1716 Ludwiggian Restoration

1716 Ludwiggian Restoration
Date 12.X.1716 - Location Lanzerwald
Belligerents
Army of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen	Army of the Republic of the Sovereign Lanzerwald

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. Remnants of the Lanzerwaldians are routed back to Oudorp where news of the defeat of the army is received with horror.

• 17.X.1716: The army of the provisional government of the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen is reinforced with another thousand soldiers and thirty more Panzergefechtswagen I medium tanks. An assault is launched in the morning but the Lanzerwaldians are heavily entrenched and repel the first attack with heavy losses on both sides. Ludwiggians use the tank guns and captured Lanzerwaldian mortars to lay siege to the city and bombard it around the clock, the aggressors focus on bombarding those parts of the cities where fresh water and foodstuffs are sold in order to break the will of the people. Not having been designed to function as a ballistic weapon, the Flachfeuergeschütz 40/1716 that is mounted on the PzGfWa I proves to be highly inaccurate in this role and its grenades end up raining down all over the city.

• 23.X.1716: After the first day of the siege it quickly descended into a stalemate with Ludwiggian troops firing their guns sparingly to save ammunition, only responding to movements on the side of the Lanzerwaldian defenders. Still, the lack of food and water was very troubling for the citizens inside the city walls. A group of Lanzerwaldians of Ludwiggian descent that had previously remained neutral on the insurrection begin pleading with the Steden-Generaal to enter negotiations with the aggressors, they are ridiculed and accused of treason and their rations are being cut as a punishment. Embittered by this treatment they conspire together in one of their houses to see how they can help their Ludwiggian brothers outside the gates.

• 1.XI.1716: In the middle of the night of 24.X to 1.XI a massive fire breaks out in Oudorp, the Ludwiggian conspirers that were treated so poorly before have doused flammable materials within the city with petroleum and lighted them, they keep running through the city with makeshift Molotov cocktails and throw them at the commercial buildings where the food and water storage of the cities is kept. The fire quickly spreads over to other buildings and the local fire station is unable to gather water from the river as that is in the line-of-fire of a group of circa ten PzGfWa I tanks who respond to all movement with destructive gunfire. As more and more buildings fall victim to the fire, the Steden-Generaal sends an envoy to the Ludwiggian to discuss a cease-fire, but he is beaten with sticks and told to go back to the Steden-Generaal and only come back after he has secured an unconditional surrender of the city. The Steden-Generaal refuses and in the morning of 25.X over half of the city has been burnt down. As the Ludwiggian troops enter the city late in the morning they meet little resistance, remaining members of the Steden-Generaal are placed under arrest and kept in solitary confinement in the city jail.

• 3.XI.1716: Representatives of Hamstadt, Prins Haven and Nieuw Rotterdam meet in Nieuw Rotterdam to discuss the loss of Oudorp. They acknowledge that they are unable to retake the city from the hands of the bloodthirsty Ludwiggians and that they have little chance to save Grenstad and Vulcuria. Instead they resolve to establish a new Lanzerwaldian Republic with Nieuw Rotterdam as its capital city. The cities send a representative to Walstadt as well to discuss cooperation but their delegation in military dress is seen as provocative by the border patrol of Walstadt and they return to Nieuw Rotterdam after warning shots have been fired vice versa.