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 USSO Jingdao Nova English Trading Company Passio-Corum Xang Muang	Florian Republic Srbozemlje Shireroth	Rivorian Liberation Army Support: Senya
Strength
648,631 5,369,797 689,453 19,590	2,537,884 23,907	3,044 481,733

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 was the huge investments in military equipment and expansion of both the navies of Jingdao and Shireroth. Jingdao's fleet, plagued by budget cuts and investments in huge construction projects, made it look good on paper and a worthy rival of the Imperial Navy of Shireroth. However, at the outbreak of the war, several members of the naval staff warned the Jingdaoese Headquarters for the Navy's lack in both ammunition, training upkeep of the older ships.

It should be noted that the Shirerithian figures only cover the Imperial Navy and not the naval assets maintained by the defence forces of the largely autonomous Imperial States, such as Elwynn and Goldshire. These coastal defence forces, by their nature, remained confined mostly to home waters during peacetime in any event, and would take time to be integrated into the overall operations of the Imperial Forces.

Both Coria and the Florian Republic, being comparatively young nations, were still in the process of establishing naval traditions and acquiring the engineering knowledge base and industrial capacity to sustain their own domestic shipbuilding industries. To this end both nations pressed a number of training vessels into service in the roles that would be performed ordinarily by capital ships. The Florian Republic, with the assistance of Shirerithian naval instructors, was able to make ready a number of warships acquired via the USSO Common Market and return the training vessels to a more sustainable inshore support role. Coria meanwhile had equipped itself with a formidable selection of short-range coastal submarines and submersibles, which would make venturing into its littoral waters a more risky venture than might otherwise have been the case.

It might be worth noting that the systematic overmanning of the naval arms of all the major combatants opened up the possibility of large numbers of "naval infantry" making an appearance during the war, as surplus personnel could be formed into battalions and transferred to the land theatre of operations.

The naval strength of the major forces at the start of the war, not counting air assets and hybrid vessels, was as follows:

Country	Personnel	Aircraft carriers	Battleships	Cruisers	Frigates / destroyers	Corvettes	Submarines	Auxiliary vessels
Shireroth	399,900	5	2	2	35	20	126	1,035
Florian Republic	350,000	1	0	5	0	5	6	169
Total	849,900	6	2	7	35	25	132	1,204
Kingdom of Coria	154,367	1	2	12	21	7	46
Jingdao	351,045	4	5	17	27	17	120	378
Passio-Corum	863,201	1	4	0	14	10	8
Total	1,368,613	6	11	29	62	34	174

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, collapsed under the pressure of the Alexandrian Flu which killed over 60% of its population but could eventually be contained to the Alexandrian territories, 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

The assassination marked the start of increasing tensions in Eastern Apollonia.

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.

Expansion of violence in Apollonia

The news of the assassination was badly received everywhere.

Even with the capture of the assassin Stronk peace did not return to the streets of Coria. Emergency meetings were held in the capital of Grandbay and preparations made to crown a new king as fast as possible. Voices in favour of war, fuelled by the outcries in several newspapers (and sponsored by several industrial and nationalist groups), were increasingly heard. In the meanwhile, protest marches and the anti-Florian riots in several Corian towns and cities spread to nearby Krasnarus.

In Jingdao, the Grand Secretariat first reacted with caution, but when the news was leaked to the public, people saw in the assassination an international Shirerithian ploy to increase its influence on the continent, as it had done recently before in Floria. A war scare broke out accross the nation, soldiers were mobilised and the Army and Navy put on highest alert.

In the meanwhile, the Apollonia Command reacted swiftly by launching a twelve days-campaign against Xhusor. This attack on a neutral nation, with the goal of establishing a better front line, angered the public even more. Those who had doubts about possible Florian accomplishment in the assassination, were now decreasing quickly in numbers.

Ultimatum and taking sides

Confronted with the assassination, an angry population and strengthened with Krasnarus and increased tensions between the Florians and Jingdaoese, the Corian Kingdom decided to send an ultimatum to end the Florian menace once and for all.

Summary

• 21st October:
  • Nikolaj I of Coria is shot on his trip through the autonomous region of Astaronia. The murderer is suspected to be a Florian and backed by the Florian intelligence service.
  • The assassin, called Stronk by authorities, is captured after a brief manhunt. Start of the process.
• 22nd October:
  • Ongoing conflicts between the USSO and Florians led to the downgrade of the nation from Full Member to Associate. The Florians find support in Shireroth, with whom they sign a treaty. All defence capacities are turned over to Shirerithian control.
  • A pre-emptive invasion of Xhusovo by Florian-Shirerithian troops starts. This leads to public outcry in Jingdao.
• 25th October: With ongoing tensions, the USSO ends formal ties with the Florians and strips it of its Associate status.
• 31 October:
  • The Corian government delivers an ultimatum to the Florians. Demanding compensation and revenge for the loss of their king. For a moment, the Florians seem to accept, but in the end refuse. This slight moment of doubt, leads to a strengthened feeling of euphoria in Krasnarus and Coria.
  • After more than a week of public pressure, the Grand Secretariat proposes to send an ultimatum to the Florian authorities.
  • Goldshire announces the construction of an East Wall, to fend of any potential Jingdaoese invasion [1].
  • Jingdao evacuates a significant part of its population from Tianhoucheng to its other Benacian territories.
• 1 November: The Florian government refuses to agree with all articles of the November ultimatum.