War of Lost Brothers

War of Lost Brothers
Date 21st October 2017 - present Location Florian Republic Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Krasnarus-Corian Pact Krasnarus Kingdom of Coria Jingdao	Florian Republic Srbozemlje Shireroth

The War of Lost Brothers is an ongoing conflict originating in Apollonia. The war was triggered by the assassination of the Corian King in a visit to Astaronia. It was believed that the assassin was from the Florian Republic. This set off a diplomatic crisis and both the Florian Republic and Coria exchanged declarations of war against each other. It was announced later in the evening that Krasnarus would become allies with Coria in the war. It was also known that Coria had plans of annexing Srbozemlje, which the Florian Republic has reacted badly to. A day afterwards the Florian Republic started negotiations with Jingdao and Shireroth; however it has been marred as both countries are still technically at war.

Background

Arms race

A result of the War of Jingdaoese Immolation.

Political and military alliances: A web of intrigues

Alignments at the start of the Lost Brothers War.

During the period following the War of Jingdaoese Immolation, the major powers of Micras went to great length to strengthen their positions throughout the planet. While during the Hammish Civil War and the subsequent conflict between Shireroth and Jingdao, the war had remained limited to certain regions (mainly Keltia and Northern Apollonia), the first direct conflict between the great powers and following armistice had convinced both sides that the key to victory was on Apollonia.

The run-up to the war saw some very important shifts, changing the balance of power. A staunch ally of Shireroth, Alexandria, saw itself collapse, while the USSO grew both in numbers as strength. The occurrence of the Auspicious Occasion in Shireroth, saw the nation also losing the possibility of Stormark joining their sides in any armed conflict. Now confronted with the possibility of being unable to fend off all the strength that the USSO was gathering, Shireroth started an intensive campaign in the small, but strategically located Florian Republic. The nation, slightly impoverished during the Xhusor War and subsequent changes in government (including a shift from a very democratic to a strict Police state), felt betrayed by the lack of support it received from the members of the Union. In the end, the Florians were downgraded from a full-fledged Member State into an Associate Member. Not much later, on the 22nd October 2017, they signed a treaty with Shireroth, effectively turning over any defence capacities to Shireroth.

The Jingdaoese Grand Secretariat felt alarmed by the sudden changes near its doorstep. Tensions further increased when the Tegong confirmed potential Shirerithian-backed plots to further increase their influence in the Eastern Apollonian territories, which Jingdao considered their own sphere of influence. It found allies in Coria and Krasnarus, who felt threatened by the recent policies of the Florians.

Prelude

The Astaronia assasination

On 21st October, Nikolaj I of Coria visited Astaronia, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Coria. During his visit, he was killed in public by a long-range sniper firing from a concealed position. After a brief manhunt, the assassin, known only by the nom de guerre of "Stronk", was run to ground and captured. It transpired that this Stronk was reputedly a citizen of the Florian autonomous region of Srbozemlje. It has been claimed that the alleged assassin was hired by Florian Secret Intelligence to stop Corian King from performing his plan of expanding his state, and most likely forcing Srbozemlje to become independent. The sudden and brutal slaying of the Corian monarch, at a well-publicised public gathering caused an outpouring of grief and anger on the part of the Corian people, the effect of which was to drive its politicians towards an alliance with Krasnarus.