War of Lost Brothers

War of Lost Brothers
Part of Sxiro-Jingdaoese Confrontation
Date 21st October 2017 / 1st November 2017 - present Location Worldwide (Apollonia, Benacia, Keltia) Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Krasnarus-Corian Pact Krasnarus Kingdom of Coria USSO Jingdao Hondon (from 17 November) Anti-Treaty Florians (from 20 November) Nova English Trading Company Passio-Corum Xang Muang	Florian Republic (until 20 November 2017) Srbozemlje (until 25 November 2017) Shireroth Elwynn Goldshire Kezan Malarboria Allied Volunteer Forces (19-29 November 2017) Pro-Treaty Florians (from 20 Nov) Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation {after 29 November 2017)	Rivorian Liberation Army Support: Senya (Unofficially, from 10 December 2017)
Strength
848,631 5,369,797 1,784,791 1,095,013 19,590 1,024	2,537,884 2,791,966 1,344,000 48,000 120,000 611,291 185,698	3,044 481,733
Casualties and losses
5 warships & 45 submarines	286,060 KIA, 458,352 POW 36 fighter aircraft, 60 heavy bombers, 16 warships, 13 submarines
Civilian deaths Florians: 1,350,000

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 its dependent territory of Astaronia. Immediately afterwards, it was believed that the assassin came from - or at least was supported by - the Florian Republic as a possible reaction to the Corian plans to annex the Forian territory of Srbozemlje. 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 joined the Corian side in the conflict.

Jingdao, who saw the Corian reaction as a potential way of countering the Shirerithian influence in the region, declared support for Coria in case war would break out. Shireroth in the mean time saw itself obligated to act as protector of the Florian Republic, after the recent signing of a treaty which aligned Floria to Shireroth. After a few weeks of diplomatic failures war ultimatums from both Jingdao and Coria were refused, after which both declared 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.

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. 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.

On the 1st November the Grand Secretariat handed the Florian administration its November Ultimatum, or Juichi Tsuki Ultimatum. Severe demands were made, including the demilitarisation of the borders, a payment of over 900 million Kala to the Hondonese for the damages made during the occupation of Xhusovo. The Florian authorities accepted all articles, but disagreed with article 5, which would have taken away the only coastal access of the Republic and given it to Xhusovo.

Progress of the war

The Apollonian Theatre

The Florian campaign

The collapsing Florian front in late 1654 after the loss of Xhusovo, the retreat of the 5th Army towards the south, landings to secure the Florian Navy, and the fragmentation of the 6th Army into Pro-Smith (Orange) and Pro-Treaty (Blue) factions

The Florian campaign, which began as a follow on to the occupation of Xhusovo by Jingdao, was considered quite remarkable on account of the numerous shifts in position undertaken by Florian Government over a comparatively short period of time. By arresting the former President, Edwin Farrar, and precipitously seeking an independent peace with Jingdao, in violation of the Treaty of Friendship and Association with Shireroth, the Florian Government had caused a rupture in its relationship with the Imperial Government.

That the Florians chose to begin these diplomatic manoeuvres at a moment two Jingdaoese field armies were bearing down on the positions of the 6th Army, dug in along the Florian western frontier covering the approaches to Northcliff, was unfortunate in its timing to say the least.

The Shirerithian led Apollonia Command, operating on the basis of a previously established contingency plan, moved swiftly to disengage the 5th Army, which had a sizeable contingent of Shirerithian volunteers, advisers, and officers, from the advancing Jingdaoese forces. Faced by what they perceived as a Florian betrayal, Shirerithians declared the Florian Government to be in a state of rebellion and enacted a further contingency plan to restore some semblance of order in Northcliff whilst preventing the capture of the Florian fleet by the Jingdaoese.

The sudden ferocity of this attack, a missile barrage which resulted in the partial destruction of the country's sole aircraft carrier at its moorings, saw the Florian Government go beyond its obligations under the capitulatory treaty of Chuan Ké and declare itself to be in alignment with Jingdao as a co-belligerent against the Shirerithian Imperial Forces present in the country.

These tensions, combined with the extra-judicial execution of Jeremy Spencer, the controversial anti-Jing politician, by the incoming liberal administration of Jessica Smith, not only fractured the alliance but also the unity of the Florian Armed Forces themselves. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the 6th Army around Northcliff, where ineptitude, mutual loathing, and the insidious influence of the Shirerithian High Commission, induced a cabal of senior officers, under the leadership of General John Lambert, to stage a brutal military putsch against the Florian Parliament and Presidency.

The 'liberation' of Northcliff by Jingdaoese soldiers came at a heavy toll: more than 1.3 million civilians had died in the siege. In total, both sides together lost over 500,000 men in the siege (with the majority of deaths coming from the militias which fought for or against the Shirerithians or Jingdaoese). Over 400,000 men were taken POW.

The failure to capture president Jessica Smith, who escaped the capital with Jingdaoese help, led to the de facto failure of the coup d'état. With the Florians still divided and a collapsing frontline in the north, the Jingdaoese Third Field Army surrounded the capital city. However, in another inexplicable surprise move by president Jessica Smith an armistice agreement was reached on the 28th November between the Florian and Shirerithian administration. The Jingdaoese were taken by surprise and furious. Field Marshal Tzao Yao ordered the Tegong and military officers to respond by orchestrating a massacre in Southgate as a punitive response and warning. The Florian administration finally gave in, while several members were placed under house arrest.

It wasn't until the 2nd December that the Jingdaoese actively launched an attack on Northcliff. Until then, they had sent of Florians to fight the war for them. The decisive victory of the Sxiro-Natopian air offensive in Dalmacija, together with the entry of Natopia into the war pressured Yao into launching an assault on the surrounded city. After several days of fighting, the Third Army claimed control over the capital. Several officers, however, escaped through the sole remaining airport in Shirerithian hands.

The Eastern Apollonian Front

The eastern Apollonian front in contrast had remained largely silent, excepting Florian drone strikes and an unopposed Corian incursion into the Florian exclave on its border. The collapsing situation of the Florian Republic had perhaps made a swift capitulation inevitable on this front, where an informal armistice was swiftly reached on the promise of a future partition of the disputed "Floroserbian" lands.

River Warrior Front

The River Warrior Front opened on 22 November 2017 after the Rivorian Liberation Army (RLA) launched a terrorist attack on the Jingdaoese government in the city of Mahūti, killing 23 people. The attack was launched in revenge for the alleged mistreatment of the Rivorians since the region of the River Warriors had joined Jingdao following the River Warrior War.

Subsequently, the RLA launched a guerrilla insurgency against the Jingdaoese state, taking the strategically important village of Brůz̀c͂awř on 5 December 2017, and making large gains in the rural areas in the northern and eastern parts of the region. Following a wildfire in Senya that was started by a Rivorian secret agent that destroyed a large amount of crops in Senya, the Senyan government agreed to buy en masse crops from the River Warriors, in exchange for weapons technology in a secret agreement that was signed on 10 December 2017.

Naval war

The Battle of Carama Bay, fought in the year 1655, was reputedly the largest naval confrontation in the modern history of Micras. On it hinged the fate of the Shirerithian occupation in the southern third of the Florian Republic, the besieged Jingdaoese enclave of Fosvalos, and the Natopian demesne of Saint Andre, where the war was now drawing ever closer. The battle was triggered by a Sxiro-Natopian attempt to interdict a sortie by a Jingdaoese carrier group. In ordering its own u-boat wolfpacks to swarm Carama Bay, whilst two Natopian fleets converged on the scene to reinforce an allied flotilla in theatre, Apollonia Command had unwittingly set the Eastern Armada on a collision course with a massed breakout attempt by the Jingdaoese submarine arm. The Jingdaoese objective in this operation having been to establish a blockade of Port Saint Andre and the Shirerithian occupied port of Blyth. Only six Jingdaoese submarines made it out into open waters.

A catastrophic blunder by the Natopian admiralty, acting under the orders of the Natopian Defense Secretary, and the commander of the Shirerithian Task Force 90, saw a full scale naval battle being fought in the confines of the bay, which - unforgivably - laid comfortably within the range of two fully operational anti-ship ballistic missile bases. Balancing out the slaughter of allied ships on the surface, the Shirerithian u-boats, combining the use of torpedoes and drift mines, caught the Jingdaoese submarines exiting the Antya river estuary into Carama Bay, inflicting catastrophic losses and deflecting two Jingdaoese carriers and the surviving submarines back to the safety of their respective bases.

Nonetheless 70% of the surface combatants belonging to three allied fleets had been either sunk or rendered completely inoperable. Upon receiving a full debriefing on the course of the battle Steward Waldemar Zinkgraven was heard to exclaim that "a few more victories like this and we will have lost the war!" In overview, the Sxiro-Natopian allies had secured a tactical victory, in thwarting the Jingdaoese sortie, albeit at intolerable cost to themselves, but with two Jingdaoese ballistic missile bases still operational, a strategic stalemate was the enduring consequence of the battle - with Port Saint Andre and Blyth effectively closed to surface shipping whilst the Jingdaoese enclave of Fosvalos was itself blockaded in turn by the prowling wolfpacks of Shirerithian u-boats.

Timeline

• 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.
  • The Synklētos of Constancia votes in favor to advise the Basileus to begin the process of entering into diplomatic relations with its neighbor on Kendall Isle, The Khanate of Krasnarus.
• 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.

The late Jeremy Spencer: Reputedly not a nice chap.

• 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.
• 19th November
  • 'Loyalist' (Pro-Treaty) forces were rallied to assault the Presidential Palace, Parliament building and pro-Jingdaoese protesters in Northcliff.
  • Airports in Northcliff, Dragonmoor and Srbograd were occupied by the Shirerithian forces originally assigned to their defence.
  • In the south of the country, around Dragonmoor especially, reprisals against treacherous Florian conscripts and the civilian population continued. Regiments are taking it in turns to break off from the armoured columns to rape and plunder in settlements along the line of march.
  • The 2nd Marine Division, attached to the Eastern Armada's Task Force 90, staged an airborne and amphibious landing to continue the work of capturing or destroying the Florian Navy which operates from a port south of Blyth. Carrier borne aviation attached to the 2nd Marine Division has begun a routine of aggressive combat air patrolling over Blyth, Dragonmoor and Carama Bay.
  • Unknown persons have conducted the targeted killing of Florian border guards and police officers along its southern border with the Natopian enclave of Saint Andre.
  • An airborne assault began on the city of Blyth with unidentified commandos being landed to capture military and civilian facilities.
• 20th November
  • With the Presidential Palace under siege by Pro-Treaty troops, Pro-Smith Florian forces outside the capital openly align with the Jingdaoese.
  • A sudden volcanic eruption effectively destroyed Brettania, decimating the population of the Brettish Isles and engulfing the region in successive waves of vast pyroclastic flows. Survivors of the destruction were evacuated to the Skerries whilst the international community offered humanitarian assistance. With the destruction of a USSO member state, the Imperial Government in Shirekeep ordered its fishing fleets to plunder the Keltian country's exclusive maritime economic zone.
  • In response to the looming intrusion of unlicensed Shirerithian trawlers into Keltian waters, the Nova English hastily organised a fisheries protection squadron to defend its own territorial waters and economic interests, setting in motion the chain of events that would lead to the Keltian Cod Wars.
• 22nd November: The Rivorian Liberation Army launches a terrorist attack on a government building in Mahūti, declaring an insurgency against the Jingdaoese government.
• 28th November:
  • Armistice of Blyth brings an end to Sxiro-Florian conflict and inter-Florian fighting. Three major cities in the south of the country will remain under Shirerithian administration in order to provide a safe haven for supporters of the Pro-Treaty forces.
  • Shireroth announces the execution of former Florian president Edwin Farrar, quashing rumours circulating in the Florian press that the fugitive had committed suicide whilst detained in a luxury hotel in Shirekeep.
• 29th November:
  • The Jingdaoese Tegong orchestrated a massacre in Southgate as a punitive response to the Armistice of Blyth.
  • Natopia formally commits the Natopian Defence Force to the allied war effort, improving air support and intelligence sharing, as well as redressing the naval balance of power which appeared to be tilting in the favour of the USSO.
  • The Shirerithians, supported by their Natopian allies, commit to a large scale aerial offensive against military targets in the Jingdaoese region of Dalmacija.
• 1st December: Shireroth makes preparations for a naval sortie into the Great Western Sea.
• 2nd December:
  • Sxiro-Natopian air offensive results in loss of Jingdaoese air supremacy over Dalmacija above the 22nd Parallel.
  • Jingdao rejects Shirerithian offer of a cessation of hostilities on the Florian Front, moves to occupy Floria as a base from which to attack Natopian Port Saint Andre.
  • The Jingdaoese Third Army broke through the final line of defences to reach the Presidential Palace, effectively ending the Siege of Northcliff.
  • Jingdaoese and Sxiro-Natopian naval forces launched sorties to assert dominion over the Florian Coast, leading to what would become the Battle of Carama Bay.
• 3rd December: The Batavian Front opens with large-scale air-raids on Tianhoucheng whilst naval engagements cover airmobile landings on Diwangdao.
• 4th December:
  • With air supremacy in jeopardy and large-scale destruction visited on its rear-area infrastructure, the Jingdaoese garrisons in Tianhoucheng and Iretta launch a desperate counter-offensive to throw the Shirerithians off-balance.
  • Shirerithian agents support a coup toppling the government of Mir Hossain in the Raspur Khanate, replacing the non-aligned regime with a pro-war administration.
  • Perhaps in light of the foregoing development, Jaime Augustin Joaquin Primo de Aguilar is appointed Autokrator of Constancia by Petros III
• 5th December:
  • The IRS Medusa, a Shirerithian "Gravrig", began commerce raiding operations in the Great Western Sea, specifically targeting USSO vessels participating in a humanitarian relief mission to the Brettish Isles.
  • The Rivorian Liberation Army capture the strategic village of Brůz̀c͂awř.
  • Primo de Aguilar, Autokrator of Constancia, secures the borders of the Constancian territory Oranje (officially, the Thema Oranjēsiōn) in Kendall Isle, unifies the command of all military forces within, and places them on high alert.
• 6th December:
  • Major Drug Cartel, Bitter Genesis hiding in the Florian village of Brighmont release hugely dangerous drugs to the public leading up to the government declaring a war on drugs.
• 8th December:
  • Bitter Genesis is defeated after Florian Secret services destroy their base.
  • In a shock decision, the Florian government decides to re-apply to the USSO as a an associate member. While the application is rejected, discussions result in the ratification of a trade agreement between the Florian Republic and Passio-Corum.
• 9th December:
  • Shirerithian auxiliaries raise the flag over the desolate arctic colony of New Blackstone in the Brettish Isles
  • Xechaspolis (Eura) destroyed by an orbital bombardment for its part in the abduction of the Natopian Emperor.
• 10th December:
  • Following a wildfire that destroys a large amount of Senyan crops, the Senyan government secretly agrees to buy food from the Rivorian Liberation Army in exchange for weapons.
• 11th December:
  • Sea-Reavers become notably more active in their depredations around the Brettish Isles.
  • Diwang Zhang San calls upon the Union to act against the Shirerithian aggression [3]. Passio-Corum responds to Mr.San's call with the formation of the 'Grand Army of the East.'
  • Jingdao launches its campaign into the south of the Florian Republic [4]. The start signal was given with an missile attack from MB9 (a military base, constructed under by the National Redoubt Defence Program), followed by carpet bombardments from the 1st and 2nd Air Support Corps.
• 15th December:
  • Amused by reports of a revolt in Srbozemlje the Shirerithians offered unconditional recognition to Dimitrije Golubović as King of Nohavland, including unlimited credit with which to purchase Shirerithian armaments and the offer of landing rights for Nohavland Airlines in Benacia.
  • Passio-Corum deploys a segment of its Grand Army of the East to combat the efforts of Shirerithian Sea-Reavers along the east-Keltian seaboard.