1716 Ludwiggian Restoration
| 1716 Ludwiggian Restoration | |||||
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 Army of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen
|  Army of the Republic of the Sovereign Lanzerwald
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The 1716 Ludwiggian Restoration was a successful attempt by Ludwiggian insurrectionists to destroy the Lanzerwald Republic and restore the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen. The seed of the insurrection was planted in late 1715 when the Lanzerwald Thing, of the Realm of the Sovereign Lanzerwald outlawed motorised vehicles following the debacle of the Schorpioen I Pantserstrijdwagen medium tank that was being developed by Osthügel Motorenwerke but was so expensive it bankrupted the Republic of the United Cities in the Lanzerwald in VI.1715.
Osthügel Motorenwerke's director Wilhelm von Streußbergen, the factory's management and staff of Osthügel Motorenwerke, who were overwhelmingly of Ludwiggian descent, were outraged by the ban but did not protest in public knowing very well that public opinion was against them at the time. Instead they worked in secret to finish the armoured vehicle, which was now named Panzergefechtswagen I and of which one hundred twenty units were produced and stored in the factory's underground storage. Von Streußbergen sought alliances with other Ludwiggians who were annoyed with the course of the Lanzerwaldian Republic. With several other industry tycoons and disgruntled politicians did he found a provisional government for a new Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen, and the militias of Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen, Lanser and Moorheim agreed to participate in an insurrection. Ludwiggian minorities in Grenstad, Oudorp, Vulcuria and Hamstadt were also incorporated in the secret Army of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen.
Timeline
- 12.X.1716: The provisional government of the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen issues the proclamation of the Fifth Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen, claiming that it would govern all land that was until that moment occupied by the Republic of the Sovereign Lanzerwald. The militias of Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen, Lanser and Moorheim tear down all Lanzerwaldian flags from public buildings and replace them with the banner of the Ludwiggian Republic. In the cities that they control, the Ludwiggians order that Cibolan-Saxon is from that moment onwards the only official language used by the state. Riots erupt in Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen which has sizeable Zandarinian minorities but the militia's response is vicious and the rioters are either killed or dispersed from the city.
- 13.X.1716: The general synod of the Ludwiggian Reformed Church gathers in Oudorp to discuss the events that had unfolded the previous day. By a great majority, the synod condemned the actions of the Ludwiggian insurrectionists and called for them to lay down their weapons and restore the status ante quo.
- 14.X.1716: The Steden-Generaal meets in an emergency session for the first time since the uprising began, the session descends into chaos as its president Ludwig Schafenweide does not arrive in person but sends a courier instead, that delivers the gavel of the Steden-Generaal, cut into pieces, and a letter that conveys the president's support to the Ludwiggian insurrection. Stadtholder Hendrik Martenszoon presides over the session in his stead and the Steden-Generaal resolves to expel all members that refuse to condemn the insurrection. Thirty-seven representatives leave the Steden-Generaal and join the provisional government in Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen. After their departure, the Steden-Generaal resolves to require all members of the military to declare in an oath that they reject the goals and demands of the insurrectionists and that they will fight for the Lanzerwald Republic, the order is sent to all military units spread throughout the republic.
- 15.X.1716: As the first military units receive the order to denounce the insurrection it becomes clear that the willingness to condemn the insurrection is mainly determined by ethnic background of the soldiers. Soldiers of Zandarinian descent are almost unanimously willing to take the oath while many of Ludwiggian descent reject and flee from their positions, whole companies of the Krijgskorps and Dragonderkorps tear down the flag of the Lanzerwald from their poles and replace it with the flag of Sankt Ludwigshafen, in some cases the Ludwiggian soldiers kill their Zandarinian former comrades and vice versa. News of these bloodbaths horrify the people in Oudorp who begin to realise the seriousness of the situation in earnest.
- 16.X.1716: Combined remnants of the 1ste Krijgskorps, the 2de Krijgskorps and the Dragonderkorps are sent by the Steden-Generaal to Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen to take it back from the hands of the Ludwiggian insurrectionists. Their haste is influenced by the fear that the Ludwiggian insurrectionists seem to attract more and more support every day, from Ludwiggians that are persuaded to join them. Roughly three thousand riflemen take part in the assault on the city. Unknownst to the Lanzerwaldians, the Ludwiggians had decided on an attack on Oudorp on the same day, and they have deployed sixty of their new Panzergefechtswagen I to the battle, along with roughly two and a half thousand infantrymen. Not expecting any armour participating in the battle, the Lanzerwaldians have not brought anti-tank weapons with them, only a dozen mortars to destroy the city walls of Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen. Both sides meet in the middle between the two cities in the meadows of the small village of Kuhstein. The battle lasts the entire day as neither side is willing to give up, but results in almost two-thousand casualties on the side of the Lanzerwald and six hundred casualties on the side of the Ludwiggians.
