Ludwiggian-Monovian War

Ludwiggian-Monovian War
Date II.1702 AN - III.1705 Location South-East Cibola Result Ludwiggian conquest of Monovian held territories
Belligerents
Sankt Ludwigshafen	Monovian militants
Commanders and leaders
Adam Rettich	Elonzo XII
Units involved
Dragonerkorps Ludwigshafen Kriegskorps Ludwigshafen	Royal Guard of King Elonzo XII Monovian Royal Army

The Ludwiggian-Monovian War, also known as the First Ludwiggian-Monovian War to differentiate it from the Second Ludwiggian-Monovian War, was a conflict that was fought out between the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen and the Monovian militants from the Green in the early 1700s. Prior to the war, Monovian troops had invaded Zandarijn, which was defeated after the Sack of Hamstadt. In 1699, Sankt Ludwigshafen launched a limited military incursion called Operation Enduring Fellowship, into Zandarijn, to protect Ludwiggian interests in the town of Oudorp and also to protect that town's inhabitants. Operation Enduring Fellowship was considered by the Stadtparlement to be completed in late 1701, but this appraisal of the situation proved to be premature. In XIII.1702 mounted patrols belonging to the Dragonerkorps Ludwigshafen encountered Monovian scouts, belonging to the Monovian Royal Army trespassing into the Lanzerwald. The scouts were apprehended and their belongings searched, they were found to be in the possession of maps detailing the fortifications of Stadt Sankt Ludwighsafen and the defences of Oudorp and Louisville. The Stadtparlement was informed of the findings and in XIV.1702 it resolved to declare that the republic was under attack, and that it would have to fight a war to stamp out the Monovian threat.

In XV.1702 Stadtholder Adam Rettich petitioned to the Stadtparlement to form an expeditionary force to combat the Monovian threat both within Ludwiggian borders, as well as in the the Green. This Kriegskorps Ludwigshafen as it was called, consisted of 5,000 infantrymen belonging to the various Bezirkbürgerwehrs along with several donkey-drawn pieces of artillery. The Kriegskorps was assisted by ten patrols of scouts belonging to the Dragonerkops Ludwigshafen, who were sent out to find hostile positions.

First skirmishes between the Kriegskorps Ludwigshafen and the Monovian Royal Army took place in III.1703, when the Monovians attacked a Ludwiggian forward base approximately 50 kilometres south of the Ludwiggian border, north of the ruins of Prins Haven, Zandarijn. No soldiers on either side were injured in the gunfight. Such attacks became more frequent, and seemed to be intended more to intimidate the Ludwiggian forces, than to destroy them. In VI.1703, for the first time since Operation Enduring Fellowship, two Ludwiggian soldiers were wounded by a Monovian attack, one of them fatally. The attack took place 30 kilometres west of the ruins of Grenstad, Zandarijn. After the discovery of a large Monovian encampment in the woods east of Monoviaville by the Dragonerkorps Ludwigshafen in IX.1703, the Kriegskorps Ludwigshafen retaliated and killed 14 soldiers belonging to the Monovian Royal Army. From X.1703 to II.1704 Monovian attacks on Ludwiggian forward bases continued, but no serious injuries were reported.

Difficulties navigating the forests and mountains of South-East Cibola inspired the Ludwiggian military engineer Theodor Holzmännchen to develop the first Ludwiggian aeroplane. Starting his work in late 1703, he presented the J-1 Lärm in IV.1704. The primitive fighter plane was made of wood, covered with cloth and had to be launched by a winch to become airborne. Despite its obvious shortcomings, the aeroplane provided a tactical advantage to the Kriegskorps Ludwigshafen as it was able to scout more effectively and it could detect Monovian attacks much earlier. The Monovian Royal Army responded by trying to acquire man-portable surface-to-air missiles from the stocks of failed Micran nation states, but the high price of these air defence systems hindered the Monovian war effort. In most cases, the Monovians would only shoot rockets at Ludwiggian planes engaged in aggressive manoeuvres, and rarely at scouting planes.

In the year 1704 skirmishes between Ludwiggian and Monovian were frequent but did not often result in injuries. Casualties were scarce, and the result of accidents rather than combat. In XIV.1704 two Ludwiggian J-1 Lärm planes discovered a large Monovian camp in the ruins of Monoviaville. Scouts were sent to observe the camp to determine if it was holdout of King Elonzo XII and also to determine what the strength of the Monovian forces in Monoviaville was. In II.1705 it was determined that King Elonzo XII was indeed in the city, and 2,000 infantrymen belonging to the Kriegskorps arrived 5 kilometres east of the site at the end of that month, with the dragoons of the Dragonerkops patrolling the dense forests around the city to make sure no Monovian reinforcements would reach the city undetected. Another 1,000 infantrymen belonging to the Kriegskorps, and a dozen J-1 Lärm planes, arrived south of the city in III.1705.

An assault was launched on the city from the south and the east on the eight day of III.1705. The assault started with bombardments of the supposed location of King Elonzo XII from the air, four out of twelve planes were shot down, with eight planes being able to drop their bombs at the Monovian entrenchments, with two of the shot down planes also hitting Monovian positions. None of the downed pilots survived their crash as they were still carrying bombs. As the soldiers of the Kriegskorps descended upon the city King Elonzo XII realised he would not win the battle and tried to leave the city, he was stopped by dragoons three kilometres north of Monoviaville and apprehended. While skirmishes between Ludwiggian and Monovian troops continued, the pretender king was brought over to Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen. In Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen the Monovian king was placed in house arrest in a stately mansion overlooking the harbour. After three days of fighting, Ludwiggian soldiers were able to drive out the last remaining Monovians from their entrenchments, they captured 452 Monovian soldiers as prisoners of war.

When the news of the Ludwiggian victory reached Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen, King Elonzo XII was summoned to the residence of Stadtholder Adam Rettich where he was offered a peace proposal. Under the proposal the Monovian militants would accept adoption into the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen, the abolishment of monarchy, and a forced conversion of King Elonzo XII to the Nazarene faith. The proposal was accepted, and Elonzo of Monovia as he was called from that moment, was baptised the next day in the Ludwiggian Reformed Church of Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen. Despite the fact that he was coerced to convert, he gained great respect for the teachings of the church and the mercy that was extended upon him and his people. Back in Monoviaville he made an effort to preach the good news to all his compatriots, and was nicknamed Sankt Elonzo for this reason. In VII.1705 Elonzo died and Monoviaville was renamed as Stadt Sankt Elonzo in his honour.