Second Ludwiggian-Monovian War
| Second Ludwiggian-Monovian War | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
 Sankt Ludwigshafen
|  Monovian militants
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Adam Rettich
| Elonzo XIII
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| Units involved | |||||
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The Second Ludwiggian-Monovian War was a conflict that was fought out between the Republic of Sankt Ludwigshafen and Monovian militants that sought to re-establish the Kingdom of Monovia, with Sankt Elonzo as its capital. The Monovian militants were lead by Elonzo XIII, a bastard son of Elonzo XII.
The war started when Heinrich aus dem Wald, mayor of Sankt Elonzo was assassinated by three members of the Royal Guard of King Elonzo XIII who shot him down as he cycled from his home to the city council building in the early morning of 10.XIV.1707. A group of 200 hundred militants then assaulted the city council building itself, murdering 4 council members, as well as 15 council workers. The Bezirksbürgerwehr was able to assemble roughly 500 riflemen and tried to capture the council building in the early hours of the evening, but by then the Monovian militants had been able to entrench themselves and the Bezirksbürgerwehr was unable to assault their positions. The Monovian militants declared that they would crown their king, who was not present with the militants that had taken the council building and that they would make Siseranism the official religion of their kingdom.
News of the uprising reached the Nationalversammlung three days later, on 13.XIV.1707. Stadtholder Adam Rettich asked the Nationalversammlung for permission to deploy both the Kriegskorps and the Dragonerkorps and this permission was granted. As the uprising came as a total surprise to the Ludwiggian government, no preparations had been made to wage war and only one division of the Kriegskorps, the 6th division, was ready for combat. On 20.XIV.1707 the 3rd division also reported to be ready for combat and the two divisions were sent towards Sankt Elonzo to build a military base from which the Kriegskorps could operate, including an airstrip for 20 J-1 Lärm fighter planes that would be used by the 3rd division. Both divisions of the Kriegskorps were attached with a division of the Dragonerkorps Ludwigshafen with the same division number, as these had trained together in peace time.
In the meantime the Monovian Royal Army brought more of their troops into Sankt Elonzo and started their work on improving the fortifications of the city. It became clear that besides Monovians, also Siseranist extremists of Ludwiggian descent had joined the insurgency. They burnt down the Ludwiggian Reformed Church of Sankt Elonzo and ransacked houses of church leaders to find Scriptures and theological treatises, which they would tear up. A group of 64 theologians, preachers and other church officials were locked up in the city council building where they were tortured. Thousands of people tried to flee the city, but many were stopped by the insurgents who had forbidden anyone from leaving the city. People that were found fleeing were imprisoned in a warehouse under terrible conditions.
Reports of these terrible conditions in the occupied city reached the 6th and 3rd division of the Kriegskorps, which had set up a base 10 kilometres east of Sankt Elonzo on 8.XV.1707. The news that church leaders were being held by Siseranist extremists was considered especially concerning because of the events in the Ludwigshafener Civil War, in which Siseranist extremists had performed human sacrifices in order to appease their goddess Sisera. Realising that time was of the essence, the 6th and 3rd division of the Kriegskorps decided to begin the assault on Sankt Elonzo on 12.XV.1707, four days before the 7th division was expected to strengthen their numbers. The 6th division took up a position south of Sankt Elonzo, while the 3rd division would attack from the base in the east of the city.
Battle of Sankt Elonzo
As planned, the assault on the city started on 12.XV.1707 at 5 hours in the morning, 20 J-1 Lärm fighter planes attacked the city walls in an effort to breach the Monovian defences. The planes tactic was to first strafe the walls with the plane's machine guns, before dropping its bombs on them. The mission proved to be highly dangerous as only 3 planes returned to the airstrip, but they had a devastating effect on the Monovians who lost most of their fortified machine gun nests. At 8 AM the first platoons of the 6th division had made progress towards the southern city walls of Sankt Elonzo and could see the Monovian machine gun nests and riflemen standing upon the walls which were breached in places. The 6th dragoon division first opened fire with the 3 anti-tank cannons and 1 FLAK cannon that it possessed and fire was returned by the Monovian machine gun nests on the walls. With 8 heavy machine guns from the dragoons providing suppression fire against the defenders, the infantrymen of the Kriegskorps 6th division launched their assault on the walls. The Monovians proved to be more resilient than assumed and caused numerous losses to be mourned on the Ludwiggian side. The 6th division was however able to route the defenders from the southern fortifications. In the east, the assault on the city proved to be less successful. When the 3rd division reached the city walls it found that they had remained mostly intact, despite the bombing runs of the J-1 Lärm fighter planes. Artillery strikes by the 3rd dragoon's anti-tank cannons and FLAK cannon proved to be insufficient to breach the eastern fortifications and they remained in Monovian hands during the first day of the battle of Sankt Elonzo as the 3rd division retreated.
On the second day of the battle of Sankt Elonzo 2 companies of the 3rd division connected to the 6th division which had spent the night defending the southern fortification from relentless attacks and was exhausted. The relatively fresh troops from the 3rd division were sent into the southern quarter of the city first, and had to fight for every meter against highly motivated Monovian and Siseranist defenders. From civilians that had been trapped into the city, they collected intelligence about the plans of the insurgents. They told them that the Siseranists had constructed a temple in the city centre and had been abducting hundreds of people who were to be sacrificed to appease the Gods. The Siseranists seemed certain the end times had arrived when they heard the news that Kildare, formally Siseranist Jingdao, had been absorbed into the Imperial Republic of Shireroth. Determined to save these people, the 2 companies fought their way towards the city centre, but made progress very slowly.
As the day of 14.XV.1707 dawned, the 7th division reached Sankt Elonzo, two days ahead of schedule. They brought 20 new J-1 Lärm fighter planes with them, so that there were now 23 planes available to launch a bombing raid on the eastern fortress. At noon, the planes flew towards the city and attacked the eastern fortifications with all their might while the artillery suppressed the Monovian anti-air efforts, dealing heavy damage to the defensive structure. The 3 remaining companies of the 3rd division were connected to the 7th division and together they started a new assault on the eastern quarter of the city. Like in the southern quarter of the city, progress was slow but certain, and the enemy troops were being pushed back towards the city centre.
In the city centre the situation grew tense as the Ludwiggian troops came closer and closer, and the Siseranists and Monovians began to discuss amongst themselves whether they should try to flee the city while they were not yet completely encircled. The Siseranist High Priestess Elijahna, who had been crowned Queen of Sankt Ludwigshafen in XIII.1693 during the Ludwigshafener Civil War opposed the proposal and instead pushed for human sacrifices to the Gods, to gain their favour and turn the tide of the battle. High Priestess Elijahna possessed a great charisma, as well as other charms and was able to convince the other commanders of her plan. On the morning of 15.XV.1707 the Monovians and Siseranists rounded up the church officials who had been locked up in the city council, and the civilians who had tried to flee and were locked up in the warehouse and brought them to the marketplace, which was adorned with colourful ribbons and statues of the Ci Empress. The captives were tied to each other and doused in thousands of litres of gasoline, vapours of which spread over the entire marketplace. After a bizarre chant in traditional Jingdaoese, High Priestess Elijahna lit the first of the captives. As the gasoline ignited, so did the gasoline vapour which had spread over the entire marketplace and even further into the city. The result was a massive thermobaric explosion that destroyed the city centre and created a good deal of damage, as well as massive fires, in the rest of the city. Ludwiggian troops and all remaining civilians tried to flee the city as soon as they could, but thousands of civilians died in the explosion or the flames, as well as 237 Ludwiggian soldiers.
Battle of Hamstadt
As the fires in Sankt Elonzo extinguished themselves, Ludwiggian troops entered the city to find survivors and bury the dead. Without regard for whether a fallen man had belonged to their own troops, to the civilian population, to the Monovians or to the Siseranists, a proper and respectful burial was given to all who had been found. Even the evil High Priestess Elijahna was given a respectful Nazarene burial, and prayers were said for her soul. After most of the fallen had been buried, only the 6th division remained in the ruins of Sankt Elonzo and the other divisions were sent back to Sankt Ludwigshafen. As the soldiers told their relatives and friends about the events that had unfolded in Sankt Elonzo they could do little more than pray together and hope that the fallen were in a better place.
However, while the nation yearned for peace and healing, the pretender king Elonzo XIII had not been caught yet, as he had not been in the city. On 2.I.1708 a courier belonging to the Royal Guard of King Elonzo XIII was apprehended by the Dragonerkorps Ludwigshafen's 1st division in the Lanzerwald, southwest of Oudorp. He was travelling from the south carrying a letter from the pretender king himself, giving instructions to Siseranist insurgents north of the republic to prepare for an attack on Louisville in III.1708, the letter suggested that the Royal Guard of King Elonzo XIII and the Monovian Royal Army would attack Oudorp at the same time, in an attempt to surprise the Ludwiggians.
The Monovian atrocity at Sankt Elonzo meanwhile had won the Ludwiggians a certain measure of international sympathy. The Benacian Union had felt compelled to offer the donation of six Katzenklavier artillery pieces, and the production-run of cadet trainer aircraft it had previously obtained a licence for.
On 12.I.1708 the Dragonerkorps Ludwigshafen's 1st division encountered inhabitants of the ruins of Prins Haven who provided them with information on the location of King Elonzo XIII, who they said had established a dictatorship that ruled over the ruins of Prins Haven, Nieuw Rotterdam and Hamstadt. The latter city was said to act as capital of the rogue kingdom and when the Stadtholder Adam Rettich was informed about these facts he ordered an assault on the former capital of Zandarijn. The 3rd and 4th division of the Dragonerkorps Ludwgishafen were sent to scout the vicinity of Hamstadt. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd division of the Kriegskorps were also sent ahead to establish bases from which an assault could be performed, they brought the J-1 Lärm planes and Katzenklavier artillery with them, to level any defences the Monovians might have constructed. The planes were attached to the 1st division, the Katzenklavier artillery to the 2nd division.
As the 2nd division of the Kriegskorps reached the vicinity of Hamstadt in the north, they made contact with scouts belonging to the Royal Guard of King Elonzo XIII. In skirmishes, twenty scouts were killed and three Ludwiggians lost their lives as well. The 1st division took up a position west of Hamstadt, while the 3rd division established a base in the east. The dragoons which had scouted the city had found that it had been heavily fortified and that an infantry assault would be pointless and would result in the slaughter of any and all Ludwiggian troops that would participate in it. Major Gerhardt Streuß who was the commander of the 1st division and the primus inter pares of the division leaders recognised that a siege would have to be laid around the city. He sent an envoy to Stadt Sankt Ludwigshafen to request an additional division that could seal off Hamstadt in the south, as well as more J-1 Lärm planes, and had the dragoons patrol the woods to prevent supplies from being brought into the city.
At noon 7.II.1708 the city had been completely surrounded and Major Gerhardt Streuß sent one of his couriers to King Elonzo XIII with an offer to surrender to the Ludwiggian troops. The courier carried a white flag, signalling that it did not pose a threat to the Monovians, but was shot in his shoulder as he neared the city walls and returned hastily to Major Streuß. After consultation with the other majors, the bombardment of Hamstadt was started on 9.II.1708, at the sixth hour in the morning. First the Katzenklavier artillery pounded on the city, as well as a few dozen FLAK cannons that were manned by dragoons. After the artillery had shot its supply of ammunition, thirty planes were launched to perform their bombing raids on the city, they had not been given specific targets but were told to attack anything that looked like a threat. Five planes were lost in the first raid on the city that day, and another three were lost in a second raid in the afternoon.
The bombardment of the city was repeated according to the following pattern, the Katzenklavier would shoot its preloaded munitions, and at the same time the FLAK cannons would also fire. When the Katzenklavier had to be reloaded, the J-1 Lärm planes were sent in to continue the bombardment. Only on the first day of the bombardment were the Monovians able to return fire with their artillery, but their capabilities were wiped out by the second Katzenklavier salvo. On the second day the Monovians were only able to respond to the planes with small arms fire and the planes returned damaged, but only a single plane was lost on that day.
On 9.II.1708 a courier waving a white flag emerged from the city, and was brought to Major Gerhardt Streuß. He informed the major that the Monovians were willing to submit their arms to the Ludwiggian troops and requested be granted a safe departure from the city. Streuß accepted the surrender on the condition that King Elonzo XIII would be placed under arrest, only to learn that he had been murdered by his Siseranist accomplices the night before in a bizarre and gruesome ritual the night before. Monovian soldiers were allowed to leave the city in the west, surrendering any weapons they had on their bodies to the Kriegskorps, and were given a loaf of bread, a bottle of water and the blessing of a Ludwiggian Reformed preacher. As the Monovian soldiers had left the city, the 3rd division was sent in to find the remains of King Elonzo XIII and more importantly the Siseranist evil-doers that were suspected to still remain in the city. The 5th company was the first to reach the city hall, which had been decorated with Monovian flags and seemed to have been the palace of the late king. The company stormed the palace and found the dead and heavily mutilated body of the pretender king, but no trace of the Siseranists.
The next day, on the morning of 10.II.1708, the 4th company was instructed to search the marketplace in the ruins of Hamstadt, but got ambushed by Siseranist insurgents that had entrenched themselves in domestic properties formerly belonging to the city's patricians. Five soldiers were killed in the ambush before the rest of the 4th company could escape the trap. The 1st and 2nd company arrived as reinforcements just before noon and surrounded the patrician houses before attacking them with incendiary grenades. None of the Siseranists made an attempt to escape the fire, and thirty-five charred remains were found after the fire had razed the buildings to the ground.
Zandt insurgencies in Nieuw Rotterdam and Prins Haven
As news of the death of King Elonzo XIII reached the ruined cities of Nieuw Rotterdam and Prins Haven, the morale of the Monovian soldiers was lowered significantly. The remaining inhabitants of Zandarijn descent saw their opportunity and rose up against their oppressors. In the night of 7.III.1708 violent uprisings resulted in the death of at least forty Monovian soldiers and twenty-three citizens. The next morning the Monovian soldiers did not leave their fortifications to patrol the streets of these cities and the citizens were able to send an envoy out to the Ludwiggian troops that were occupying Hamstadt, asking them for weapons to overthrow the Monovians.
On 12.III.1708, after the fall of dusk, dragoons together with thirty donkeys carrying small arms weapons that had been surrendered by the Monovian soldiers following the Battle of Hamstadt arrived west of Prins Haven. The weapons were handed out to members of the Prins Haven Bevrijdingsleger which had been formed during the occupation of the city, but had not seen much action until now. After an accident with a firearm the dragoons decided that the Prins Haven Bevrijdingsleger was not ready to take on the Monovian occupiers, and they abandoned the initial plan to just provide arms to the citizens. Instead they decided to establish a training base twenty kilometres west of the city. Zandt volunteers were trained in firearm safety, marksmanship and basic tactics in a two-week course before returning to the city with light arms. While initially only volunteers from Prins Haven were enrolling in the course, from 23.III.1708 onwards also inhabitants from Nieuw Rotterdam joined the course.
