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=== Naval battles === | === Naval battles === | ||
==== Imperial blockade ==== | ==== Imperial blockade ==== | ||
Beginning in late 1897 the Imperial Naval Fleet and Regal Navy formed a blockade of the ports of the state of Gassavelia, denying the Legitimists a sea route to the heart of Urcea. Repeated attempts by the nascent Navy of Burgundie failed as their command structure squabbled and frittered away any advantage with petty jealousies. The spring of 1898 did not prove to be much more successful. Three landings were started in March and April but were all repulsed as Caphirian squadrons were rushed to the scene. While the Imperial Naval Fleet and Regal Navy were small and outdated individually, their command staff were more amicable internally than their Burgoignesc counterparts, making them a formidable force in those circumstances. Furthermore, Burgundie's reliance on massive militarized Extreme clipper ships were perfectly suited to the open seas but were awful in the littoral environments of the blockade. While fast, their size made them impossible blockade runners. In short, the smaller, shallow-draft Caphirian ships were perfectly suited to hiding in coves and inlets and popping out that the last second to surprise Burgoignesc landing parties. | Beginning in late 1897 the Imperial Naval Fleet and Regal Navy formed a blockade of the ports of the state of Gassavelia, denying the Legitimists a sea route to the heart of Urcea. Repeated attempts by the nascent Navy of Burgundie failed as their command structure squabbled and frittered away any advantage with petty jealousies. The spring of 1898 did not prove to be much more successful. Three landings were started in March and April but were all repulsed as Caphirian squadrons were rushed to the scene. While the Imperial Naval Fleet and Regal Navy were small and outdated individually, their command staff were more amicable internally than their Burgoignesc counterparts, making them a formidable force in those circumstances. Furthermore, Burgundie's reliance on massive militarized Extreme clipper ships were perfectly suited to the open seas but were awful in the littoral environments of the blockade. While fast, their size made them impossible blockade runners. In short, the smaller, shallow-draft Caphirian ships were perfectly suited to hiding in coves and inlets and popping out that the last second to surprise Burgoignesc landing parties. | ||
==== Imperial commerce raiding ==== | ==== Imperial commerce raiding ==== | ||
As the war dragged to a standstill Caphiria looked to further frustrate the efforts of the Legitimists. Taking a page from Burgundie's experience in the Kiro-Burgundian Wars the Imperial Naval Fleet converted or purpose-built a flotilla of commerce raiders which was tasked with interdicting and sometimes taking Burgoignesc colonial avisos as prizes. Flotilla 557 was initially authorized to operate in the Sea of Canete and the Sea of Istroya, on June 13, 1899. These raiders were steam-powered, propeller-driven torpedo boats which traveled with a pair of tenders and a 3-pack of submarines. Flotilla 557 carried away over one million tons of goods heading to Levantia in the second half of 1899. In 1900 a second and third grouping called Flotilla 594 and Expeditionary Squadron-Far West were assembled, the former to supplement 557 and expand its range into the Founders Sea and the latter to engage the Merchant Marine of Burgundie in the Southern Odoneru Ocean. Expeditionary Squadron-Far West was unique in that it maintained a much larger logistics component to fit its mission parameters extending as far away as Crona. The armada consisted of 48 commerce raiders, 18 torpedo gunboats, 12 submarines, and a variety of support ships. Instead of working as a singlar unit, in order to cover more of the vast Odonero Ocean, the Squadron would subdivide into smaller scouting parties searching for sails. The men of the Far West Squadron were chosen from retiring sailing ships who could anticipate the Burgoignesc captain's decisions based on the wind and outmaneuver them with their steamships. | |||
==== Battle of Abylf Steppe ==== | |||
In January 1901 the only true naval engagement of the war occurred. The Imperial Naval Fleet was retiring for the winter but was caught by a large contingent of Burgoignesc counter-commerce raiders. The two forces hammered each other for thirty-seven hours until the Navy of Burgundie ships ran out of ammunition and the remaining Imperial Naval Fleet ships limped home. A fifth of the Imperial Naval Fleet's combat ships had been sunk, crippled, or disabled. Necessitating a total reenvisioning of the Imperial Naval Fleet. While naval strategy would not rise to the level of a priority again until after the Great War, the lessons of the Red Interregnum are the foundation of the Imperial Naval Fleet's blue water navy today. Alternatively, the single and decisive victory for the Navy of Burgundie stalled further development of the pre-Dreadnought battleship as the military extreme clipper proved king among lesser foe until the War of Faskano Strait in the 1910s. | |||
===Overland Campaign=== | |||
{{Main|Overland Campaign}} | |||
The Legitimists and allied forced envisioned a two pronged offensive into [[Urcea]], with the eastern prong being a "lake run" - a quick offensive by forces of [[Burgundie]] through [[Burgundiemarch]] to the [[Magnag]]. Control of this narrow corridor would allow allied forces to land across the Magnag in [[Ardricampus]] and contest control of the Magnag and Canete Railroad, the main east-west method of transportation through the [[Urcean frontier]]. Control of Ardricampus and the railroad, as well as a victorious campaign in the west to take Cana and the Callan and Cana Railroad, would allow allied forces to bisect Urcea and have access to the [[The Valley (Urcea)|Urcean valley]] at multiple points, making a campaign against [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] easier. Unfortunately for the allies, Burgundiemarch was heavily defended with static defenses, and what was intended to be a quick campaign resulted in a long and ultimately unsuccessful slow march west. Allied forces, after a breakthrough, got within 50 miles of the Magnag but got no further before the campaign was ultimately called off in March 1901. | |||
===Cana Campaign=== | |||
{{Main|Fall of Cana}} | |||
The western prong of the two pronged offensive would involve an amphibious attack on the major city of [[Cana]], which would provide a major port in [[Urcea]] itself from which offensive operations could continue. | |||
=== | ===Antonine Campaign=== | ||
With [[Cana]] having fallen to allied troops in late spring 1901, securing the road to [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] from [[Cana]] across the [[Urcean frontier]] became the next vital strategic objective. The Antonine Campaign focused on seizing control of the Callan and Cana Railroad and ancient ''Via Antonia'', the primary land routes from Cana into the [[The Valley (Urcea)|Urcean valley]]. | |||
== Republic == | == Republic == | ||