Second Great War: Difference between revisions

| caption          = Clockwise from top left; [[Burgundie|Burgoignesc]] infantry in the [[Audonia]]n desert; Occidental civilians massacred by [[Corumm]]ese forces; [[Faneria]]n troops walk through ruined [[Fiannria]]n city; [[Battle of the Adonáire Strait]]; [[Dericania]]n city following extensive strategic bombing; [[Caphiria]]n submarines on patrol

:{{flagicon image|CEmpire1.png}} [[Corumm]]

The conflict, primarily between the [[Levantia and Odoneru Treaty Association]] and its allies (collectively referred to as the "Allies") and a loosely aligned set of anti-Levantine countries, including and especially [[Caphiria]], [[Corumm]] and [[Faneria]], was fought for various reasons which depended largely on the particular combatant and theater. The Levantine theater was largely fought over the continued existence of the [[Holy Levantine Empire]], as well as the borders of its northernmost nation, [[Fiannria]]. The Sarpedonic theater focused on Caphirian hegemony, both contemporary and planned, and was driven in part by the theory of [[Levantine Creep]]. In [[Alshar]] and [[Audonia]], [[Burgundie|Burgoinesc]] colonialism was the central factor which drove fighting. Together, these disparate issues broadly categorized the two competing sides into "pro-Levantine" and "anti-Levantine" factions, though these classifications are generalizations and should not be considered definitive descriptions of the motivations or extent of each faction.

The proclamation of a unified Deric state caused significant concern in [[Vilauristre]], causing [[Burgundie]] to issue an official proclamation denouncing the Deric Republic on the afternoon of 29 March. The proclamation did not, however, commit Burgundie to any particular course of action; though the Derians were sworn enemies of the Burgoignesc people, the nation was completely unprepared for war and traditionally maintained a very small military presence in [[Levantia]] vis a vis its overseas possessions. Despite this semi-neutral position, the relative weakness of Burgundie at the moment of the uprising as well as historic enmity led Derian militias, particularly from Lapody, to begin small incursions into eastern Burgundie on 4 April. In some places, the incursions took the form of a disciplined military occupation, but in most places it was paired with atrocities against ethnically [[Bergendii]] civilians. On 8 April, the Great Prince met with senior advisors from the [[Army of Burgundie]] who told him the small [[Army_of_Burgundie#Metropole_Forces|Metropole Forces]] would not be able to retain control of most of the country and that it would take time to redeploy its considerable colonial forces from [[Alshar]] and [[Audonia]]. Accordingly, they were pulled back to a defensive position within the [[Belrac caldera]] with [[National Gendarmerie of Burgundie|National Gendarmerie]] forces joining them, functionally conceding the northernmost part of the country to the advancing Republican Front forces. On 9 April, the Great Prince issued a formal request to Emperor [[Brian IV of Urcea|Brian VIII]] asking for Imperial forces to intervene. The Emperor granted this request and, with the approval of the [[Government of Urcea|Urcean government]], redirected [[XII Corps (Urcea)|XII Corps]] of the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal and Imperial Army]] from western Rhotia to eastern Burgundie, arriving there within a matter of days. XII Corps and the small Metropole Forces managed to solidify the defenses of the caldera and expand outward from its passes, reclaiming some of northeastern Burgundie. On 10 April, the Great Prince ordered the gradual redeployment of the [[Army_of_Burgundie#Foreign_Legion|Foreign Legion]] to Levantia, intended to be rotated out gradually in order to avoid the appearance of weakness in its colonial possessions. These redeployments were discovered by [[Corumm]]ese intelligence beginning in July 1934, and such redeployments later in the year would inaugurate the [[Second_Great_War#Burgoignesc_weakness|beginning of the Eastern Theater of the war]] in September. A general mobilization was declared in Burgundie also on 10 April. On 20 April, Urcea and Burgundie signed the Pact of the Sea of Istroya, referred to as the "Istroya Pact", which pledged common cause in this war and also allowed for later integrations of the militaries and economic apparatuses of both countries. After the war, this Pact would form the basis of the [[Levantine Union]].

As of 2 January [[1935]], it was evident to leadership in [[Caphiria]] that the [[Ten Year Plan (Caphiria)|Ten Year Plan]] was proceeding more or less exactly as envisioned. The [[Urcea]]n [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal and Imperial Army]] was nearly entirely tied down in [[Dericania]] putting down the [[Deric Republic|Deric Republican revolution]] there. Its primary allies, [[Fiannria]] and [[Burgundie]], both faced existential threats in [[Levantia]] and abroad. It appeared the moment had arrived to execute the primary thrust of the Plan, the invasion of [[Talionia]]. Caphirian forces had been preparing for some time in [[Urlazio]] and were ready to begin an offensive. The decision to launch said offensive was ultimately tied up in several assumptions. At this point in the fighting, Caphirian leaders viewed it as basically assured that Urcea would not fight to reclaim Talionia if it were overrun. Additionally, though the Ten Year Plan had accounted for them being included in the war, Caphiria did not believe [[Cartadania]] and [[Pelaxia]] would intervene on behalf of the allies. The reasons for this are hotly debated among historians and unclear in correspondence and surviving official documents from the time, but it appears that both [[Galdo Bertocca]] and [[Magasevetus]] believed that the greatly weakened Burgundie presented too much of a risk to Cartadania and Pelaxia. Additionally, it seems that Caphirian intelligence had determined neither nation were mobilizing despite officially being at war in [[Alshar]] and [[Audonia]] with [[Corumm]], suggesting that their political and social will to support Burgundie was lukewarm at best. Accordingly, Caphiria deviated from the Ten Year Plan and deployed many forces intended to protect its western border in Urlazio instead, hoping that the additional concentration of forces would allow Talionia to be overrun quickly.

Due to the [[Second_Great_War#Burgundie_falters|ongoing military crisis]] in [[Burgundie]] beginning with the general Derian uprising in spring [[1934]], Burgundie required large numbers of men redeployed to Levantia. These redeployments, staged in such a way as to appear to be cycling men and arms out for normal duty, managed to evade detection until July 1934, when [[Corumm]]ese intelligence services managed to deduce that garrisons throughout Burgoignesc eastern possessions were drastically reduced. At the 2 August meeting of the Nationalist Association of the Orient leaders, the Daxian delegates presented their findings and argued that it was the perfect time to strike, especially given the divided attention of the Burgoignesc. The Association Council reached a split decision, with the Council resolving to reinvestigate the matter next month to see how the situation in Dericania unfolded. Undeterred, the Daxian government informed [[Venceia]] that the Council had, in fact, resolved to go to war, and that urgent supplies of arms and money were required. Throughout August, large shipments arrived in [[Zaclaria]] from [[Caphiria]] and were distributed among the various parts of the Association by Daxian agents, with a plurality of resources being taken by the Daxian themselves. On 20 August, the Daxian government determined to launch a secret program of mobilization, as the government decided it would go to war against Burgundie alone if the Council refused.  

On 28 September 1934, Corumm issued a declaration of war on [[Burgundie]] on behalf of itself and the Nationalist Association of the Orient, revealing the existence of the latter to the public. Due to their agreement of [[1929]], both [[Cartadania]] and [[Pelaxia]] declared war on Corumm and its allies on 30 September, but pledged only limited resources due to ongoing concerns about Caphiria. Urcea honored the terms of the Istroya Pact it had signed earlier in the year and declared war on 1 October, immediately deploying [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] assets to [[Antilles]].

The "main" powers of the Nationalist Association, chiefly [[Corumm]], spent the early months preparing for a full offensive in December, the peak of campaign season in Alshar and Audonia. Although relatively inactive in the first months of the war in the east, Corumm began shelling [[Ayermer]] forty five minutes after the declaration of war was proclaimed. Local concentration of forces essentially allowed the Daxian to blockade the island, putting it under a state of siege. Lifting this early siege became the top priority of the [[Navy of Burgundie]] in early October 1934.

Although stretched thin on land, the complete lack of a Derian naval force combined with the supremacy of the [[Urcea]]n [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] in and around [[Levantia]] ensured that [[Burgundie]] had a plethora of naval assets to dispose of by the time war in the east broke out in September 1934. Accordingly, a massive share of Burgundie's naval forces were diverted from the Occident and locations abroad to the [[Middle seas region]], with a portion of those committed to keeping sea lanes between [[Levantia]] and the east open for both commerce and military purposes. By late October 1934, sufficient operational strength had been mustered to allow the [[Navy of Burgundie]] to begin offensive operations in various places, as well as stationing small flotillas around its coastal strongpoints to provide heavy artillery support. A major portion of the navy's offensive capacity were sent in the first week of November to [[Ayermer]], where it destroyed a smaller force of [[Corumm]]ese ships and lifted the month-long siege of the island. On 14 November, a Daxian defeated a Burgoignesc force to a draw near Salarive, requiring additional ships to move to the south Middle seas area to ward off the Daxian navy. For the remainder of 1934 and early 1935, the Daxian and Burgoignesc navies largely skirmished without a decisive engagement. The arrival of [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] ships at [[Antilles]] plus additional Urcean ships guarding the sea lanes gradually allowed the Navy of Burgundie to shift more of its ships to the combat theater.

On 14 December 1934, the [[Corumm]]ese Army launched an invasion of [[Pukhgundi]], one of the few "loyalist" states in the Burgoignesc eastern sphere. The invasion, launched over land, was initially very successful, with Pukhgundian and Burgoignesc forces pushed back from the border with heavy losses as of 1 January. The Daxian force outnumbered the allied forces nearly 2-to-1, requiring allied command to concede most of the country and pull back to Pukhgundi's southwestern peninsula. There, a strong line of defense combined with naval support fire stopped the advance, and Daxian forces switched over to the defensive.

Zaclaria entering the eastern war essentially amounted to a Caphirian eastern escalation of the conflict. Caphirian military assets stationed in Zaclaria, as well as the native [[Zaclaria#Military|Zaclarian military]] greatly expanded [[Audonia#Daria|Daria]] as a theater of conflict. Together with belligerent [[Umardwal#Modern_period|Umardwal]] which recently seized a Burgoignesc possession, the Caphiro-Zaclarian forces posed a serious threat both to Burgoignesc interests in nominally neutral [[Bulkh]] as well as the Burgoignesc islands of [[Chaukira]]. Despite Daria becoming a warzone, the entrance of Caphiria and Zaclaria into this theater became a net positive for Burgundie, as it induced Urcea to commit a significantly larger portion of the [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] to the eastern theater of the war. By late February 1935, the allies established naval supremacy in the sea lanes between east and west. The large Levantine naval presence in the east, although largely comprised of older ships, required the [[Corumm]]ese navy to end its skirmish policy, instead shifting to a policy of opportunistic engagement with select segments of the Levantine navies.