Second Elwynnese Civil War

Second Elwynnese Civil War
SDF Fänrik attached to the Eliria Levy of the Home Guard, gesturing to UDF counterparts during a short humanitarian truce (12.I.1693 AN).
Date 12.II.1692 AN – 12.X.1696 AN Location Alalehzamin, Amokolia, Mishalacia, Sovereign Confederation, Upper Elwynn, Kaamiozyr Result Pyrrhic victory for the Raspur Pact: The Scouring – destruction of Eliria and six other major cities in a limited nuclear exchange. Occupation of mainland Elwynn by Benacia Command. Establishment of N&H collaboration government. "Free Elwynnese" holdouts on Cimmeria and Raikoth.
Belligerents
Elluenuueq Benacia Command  Floria (until XV.1695)  Ransenar  Sanama (until XV.1695)  Suren  Unified Governorates Honourable Company Support Mission Androphagi & Dromosker clans ESB Security Directorate  Hexarchy	Elwynn and Amokolia  Republic of Tarrland (until II.1694)  Calbion  Zeed Material support Batavian Commune  Jingdao  Kalgachia
Commanders and leaders
Vüqar Rugahi (Commander-in-Chief, Benacia Command) (until I.1694)  Jeremiah Avon-El (Commander-in-Chief, Benacia Command) (from I.1694) Kamilla Winther† (Princess of Elwynn)  Mihrzād Gushnasp (Officer Commanding, Northern Banner Group)  Selardi Jen Daniyal† (Officer Commanding, Eastern Banner Group) Abolfazl Shahzad Khoroushi (Överbefälhavaren)	Benjamin Sluyjs† (President) Pedyr Mekaarveq† (Conducător) Antonin Vladimiroff† (Minister of War) Admiral Petyrion-Zyrion (Överbefälhavaren) Rusty† (President) Richard ab Ioan (Governor-General) Howard ab Fynn (High Admiral)
Units involved
Benacia Command  Union Defence Force 1st Pansararmé XLVIII Combined Arms Corps XLIX Combined Arms Corps L Combined Arms Corp LI Combined Arms Corps 2nd Pansararmé LII Combined Arms Corps LIII Combined Arms Corps 12th Army X Combined Arms Corps XXXV Combined Arms Corps XXXVI Combined Arms Corps 14th Army XLIII Combined Arms Corps XLIV Combined Arms Corps XLV Combined Arms Corps 18th Army IX Combined Arms Corps Eliria Garrison Force  Elwynnese Landstorm  Praetorian Expeditionary Unit  Military of Ransenar 20th Army Uihmanz Fieldburg 21st Army Lyonforce Uihmanz Wintergleam Riverine Forces of Ransenar Shire Sea Flotilla  Sanaman Armed Forces Shenerel Lutenen David Kamira, SA FA 6 (Field Artillery Brigade) AD 10 (Air Defence Brigade) MI 12 (Military Intelligence Brigade) FS 17 (Field Sustainment Brigade) W 10 501. Support Squadron 101. Naval Task Force  Jaysh al-Sathrati  Lashkar-e-Yazatá  Black Legions Streïhvasza Nord Sazn Þeïnszæhan Furgsaddâ 3rd Streïafzælt 201st Streïafzælt 1002/105 & 1002/106 Supply Columns	SDF Joint Command Northern Amokolian Front III Corps 3rd Air Group Automatican Sea Flotilla Southern Amokolian Front IV Corps X Corps XIII Corps 1st Air Group Western Amokolian Front V Corps XI Corps XV Corps 2nd Air Group Amokolian Sea Flotilla Eliria Front I Corps VII Corps XVII Corps 5th Air Group Riverine Defence Group (East) Midlands Front II Corps VIII Corps XVI Corps 4th Air Group Riverine Defence Group (West) Northern Front IX Corps XVIII Corps XIV Corps 7th Air Group Boreal Flotilla Wintergleam Front VI Corps XII Corps 6th Air Group Cimmerian Isles Flotilla Northern Banners Cimmerian Banners (34,842) Wolfraven Banners Thunderrock Banners Cromswind Banners Icefire Banners Snowhawk Banners Fieldburg Banners (4.249) Cape Farewell Banners (2.480) Southern Banners (5.885) Llynges Calbain IFS Jacobo Castrigo IFS Alrodey IFS Floria IFS Corcovado Princely Marine Corps (350) Northbloom Dragoons 1st Regiment Octavia 2nd Regiment Clarence 3rd Regiment Lyssansa Kalgachi Defence Force Reserve (KDFR) 2nd Reserve Army (North) Lieutenancy of Katarsis Reserve Companies
Strength
1,563,531 (1693 AN) 1,143,281 / 251,600 139,850 ~28,800 (1693 AN) 14,500 4,262 6,109,779 (1694 AN) 5,474,175 332,180 / 251,600 ~28,800 (1693 AN) 14,500 8,524	2,038,358 (1693 AN) 1,982,662 47,456 5,040 3,200 3,004,353 (1694 AN) 2,944,211 41,402 15,540 3,200
Casualties and losses
Fatalities: 1,302,796 87,380 (1692) · 611,503 (1693)  · 602,116 (1694) 1,797 (1693) Wounded: 3,065,280 231,893 (1692)  · 1,599,053 (1693)  · 1,234,334 (1694) Missing: 2,642,650 16,805 (1692)  · 1,647,910 (1693)  · 977,935 (1694) Civilian fatalities: 3,474,892 (most fatalities occurred during the rebel counterstrike of 20.XIV.1695 with other primary causes being political or sectarian violence) 545,200 (1692) 217,600 (1693) 96,547 (1694) 2,615,545 (20.XIV.1695)	Fatalities: 1,252,598 425,832 (1692) · 281,258 (1693)  · 278,260 (1694) 267,249 (1693/1694) Wounded: 1,163,674 535,020 (1692)  · 328,134 (1693)  · 300,520 (1694) Missing: 993,419 131,027 (1692)  · 1,647,910 (1693)  · 534,258 (1694) Civilian fatalities: 8,188,887 (most fatalities occurred during the orbital strike of 20.XIV.1695 with other primary causes being malnutrition, disease, and aerial bombardment) 627,000 (1692) 966,000 (1693) 1,310,000 (1694) 5,285,887 (20.XIV.1695)

Timeline

Disintegration of the UDF (II–IV.1692 AN)

• 12.II.1692 AN: Declaration of the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia, formation of SDF. Affirmations of loyalty to the Court of the Prince from senior UDF commanders but mutinies and disorders reported in barracks and depots throughout Elwynn. The Panopticon reported its findings that, based on ethnicity, religious affiliation, and political allegiances, junior, regimental, and division level commanders cannot necessarily be relied upon to remain loyal to the regime. Princess Rosamund of Constancia is physically removed from her classes at Eliria University College.
• 13–21.II.1692 AN: Attempts to quell the mutinous soldiery and mobilise UDF forces in the 1^st Territorial Inspectorate (Elirian metropolitan area) resulted in a fracturing of those garrisons and a loss of effective government control. Five divisions defected to the SDF, three remained loyal to the Court of the Prince, whilst a fourth - the Babkhi majority "Zjandarian Guards" Division had become enthusiastically embroiled in attacks on demonstrations and secessionist held buildings in the capital.
• 14.II.1692 AN: Benacia Command commences Operation Retribution against separatist forces in Elwynn. Notice is given to the governments of Alalehzamin, Kalgachia and Mishalacia to immediately, within 24 hours, indicate their willingness to permit the transit of allied forces northwards into Amokolia and Upper Elwynn.
• 15.II.1692 AN:
  • 2^nd Pansar Army (IX Territorial Inspectorate, Headquartered in Mišalan) declares for the Court of the Prince.
  • Union Aerospace Corps Command, upon being receipt of orders to conduct strikes against targets in metropolitan Eliria, declared for the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia. The 4^th Tactical Aviation Division, based in Amokolia, however repudiated this declaration, whilst the 5^th Tactical Aviation Division based on aerodromes in Elwynn proper affirmed their transfer of allegiance to the SDF, commencing the fragmentation of Elwynn's powerful air arm.
  • Kalgachia signalled its indignant refusal of Benacia Command's demand to facilitate the transit of forces northwards through the territory of the Garden. "Any attempt to transgress the sacred bounds will be resisted with determination, from in front, from behind, from above, and from below, especially from below. From the moment you embark upon such a reckless act, and until the hour of your demise, you will not be permitted a single instance of rest or safety. Think carefully upon your next move." - Karin Bai, Chairwoman of the Council of the Perfecti.
• 16.II.1692 AN: A major setback for the Court of the Prince as the Corps of the Gentlemen-at-Cudgels, previously a stalwart of the regime, declared for the revolutionary forces. The defection was seen as a reaction by the Council of Cudgellers against the efforts of the Court of the Prince to impose Babkhi and ESB leadership upon the organisation - embodied in the detested person of Zurvanudin Miran al-Osman, the largely absentee Inspector of Cudgels who was out of the country in Sathrati at the start of the uprising. In response the government of the AAR issued an ultimatum to the Cudgeller Palatinate in Alalehzamin for the immediate surrender of their commanderies to local authorities within twelve hours.
• 17.II.1692 AN: At the expiration of the ultimatum period without a response from the Superintendent Officers of Cudgels, the commanderies in the south of Elwynn, isolated and surrounded by a hostile population, began to respond favourably to emissaries from the local government who sought to negotiate the surrender of individual outposts in turn. The only exception to this generally peaceable capitulation being in Islus where the commandery, hopeful of relief from the north via the Elwynn river, fired upon the negotiating party and swiftly found themselves under siege by local militia drawn from the ranks of the Behsaz-Eluin.
• 19.II.1692 AN: The People's Academy of Elwynn, following a series of campus protests and the occupation of Eliria University College by student radicals in the days following the secession, declared for the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia.
• 22.II.1692 AN: The defection of the 6^th Logistics-Airlift Division to the SDF interrupted the operations of the Boreal Air Bridge, disrupting the supply chain of UDF forces in Hurmu, Leng, and Normark.
• 5.III.1692 AN: Catastrophe for the loyalist forces as the defection of the Amfibiekåren (Amphibious Corps) of the UDF opened up the coast of Upper Elwynn and Amokolia the delivery of arms shipments and volunteers from anti-Raspur sympathisers and resulted in the de facto loss of the Cimmerian Isles, Leng, and Raikoth to the SDF. Fortunately for the honour of the Black Legions, its garrison at Marinestation Wolfraven, comprised of the 1001^st Naval Air Regiment and support elements drawn from the Inspectorate of Naval Forces, disdained the opportunity to surrender to the mutineers but in consequence now found themselves under a blockade that amounted to a state of siege.
• 6.III.1692 AN: With the reliability of UDF forces along its northern frontier being called increasingly in to doubt by the ongoing string of defections, the Grand Army of Ransenar began to mobilise forces assigned to the Eastern Banner Group of Benacia Command and facilitating their movement northwards from previous positions around Lune Villa and Chryse.
• 7.III.1692 AN: UDF deserters attacked a Panopticon bureau office in the bailiwick of Saria, part of Greater Eliria, killing six officers and wounding more than 30. The use of a recoilless rifle in the attack pointed to it having been undertaken with the tacit sanction of one of the divisions in the Eliria garrison which had defected to the SDF.
• 8.III.1692 AN: With the security of the capital no longer guaranteed, and with outlying bailiwicks of Greater Eliria, along with some suburbs of the city proper, having already fallen into rebel hands, a formal state of siege is declared in Eliria. Chaotic scenes ensued as the Court of the Princess in Castle Eliria, along with subordinate government departments in the central districts, were evacuated and transferred over to loyalist UDF control. With Lenfiq in rebel hands, plans for the transfer of the seat of government had to be adjusted in favour of an evacuation to the south and the establishment of the wartime capital at Islus in Alalehzamin.
• 13.III.1692 AN: Another setback for the Court of the Prince, as mutinies broke out in the area of the 8^th Territorial Inspectorate, centred around Pozdam and covering Western Amokolia up to the frontier with Batavia. Mirroring the process of disintegration that had hit the 1^st Territorial Inspectorate around Eliria in the preceding month, whilst corps commanders remained uniformly loyal, divisional commanders showed more inclination to be swayed by their mutinous soldiery. Fully five out of the eight UDF divisions assigned to the region were swayed to the rebel cause and defected to the SDF. It was fortunate for the UDF however that the 15^th Division "Angularis" and the 5^th Pansarfördelningen counted amongst the diminished contingent of loyalist forces. Through them a rough triangle of territory, encompassing Einhorn, Pozdam, and Tel-Amok, remained in loyalist hands. Nonetheless the Batavian and Kalgachi frontiers were now under the control of the SDF and the rebel government.
• 14.III.1692 AN: A rare instance of good fortune for the loyalist forces, as the mutinies spreading to the VI Territorial Inspectorate were suppressed in the majority of divisions garrisoned in the Amokolian Islands following rapid action carried out by corps and divisional commanders to identify and detain suspected traitors in their ranks. The three divisions that had successfully defected during the fighting, the 22^nd, the 65^th, and the 85^th, were quickly forced back onto the defensive.
• 16.III.1692 AN: Following the example of the Amphibious Corps, the 2^nd Territorial Inspectorate defected en masse to the SDF, marking the first occasion on which corps-level formations had transferred their allegiance in their entirety. Only two divisions, the 11^th and the 30^th, remained loyal to the Court of the Prince and the UDF chain of command. For the first time since the beginning of the secessionist uprising defecting forces were poised, along Elwynn's eastern seaboard, to control territory where the autonomous republic, that of the Sovereign Confederation, had remained loyal to the previous regime.
• 17.III.1692 AN: A relatively small force of some 650 troops from The Hexarchy set foot on loyalist-controlled shores. These men, a core part of the Praetor's personal guard, were surreptitiously sent after a long journey to help the Court of the Prince to save his country as a gesture of friendship, and also to help the soldiers acquire much-needed modernized combat experience. The troops, while extremely competent themselves, nonetheless carry hopelessly outdated equipment to the field due to a lack of modernized equipment at home. Thus, they have little option but to place themselves under the command of the nearest loyalist commander of sufficient rank, per the Praetor's direct orders.
  • This placed the contingent from the Hexarchy at Avakair. There they would await the arrival of other overseas contingents recruited by the ESB, as well as Ransenari forces moving up from the south. This band of exotic foreigners proved to be the cause of comment and considerable curiosity on the part of local community, where there had not been much in the way of excitement since the War in Wintergleam back in the 1670s. The requirement of these new arrivals for updated armaments was swiftly noted by the Gentlemen of the Assay, owners and operators of the Avakair Armory - the foremost manufacturer of small arms in eastern Benacia which had, much to the sorrow of the assayers, fallen upon hard times following the winding down of the Allied Production Matrix.
• 5.IV.1692 AN: The senior corps and divisional commanders of the 5^th Territorial Inspectorate (Caligae) made a joint declaration in favour of the Court of the Prince. In spite of this unanimity, four divisions assigned to the area - the 38^th, 39^th, 60^th, and 82^nd Territorial Divisions - were able to seize control of their barracks and cantonments, thereafter joining the SDF and raising the banner of the insurgency. Opposed by five loyalist divisions - the 37^th, 61^st, 62^nd, 83^rd, and 84^th Territorial Divisions - the rebels found themselves on the defensive against former comrades who were themselves beleaguered in the high north of Upper Elwynn, far behind what would become enemy lines.
• 7.IV.1692 AN: No longer able to remain above the fray, the senior command echelons of the 7^th Territorial Inspectorate, headquartered in Mittlere Stadt, declared for Elwynn and Amokolia. Following the lead of their seniors, the corps and divisional commanders of formations assigned to the 7^th Territorial Inspectorate followed suit and likewise affirmed their transfer of allegiance to the SDF. Only two divisions, the 44^th and the 86^th, defied these orders but were unable to stage a meaningful counter-putsch.
• 20.IV.1692 AN: After significant internal debate over the ethical consequences of intervening against a democratic uprising versus the dangers inherent in combating an outbreak of secessionism in a Raspur Pact ally, Sanaman authorities began to undertake the requisite preparatory acts necessary for the deployment of an expeditionary force to reinforce the UDF and Benacia Command's Northern Banner Group.
• 21.IV.1692 AN: From an undisclosed location in the North, Eki Verion, claiming the title of Countess of Cimmeria and Illumination, made an appeal to the people of Northern Elwynn to support the SDF and throw their might behind the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia. Following her call, a coalition of libertarians, Verionists and members of the repressed Holy Church of the Divine Icebear mounted an assault on the loyalist forces left in Wolfraven.
• 22.IV.1692 AN: Without the realistic prospect of relief, the 1001^st Naval Air Regiment, and other support units besieged in Marinestation Wolfraven since the fifth day of the preceding month, sabotaged their remaining equipment, set fire to the stores and buildings within their defensive perimeter, and began the process of surrendering to their former comrades in the SDF rather than endure any further assaults by the more chaotic revolutionary forces that were now emerging.

Build-up of forces (V–VI.1692 AN)

Political situation in Elwynn, circa 24.VI.1692 AN.

• 2.V.1692 AN: Facing a growing insurgent movement, loyalist and Ransenari forces withdrew from the Free City of Fieldburg into the rural portion of the bailiwick, establishing defensive positions on Ridge 77, overlooking the road and railroad that passed south-easterly towards Dravotih iker. Ransenari contingents comprised the 2^nd Regiment of Dragoons & 2^nd Justiciary Regiment of the Grand Army of Ransenar, which had been deployed in the bailiwick since 13.V.1680 AN, were reorganised into the Uihmanz Filbur and would receive reinforcements from those contingents of the GAR which had been moved up to the northern frontier between Ransenar and the Sovereign Confederation during the protracted disintegration of the UDF over the preceding three months.
• 5.V.1692 AN: Proclamation from the Government of the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia, located in the wartime capital of Lenfidiq. Owing to the "illegal use of force" by the "Raspurid Occupation Regime" a state of war and of unlimited national emergency was declared to be in effect. From the date of the proclamation, obligatory national service would apply to all adult males of between 16 and 20 years of age for a period of four years. With immediate effect those reaching that age bracket in the present year would be issued with call up papers, with instructions to assemble at the administrative offices of their bailiwick of residence within four days of the proclamation.
• 6.V.1692 AN: Responding to the Proclamation of War and Unlimited National Emergency, the Unified Congress voted to delegate legislative powers to the Conducător, Pedyr Mekaarveq, effective for six months.
  • The Conducător in turn commanded the Unified Congress to organise a Committee of General Defence and a Committee of General Security and to elect a five man Grand Directorate to supervise all aspects of the war effort, reporting directly to the Conducător.
• 9.V.1692 AN: Allowing for desertion, draft evasion, and disruption by enemy activity, the levy en masse yielded 2,057,058 new recruits, of these 866,658 were assigned to the non-combatant Elwynnese and Amokolian Labour Service (EALS) while the remainder were utilised to establish the Home Guard the Internal Troops, and the recruitment pools from which casualties in the regular formations of the SDF would be replaced.
• 11.V.1692 AN: UDF Facility Dragonsfold is liberated by elements of the mutinous 29^th Territorial Division sent from Vijayanagara to reinforce the rebellion in its faltering efforts to capture Eliria. Site abandoned by a mainly Babkhan garrison on the night preceding the arrival of the SDF. Evidence of torture implements and medical experimentation recovered from amongst partially burnt and hastily ransacked buildings. Haul of liberated prisoners proved to be disappointingly small, with most high profile captives having already been evacuated to the south at the onset of the uprising. From amongst the small band of survivors is received accounts of increasingly inhumane treatment following the takeover of the facility from the Corps of the Gentlemen-at-Cudgels by ethnic Babkhans suspected to be in the employ of the Honourable Company. Suspicion grows that the security operatives in the service of the company are "cleaning house" for the regime.
• 24.V.1692 AN: Consolidation of defecting cudgellers, partisan groups, local law-enforcement and civilian militia groups into the Home Guard, a reserve military force of the SDF organised around levy troops raised in bailiwicks loyal to Elwynn and Amokolia. Tasked with civil defence, law enforcement, and public order duties, the Home Guard would report to the Ministry of the Interior except when the bailiwick comes under the jurisdiction of an active Front whereupon the levy of a bailiwick would become subject to the operational control of the Joint Command of the SDF. War duties for a bailiwick's levy would include local defence and rear area security.
• 1.VI.1692 AN: Lead elements of the expeditionary forces contributed by the Confederate States Armed Forces of Floria and the Jaysh al-Sathrati of the Honourable Company began to arrive in Tephal and Avakair respectively.
• 3.VI.1692 AN: Following the desertion of Wolfraven and Fieldburg, Verionists and anti-Raspur forces in the North crowded the streets in celebration. Eki Verion, flanked by Stephen Lewis, held a speech in front of the smouldering remnants of the Marine station in Wolfraven. In the speech, Eki stressed her claim as Countess of Cimmeria and Illumination, and pledged that the North would fully support the government of Elwynn and Amokolia. She called upon all her supporters to join the efforts of the Republican forces where possible.
• 9.VI.1692 AN: Estimates presented to Committee of General Defence – because of former reliance upon Raspur Pact supply chains, shortages of parts and difficulties sustaining complex regimes of specialist maintenance will begin to degrade the operational availability of land, maritime, and aviation platforms. Most gravimetric vehicles, formerly maintained at allied facilities in Mishagrad, Cortallia-Rathwood, and Kezan, to be inoperable by XIV.1692 at latest. Shortages of parts and difficulties in fabricating or sourcing substitutes would likely manifest in the logistics support chain for maritime and aviation forces progressively and reaching critical levels by mid 1693, or sooner depending on levels of attrition and wear in the meantime. Fuels situation likely to be critical by first quarter of 1693, depending on severity of winter, for war economy, civil society, with knock-on effects for SDF and war effort. Development of ersatz substitute fuels, materials, and parts liable to require levels of investment and time not available to Elwynn and Amokolia. Bulk import of material shortfalls from overseas vulnerable to interdiction, either at sea or upon arrival. Blockade running operations unlikely to bring in sufficient quantities to cover needs and would have to focus on most strategic and rarest materials. Conclusion, the strategic situation of the SDF and Elwynn-Amokolia would deteriorate past the point of no-return by mid-1693 if the present defensive posture is maintained.
• 10.VI.1692 AN: Rationing introduced from this date in Alalehzamin, Mishalacia, and the Sovereign Confederation. Food Control Officers were appointed for each bailiwick, subject to a Board of Control consisting of nine commissioners who were appointed at the county or autonomous republic level by the Court of the Princess and who in turn reported to the newly appointed Commissioner for Food. Individual weekly ration allowances covered meat (2.4 kg), cured meat (227 g), coffee (110 g), loose tea (113 g), cheese (227 g), butter (227 g), margarine (340 g), lard (85 g), sweets (454 g). UDF and allied personnel meanwhile were placed on the Government & Guild Service rations of the Black Legions.
• 11.VI.1692 AN: Commissioner for Coordination (Jael Jemima Truls) issued a mandate for all loyalist autonomous republics to introduce the rationing of fuel for civilian usage - a monthly allowance of 400km per vehicle per month.
• 12.VI.1692 AN: Lead detachments of the Princess Isabella's Own Volunteers, a force of Constancians drawn primarily from N&H cadres, arrived in Avakair.

Descent into hostilities (VII.–VIII.1692 AN)

• 3.VII.1692 AN: Declaration from Benacia Command directed against those parties providing logistical support to the rebellion in Elwynn and Amokolia:
  • "... in line with declarations made by their governments, and following the observation of suspicious shipping movements traced back to ports of origin within their territorial jurisdictions, the flags of Calbion and Jingdao shall no longer be respected within the Benacian Theatre Command Area of Operational Responsibility (longitude -180 to -90, and above the 10^th parallel below the equator. The coast of the Riqi Elluenuuerssuarion is declared to be a conflict zone to a distance of 120 km from the shore and closed to all shipping. All nations are advised that vessels in international waters up to a distance of 500 km from the coast of Elwynn may be subject to inspection, and will be detained if suspected of carrying contraband for the rebellion in Upper Elwynn and Amokolia. For the avoidance of doubt, contraband goods encompass all goods advantageous to the survival of the rebellion and its adherents. The Maritime Armada has been tasked to assist the maritime forces of the Union Defence Force and the Navy of Ransenar in performing the aforementioned interdiction operations."
  • "... for their failure to cooperate with requests to seal the frontier with areas presently under rebellion, and for their refusal to facilitate the transfer of allied forces across their territory in a timely and expeditious manner in order to support the suppression of the anarchy and lawlessness afflicting Elwynn, it is the duty of the Command Executive to give notice that all travel into and out of Kalgachia, including the use of airspace for transit to third party nations, is hereby suspended until such time as the Kalgachi authorities have confirmed that the border with rebel held Amokolia is wholly closed from their side of the frontier."
• 4.VII.1692 AN: The Suren Confederacy announced the dispatch of an expeditionary force to reinforce the UDF. The news is met with mild surprise by the Court of the Princess, but the official response is one of polite gratitude.
• 6.VII.1692 AN: The motivations of the Suren in dispatching what it had described as an expeditionary force became slightly more apparent as it became clear, following extensive correspondence between the Benacian and Trans-Euran Continental Theatre Commands, that the contingent being dispatched would comprise of the Lashkar-e-Yazatá, a bothersome militia which had shown itself to be disinclined to disband following the transfer of Kamalshahr into Surenid sovereignty. Sending the Lashkar to serve as mercenaries in an overseas conflict would allow the Suren to demonstrate their commitment to the Pact whilst removing a significant potential headache from within their own borders. After some consultation it was decided that it would be impolite to refuse the "gift" but that the Lashkar ought best to be deployed in sectors where the wellbeing and ultimate fate of the rebellious populace did not matter overly much.
• 7.VII.1692 AN: Concerns raised in the Unified Congress over the perceived reliance upon the Home Guard levy to cover gaps in the defences of Upper Elwynn are dismissed as "unpatriotic" and "scaremongering" by Minister Vladimiroff on behalf of the Committee of General Defence. A resolution in favour of the war policy of the Conducător is passed by a comfortable majority.
• 8.VII.1692 AN: The Llynges Calbain dispatched the aircraft carrier IFS Jacobo Castrigo and three cruisers, the IFS Alrodey, IFS Floria and the IFS Corcovado to the Cimmerian Isles with the aim of guarding a flotilla of cargo ships carrying weapons, food and other supplies for the Republican forces in Northern Elwynn. On board is a special regiment of the Princely Marines who will train and assist the military forces in Cimmeria and Fieldburg. This marks the first time the Calbain navy is deployed outside of Calbion since the Euran War.
• 10.VII.1692 AN:
  • Pro-Verionist Protests in Chryse begin, with a general strike and protests begin, calling for Chryse to join the rebels. The local government in Chryse is unamused.
  • Natopian satellite imaging of the major naval anchorages in Calbion isles reveals four capital ships absent from their previously noted berths. In view of previous statements from the government of Calbion, the possibility of a sortie being conducted in support of the Elwynnese rebellion is considered to be a credible one. In line with official policy the Cibola and Tapfer Theatre Commands did not respond by dispatching warships, however shore based and orbital reconnaissance assets were urgently tasked to locate the missing ships whilst an alert was transmitted to the headquarters of Benacia Command in Merensk and the Maritime Armada in Requill.
• 11.VII.1692 AN:
  • Following a direct appeal from Ayesha al-Osman to Selardi Jen Daniyal, commander of the Eastern Banner Group of Benacia Command, Horjin armoured fighting vehicles from the Ransenari 1^st Regiment of Light Dragoons crossed over into Elwynnese Chryse. Horrific scenes ensued as the tracked vehicles crushed dozens of demonstrators whilst pushing through improvised barricades thrown up in their path.
  • The battleship MAS Conqueror slipped its moorings at Port Istvan and proceeded on a northerly course, joined at sea by three Dominator-class missile cruisers and the Imperator-class arsenal ship Invincible.
  • The Central Banner Fleet (Black Legions), and the Shire Sea Flotilla (Navy of Ransenar), have corvettes and U-boats at sea joining the search. Meanwhile the 6th (Naval) Division of the Jaysh-al Sathrati, supported by FF-380 Buzzard gunships, commenced a sweep of the islands of Sathrati for any suspect vessels attempting to take a short cut through Shirerithian territorial waters.
• 12.VII.1692 AN:
  • An immense convoy of 400 Snatch Land Rovers crosses the border into Chryse from the Ransenari side, carrying 1,600 troops drawn from the 2^nd Field Gendarmery Regiment, the 11^th Engineer Regiment, and the 3^rd Force Support Logistic Regiment.
  • Western Banner Group naval stations (New Blackstone, Sagittarius, Salome Eiland) alerted to monitor for suspicious shipping movements by any parties attempting to run supplies to Elwynn and Amokolia via the Great Western Sea.
• 1.VIII.1692 AN: Chryse's protests "spread" to Kaamiozyr where various clans of Tarr people clash with one another, different groups supporting different sides in the soon-to-be civil war. "Kontraktniki" from the Maritime Support Group sortied from the settlement's UDF Station in an effort to quell the disorder, using live ammunition in instances where the Tarr refused to heed orders to disperse.
• 2.VIII.1692 AN: The hunt for the Jacobo Castrigo ends in ignominy as a UDF Nereid gravimetric patrol vehicle dispatched on a reconnaissance flight over Wolfraven is engaged by a pair of C-61 Buzzards whilst over the Cimmerian Sea north of the Bailiwick of Moss. After surviving the interception attempt the Nereid aborted its mission and turned about sharply for friendly territory. After receiving reports of the unusual intercept, the Eastern Banner Group obtained approval from Command Executive to dispatch a Zephyr for a high altitude reconnaissance flight over the Cimmerian Isles and adjacent waters. The overflight provided confirmation of a carrier, three cruisers, and an assortment of cargo ships due west of Wolfraven, placing the Calbion task force further north than the Maritime Armada had anticipated.
• 3.VIII.1692 AN: Capital ships of the Maritime Armada (designation Task Force 1692.1) rendezvous with the Shire Sea Flotilla of the Ransenari Navy off-shore due north from the shallow wide bay known as Winter's Peace.
• 4.VIII.1692 AN: The Battle of the Rockwind Passage occurred offshore from the Cimmerian island of Cromswind. The combined Raspurid fleet departed their anchorage in Winter's Peace and approached the Rockwind Passage from the south in the darkness of the morning and passed undetected on their way towards mounting an anti-ship missile strike against the Calbionese capital ships off-shore from Wolfraven.
• 7.VIII.1692 AN: Kaamiozyr: The pro-Rebel Tarr, having more or less conquered the pro-Prince Tarr due to finding large quantities of Storish weapons and bombs in the countryside, siege the fence of the UDF base. Their leader, Rusty, so named by his Elfinshi former slave master his complexion, gives the UDF an ultimatum: Either the UDF evacuate from Feanoria, or the siege will continue. Rusty informs the UDF garrison that the Tarr rebels outnumber the UDF, and have the base surrounded at all points. The Tarr also have the Storish weapons.
• 9.VIII.1692 AN: Rusty speaks before the Tarr nation surrounding the UDF base. He says that the Elwynnese are a nation of racists and genocidists and it is no nation the Tarr should align themselves with. He proclaims the Republic of Tarrland with himself as president to the cheers of the crowd.
  • Noticing the assembled crowd, a forward observer from the UDF Combined Arms Detachment, operating from a concealed position, radioed the Perimeter Defence Command Grid to call in a fire strike on the coordinates now provided. Over the ensuing five minutes the two 105 mm light guns available to the garrison fired off forty-eight high explosive rounds fused to air burst at a height of 25 metres over the targeted area, saturating the immediate vicinity with lethal shards of metal shrapnel scattering at high velocities. As the forward observer now felt obliged to withdraw from his hide, the single R-1 Whirdlebirb available to the garrison was sent out to investigate and to engage any individuals or groups present at the scene. The attack and subsequent strafing of the survivors resulted in 479 deaths and in excess of 1,200 injuries amongst the Tarr rebels. Amongst those seriously wounded was "Rusty" himself.
• 10.VIII.1692 AN: The MV Trihemiolia, an AlkhivaMax bulk grain carrier registered to an obscure holding company headquartered in the International Mandate, was struck by a pair of sea-skimming missiles at a location about four hundred kilometres distant of Port Illumination in Upper Elwynn, its most probable destination. Fire suppression systems aboard were swiftly overwhelmed by the ensuing conflagration and the order to abandon ship was given and the ship's emergency warning radio beacon activated. An hour after the initial attack the stricken burning vessel was struck by two torpedoes. Although the crippled ship began to list heavily to port, it nonetheless remained afloat in spite of the calamitous damage which had been heaped upon it.
• 11.VIII.1692 AN: Unconfirmed reports indicate that several packs of attack submarines are cruising the Great Western Sea from the naval station in Halwrach towards the North.

Escalation (IX.–XII.1692 AN)

• 3.X.1692 AN: The "Hunger Plan", a classified proposal by the Nahust Vazir of the Alalehzamini Autonomous Republic, Adam al-Osman, for the permanent suppression of northern separatism, is endorsed by the Commission for Coordination and the Commission for Defence and duly authorised by the Court of the Princess in a closed session held at the temporary wartime capital of Islus.
• 8.X.1692 AN: Following a two month siege, typified by difficulties in achieving resupply from Normark and New Blackstone, the UDF garrison defending Station Kaamiozyr capitulated on terms. Surviving armaments to be put beyond operational use before surrender. Internment for garrison for duration of hostilities or until repatriation can be negotiated via third parties. The Maritime Support Group detachment assigned to the station, considering itself to not be bound by the terms of the surrender, boarded such boats as were available to them in harbour and relocated northwards along the coast in order to deliberate as to whether to continue the fight on Feanoria from the Green or return to a friendly port.
• 15.X.1692 AN: "Patterns of procurement" (peripheral) – stock prices of chemical manufacturers in Alduria-Wechua, Natopia, and the UGB rose exponentially off the back of exceptionally strong order books for 1693 AN. Market analysists noted a decidedly atypical series of bulk orders for general defoliants placed by the Benacian Directorate of the Honourable Company as driving the cross-industry trend.
• 24.X.1692 AN: The Government of the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia recognises the independence of the Republic of Tarrland.
• 2.XI.1692 AN: Kalgachia joined the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia in extending recognition to the Republic of Tarrland.
• 5.XI.1692 AN: Isor Isor defects from his post in Fieldburg. A manhunt is ordered by the Ministry of the Interior and the Committee of General Security.

Winter (XIII.–XV.1692 AN)

• 3.XIII.1692 AN: (Peripheral) – there were appropriately urgent questions in the Natopian Frenzy following the admission of senior Natopian Defense Force (NDF) officers that the Maritime Armada task force, which had participated in the Battle of the Rockwind Passage earlier in the year, had entered that engagement carrying almost two thirds of Tapfer Command's allocation of S-2 Standard Missiles (1,056 out of 1,800). Criticisms of procurements made under the former Allied Production Matrix ensued, to the discomfort of those who had held ministerial portfolios during that period.
• 7.XIII.1692 AN: Rejecting reports in the Daily Mail and Telegraph of Eliria that volunteers from Northbloom had crossed into Amokolia to fight alongside rebel forces, the government of Kalgachia also denied a request by Benacia Command to facilitate access to the ostensibly joint Kalgachi-UGB administered protectorate for personnel of the Black Legions to conduct an inspection of the Northbloom Dragoons. The Political Directorate of Benacia Command responded by accusing Kalgachia of a further violation of the Treaty of Gloomburg.
• 12.XIII.1692: With the crops in Elwynn and Amokolia being stored during the early days of the harvest, the government of the Republic institutes an embargo on export of agricultural products throughout the upcoming autumn, winter and spring. The government also introduced a food-coupon system for the purchase of agricultural and other food products. It is hoped that this will ensure a healthy food distribution throughout the Republic despite the seemingly deliberate policy of the Raspur Pact in targeting food imports at sea.

Still more winter (I.–II.1693 AN)

• 4.I.1693 AN: To replace losses incurred during the previous year, the Court of the Princess mandated the governments of Alalehzamin, Mishalacia and the Sovereign Confederation to raise Landstormen in their respective autonomous republics. To the Landstorm would be assigned all boys aged 14 to 16 and all men aged 33 to 45, excepting those in reserved occupations, as well as any men previously rejected as unfit for military service in the UDF.
• 12.I.1693 AN:
  • (Peripheral) – Benacia Command issues an urgent operational requirement for the development and mass production of the M1693 533 mm torpedo to replenish stockpiles depleted during naval engagements off Cimmeria and in the Great Western Sea during the previous year.
  • 48 hour truce in Eliria to allow humanitarian winter relief supplies to reach civilians trapped in the city.
• 17.II.1693 AN: (Peripheral) – Zeed's surprise attack on Constancia and Suren, initiating the Third Euran War, brings it into the anti-Raspurid camp as a co-belligerent.

Spring (III.–V.1693 AN)

• 12.III.1693 AN: Officials from the Commissariat Bureau of Benacia Command are encountered throughout the length of the UGB, Sanama, Drak-Modan, Brookshire, Guttuli, and Ransenar attempting to purchase commercial lorries, vans, and even private vehicles. In more rural areas there were even reports of Inspectorate troops supporting commissary officers in their efforts to requisition horses and other pack-animals.
• 23.III.1693 AN: Following disastrous defections which saw 80% of the maritime assets available to the UDF defect to the rebel forces at the onset of the Second Elwynnese Civil War, the order to reconstitute the Amphibious Corps of the UDF was given. With the remaining Elwynnese ports in UDF hands (Anun, Asantelian, Avakair, Caligae and New Harbour) within range of rebel air attacks, or else situated in isolated and icebound Normark, the decision was made to assemble new personnel and shipping at Capitolia on the UGB administered island of Florencia.
• 24.IV.1693 AN: Average desertion rates of 12% reported in Elwynnese Landstorm. Rates of desertion and evasion of the draft being most prevalent in the bailiwicks of the Sovereign Confederation and amongst ethnic Elw. UDF authorised to place "reinforcing detachments" behind Landstorm-held sections of the line so as to collect and return any personnel who became separated from their parent units.
• 5.V.1693 AN: Presented with photographic evidence, garnered by Natopian satellite reconnaissance, of four Burdock SAM launcher vehicles deployed in southern Amokolia, west of Highbloom, the Kalgachi DTW remained intransigent and rebuffed demands from Emma Baarsma, Benacia Command's legate in Octavyan, for the immediate recall of these vehicles and the deployment of an Inspectorate force in Northbloom to verify the evacuation of all KDF military stores out of the joint-protectorate, so as to avoid any such further occurrences in future. The Kalgachi position, that the launcher vehicles were mock-ups fabricated by the rebels was met with disbelief when it was reported to Merensk.
• 12.V.1693 AN: Faca Automobiles Rothaven LLC Faca Cars Lune Villa LLC, Stonetree Engineering Group, and the Tusk Auto Works LLC, received production orders from Benacia Command for 500,000 Snatch Land Rovers to be delivered within a two year window directly to the UDF. Tusk Auto Works was specifically requested to devote its entire production capacity to the production of 100,000 vehicles for delivery in the first year of the contract.
• 13.V.1693 AN: To strengthen the resolve of Landstorm formations, which have previously suffered from high rates of desertion and from instances of low morale, the Political Directorate of Benacia Command was henceforth to directly appoint Political Discipline and Education Officers to Landstorm regiments, at a rate of 1 per squadron, 1 per demi-regiment, and 1 per regiment - providing for a total of 13 political discipline and education officers assigned to each regiment.
• 14.V.1693 AN: Jón Frioriksson, a resident of Caligae in Cape Farewell, otherwise notable as a defender playing for Farvælska in the Elwynn Premier League, was arrested by officers of the Panopticon Department (UDF) on charges of entering into treasonable correspondence with the rebel government in Lenfidiq. His guilt having already been assessed and confirmed by a session of the Court of Star Chamber, held in camera, Jón Frioriksson was taken under guard to the village of Andelarion on the headland of Cape Farewell, where he was cruelly trampled to death by horses.
• 24.V.1693 AN:
  • 155,791 men under arms, drawn from the Elwynnese Landstorm, assembled at Kingsgate.
  • Naval forces at Kilda Naval Base greatly increased over the course of the first months of 1693. In addition, observed noticed an increase in Princely Marine Corps personnel among the 68th rifle regiment located in Hyperborea.

Denouement (VI.–VIII.1693 AN)

• 9.VI.1693 AN: Nine Type XXV U-Boats (Tempest, Thresher, Thorn, Timur, Trespass, and Thorn) sortied from Marinestation Sagittarius and entered the Great Western Sea.
• 10.VI.1693 AN: Battlegroup Amarra, a fleet formation of the Sanaman Navy centred around the missile cruiser SNS Amarra and the amphibious assault ship SNS Spleazure, dropped anchor off-shore from Capitolia. The port being the administrative seat of the UGB in Florencia and temporary home station of the UDF's "Fleet Resurrection Command", a formation tasked with rebuilding the maritime arm of the Elwynnese armed forces following the devastating defections of the previous year.
• 11.VI.1693 AN: Two cruise missiles, believed to be of the obsolete "Banshee" type, struck a major grain storage facility located in rebel-held Spring Valley, situated in Vattnaland (Amokolia). In spite of the best efforts of the Home Guard and other civil defence and emergency services, fires soon spread across the site's eight silos and resulted in a blaze that rapidly burnt out of control. An ensuing grain dust explosion proved to be more devastating and destructive than the initial attack, resulting in the death of 983 first responders involved in tackling the conflagration. The attack resulted in the estimated loss of 11,000 tons of grain.
• 12.VI.1693 AN:
  • After months of preparation, following the better part of a year spent in amassing forces for the coming struggle and indulging only desultory skirmishes, the Self-Defence Forces of Elwynn and Amokolia managed to beat the UDF to the punch and be the first to launch their spring offensive. In coordination with air strikes and probing assaults across the line of control from Araxion, the partisans of the northern separatists raised the banner of revolt in the urban district of the bailiwick of Lake Camel. Although the rebel assault on the Chambers of the Worshipful Corporation of Lake Camel, the seat of civic government in the bailiwick was bloodily repulsed by the Landstorm following a betrayal by one of the conspirators, the example set was undiminished and coordinated risings continued in Utasia, with fighting breaking out in Amareazerke, Fenririe, Ironstone, Kimrynore, Mohamedion, Nauron Inna, and Shahazerke. Even Islus, seat of the Court of the Princess since the beginning of the civil war, was gripped by upheavals and saw the municipal buildings fall into the hands of insurgents following a brief fusillade which had been enough to disperse the Landstorm. By the end of a day of bitter fighting, during which the partisans had been joined by growing bands of rebellious citizenry, deserters, and opportunist criminals, the Landstorm had only been able to quell the rising in Fenririe, Ironstone, and Mohamedion. In Islus itself the situation had spiralled so far out of control that the 78^th Territorial Division of the UDF had been diverted away from the front to restore order in the city.
  • The absence of any UDF formation from the defensive lines being keenly felt at this moment as the five brigades attached to the SDF's Midlands Front, supported by aviation and riverine forces struck southwards to support the uprising.
    • The 4^th Air Group, supported by the 5^th Air Group attached to the neighbouring Eliria Front, achieved a devastating success in striking the forward dispersal aerodromes of the UDF's 4^th Tactical Aviation Division. A full 40% of all operational airframes available to the rebels was thrown into the dawn battle, at the forefront of which were 200 F-9 Ashavan II, 53 F-8 Shrike, and 23 GAV(P)-5 Nereid, the latter of which had feinted into Mishalacia before dropping to tree top level and making a direct run for Ardashirshahr and the Sanaman controlled aerodrome there. Even though the attack came in low, the slow and bulky GAV(P)-5 Nereids lit up the Cutlass battery radar like a Christmas tree. Right away, 27 F-9 Ashavan II's were scrambled from the aerodrome and repelled a direct ground attack against the base, resulting in an air battle further away. The Sanaman anti-air batteries were silenced due to friendly aircraft in the battle. The Sanaman fighters, being faster, more agile and having more modern avionics and counter-measures, attacked the group of Nereids from above. All in all, 14 enemy aircraft were destroyed and the remaining seven Nereids aborted the attack. In the battle, one Ashavan II from the 102. Fighter Squadron was damaged by an S-2 fired by one of the Nereids when the chaff dispenser malfunctioned, forcing the pilot to eject. The routine dawn patrols mounted by 4^th TAD, amounting to 46 F-9 Ashavan II airborne over Alalehzamin at that moment, were meanwhile vectored towards the incoming waves of hostile radar contacts. Although the powerful Benacia Command controlled radar facility located at Shirekeep-Foley Aerodrome and Floret airborne early warning aircraft had flashed warning signals to the headquarters of the Northern Banner Air Force, the ensuing alert had not been relayed in a timely fashion to the dispersal airfields in the upland regions of Alalehzamin. With the result that significant numbers of aircraft were still on the ground when the enemy raiding forces appeared overhead. Ground-based air defences were negligible in the UDF held sectors overflown, comprising of a mere 9 37 mm radar-tracking autocannons that failed to achieve a single target lock let alone a successful engagement. Meanwhile, the majority of direct air to air engagements took place in what rapidly became the densely packed airspace between Viskeor and Kilkadesh. Whilst the intercepting Raspurid aircraft had the altitude advantage and utilised the look-down/shoot-down capability of their Froyalan radar to the full, they were simply overwhelmed in the ensuing melee. Ultimately, in spite of the carnage endured by the SDF in the skies, the air strikes destroyed 222 F-9's on the ground, primarily with strafing runs and air to ground rocket fire directed at aircraft attempting to scramble or else at their dispersal points in non-hardened shelters, waiting to be fuelled-up and armed.
  • A bus carrying Landstorm troops towards the recaptured Utasian town of Mohamedion was destroyed by an unidentified airborne object which slammed itself against the vehicle before detonating, killing seventeen people aboard, including two Yarsan of the Behsaz-Eluin who had been responsible for political education and thought-leadership amongst the mobilised conscripts. An investigation of the wreckage by the Panopticon Corps provides the Court of the Princess with evidence that the rebels had developed an unmanned aerial vehicle for use in combat.
• 12.VI.1693 AN – 22.VII.1693 AN: Utasia Campaign (rebel success)
• 19.VI.1693 AN – 24.VII.1693 AN: White Elwynn Campaign (inconclusive, supplies reach UDF positions in Eliria but units remained besieged)
• 21.VI.1693 AN – 5.VIII.1693 AN: First Battle of Fieldburg (Raspur Pact failure)
• 1.VII.1693 AN – 18.VIII.1693 AN: East Amokolian Offensive (rebel failure)
• 15.VII.1693 AN – 23.VIII.1693 AN: West Amokolian Offensive (limited Raspur Pact success)

Retribution (IX.–XII.1693 AN)

• 3.X.1693 AN: Johan Anderion, longstanding enemy of the loyalist regime in Elluenuueq, previously detained and held under house arrest in the Shirerithian city of Cabbagefall, a suburb of Shirekeep, perished after several days of agony endured following complaining of stomach pains.
• 7.XI.1693 AN – 9.XI.1693 AN: The main phase of Unternehmen Verschlinger culminated in an opposed landing of two Vanguard Divisions against rebel held positions in and around Station Kaamiozyr under the cover of a naval bombardment provided by destroyers and corvettes of the UDF fleet. Of the approximately ten thousand defenders only one thousand four-hundred and twelve prisoners were taken. Those not taken by the Drak-Modani officers for their pleasure were branded with the mark of the N&H. The eradication of the rebellious Tarr settlers continued for months thereafter, culminating in the well-documented execution on 9.II.1694 AN of the rebel leader - "Rusty" - an act which marked the termination of the brief existence of the Republic of Tarrland. While Ralgonese ships belonging to Adrestia were seen actively patrolling the area, they operated (under secret orders from the Prince) as if the place never even existed, instead taking the opportunity to actively clear stray "pirate" vessels in the area (likely belonging to unflagged Tarr forces) that strayed too far to the south.
• 22.XI.1693 AN – 12.XII.1693 AN: The focus of Unternehmen Verschlinger shifted to maritime security and counter-piracy operations, with a redoubling of patrol efforts in the Warring Islands and amongst the atolls of the Great Western Sea.

(I.–V.1694 AN)

• 8.II.1694 AN: Rumours of massacres carried out against the Tarr population of Station Kaamiozyr were seemingly confirmed by a leaked video containing footage of Humanist militiamen firing incendiary projectiles into a locked warehouse containing hundreds of detainees. Metadata, captions and idents built into the video frames suggest that the footage was recorded by a UDF camera unit.

(I.1695–XIII.1695 )

• 20.I.1695: Seven ro-ro ships, formerly ferries assigned to the routes between the Amokolian Isles and Caligae and Civitas Nova in peace time, were taken from their coastal shipping duties and tasked to take refugees from Elwynn and Amokolia to East Barrow Island where they have been promised sanctuary by the Hurmu government. Three ships leave Civitas Nova and four ships leave Caligae en route to Port Esther in a convoy. The ships are painted with the symbols of the Red Orchid Society, and their route to Port Esther is made in coordination with the Organisation of Red Symbol Societies.
  • The ships are:
    • MS Amokolian Star, from Civitas Nova, carrying 4,299 refugees, including crew
    • MS Amokolian Moon, from Civitas Nova, carrying 3,838 refugees, including crew
    • MS Amokolian Queen, from Civitas Nova, carrying 4,039 refugees, including crew
    • MS Amokolian Spirit, from Caligae, carrying 5,303 refugees, including crew
    • MS Amokolian Heart, from Caligae, carrying 3,947 refugees, including crew
    • MS Amokolian Summer, from Caligae, carrying 4,205 refugees, including crew
    • MS Amokolian Spring, from Caligae, carrying 4,174 refugees, including crew
• 22.I.1695: Vectored towards the projected westwards course of the convoys departing Caligae and Civitas Nova by signals intelligence provided to the Operations Room of the [[1^st Inter-Service Allied Commando]], the Sanaman submarine SNS Sumar (a Type XXV U-Boat designated U-519) encountered the three vessels out of Civitas Nova at 12.40 on the 22nd, as distinct sonar contacts at a point south-east of New London. After closing submerged at snorkel depth, and manoeuvring to achieve an advantageous firing position, the SNS Sumar launched a pair of torpedoes towards the leadship, the Amokolian Star at 14.20 from a distance of 12km from the target. At 14.27 the first torpedo prematurely detonated, alerting lookouts aboard the Amokolian Star. The second torpedo experienced a failure of its terminal guidance and ran on past the target until its onboard store of propellent was burnt through. The SNS Sumar launched a further two torpedoes at 14.43. The first of these ran true towards target, with onboard homing sonar active as it closed, and detonated underneath the keel of the Amokolian Star. The second torpedo of the pair however experienced a terminal guidance failure and passed under the target without detonating. The impact of the only torpedo to detonate in proximity to its target had caused buckling of the hull and flooding of compartments below the waterline, however these flooded compartments were sealed and the ship's gas turbines saved from inundation. In the time between the observation of the first failed attack and the impact of the second, the Amokolian Star had been able to broadcast a warning to the two ships travelling in its wake, and was subsequently able to put out a distress signal alerting the sector naval command of the rebel forces. At 14.55 the SNS Sumar launched a final pair of torpedoes towards the Amokolia Star. Again the first of the pair ran true and detonated below the stern of the refugee ship, and this time the second torpedo of the pair also found its target, detonating on physical impact. While the first torpedo had again only caused buckling of the hull, the direct hit caused by the second of the final pair had resulted in a catastrophic rupture in the hull below the waterline amidships. Of the refugees and crew aboard, only 1,778 were able board lifeboats or swim clear of the vessel before the violently listing Amokolia Star capsized and plunged down into the depths. Infuriated beyond all measure by the astounding rate of failure amongst the torpedoes launched, the captain of the SNS Sumar decided against a pursuit of the scattering rebel vessels and turned about to return to its anchorage in the loyalist controlled Amokolian Isles.
• 15.II.1695: The unescorted convoy was detected skirting Batavian territorial waters in the Strait of Shalta by GAV-6(P) Zephyr a operating from Łoïdhafen Watson (New Blackstone). Engaging the MS Amokolian Heart, the Zephyr scored four direct hits with its railguns causing critical damage to the overladen vessel and obliging the captain to give the order to abandon ship. 884 passengers and crew perished in the attack. The Zephyr subsequently departed northwards to shell the port of Kópavogur so as to deter the Batavian Commune from rendering humanitarian assistance to the survivors of the attack. The remaining ships dispersed, hoping to reach their intended destination without placing the remaining vessels in danger if they themselves were discovered.
• 17.II.1695: Alerted to the rich prizes sailing into the Great Western Sea, seemingly unescorted, the captains of Reaver ships active in the region, excepting those stationed in the Warring Islands, began to converge in the waters between the Madison Isles and the Batavian mainland.
• 19.II.1695: A pair of GAV-4(U) Jackalope from Łoïdhafen Watson discovered the MS Amokolian Summer whilst on patrol. Dropping four depth bombs, three of which detonated in proximity to the vessel, the attack failed to disable the Amokolian Summer, but nonetheless the patrol radioed back the location of the contact to Western Banner Command, and the nearest four reaver vessels were soon diverted to attempt an intercept.
• The greater part of 1695 saw the frontlines remain static, without significant moves by the field armies of either Elwynn. Instead the conflict was characterised by three main trends:
  1. Commerce raiding and smuggling by rebel shipping attempting to circumvent the slow strangulation of the north enacted by Benacia Command's blockade of the Cimmerian Coast and the straits leading into the Great Western Sea as part of the Hunger Plan.
  2. The air campaign of the UDF, supported the air arms of the Black Legions and the Grand Army of Ransenar, focused upon wearing down the remaining aviation assets of the SDF. This was waged primarily through a campaign of area bombing conducted against civilian population centres, which forced the SDF send up its remaining fighter aircraft to engage the bomber streams, combined with precision strikes carried out by Shrike fighter-bombers against SDF dispersal airfields as and when they were identified. The SDF off-set its losses by importing Kalgachi ground based air defence systems and unmanned aerial combat vehicles, focusing on creating air denial bubbles around major administrative and industrial areas in the north.
  3. Both sides increasingly focused on the so-called "small war", of raiding and partisan attacks focused on despoiling enemy held bailiwicks on either side of the line of control and on staging attacks into the enemy's rear against their lines of communication. In Alalehzamin and Utasia, the latter of which being under a tenuous rebel occupation, this had also merged into the cycle of ethnic violence and pogroms between the Babkhi and Elw communities which the civil war had unleashed.

The Scouring (XIV.1695–XV.1695)

Eliria: Ancient seat of Elwynnese administration and culture, was amongst the first cities to perish on the fateful day that marked the commencement of the Scouring.

Vijayanagara: A city of Babkhan foundation, ironically met its demise at the instigation of the Raspur Pact.

Kingsgate: A vital logistical and industrial hub sustaining the Pact's forces on the Wintergleam Front, Kingsgate's fate was sealed when the rebels chose it as a target for a retaliatory counterstrike.

Kalgachi mobilisation saw its vast subterranean network of fortifications and deep bunkers reactivated as the Garden's ancient doctrine of being an entire nation under arms was once more tested.

To further compound the heaped misfortunes, the Scouring coincided with the onset of the harshest Benacian winter in living memory.

• 20.XIV.1695: Matter-Anti Matter Reaction Devices (MARD) deployed from low Micras orbit by a pair of Io-class cruisers from the Natopian Space Fleet initiated at a height of one kilometre above Dragonskeep, Eliria, Glenfiddich, and Vijayanagara.
  • The attack precipitated a collapse of public order in the eastern portion of Upper Elwynn. As the rebel government, effectively decapitated after the strike on Glenfiddich, buckled under the strain of an unprecedented calamity it proved impossible to collate accurate casualty figures. However as the month wore on the following tentative estimates were at last reported:
    • Dragonskeep: 878,469
    • Eliria: 3,389,773
    • Glenfiddich: 185,262
    • Vijayanagara: 832,383
  • Robiert Monqler, Minister of the Interior and President of the Committee of General Security, having had the good fortune to be out of the city of Glenfiddich, conducting a counter-revolutionary purge in the liberated territories of Cape Farewell in the company of the Minister of Justice, was confronted by the dreadful responsibility of dictating the retaliation to the Raspur Pact's act of barbarity. Evacuated to the Island of Wolfraven by his corporate security detail, and ushered into the presence of the Överbefälhavaren, Admiral Haakon Petyrion Zyrion. The bewildered and traumatised Minister was further startled by the revelation of the nature of the strategic arsenal which had been made available to "Free Elwynn" by certain third parties. Aprised of a range of possible retaliatory scenarios, Robiert, consumed by a sorrowful rage, gave authorisation for the proportionate counterstrike option - the destruction of four cities would be met by the destruction of four cities in turn. Those chosen, Ardashirshahr, Islus, Kingsgate, and Tephal, were considered critical political, military, and industrial targets, the destruction of which would endanger the long term survival of the south.
  • Natopian surveillance satellites, monitoring the Benacian continent in the aftermath of the first strike on the rebel cities from orbit, detected the cold launch of two ballistic missiles from separate submerged locations in the Amokolian Sea. The trajectories were quickly computed but Benacia Command would receive less than fifteen minutes warning time in which to alert the Court of the Princess.
  • Geneva antiballistic missiles had been supplied to the Strategic Missile Forces of the Raspur Pact for the purpose of defending intercontinental ballistic missile silos, located in the area of operations of each continental theatre command such as those located in discretely secluded sites in southern Alalehzamin. With no other assets capable of intercepting the payload of the ICBMs a frantic appeal was put through to the SMF. Six Geneva missiles were launched against the separated and now dispersing cloud of Multiple Independently targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV) and decoys which were following a trajectory towards population centres in the loyalist south. Tragically, the decoys successfully spoofed the ABMs and of the four MIRV only one, descending towards Ardashirshahr, was intercepted, with the rest continuing on their course, resulting in the thermonuclear destruction of Islus, Kingsgate, and Tephal.
  • Kamilla Winther had been in the process of boarding a Whirdlebirb for hurried evacuation out of Islus when the first device initiated at 500 metres overhead. She and her staff, along with the greater part of the population of Islus had perished in that moment, as the ensuing fireball descended upon the city, consuming all that fell beneath its dreadful light in a conflagration that burned hotter than the surface of Atos itself.
  • While Benacia Command, assisted by the Panopticon Department of the UDF, was better able to collate a death toll than their northern rivals, the grim total was no less monstrous:
    • Islus: 1,402,103
    • Kingsgate: 476,737
    • Tephal: 736,705
  • The aftermath of this exchange, especially the destruction of the city of Kingsgate was cheered on by Verionists in the North, seeing the event as a final retribution in a long standing feud with the leadership of the SCAR. However, in Calbion, the attacks, and the incredible death toll led to a political crisis. The government of Richard ab Ioan had provided the Republican forces with nuclear experts, who may have played a role in the attack. The Calbain government issued an ambiguously worded statement which formally regretted the loss of life. Shortly after the attack, representatives of the Calbain government met with representatives of the Free Elwynnese Republic, including emissaries previously dispatched on other business by the late Prince, Benjamin Sluyjs, and Verionist and Ayreonist leaders such as Eki Verion.
  • The Battle of Amokolia, a strategic offensive aiming to break the deadlock of the Southern Amokolian Front and cut lines of communications between the Free Elwynnese and allied Kalgachia and neutral Batavia, commences.
  • Seeing in the Scouring a premonition of the Endsieg, Kalgachia announced the full mobilisation of all formations at its disposal.
• 21.XIV.1695:
  • The Saznan Darneï of the Black Legions, conveyed into theatre by an immense airlift operation from Florencia began a dawn parachute landing and assault against Highbloom and Northbloom while, along a front extending from Lachdolor to Malexander the armoured and mechanised formations of the ^2nd Pansararmé moved forward after a short artillery bombardment across the line of control that separated Pact and rebel forces.
  • Serious public disorder incidents occurred in Ardashirshahr, Merensk, and other major Benacian population centres, as the enormity of the preceding day's events became known, in spite of attempts at official censorship including the disconnecting of key nodes of the Benacian Data Network.
• 22.XIV.1695: The immense devastation caused by the Scouring causes international outcry. The government of Calbion resigns following the publication of the Vanaheim Papers by the newspaper Y Ffagl. These include official government documents which prove that at least two of the intercontinental ballistic missiles, responsible for the destruction of Kingsgate and Tephal, were fired from Calbain submarines.
  • A vast cloud of soot-laden smoke from the still-burning firestorms that had engulfed the seven doomed cities continued to hang over Eastern Benacia. Estimates projected that in excess of three-hundred and fifty thousand tonnes of soot had been ejected into the atmosphere, to say nothing of the radioactive plume which dispersed along the westerly winds, forming a funeral shroud settling over northern Elwynn and Amokolia.
• 23.XIV.1695: Declaration from Benacia Command - bailiwicks in the rebel held territories which, within the next five days, signalled their intention to resume fidelity would receive guarantees for the liberty and safety of citizens as well as priority access to humanitarian relief stores allocated to the territories about to be recovered. Bailiwicks that expelled the SDF, detained the representatives of the former rebel government, and commenced the demobilisation of their local home guard units would spared from any further reprisal measures, subject to the payment of a surety and the signing of a new covenant. The offer would not be made again after the expiry of the period of grace, and no further negotiation would be entered into.
• 24.XIV.1695: Five days after the destruction of Islus, partially restored communication networks carry a looped broadcast announcing the formation of a new Council of State for the Reunification and Pacification of Northern Benacia, comprised of the surviving members of the Court of the Princess. Its membership consisting of five individuals, namely:
  • Adam al-Osman, Commissioner of Defence
  • Zurvanudin Miran al-Osman, Inspector of Security
  • Wilhelm Wartensleben, Riksamiraler
  • Ayesha al-Osman, Commissioner of Foreign Affairs
  • Golbahar Nazarian, Inspector of Congress
• 1.XV.1695: Responding to international outrage, and unease amongst the civilian governments of Pact member-states, Benacia Command declared three "Off-Shore Sanctuaries", islands under the control of rebel forces or of neutral governments to which refugees and unreconciled opponents of the Pact could flee without further fear of reprisal. These sanctuary isles were East Barrow Island, Raikoth, and Wolfraven. Vessels clearly painted in a scheme of red for the hull and white for the superstructure, registered with the Red Orchid Society and whose sailings were notified to Benacia Command would be spared attack whilst undertaking mercy missions.
  • To underscore the point that this consideration would only apply to compliant vessels, a cargo freighter, the MV Lucerne, sailing from the Agnesian coast and carrying survivors from the destruction of Vijayanagara was struck by four S-2 Standard Missiles. The crippled vessel, and its survivors, who had sought to escape onto the water in life-rafts, were subsequently bombarded with white phosphorous cluster-munitions dispensed from overflying UDF maritime patrol aircraft.
• 11.XV.1695: In spite of being present in Islus during the Scouring, Abolfazl Shahzad Khoroushi, the Chief of Staff of the UDF, was discovered amongst the survivors having found shelter in the basement levels of one of the city's flaktowers. Located by an ESB affiliated search and rescue team, Khoroushi was subsequently evacuated to Whales for deep tissue cellular rejuvenation treatment . He would subsequently endure a lifetime of skin grafts, blood transfusions, and cancer suppression medication.
• 15.XV.1695: The Municipal Corporation of the Bailiwick of Echo, citing the spread of famine and the ever present threat of destruction, issued a formal declaration to the effect that it would henceforth be an "open city" and play no further part in the war. Attempts by SDF diehards, led by the 2^nd Mobile Brigade, to overturn this declaration were met with resistance Home Guardsmen now primarily interested in ensuring that what remained of their families and homes survived the conflict.
• 18.XV.1695: After four days of fighting within the city between the "Bitter-Enders" and the pro-peace factions, the SDF and those unwilling to come to terms, began to retire northwards towards the Agnesian coast, replaced by arriving elements of the Elwynnese Landstorm.
• 20.XV.1695: The Battle of Amokolia had concluded following the destruction of the Southern and Western Amokolian Fronts of the SDF. Remnants of the rebel forces had retired towards Selfoss in the West and La Terre and Petersburg in the East. Attempts to muster Home Guard reserves at Frieden in sufficient numbers to create a new defensive front were undermined by the collapsing transportation network and command hierarchy. The Home Guard were proving increasingly unwilling to follow the orders of a doomed rebellion and were focused more on preserving what remained of public order and defending their own bailiwicks.
• 21.XV.1695: Recognising the futility of the previous strategy of territorial defence, now that the material imbalance was so overwhelmingly in favour of the Pact Forces (even with the withdrawal of allied forces contingents following the Scouring), the SDF's General Service Corps, which had assumed the function of the Command Staff following the destruction of Glenfiddich, issued new directives instructing those formations which remained capable of manoeuvre operations to retire northwards and establish defensive perimeters around the evacuation ports which would be established at Caligae, Civitas Nova, Corrigble, Michaelion, and Port Illumination. Even if the war on the Benacian mainland was now lost, the Free Elwynnese Republic would maintain continuity of government and leadership of the resistance movement from overseas by whatever means would remain available to it.

Aftermath

With those rebel forces still capable of organised unit level actions disengaging and moving off towards the designated evacuation ports, the armies of the UDF, directed by Benacia Command, began a cautious pursuit. By now the remaining Pact air forces committed to the conflict, following the withdrawal of Florian, Ransenari, and Sanaman contingents, enjoyed a free rein over the entirety of the theatre of operations and bombed and strafed the retreating columns of soldiers, along with the refugees who now clogged the majority of roads northwards, with a generous liberality. Although skirmishing continued, particularly in those locations where the rebel rear-guard formations turned about to check the probing advance of the UDF's vanguard armoured scouts, the Pact forces were primarily focused on securing the surviving major population centres of the north. Wherever resistance was encountered, whether from a cut-off SDF formation or from the Home Guard militia of some foolhardy minor bailiwick where the generous terms of capitulation had been refused, the UDF sought to by-pass the defenders, leaving the recalcitrant to be encircled and liquidated by the mobilised regiments of the Elwynnese Landstorm who now followed in their wake.

For Benacia Command, following the atomic immolation of both the loyalist and the separatist administrations during the nightmarish days of the Scouring, there was no longer a viable administration with whom to conclude an armistice, nor indeed a reliable and functioning native administration to install in its place. Instead the obligation was to now set upon it to create a formal occupation government - a duty which fell to the Political Directorate, already well versed in the administration of the Unified Governorates of Benacia. By dint of Ardashirshahr being spared the destruction visited upon Islus and Kingsgate through a fortuitous ballistic missile interception, the pool of native collaborators who Benacia Command could call upon to flesh-out the new administration had, out of necessity, a distinctly Babkhi tint.

The shipborne evacuations, where only those organised and conducted by the Red Orchid Society were immunised against attacks by the air and maritime forces of the UDF, continued throughout 1696 AN for so long as the major northern ports remained, however tenuously, under rebel control. One by one these were placed under siege and snuffed out; their exhausted garrisons being ritualistically slaughtered and any civilians found within who had not fled in time being led away in chains on the first step of the long forced marches that would lead them southwards, ever southwards, towards an uncertain fate. No reliable figures exist but the best estimates are that 600,000 civilians were evacuated from Northern Elwynn under the official Red Orchid Society programme whilst up to a further million fled via unsanctioned sailings, with it being entirely uncertain how many of those eventually survived to find sanctuary on the East Barrow Island, Cimmeria, or Raikoth.

Whilst a formal peace was naturally impossible to conclude, it being both ideologically contrary to the Humanist ideology of the regime taking shape in Ardashirshahr and conceptually abhorrent to the irreconcilable "Free Elwynnese" survivors who had gathered in Wolfraven, the eradication of the last of the evacuation ports marked a natural termination point for the conflict. The last of these, Caligae, was captured by a combined arms assault that was conducted by the Szodanin-Uihmanz of the Black Legions as an extermination action. From this last battle of the war, pointedly, no rebel survivors, be they SDF, Home Guard, or civilian, emerged alive. It was an appropriately sanguinary note for the overly long, bitterly contested, and exceptionally brutal conflict to finally conclude - leaving Elwynn facing an uncertain future and the economic and material prospects of the entire continent of Benacia at their lowest ebb since the Kalirion Fracture twenty-five years before.

Post-war hunger: the winter of 1696 AN–1697 AN

Control of access to food rations was one of the means by which the Union Defence Force enforced the semblance of authority over the newly recaptured territories. Bailiwicks in which partisan attacks and brigandry were reported could face the prospect of food embargoes lasting for a week, a fortnight, or a month, depending upon the UDF bailiwick-commandant's assessment of the severity of the transgression. In especially serious instances of defiance, the withholding of state mandated rations could be supplemented by a total prohibition of food imports into a bailiwick and policing actions by the Elwynnese Landstorm aimed at confiscating foodstuffs from farms and warehouses in the area under interdict. Within a bailiwick subject to such a stoppage, provision would only be made for those citizens who had taken up roles in the service of the UDF, the Honourable Company, or the N&H. It swiftly proved expedient and necessary to remove cooperative citizens from their communities into adjacent fortified cantonments to ensure their safety against the reprisals of their erstwhile neighbours.

Collection of reparations from formerly rebellious bailiwicks

Decided on the margins of the Congress of Chryse, the post-war Babkhi-dominated government of Elwynn determined that its foremost goal in reconstruction would be the removal or destruction of all industrial plants and equipment that would have any conceivable use in any future rebellion by the Elw or Amokolian peoples. Steel production was immediately outlawed in the former autonomous republics of Amokolia and Upper Elwynn and the Union Defence Force instructed to mobilise local corvée labour to support industrial disarmament. All industrial plants and equipment not destroyed by military action was to be completely dismantled and removed from the capitulated territories, or else destroyed in situ if removal was impossible. A proposal to demolish, through controlled demolitions, the mines of Amokolia and Upper Elwynn was entertained but eventually dismissed. The former rebel territories would instead be resource extraction zones, with refining processes and manufacturing would take place in the autonomous republics which had remained loyal during the conflict. Light industries, without an identifiable dual military purpose, would be permitted in an unconsolidated form at the level of the bailiwick, for the purpose of facilitating reparation payments. Economic enterprises, with preference given to those focused on activities that would facilitate reconstruction and reparation payments, would be permitted by the UDF bailiwick-commandant on a case by case basis.

The bailiwicks of Amokolia and Upper Elwynn faced a double indemnity, not only to cover the repayment to Benacia Command of the costs it had incurred in sustaining the war to reconquer the north, and its subsequent occupation, but also to make reparations to Alalehzamin and the Sovereign Confederation for the destruction of three major urban bailiwicks during the rebel counterstrike on the day of the Scouring. Naturally there would be no funding available for the four northern population centres obliterated during the initial orbital bombardment, nor for the other cities which had been subjected to conventional aerial bombardment during the war. Reconstruction was only funded to the extent that the infrastructure restored would facilitate the payment of reparations, and the cost of the reconstruction work itself would be added to the total reparations bill.

The burden of reparation payments was initially divided equally between each bailiwick, irrespective of size and ability to pay. Eventually exactions were scaled to taking forty-percent of a bailiwick's pre-war economic output.

International response

•  Calbion: becomes the first state to declare its support for the Republic on 15.II.1692 AN. The Calbain government recognised Benjamin Sluyjs and the Unified Congress as the sole representatives of Elwynn and Amokolia. In a radio broadcast, Governor-General Richard ab Ioan promised "full support to the brave people of Elwynn, who have come to reject the yoke of Raspurid oppression" and announced that a first shipment of defensive material was on its way. Following the nuclear strikes that led to the deaths of close to ten million people, the Calbain government found itself in a precarious situation. The formal position of the ab Ioan government was that the counterstrike by the republican forces was "regretible but understandable in light of the first strike by Raspur forces and the need to safeguard its existence". However, the United Workers Alliance strongly opposed the use of WMDs in general, and threatened to withdraw its confidence. As a result, Calbion proposed a resolution in the MTO General Assembly, calling for an end to hostilities and a peaceful settlement of the conflict. After the publication of the Vanaheim papers, which incriminated the government, it resigned and new elections were called.

•  Jingdao: Following the outbreak of the conflict, opinions concerning the Republic differed among higher echelons. Most officials saw a revolt in name of the people as counterproductive and dangerous. No revolt, only when beneficial to the Heavenly Light, was seen as a worthwhile endeavour. It were members of the Young Guard, including Diwang Jin San, who eventually formed a Jing Volunteer Corps consisting of 3,200 volunteers of Kildarian descent to aid the secessionists in their struggle. Shipments of material, including 8mm rifles (100,000), squad machine-guns (10,000) and mortars (1,000) would be sent with blockade running ships under a false flag: when leaving Camoleo River, the Jingdaoese ships were ordered to raise a neutral, Senyan flag to confuse the Raspurists, under the guise of sending humanitarian aid.

•  Batavian Commune: Premier Pieter Beeck were the first to praise the courageous revolutionaries of Elwynn and Amokolia. He expressed his hope to combine forces and fight off the reactionaries (with which he meant both the Batavian royalists as Elluenuueq government). The Commune, despite itself still engulfed into conflict with Batavia, promised to send a battalion of battle hardened soldiers of the Batavian People's Army.

•  Kalgachia: Denounced what it termed as "inept, bullying tactics", after learning of the declaration by the Benacia Command of the Raspur Pact that Kalgachia's land and air transport corridors across the territory of Pact member states would be interdicted until such time as a more cooperative attitude in combating the rebellion in Elwynn was manifested. The Kalgachi ruling body instead, on 3.VII.1692 AN, conferred recognition upon the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia and announced that, for the duration of hostilities, all payments made to the Unified Governorates under the Treaty of Gloomburg would instead be utilised the defray the cost of extending credit to the authorities in Elwynn and Amokolia and the Batavian Commune for purchases made in Kalgachia. This move amounting to a response similar to that undertaken by Kalgachia during the Yastreb era to provide aid to Nova England that proved critical to that nation's survival during the War of the Casks (a subsidiary conflict within the War of Lost Brothers). Following the events of the Scouring, Kalgachia notified Benacia Command via the Military Liaison Council that any further use of weapons of mass destruction on the Benacian continent would be met with an appropriate and immediate response in kind.

•  Batavia: Confronted with increased hostility near its borders, the De Withe Cabinet decided to close the borders and declare its neutrality. In a press interview he told journalists: "While our hearts are with the millions of Elwynnese, Amokolians and Franks within those borders, we as a nation are faced with our own hardships. We will aid those in need through assisting humanitarian efforts, but will uphold a strict policy of non-interference."

•  Senya: The government issued a statement calling for peace and dialogue, whilst also formalising processes for temporary resettlement of refugees if needed. Senya also stated it would work with its partners in Benacia to assist in the distribution of humanitarian aid.
  • Senya's offer of assistance as a neutral go-between was ultimately accepted by Elluenuueq and the Raspur Pact in the tenth month of 1692, with the Senyan foreign ministry being invited officially to coordinate arrangements for the safety and good treatment of prisoners of war and displaced persons, in cooperation with humanitarian agencies such as the Red Orchid Society.

•  Hexarchy: Faced with the internal issue of whether to support a potential ally or let nature take its course, the Hexarchy ultimately left the decision to its Praetor to make after much deliberation. Knowing that Normark was also nearby and could act as a potential over-land trading partner, the Praetor Gilgamesh II ultimately decided to send a small force of his personal guard in support of the Princely Court's government. Citing support for national order in the wake of his own country's modernization, the Praetor stated that it was in his country's best interests to actively take steps, however small, to contribute to the long-term stability of one of the Raspur Pact's most important countries. About 650 troops were dispatched in support of this objective in early 1692.

Following the Scouring, the Praetor chose to merely issue a statement calling the event an abhorrent event and a blight on human history, wishing it never be repeated again. However, he also kept his silence on the matter at-large, instead leaving his various ministers to craft a more nuanced response that allowed the Praetorian Expeditionary Force unit stationed in the country to fully turn to a humanitarian arm of the Hexarchy's military in the wake of the disaster.

•  Constancia: The Government of the Imperial State expressed support for the "lawful, constitutional" government of its Raspur Pact ally, condemning the "rebels" for "disrupting the established, legitimate government". Significant funding and equipment was quietly made available to the Greater Elwynnese State and Benacia Command, and a volunteer force of Constancian nationals joined the fighting. The Government of the Imperial State took pains to emphasize that these nationals joined of their own individual volition, and were not sponsored by the Imperial State in any way.

•  Sanama: The Sanaman government expressed its disgust at the use of weapons of mass destruction and announced the withdrawal of all Sanaman forces from Elwynn. On 1.I.1696, the Sanaman government announced its withdrawal from the Raspur Pact Joint Military Council and thereby its military command structure and Benacia Command, effective immediately. The decision was criticised by the opposition who had argued for leaving the organisation completely. Analysts regarded the move as realistic in face of a lack of natural allies outside the Raspur Pact, and also as a concession to the coalition partner the Nationalist & Humanist Party.

•  Floria: President-elect, Ronald Trueman released a statement of disappointment towards the use of nuclear weapons in Elwynn and immediately proposed a bill to remove Florian troops deployed in the area.

•  Thraci Confederation: Four member nations made a joint statement in Kabyk, complained of the use of nuclear weapons and condemned the incident.

•  Ransenar: The Lord Chief Steward Robert O'Toole made a fiery statement on behalf of the government of Ransenar that expressed anger, disbelief, saying that the nuclear exchanges between rebel and government forces have "no justification and are a wanton attack – one of the worst crimes against humanity wrought in this continent." The statement went on to also heavily criticize Calbion and other nations which were responsible for the exchange of nuclear weapons, calling them "psycopaths, murderers, and evil." He went on to add "the nuclear genie is out of the bottle and the risk of nuclear catastrophe remains," vowing to protect Ransenar and its people from nuclear fallout and radiation. The opposition, led by the Ransenari Liberation Party, launched massive national protests and demonstrations across the country demanding that Ransenar leave the Raspur Pact and withdraw from Elwynn. The Lord Chief Steward's statements were further backed up with the reactivation of a plan to bring Ransenar into the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie in what is signaled as a shift away from a Benacia-centric foreign policy for Ransenar. The actions by the Lord Chief Steward have caused significant friction within the coalition government, which is partnered with the Nationalist & Humanist Party.
  • The Ransenari government declared a national state of emergency and has activated national public health and security protocols to ensure the safety of the public. Internal security forces have been deployed to ensure public safety and order.
  • A Bill has been introduced to the Ransenari Congress by a multi-party contingent of several Representatives from almost all the political parties in the chamber (except the Nationalist & Humanist Party) that would force the withdrawal of all Ransenari military forces involved in the Second Elwynnese Civil War.
  • A Bill has been introduced by the leader of the Ransenari Liberation Party, Wilson Hart, to formally withdraw Ransenar from the Raspur Pact. The Bill will not be brought to the floor, but it has gathered many cosponsors which forced the government to whip its own Representatives from co-sponsoring the Bill. This has presented a large problem for the embattled government.

•  Drak-Modan: The Co-Monarchs of Drak-Modan condemned the orbital attacks. In a speech days after the orbital bombardment, King Loki Drakspunk spoke of re-assessing Drak-Modan's position in the Raspur Pact. "We have remained in the Raspur Pact, despite domestic policy disagreements with many members, purely out of self-preservation. We assumed it would be better to be allied with our neighbors on this continent and tolerate their homophobic laws and attitudes. We assumed, at the very least, we would not suffer all-out war at their hands. With these attacks, the Raspur Pact shows that even being a member does not protect against indefensible attack and total annihilation. The pact will have to convince us to remain in their alliance."

•  Lac Glacei: The Grand Duke condemned the attacks as "terrorism perpetrated by a national government" and that Lac Glacei would provide immediate humanitarian assistance to populations affected by the destruction. The Lac Glaceian government decried the use of weapons of mass destruction and urged national leaders to pursue a stronger global ban on these weapons, with stricter repercussions against those who harbor such arsenals.

•  Senya: Following the detonation of the nuclear weapons, Senya condemned the use of nuclear weapons as both "abhorrent" and as a defiance of the "universal morals of mankind".