Conquest of Valora
| Conquest of Valora | |||||||
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| Part of Ralgon Reconquista Cibolan Reconquista Ralgon War of Succession |
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 Imperial Federation
|  Valora |
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This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change. |
The Conquest of Valora was a military event that took place in the aftermath of the Ralgon War of Succession ended in a statement by 1706 AN. The ten-year aftermath was a phony war of sorts between the two opposing sides: the Holy Ralgon Empire of Valora and New Ralgon (known commonly as "Valora") and the Imperial Federation of Ralgon, Adrestia, and Tar-Palantir (known commonly as "The Imperial Federation"). This ended in 1716, with a flanking invasion from the northeast after Sanama abandoned the region when the Imperial Federation got covert, classified support from troops disguised as Imperial soldiers, along with a reinvigorated force.
The war took place on four fronts. The first was the existing New Ralgon Salient to the north of Valora, where Imperial Federation front lines had stood for the better part of 10 years. The second was the coastline of Northern Cibola, where an Imperial Federation blockade had successfully cut the country off from its partners in the CSA in near-totality. The third front was the deep interior south and east of Yixing, centered around South Valora, where rebels and undead of every type had collapsed state authority in the entire south (except for Kaek, which enjoyed an unusual level of peace in its own borders). The fourth front, opened late in the war, fell to the east, in territory freshly abandoned by Sanama and RSL in turn, as the Imperial Federation used the territory to outflank Valoran troops desperately holding onto the area.
Upon the entrance of Raspur Pact forces in the area disguised as Imperial Federation troops, Valora's central government collapsed under the pressure and the country splintered by late 1717 AN. The country split down regional borders, as some regions desperately turned to the Imperial Federation to avoid being overrun by undead or enemy soldiers, while the rest collapsed into anarchy as the government fled the region.
The region was split between the Imperial Federation and its new southern neighbors in Mondo (themselves now also a member of the Raspur Pact along a combination of frontlines and political divisions, and the partition of the country took place as its collapse was finalized and its end formally inked into the annals of history in the closing days of that year. The opportunistic Imperials also annexed the northeastern coast of Cibola still in the Green, providing convenient conurbation areas from Glacier City and its environs, to ease population overcrowding in those regions of the Empire.
Background
The aftermath of the former Succession War had ended in an exiled Ralgon government holding only onto its territory in the interior of mainland Cibola, in conjunction with reluctant allies in Valora, who themselves were looking at their neighbors as a buffer territory to prevent their outright conquest-by-afterthought at the hands of the Imperial Federation, fearing reprisals for siding with the Draegarist government. Indeed, the country was invaded, but it pushed out the overstretched Imperial Federation Army to the northern reaches of New Ralgon, where a stable salient formed and the fighting died down there.
With the Imperial Federation overstretched to its new, vast, dominions overseas, the Valoran government was likewise crippled by armed conflict with Vanic rebels deep inland, the undead, neo-Batavian partisan factions displeased by lack of representation, Jingdaoese pro-Imperial Federation sabotage in Yixing, and general apathy of the few remaining stable regions in the country to the plight of their compatriots.
The Imperial Federation had bided its time wisely, although this was completely unknown to the Emperor Anarion I, now a teenager. The new Emperor's government had done its best to effectively combat Imperial overextension of military assets in the few years following the Imperial victory over the rump state now known as Valora in 1706 AN. With a generally frozen conflict on the frontlines, the government had spent significant time building its forces to properly control its vast dominions, and more specifically to bring the remaining Ralgonese territories back into the fold by any means available to them.
Valora, ironically consisting only in small part of formal Valoran territory (with the rest being Ralgonese holdouts), was woefully unprepared to face an invigorated enemy with far more industrial power and soldiers at their command. While there was plenty of denial from the Ralgonese side of the government, their Valoran counterparts had plenty enough reason to worry. The Valoran government at Korzan believed that the peace generated by the stalemate was only an illusion. The two states were, at least formally, still in a state of war with each other, although Draegarist loyalists to the south were questioning the reasoning for this to begin with. With a state of anarchy in nearly half the country, Valoran officials were in no position to wage any offensives, as self-preservation and holding onto the weakly loyal Ralgonese territories was all they could possibly do to hold the country together past 1712 AN, after which undead activity had significantly ratcheted up.
The so-called "Holy Empire of New Ralgon and Valora" itself (aptly just named "Valora" on the map) did not enjoy the ten-year white peace that persisted until 1716. The country was in a sad state at this point, being temporarily de-recognized by the MCS due to its internal gridlock and failing war of attrition against internal rebellions, the undead, partisans, and Imperial special forces conducting raids on critical assets. The Valoran side of the government was hampered by the Ralgonese side of the country, and began to question its ties to their Ralgonese counterparts, to the degree where Valora proper began to experience its own severe effects of secessionists at its flanks deep inland. Instead of being able to push back their overextended rivals back to the sea, Valora instead found its own position at all fronts collectively weakened.
The Ralgon Reconquista and its prior Cibolan Reconquista were still official government policy, on both sides now. With the abandonment of northern Cibola by Sanama in 1717, the Imperial Federation was, temporarily, given leave to do whatever they wanted at the flank of "New Ralgon", the initial territory formed by the Draegarist government as a buffer between their new capital of Yixing and the considerable naval forces prowling at every major coast of the country. From 1706, the border to the north was at stalemate because Imperial forces were overextended elsewhere, without significant outside assistance.
Beginning in the second half of 1716, the Valoran government experienced a horrifying revelation: this was not the case, and their country was in mortal danger of complete collapse. However, attempts to contact the CSA failed due to gridlock in the government, and the far-off Collective Security Association had no time to constantly bail out failing states. With its year-long de-recognition by the MCS in 1716 AN, Valora was a liability to its own alliance, and cut off from external help completely.
Renewal of Hostilities
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This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change. |
Raspur Pact Intervention
, the former using the territory as pretext to secure areas for population growth across the channel for citizens of Glacier City
During the period 1715 AN – 1716 AN applications for hunting leave were received by the Western Banner Group of Benacia Command for one in six officers of the 13th Manoeuvre Brigade in Naudia'Diva. These applications were approved for a duration of 365 days, with the allowance to be taken within the period of 1716 AN – 1719 AN. Whilst on hunting leave, these officers would be on half pay and obliged to make good on any deficiency by their own means as gentlemen of good standing. A similar level of applications for requested authorised absence were reported from the 10th Manoeuvre Brigade (Benacia Isle), 11th Manoeuvre Brigade (New Blackstone), and the 12th Manoeuvre Brigade (Florencia).
At around this time it was reported that the ESB-Kosaken Afzælt and Jaysh al-Sathrati had been contracted by Cibola Command to provide unspecified corporate security services for industrial archaeology and exploratory work in the Green of northern Cibola.
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This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change. |
Collapse of New Ralgon
Conquest of "New Cibola"
Surrender of Yixing
Fall of North Valora
Korzan Capitulation
Partition of Valora
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This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change. |
Yixing was occupied by Imperial Federation forces after the city government expelled the would-be Emperor Draeg'ar, who fled south with his royal court to avoid standing trial in the Imperial Federation. Due to the expulsion of Loyalist forces, Yixing was spared a siege, conquest, and depredation accompanying this. Rather, the new government consisting of Valoran pro-Imperial partisans and nobles, Ralgonese sympathizers, and complicit city officials were awarded with the city itself. Yixing quickly became the capital of the consolidated North Valora, as the city's regionally capable government institutions remained intact.
West Valora's small environs were governed from Port Ror'an, having been granted home rule.
Meanwhile, New Ralgon was administered from Nova Victoria, which was well-equipped to handle the region post-conquest.
The entire southern part of the country was left to its own devices,
Aftermath
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This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change. |
Valora
The post-surrender Valoran environment was no better than it was at the start of the initial war with the Imperial Federation in 1705. However, having shed the territories they could not control, their position was no worse off either. The undead were still an existential problem, but their now-concentrated remaining forces could perpetuate the state's existence. However, with only their interior remaining along with a slim coast centered on Ai'wa, foreign imports could only come over dangerous overland routes.
In Korzan, the Valoran government was split on voluntarily joining the Imperial Federation, fearing that the loss of North Valora and the capitulation of parts of West Valora would snowball to the heartlands themselves. The Valoran government saw the effects of Yixing's surrender, which directly led to most of North Valora's breaking off and joining the Imperial Federation, while the invasion of the few strong loyalist holdouts had resulted in the loss of the country's entire remaining northern coastlines.
Only South Valora and its environs remained within the central government's direct or indirect control, while the Imperial Federation and Raspur Pact forces had wrenched everything else to the north, west, and east. With enemies on all sides, the offer was formally made by the Valoran government to join Mondo. Messages were sent to West Kaek with their decision, but they sent the expected response of near-total apathy, being a generally reclusive people.
