Cowboy Crisis

The Cowboy Crisis, also known as the Asteria-Tierrador War and/or the Winnecomac War, was an armed conflict which lasted from December 7, 1979 to October 4, 1983, between Tierrador and Asteria. The majority of fighting took place in the Tulangia and Ulunkheria regions. Asteria's initial objective in the Cowboy Crisis was to conquer as much Tierradorian land as they could. This included the provinces of Tawakee, Auxaca, and Sapaqo, with the penultimate goal of leveraging these gains to negotiate the integration of Ulunkheria and Tulangia into Asteria. The Cowboy Crisis was considered a proxy war, part of the much larger and more impactful South Cronan Narco Wars and the Occidental Cold War.

Asteria had formerly been a cluster of colonies controlled by Levantine power Faneria for 61 years, until the Asterian Revolution and the subsequent independence from Faneria. The city of Winnecomac had been taken in 1835 through spillovers in western Qabóri provinces, due to the large amount of Fanerian colonists taking refuge across the border. Following this, many smaller skirmishes have taken place throughout the city and across the borders of both nations. Until 1954, Tierrador did not officially recognize Asteria as an independent nation, mainly in-part due to the original capture of Winnecomac being considered an invasion, rather than the Asterian description of an "intervention to halt the presence of Fanerian oppressors." Under Pedro Gomez and Daniel W.K. Šaphiana, the Woqalate officially recognized Winnecomac as part of Asteria until the early 1970s, during which time Faneria, now under a republican government, began seeking closer ties with Asteria to create trade and influence inroads in western Crona through the former colony. The build-up to the crisis mostly began with reappearing disputes followed by Šaphiana's Revocation, which was the official rescinding of Tierradorian recognition of Asterian sovereignty over Winnecomac in 1974. Following this event, many confrontations began, starting between local police forces from the areas surrounding Winnecomac on both sides. This would eventually escalate into an armed conflict, with ADF troops, under the leadership of Asterian President Mitch Holcomb and ADF General Hotah Aranck, crossing the border into Ulunkheria on December 7, 1979.

Initially, Asteria sent about 15,000 troops, hoping to take the Tawakee Province in a swift manner. The Asterian Air Force had firebombed the cities of Sevier, Naqauba, and Waqolia, causing thousands of Tierradorian civilian casualties. These attacks had led to the condemnation of Asteria from the League of Nations. In response to the firebombing, Qaphenć Daniel W.K. Šaphiana called for all citizens of Tierrador to fight back against the Asterian invaders, in his infamous "Show No Mercy" speech. The ADF was met with fierce resistance from not just the TDF, but from various State Patrol squadrons in Tulangia along with guerrilla forces, comprised of former TDF soldiers and civilian firearm owners who felt an obligation to defend their country. Approximately one year into the war, the Asterian military presence in Tulangia and Ulunkheria had increased to approximately 46,000 troops and fighting across the region intensified; the complication of the war effort gradually inflicted a high cost on the Asterian as military, economic, and political resources became increasingly exhausted. Despite these complications, Asterian nationalism and domestic support had increased heavily.

The war had taken a swift turn in late 1981, as an attempted push of Ulunkheria from the north and west, dubbed the March to Prisamarina, had been ambushed by a coalition of TDF, State Patrol, and civilian guerrilla forces. This marked a pivotal turning point in the war, as it allowed for the Tierradorians to reorganize, in which they used this advantage to plan and execute a full-scale invasion of Asteria, which started with the recapture of Winnecomac, almost 150 years after the original invasion. This would be known as the "Great Pushback," and involved 101,000 TDF soldiers pushing towards the Asterian capital of Concordia, overrunning several major Asterian cities and military formations on the way. The war ended with the 1983 Asterian coup d'etat, and the removal of Mitch Holcomb from office, in favor of an ADF-led military junta which would last until 1987. Following the implementation of the new Asterian government, the Cowboy Crisis was officially ended on October 4, 1983, through the Naihungo Accords in Naihungo, Alcosky.

Disputes over Winnecomac
While there were many factors that caused and escalated the Cowboy Crisis, many agree that the continued disputes between Asteria and Tierrador was one of the root causes of the conflict. Winnecomac had been founded by settlers from the rogue Western Republic settlers in 1811, to serve as a midpoint between the nation and Fanerian settlements in Asteria. After the independence of Asteria in 1836, which subsequently included the capture of Winnecomac by Asterian forces, along with the fall of the Western Republic in the 1870s, tensions between Tierrador and the newly-founded Asterian state grew exponentially as the city of Winnecomac became an extremely important economic and political location. Several small skirmishes took place in the city during the late 1800s and the early 1900s, which persisted until the outbreak of the Second Great War, in which Tierrador began reducing its military attention towards Winnecomac in favor of the ongoing global conflict. Following the death of Woqala Satola Sanléc in 1953, her successor, Pedro Gomez, officially recognized Asteria as an independent nation, along with recognizing Winnecomac as rightful Asterian territory, citing the city having no use of importance towards the Woqalate. This caused mass outrage throughout the western regions of the country, as many took note to the sizable Native Cronan population residing within Winnecomac, whom were regarded as "victims of Asterian oppression." Regardless, Gomez stood by his affirmation, as to not cause tensions between the already-contrasting nations. During the 1960s, many Tierradorian citizens expressed their discontent with Winnecomac being under full Asterian control. Despite relations being neutral between the two nations, the onset of Tierrador's immigration and illicit drug crisis caused the border between them to be heavily guarded, as to make it more difficult for cartels to smuggle illegal narcotics to and from Tierrador. This made lawful civilian movement within the nations an extremely difficult process.

Illicit trade to and from Tierrador
Another catalyst for the Cowboy Crisis would be the consistent illegal narcotics trade, which took place throughout the many border regions of Tierrador. The onset of the South Cronan Narco Wars mostly preoccupied the Gomez-led Woqalate, and so there was heightened security measures taken across all borders. Despite this, the illegal trade and smugglings persisted, and would typically escalate into armed conflicts, such as the Mosquito War. Ironically, Gomez had stated in 1977, 2 years before the outbreak of the Cowboy Crisis, that an armed conflict similar to the Mosquito War was "not an ideal outcome," and he had advised high-ranking members of the Woqalate to take measures to avoid armed conflict over the black market. On September 2, 1979, a Tulangia State Patrol outpost in Hariqo, a small town located fifteen miles from Winnecomac, seized and confiscated a 1964 Sardan Stinger sedan, and discovered several tons of marijuana, which had been outlawed in Tierrador at the time. Tulangia Governor George Lamaqal had originally claimed the narcotics smuggling to be state-sponsored by the Asterian Government, a claim which eventually would be debunked by the State Bureau of Security. Regardless, with increased smuggling from the Winnecomac area, it would eventually raise suspicions of the Asterian side of the border.

Naval operations
Knock yourself out burg

Foreign participation
Prior to and during the invasion, Asteria was a major importer of arms from the growing military complex being rebuilt in Faneria. This included large quantities of small arms ammunition and artillery shells, but more impactfully included RADAD and reconnaisance systems, large-bore cannon, and whole personnel carrier systems which Asterian industry either could not produce at scale or simply could not produce, which significantly enabled the ADF to weather extended combat for far longer than it could have sustained alone.