Stenzan War of Independence: Difference between revisions

The '''Stenzan War of Independence''', called the '''Tau Mo le Saolotoga''' (Fight for Freedom) in Stenzan, was a defining moment in the history of [[Stenza]] in which the country gained independence from its colonial overlord, [[Corumm|Qian Corumm]]. The war can be defined in two phases, a fight between guerillas and pro-government security forces between 1907 and 1919, and a full scale revolt leading to open warfare between 1919 and 1921. The war was eventually decided by the [[Battle of Xīwàng]] (current day Faamoemoe) a decisive Stenzan victory that led to peace being signed between a newly independent Stenzan state and its former Corummese overlords. This was followed by two major events, namely the [[Exile of the Humiliated|Corummese retreat from the island]] and the [[Stenzan Civil War]].

The Stenzan puppet state, headed by the aging Governor-General Noa Zhu and his Corummese advisors, possessed a relatively modern Corummese-equipped army. This army, called the Stenzan Security Force, consisted of Corummese officers and leaders commanding Stenzan junior officers and enlisted men. The colonial forces drew the majority of its officer corps from the northern districts which were more heavily populated by ethnic Corummese people, while the common soldiery was mostly of Polynesian background. While apparently formidable in paper, it would be readily apparent that the force was not prepared to combat a determined insurgency, suffering from desertions, leaks of operational information and corruption.

Apart from this force, a relatively small force of regular Corummese troops called the [[Xiwang Army]] was also present, its numbers having dwindled since the 1890s thanks to the relative peace in the country. With the Stenzan Security Force seeming competent enough, the Corummese government in Stenza saw no need to maintain a large Corummese military garrison if the colonial forces could maintain security on their own. The increasingly intense guerrilla war, the hostility of much of the population and the constant unreliability of the colonial security force would lead the metropolitan authorities to greenlight a much larger deployment of Corummese regulars to bolster the combat power of the [[Xiwang Army]]. Additionally men from the loyalist northern districts would instead be recruited to the regular army, away from the local security force.