Arcer Bush Wars

The Arcer Bush Wars were a series of military conflicts that occured from the initial Carnish settlements in Arcerion being raided by Indigenous tribes to the prolonged campaigns by the Arcer Militia and Regular Forces to establish a Gaelic and Anglic colony in South Crona by pushing further inland and defending Arcer settlements.

Arcer Bush Wars
Part of Arcer Colonial Expansion
Photos from the Arcer Bush Wars (Clockwise from top left); Carnish settlers defend Fort Moorden in 1798 as part of the First Bush War; Members of 1st Battalion, Royal Arcerion Regiment in 1848 defend their position against an indigenous assault on the Easthampton Settlement during the Second Bush War; Members of the Royal Easthampton Borderers skirmish with native irregulars during the Third Bush War; Infantrymen from the Northlea Rifle Regiment evacuate wounded personnel in a remote part of Northlea in 1968 as part of the Fourth Bush War
Date First Bush War: 1 April 1794 - 3 March 1801 Second Bush War: 4 September 1839 - 11 August 1850 Third Bush War: 22 December 1898 - 6 March 1904 Fourth Bush War: 5 June 1964 - 15 October 1975 Location Crona Result Arcer Victory; Arcerion established as Angle-dominated country in South Crona, indidgenous peoples migrated to Kelekona, Telokona, Titechaxha, Washakara Territorial changes Expansion of Arcerion into Indigenous Heartland Territorial boundaries of Arcerion established by end of Third Bush War to modern-day borders
Belligerents
Arcerion	Indigenous peoples Washakara Kelekona

History

First Bush War (1794-1801)

Kurst + Chester-on-Moore as small colonies, kicks off and the Arco colony is small, by end of war nearly doubled the land owned by the settlement

Second Bush War (1839-1850)

Establishment of Kinnaird, Easthampton, and Craigfearn has occured, Moorden borders mostly done, South end of Norham is established. War is the main driver into Northlea and has the "River" campaign into the heartland

Third Bush War (1898-1904)

Norham fully established, same with Moorden. masive campaign to push Northlea to its current boundaires, and the landings and colonizing of Foxhey happened in the 1880s

Fourth Bush War (1964-1975)

Operational areas as designated by the Arcerion Armed Forces Headquarters in 1966 as part of the Fourth Bush War.

The Fourth Bush War was a prolonged conflict on the Arcerion border, involving multiple insurgent, guerrilla, or irregular factions, indirectly or directly supported by Telokona, Kelekona, and Titechaxha. It heavily involved all three branches of the Arcerion Armed Forces, and including the rapid rise of modern special forces with the Arcerion Commando Regiment taking a prominent role with its cross-border raids and the Arcerion Rangers conducting long-range patrols behind the operational area.

Causes

Members of the Arcerion Commando Regiment exfiltrate from a long range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) into the Operation Terrace zone, May 1968.

The Fourth Bush War began from consistent Arcer farming exports causing a massive economic collapse in Telokona during the spring of 1964, where it was unable to compete with the higher quality and more readily available Arcer grain products. Seeking to destabilize the ability of the Arcer government and its economic power, Telokona began providing arms, supplies, and training to the Free Telokonese People's Movement (FTPM), a socialist group operating in the Innis River Basin (IRB). Continued economic expansion by Arcerion, including the opening of a major shopping port in the city of Oakham, led to an increases in Telokonese support for insurgent forces attacking farmers and rail lines. In solidarity, and seeing the opportunity to cripple or damage a strategic rival, Kelekona and Titechaxha also began mirroring this process, and by 1966 there was a sharp rise in not only attacks on farms, farmers, and rail infrastructure, but government buildings and key civil infrastructure.

Forces

Arcerion

The Arcer Armed Forces at this time were undergoing a period of austerity and force reduction in the wake of the Second Great War. With no major strategic enemies, only regional rivals, the Army had shrunk to its smallest size since 1900, and had only five regular army brigades, with the rest being reserve status or on "short activation" status, wherein for all intents and purposes they were reserve brigades. The Arcer Air Fore also was struggling with budget cuts and austerity measures, as its ability to bring in newer fighter jets, helicopters, and modern radar systems was limited not only due to federal funding, but due to their chronic manning shortages caused by a strong private and public sector employment strategy, making military service the least attractive option at the time. The Royal Arcer Navy played a more limited role in the conflict, but was able to conduct its primary function of ship interdiction and helping to stem the flow of supplies to Kelekona and Telekona through their ports and weapons smuggling ships. Over the course of the war, the Army would introduce new tactics and techniques, as well as modern weaponry for the infantry and supporting arms, and the Air Force would revitalize its rotoary-wing asets and close-air-support platforms. By the war's end, the Army was at a standing eight brigades, with a ninth undergoing readiness and evaluation trials, with companies of reservists regularly deploying into the area of operations for shorter 3-month deployments. New air bases, increased fire control systems, and modern innovations such as precision munitions and early examples of laser-designation and night fighting equipment were all introduced into the Arcer Armed Forces during this period.

Irregular and Guerilla Forces

Originally the Free Telokonese People's Movement (FTPM) was several hundred strong, but by the war's end would number in the thousands. It would soon have a more militant and radical communist offshoot, the Telokonan Worker's Army for a Free Crona (TWAFC). In the smallest operational zone, Operation Kiln, Kelekona supported the Kelekonan Militia for Free Indigenous People (KMFIP). The largest operational area was reflected by the fact that there was three separate terrorist organizations operating there, all supported by Titechaxhan intelligence and security forces. The Free Indigenous Army (FIA), Movement for a Liberated Aboriginal People (MLAP), and the Riverland Tribe Worker's Party (RTWP) numbered by the late-1960s into the thousands. These forces varied widely in terms of equipment, training, experience, and leadership. In general, they were effective as a decentralized quasi-insurgent force. Unable to secure popular support from the Arcer populace en masse, these groups resorted to brutal acts of violence and further isolated themselves from both the native indigenous populations as well as naturalized Arco citizens. As a regular fighting force trying to engage Arcer units in conventional battles, they were quickly destroyed by a combination of artillery fire, air strikes, and aggressive counter attacks by the tactically and operationally superior Arcer units. However, leadership, particularly in the Operation Teflon zones were adept at guerrilla fighting and insurgent-like tactics, making it incredibly difficult to ensure all Arcer farmrs and key points were protected, owing to the long length of the Fourth Bush War.

War

Early Stages

The Innis River Basin, marked in red.

The first recorded attack on an Arcer farm occurred on April 3rd, 1964. The farmstead of the MacIntyre family was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades, small arms fire, with insurgents burning their crops and setting fire to several of their out buildings, such as their barn. The local police, unable to handle the situation, quickly requested help from the Army, who deployed members of 9 Rifle Brigade to respond. Members of the Norham Light Infantry conducted clearance operations along the Lower Innis River, finding evidence of several camps and what they estimated to be several dozen fighters that had since left the area. The Arcer Government convened a special security meeting, and it was decided that they would provide additional security measures by permanently stationing two companies of infantry forward, in what later would become Firebase Emily. The encampment had 105mm howitzers provided by 9 Rifle Brigade's artillery battery, and the two infantry companies spent the rest of April conducting patrols and search-and-seizure operations on indigenous farms in the area trying to find sympathizers.

Subsequent attacks in the nearby area included the deaths of at least five Arcer citizens, one of which was a young child, and this prompted the government to deploy the entirety of 9 Rifle Brigade into the area. By the end of 1964, 9 Rifle Brigade was expecting the arrival of 7 Rifle Brigade from Easthampton. However, as Christmas of 1964 approached, guerilla attacks were now occurring multiple times a week within the Innis River Basin, and every rifle company had experienced a significant amount of skirmishes with guerillas. Concurrent to this, members of the Office of Public Safety and National Security were reporting back on the Telekonan support for the Free Telokonese People's Movement. This prompted the Arcer government to invite the Governor-General for Norham Governorate Adam Wilson, to the Confederate Parliament for an emergency session in December of 1964. Wilson stated emphatically that they required additional support from the Army, and they were struggling to ensure commerce and civil services such as ambulance and fire service, or hydroelectric line maintenance teams could operate freely without becoming harassed by guerillas or bands of marauders. The Arcer government announced the start of Operation Terrace, the permanent deployment of security forces to Norham Governorate, on December 24th, 1964. The following day, the first attacks were recorded in the Titechaxha-Arcerion border, which would soon prompt further deployments.

Gunners from H Battery, Royal Regiment of Arcerion Horse Artillery fire a 105mm howitzer in support of troops-in-contact in the spring of 1965 from Firebase Emily.

Operation Terrace

Declared an operation on December 24th, 1964, the mission was simply to end guerilla activity in Norham and Northlea Governorates, assist civil authorities with the protection of key infrastructure such as water treatment facilities, hydroelectric stations, rail lines, and centers of civil authority. Under the command of Colonel Harry "Brock" Tomlinson, the initial phases were the expansion of a series of bases to patrol and operate out of. The largest of the bases in the Terrace zone of operations was Firebase Emily, located at the junction of the Innis and Lower Innis Rivers. It accommodated at its largest point, two six-gun 105mm howitzer batteries, sufficient landing facilities for a dozen helicopters, and enough lodgings for between 800-1,200 men. Tomlinson, the commanding officer of 9 Rifle Brigade, ensured that from these bases the Brigade would patrol, harass and engage Telokonese forces throughout the Innis River Basin. The winter months' wet, rainy, and cool temperatures ensured little fighting and while farmers planted their fields, a second guerilla force began to appear. First indications of the establishment of the Telokonan Worker's Army for a Free Crona was gleaned from an Arcerion Commando Regiment raid in February. After overrunning a guerilla encampent on February 14th, 1965, captured enemy documents and information gleaned from captured prisoners revealed that the encampment did not belong to the FTPM, but rather their new, more aggressive offshoot. Post-mission analysis would reveal that even within the Telekonese-sponsored groups, there was infighting between them, and regular skirmishes.

Firebase Emily, Norham Governorate, 1968.

1965 saw a steady increase of violence throughout the summer fighting season, with 9 Rifle Brigade taking its first casualties in March, with a trio of riflemen from the Norham Light Infantry being killed when responding to a 'call-out' mission, rapidly attempting to reach a sighting or contact area reported to engage enemy forces. They were the first casualties from battle on Arcer soil since the end of the Second Great War. 9 Rifle Brigade also began preparing to receive additional groups of reserve soldiers, with members of 51 and 52 Rifle Brigades taking over base security and aid to civil authority duties by the end of the year.

1966 saw an increase in attacks and also more Arcer casualties. By now, "call-outs" were a daily occurrence, with some instances of soldiers conducting multiple call-outs a day becoming more common. Firebase Emily by this time had turned into a small town, and additional reinforcements from 7 Rifle Brigade were being brought in to help patrol the thick jungle and forests of the Innis River Basin. 1966 however saw a continued rise in Arcer casualties, especially with the continued prevalence of mines and booby-traps. Allegations of detained prisoners abuse began to circulate, however investigations by the Royal Arcer Provost Corps found that there were no instances of prisoner abuse, but two privates in the Norham Light Infantry were disciplined for keeping looted items from enemy encampments.

Widespread combat and pitched battles became more common in 1967, with the Norham Light Infantry accommodating the Norham Foot Grenadiers, who arrived during the summer and with engineers from 9 Combat Engineer Regiment began construction on Firebase Dorothy. The Norham Foot Grenadiers took their first casualties in August, when a supply convoy from 9 Service Battalion was ambushed, leading to many wounded soldiers and eighteen being killed, to that point the single largest loss of life in a single day of the conflict. 1967 also saw the increased use of helicopters, which helped to bring ammunition, water, food, and medical supplies to forward-deployed soldiers and evacuate wounded ones.

In the spring of 1968, the Northern portions of Norham Governorate and the Western portions of Northlea were arguably the most dangerous places to live in Crona. Arcer farmers regularly engaged in gun battles to defend their families and properties as hundreds of insurgents continued to roam the countryside, razing farms and killing local citizenry that didn't cow to them. It also represented the first time

Operation Terrace Statistics

Year	Reported Attacks	Estimated EKIA	Arcerion Casualties
1964	22	27	0
1965	113	198	3
1966	179	288	38
1967	248	466	177
1968	345	754	190
1969	399	1,199	265
1970	524	2,158	321
1971	467	1,835	176
1972	451	1,797	152
1973	320	976	104
1974	290	868	53
1975	80	556	29
Total	3,438	11,122	1,508

Legacy

legacy stuff

In Popular Culture

At least 1 movie a la Zulu

At least 1 movie Vietnam-ish

documentary about first bush war

reenactments of first bush war