirerithian forces in Xhusovo begin retreating toward a prepared defence in the city of Hull.
  • 12th November:
    • The city of Hull is encircled and besieged by the Jingdaoese.
    • Shireroth appoints a High Commissioner for the Florian Republic, attempting to utilise certain clauses in the renounced Sxiro-Florian treaty to assume wide powers of governance over the Florian Republic.
  • 13th November
    • The Shirerithian XIV Corps begins a counter-offensive to relieve Hull, assisted by newly-arrived Natopian air support.
  • 14th November
    • Hull is momentarily relieved, allowing the forces of Shireroth and its allies to escape the city and conduct an organised retreat from Xhusovo.
  • 15th November
    • A Shirerithian commando team is landed on the small Jingdaoese coastal outpost of Haihan in northern Apollonia, where it begins a series of harrassment attacks against the local Jingdaoese garrison.
    • The Florian Republic declares itself neutral in an unsuccessful attempt to force a cessation of hostilities on its territory.
  • 17th November
    • A flight of Florian UAVs launch a surpise attack on Grandbay, the capital of the Kingdom of Coria, causing widespread damage to the city's industrial quarters and the Corian parliament building. Corian anti-aircraft artillery responds belatedly and claims four Florian UAVs shot down.
    • Seeking to avenge Florian renunciation of their protection and deny strategic military assets to the advancing Jingdaoese, cruise missile submarines of the Imperial Shirerithian Navy launch an even more surprise attack on the Florian naval base near Blyth, targeting the country's sole Esper Class Aircraft Carrier at its moorings. Not expecting direct hostilities from Shireroth, the Florian fleet are caught completely unaware and the impact of five cruise missiles wrecks the Florian carrier beyond repair. Meanwhile Shirerithian ground forces begin a general relocation from Xhusovo to the southeast of the Florian Republic.
    • The Kingdom of Coria invades the southeastern frontier of Florian Srbozemlje with a pre-positioned army of almost 90,000 infantry, the path of their creeping advance being softened up by tactical air support.
  • Jingdao proclaims the establishment of the Empire of Hondon, effectively replacing Xhusovo with a puppet state.
Jeremy Spencer.png
  • 18th November
    • The Imperial Jingdaoese Army successfully pushes through the frontline near the town of Ironwell. On its way eastwards it discovers several trenches filled with dead Florian soldiers, shot from behind. In Ironwell, they are however met with heavier resistance. A mix of Florian and Shirerithian troops succeed into holding the line for a day, but are in the end forced to retreat.
    • Talks between the Florians and Jingdaoese end up in an agreement [2]: the surrender of the Florians, the recognition of the status of the Empire of Hondon, the payment of war indemnities and a combined effort to push out the Shirerithians.
    • Jeremy Spencer has been executed by Florian authorities for treason. Rumours about a potential Shirerithian attempt to liberate Spencer could have played a role in the swift punishment of the politician who had influenced the Florian administration into leaving the USSO and signing the pact with Shireroth.

References

  1. ^ The Florian Republic and the Imperial Republic of Shireroth have both denied these allegations.