Caradian Civil War

Caradian Civil War
Date 1682–1685 AN Location Caplona, Porto Vormouna Status Ended
Belligerents
Cei Credincioși Ciric Government Andromeda	Xenoclasts Frostmongers Ciric Mercenaries
Strength
84,800 192,700 13,300	218,900 8,200
Civilian deaths

The Caradian Civil War is an ongoing war that sparked following events in late 1681 AN and early 1682 AN that sparked conflict between two competing political groups in Caradia, namely the Xenoclasts and Cei Credincioși. Authorities had been unable to suppress the conflict before it suddenly erupted in Porto Vormouna due to the relatively small size of both the Xenoclasts and the Cei Credincioși; however, membership of these groups spiked massively in a period of about five days before the outbreak of war, possibly due to the escalating tension and also the unwillingness of most authorities to commit to a side, instead allowing the masses to fight amongst themselves.

Lead Up

In the weeks leading up to the war, the membership of the Xenoclasts and Cei Credincioși had both become increasingly hostile to each other, which had triggered riots across Caradia, some of which sparked police and even military intervention. The explosive interaction of the two ideological groups continued to snowball as they each began to count significant figures among the Caradian government, including notable military leaders such as Magistrate Andrei Socavul, Field Marshal Cozaru Faragul, and Sky Marshal Vladimir Tvaranov publicly professing support for the Cei Credincioși, and Grand Admiral Sàlveus Santágador becoming leader of the Xenoclasts. Although some of the leaders of the military had chosen to side with the Cei Credincioși, most of the soldiers and lower generals and admirals had joined the Xenoclasts, especially amongst the Black Armada, which was almost entirely under control of the Xenoclasts. After a series of localised attacks against the headquarters of the Cei Credincioși, which was actually owned by the Andromeda Tech Corporation and had been loaned as a gift, much of the Ciric Confederacy had already thrown support behind the Cei Credincioși, though a few mercenaries had been hired by the Xenoclasts. Increasing hostility by the Caradian King, and mounting tension caused Admiral Santágador to maneuver much of the Eastern Fleet into positions to begin an attack if deemed necessary. The clear lines of allegiance of the Xenoclasts shifting from the King to the Admiral caused King-Saint Godrîc XI to request aid from the Confederate Navy in case of treason from Santágador, which was confirmed and signed for by Prelate Sang Doc. These premonitions were proven to be warranted as, on 23.II.1682 AN, a flotilla of Trăsnet Class Destroyers from the 1st Eastern Battle Fleet launched an assault on Argint Citadel near Porto Vormouna.

Assault on Porto Vormouna

Once the order to attack reached the ships of the 1st Eastern Battle Fleet, a task group of three Trăsnet Class Destroyers and two Flacără Class Cruisers left Mobile Command Base Øst, which is technically owned by the Confederate Navy but is used by the Black Armada as well, and sailed towards Porto Vormouna. The ships split around the island hosting the Aldurian city of Hatkrou, coming in at a wide angle outside of Aldurian waters to avoid risking angering the Euran power, and assaulted Porto Vormouna from two angles, relying on the relatively low strength of the defence force stationed at Porto Vormouna, which mainly consisted of a small group of submarines and a number of patrol boats, as well as a contingent of mediocre airships mainly pulled from those rejected from service on the mainland, to be unable to withstand a fast, strong attack.

Following a missile strike by the destroyer flotilla on the Argint Citadel ports, and the feeble retaliation from the Grup II submarines that the local military had employed, the flotilla sent a signal to the cruiser flotilla that was approaching the city proper from the south to inform them to begin a pincer movement. The signal was intercepted, but not stopped, by inquisition agents stationed in Porto Vormouna, who promptly decided that the best course of action was to handle the attack as quietly as possible without civilian knowledge, and they immediately ordered the local sky captain of the portion of the Skyfleet docked at Porto Vormouna to prepare for the attack, and sent a coded distress signal to Relacul.

Both the northern and southern flotillas fanned out into a loose blockade of Porto Vormouna to prevent supply runs as they began what was intended to be a long-term siege of the city. Simultaneously, reports from a listening station in Kaleksiss indicated additional ships approaching the blockade from the rear, which at first was reported by the team at the station rather optimistically as a task group from the Confederate Navy of Cira, but when the ships approached closer the reports changed to indicate a pirate fleet. The immediate assumption was that the rebels had paid off the Frostmongers to assist in the invasion, presumably through some promise of plunder from Caradia, possibly even the rights to all of the loot from Porto Vormouna.

This message was relayed to an already mobilising Argint Citadel, which subsequently sent an order to the main defending force of Porto Vormouna to initiate defensive protocols. The police force of Porto Vormouna began an immediate crackdown to quell any Xenoclast sympathy in the city, with the assistance of the army stationed at Argint Citadel. Barricades were erected on the ports, and all shipping shut down immediately. Citizens were quickly corralled into bunkers once the option of evacuation was discounted as implausible and incredibly dangerous, as the city only had one jet capable of ferrying passengers, and it had already been launched to carry the nobility and administration of the city, including Baron Pedro Coramen, to Cira to remove them from the crossfire. Whatever ground-based ordinance employed by the city gathered at the ports in preparation of an amphibious assault.

Event Log

Attacker	Defender	Action	Response	Units Involved	Outcome	Casualties
Xenoclasts	Porto Vormouna	x3 Trăsnet Class Destroyers had been in place near the coat of Eura in the week preceding the beginning of conflict. Once conflict broke out, the destroyers launched a total of 8 Răzbunare missiles at the port of Argint Citadel, striking military targets. Six hours later, a second wave of 9 missiles was launched, these targeting the citadel itself. The ships then proceded towards the port to escort landing crafts to invade the base.	11 of the missiles are shot down by the Egidă system in place in Argint Citadel, but the remaining six missiles strike their targets, causing structural damage to the citadel and port, and damaging the CSS Eclipse and the CSS Judge, both Standard Class Corvettes. Argint Citadel deployed x7 Gheață Class Submarines from Grup II to retaliate.	Attackers x3 Trăsnet Class Destroyer CSS Cleric CSS Chaplain CSS Victory Defenders x7 Gheață Class Submarine	Skirmish between submarines and destroyers; submarines were forced to retreat and regroup. No ships sunk, but two submarines damaged by returning fire from the destroyers. The weakness of Caradian submarines is demonstrated as the destroyers take no serious damage from the salvoes of torpedoes fired by the submarines.	Slight damage to CSS Chaplain 78 soldiers killed 102 civilian deaths Severe structural damage to Argint Citadel ports
Xenoclasts	Porto Vormouna	x2 Flacără Class Cruisers which had been stationed to the south of Porto Vormouna began to sail towards the city, stopping to launch a volley of 13 Răzbunare missiles targeting key communications arrays and Egidă systems. Following the volley they proceded on towards the city.	9 missiles are intercepted, with one overshooting the city and one other failing to detonate, while the remaining two hit a radio communications array, though after a distress signal was sent to mainland Caradia. Four Lunar Class Airships launched from the city's airbase and sailed to the flotilla and began bombarding the cruisers with Mizerie bombs.	Attackers x2 Flacără Class Cruiser CSS Loyalty CSS Vanguard Defenders x4 Lunar Class Airship CSAS Rogue CSAS Skulkov CSAS Sangue CSAS Prejuízo 8 x CAAT H-7	Air-to-Sea battle between airships and cruisers. Airships launched CAAT H-7s to distract cruisers and add additional firepower. Three CAAT H-7s shot down, one airship had a damaged hydrogen tank, and one of the cruisers left with a damaged main gun.	Serious damage to CSS Loyalty's main gun x3 CAAT H-7s shot down x4 CAAT H-7s damaged CSAS Rogue sustained damage to hydrogen tank Destruction of a communications array
Xenoclasts	Porto Vormouna	The 3 Trăsnet Class Destroyers which had made up the northern flotilla of the attack force and which had previously been harassed by submarines, albeit to little effect, deployed the flotilla's compliment of 6 CAAT H-7 attack helicopters armed with Sfinți anti-ship missiles to hunt down the remainder of Grup II that had slipped past the flotilla.	The Grup II submarines had been retreating prior to the attack by the CAAT H-7s in an attempt to reach the Mobile Command Base Nord, a Ciric mobile naval dock stationed in the Central Sea near Porto Vormouna. When the helicopters attacked, the submarines first attempted to dive to avoid the missiles, but did not have the power to go low enough to avoid the helicopters' torpedoes, and they resurfaced and fired back.	Attackers x6 CAAT H-7 Defenders x7 Gheață Class Submarine	Submarines ill-prepared for an air attack. Sea-to-air missiles eventually take down one CAAT H-7, but during the submarines' attempt to evade the helicopters they took heavy damage. Five of the seven submarines were sunk, and the remaining two surrendered, but were sunk after their surrender was heard.	x1 CAAT H-7 shot down x7 Gheață Class Submarines sunk (Grup II)