Operation Sunrise
"Rarely are the motives for war just, but Operation Sunrise is one of those outliers. Shocked by the degenerate atrocities committed by the dusk elven empire, factions that barely had any positive relations with one another all rallied under the same clause: put an end to the cruelty of the dusk elven empire. The Dracholmian Union, Iron Union, Republic of Ancient Races, and the Drosden Fleet united against the dusk elven empire and declared war, with the public firmly behind them." - Jeslorian history book
"The reason it took so long for the war to be declared, and subsequentially actually get started is mainly because of red tape between factions. Even when war was finally declared it took several hundreds of years for fighting to scale to anything beyond just skirmishes." - Jeslorian history book
The Conflict
Prelude
The prelude to the war is often cited as the imperial invasion of the sunset isles, neutral territory, which would retroactively be labelled as a war crime. Their primary casus belli, however, would be their treatment of national hero Sylvia Sunshard whose letter was discovered which detailed the horrid degeneracy of the empire. News reported on it and the outrage was nearly global, reaching even imperial homelands (something KRAKEN made use of). It all really started when before they were deployed on their infamous fatal mission, Sylvia made one last ditch effort to reach the authorities of Jeslore, by having Tower deliver a letter to the king of Linnesse who he essentially had a friendship with. As the king was busy with boatloads of correspondence, he didn't get to it until well after Sylvia had fallen during the mission, but when he did read it he was outraged. He shared this outrage with other members of the Dracholmian Union and eventually almost every superpower of Jeslore was aware and disgusted by the actions of the empire. Unfortunately due to logistical difficulties, communication errors and red tape it took a while for the declaration of war to actually be announced while the empire leisurely invaded the continent above Dracholm. Even then, it took up to 500 years for fighting to become anything more than skirmishes.
The Engagement
The war happens in 4 parts:
For a long time absolutely nothing happened as both sides were apprehensive about going for an all out attack.
Doomsday (1780 - 1800)
The war started quite sour for the united expeditionary forces, as the empire had already landed in the content above them in their conquest of land many years ago, so they didn't have to try too hard to land soldiers in Bylyn and begin their conquest of Dracholm a bit early. Unfortunately they had to deal with the dwarves who unlike the rest of Dracholm had already developed rudimentary guns such as break open double barrel shotguns and rifled muskets, whereas these advance troops had not even begun using firearms yet. The dwarves fiercely defended every inch of land and were pushed back to their capital, Aergique. If Aergique fell, the empire would be up against the much less advanced armies of the Linnessians and children of the fire and Dracholm likely would have fell.
The United Expeditionary Force did catch a lucky break, as the crashed alien race, the Cykx were concerned about the empire and negotiations had begun in the Bylian border town Eisenzing with regard to the Eisenzing Treaty which among other things ruled that the stranded Cykx would share blueprints of weapons that the Dracholmian task force has not discovered yet over the course of the war in exchange for future compliance with Cykx dominion requests and good faith towards the faction as a whole. It was met with some controversy, but it was signed just 3 weeks before the empire planned to launch an all out assault on the dwarven capital. Cut from their allies, the dwarves of Aergique had already been busy to create a war vehicle the likes of which had never been seen before: tanks. Dwarves in Linnesse on the other hand began working hard on a new unit that they would use to cut down the imperial army as they attacked Aergique.
The day of the assault arrived, and imperials threw themselves at the turrets protecting the city walls, but they could not hold them off for much longer. Then when dawn broke, on a hill behind the city the imperials spotted several figures headed towards them. The Death Angels had arrived. They must have assumed it was their reinforcements until they opened fire on them and to their horror the bullets of this new unit punched clean through even their heaviest armour. As expected, the empire refused to retreat until the dwarves felt confident enough to open the city doors on their own and unleash their own advance in military technology. What followed was a catastrophe for the empire, they lost a quarter of their entire strike force that day as well as their best general, Zindro Akter who had met his end under the treads of a dwarven tank prototype. The empire was absolutely crushed and it was a defeat they would never recover from.
The Counter Invasion (1800 - 1871)
With the empire now on the run, everyone in the united expeditionary force could now fully commit to an attack, and they followed the retreating imperials. Pushing the empire out of Dracholm was a very easy task, as defensive reserves from the Red Army could now be repurposed for an assault. Imperial forces were slaughtered mercilessly by the new death angels and the new Iron Legion grinder suits. There was no time to regroup, and with KRAKEN having complete naval dominance, there was no escape from Dracholm. In the Dracholmian invasion as whole, the empire had lost over 50% of their whole army, an unmitigated disaster.
The United Expeditionary Force confidently followed them all the way home, but after landing in Chev'ron they found to their dismay that the empire had now strongarmed the Chev'ronian goblins into being part of their coalition. Goblins were a race with intelligence comparable to the Cykx and the empire was being equipped with military equipment on par with the United Strike Force at the time. Of course, the UEF did not forget about R&D and had set up many science projects such as Moliere R&D, Projekt Profektus and more. The Iron Union too had made staggering scientific progress, as war was not only good for their economy but they were now also in an arms race with DECA and eager to show off their technological dominance. Even if with the help of the Cykx DECA made rapid progress, the Iron Union was still always one step ahead of them.
Among other things, they had invented flight and radar technology. Point being, while the empire now had more than swords to defend themselves, they were still outgunned by their aggressors and all they could really do was excruciatingly slow down their enemies. They wouldn't be able to halt their advance until the next part of the war.
The Jungle Campaign (1871 - 1980)
The jungle campaign is infamous for being the last tipping point in which the empire actually had a chance of fighting the UEF back, or at least erecting enough of a defence for them to fall back and regroup. At this stage the arms race between DECA, the Red Army, and KRAKEN was very neck to neck. The DECA had invented helicopters and later VTOLS, gas powered automatic rifle, walker tanks, and new building techniques that allowed soldiers to build a fort in less than a week. KRAKEN had improved upon Zeppelin technology and had created the first Drosden dread class airship with new air to surface artillery technology. The Red Army had invented jet fighters and bombers, longer range radar and communication equipment, better power armour, hover tanks, and small mobile mechs, so the Red Army still had a significant advantage.
At this point, everyone in the UEF was still on good terms with one another, but the cracks were definitely beginning to show. They would soon be reminded that they were in this together as the empire launched a fierce counter-attack that actually managed to push back the UEF which but some DECA forts behind enemy lines. The UEF fell back to regroup and await reinforcements. And when reinforcements arrived, they arrived with new advances in technology. Most importantly the Red Army's grinder got another upgrade, making them virtually immune to gunfire. The death angels received the 150 trench gun, the highest calibre rifle to ever hit the market, and the drosden fleet received teleportation tech, energy shielding tech, and exo armor, firmly putting KRAKEN in the lead of the arms race.
When the UEF launched a new attack, there was nothing the empire could do but fall. DECA even found that some of their forts had held out behind enemy lines.
The Collapse (1980 - 1985)
The noose was beginning to close for the empire as with the jungle behind them, UEF air forces had clear visuals on where soldiers were holding, or perhaps even worse where their weapons were being produced. They fought until the very end, but the resistance was futile in the end. Their factories were being bombed, approaching soldiers were being spotted before they could even launch an attack, and worst of all, Drosden pirates were inciting riots in the imperial capital. And the worst was yet to come. Holding back the UEF was wishful thinking at this point, as even the Chev'ronian goblins had signed a treaty months earlier stating they would attack from behind when the empire least expected. The UEF closed in on the imperial capital and discovered that what Sylvia had gone through was just the tip of the iceberg. Now, with their rage and fury reignited, the worst day for the empire was finally to come.
Shocked by the slave pens, kill camps, and punishment facilities they had found alongside gruesome scientific experiments, the Iron Union demanded to be put in charge of crippling the empire's ability to even fight back by targeting the industrial zone. The DECA and KRAKEN were apprehensive, but as their ground troops were exhausted, they allowed it. The Iron Union launched a devastating bombing campaign of the industrial zone, using regular bombs up front to destroy bridges and cover to actively trap people in the industrial zone, then returning with several bombing squadrons carrying napalm. They burned down the district in perhaps the most ruthless bombing campaign Jeslore had ever seen. With weapons production out of the picture, the empire was only months away from falling as with cover for ambushes destroyed in the industrial zone, the UEF could just roll their tanks through it like they owned the place.
The imperials fought to the last man, but they were exhausted, starving, poorly equipped, and receiving no mercy from the UEF as every step deeper into the city they uncovered more atrocities. The war finally ended when Ascenda was dragged out of her throne room by a death angel by the name of Alice Wright. She was found guilty of war crimes that had been called into effect in response to her action and all former imperial was divided up among UEF armies, something that would cause tension later on.
Outcome
All former imperial territory was divided among members of the UEF. The Dracholmian Union took control of the imperial capital and surrounding areas, the Iron Union was given the land of the Chev'ronian human lands, the R.A.R was given control over orcish lands, and the Drosden Fleet took control over the sunset isles and other liberated territory. They all agreed to pull out after the damage had been repaired. The most immediate short term effect was a blooming relationship between the Drosden fleet, Dracholmian Union, and R.A.R, while the Iron Union remained somewhat distant.
Aftermath
Over time, the superpowers would pull out of their territory, except for the Iron Union, who kept control over their conquered territory. Tension between the Red Army and other members of the UEF would begin to rise slowly but surely over time.
Conflict Type
War
Start Date
1230
Ending Date
1983
Conflict Result
Decisive UEF victory
Location
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Belligerents
Strength
The Iron Union was one of the strongest contributors in the war, lending the strength of close to 80 million troops throughout the whole war. Not only did they bring plenty of soldiers to play, they were also at the technological front of the war.
While the dwarves did invent tanks first, the Iron Union bludgeoned imperial troops with power armour, advanced firearms, aircraft, long-range communication and above all else a fiercely dedicated strike force that had been itching to beat the ideology out of the empire.
Casualties
Because they had such a massive leap in intelligence (Iron Legion forces would often use bolt action and early automatic weapons against imperial legionnaires equipped with medieval armour and weaponry for the first decades of the war.) took very little casualties. Of course, it ramped up when the empire got desperate and began deploying properly equipped troops.
The Iron Legion suffered casualties but not as badly as other members of the united expeditionary force. At least, not until the empire caught up in terms of technology.
Objectives
Unlike their allies, the Red Army had far less benign intentions in mind. While they were of course outraged by the degenerate actions of the empire, they were also sadistically excited about an opportunity to punish the empire for its arrogance with allies and without being labelled a warmonger for once.
They didn't just want to punish the empire by beating some civility into them. The Iron Union wanted to take their land, burn down their churches and establish a communist regime in the settlements that survived the obliterations.
They were also more than happy to sell raw ore to their newfound allies while demonstrating their military might to the Dracholmian union and republic of ancient races to not only intimidate them against reprimanding for the war crimes they were about to commit, but actually reward them for it as their allies were out for blood just as much as they were.
Strength
DECA was the coalition that started the war and thus had the biggest contribution to make. Over the span of the war they deployed an estimate of over 120 million troops and while they lagged behind in terms of technology first, after signing the Eisenzing pact they shot up as the technologically dominant force for at least a while.
The Iron Union did catch up with them shortly after and an interesting dynamic was born between the two where they not only kicked off an arms race while fighting the same enemy. Every new bit of technology was rapidly deployed to impress the other.
Casualties
The DECA took significant losses, especially for the first chunk of the war, where they were at a disadvantage and actually lost land. They were fighting a losing battle until they signed the Eisenzing pact, which stated that the crashed Cykx would share their space era technology with the DECA.
Now with a significant technological advantage, they were able to turn the tide of the way up until the infamous jungle campaign where the gap in technology had evened itself out enough for it not to be a direct advantage.
Objectives
The mission of the DECA was simple: destroy the empire. If what Sylvia alleged was true, which they did not deny, then they had to be taken down with force. Their fury was primarily directed at the ones in charge of the empire, mainly the empress, so part of their objective was to have her answer for her crimes.
Their second objective was to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. They were there to burn a cruel ideology to the ground, not terrorize the civilians. They had agreed with the others in the united expeditionary force that once the empire fell they would divide land among them to oversee the recovery of reconquered territory and then pull out.
Strength
While the fleet was not a global power yet, they were getting close at the time and thus offered to throw its hat in the ring as even according to the pirate queen freedom was an intrinsic right (though she may have been still mad about the passing of her boyfriend.) Joining under the coalition name KRAKEN, they mainly handled naval operations and were integral to the disruption of Imperial supply lines. As pirates, they clearly had experience raiding and stealing.
In addition to being an unmissable naval force, KRAKEN also handled covert operations by causing civil unrest and training and arming rebels. Their approach to the empire was not as hands-on as that of the other coalitions, but they were just as important. KRAKEN crippled the empire's ability to fight on foreign soil, and without them Dracholm may have fallen.
Casualties
Somewhat surprisingly, as pirates that generally steal their equipment from others and had excellent but belligerent training, the Drosden fleet actually suffered the least. They deployed en estimate of around about 95 million throughout the duration of the war, most of which just died of old age as the conflict dragged on so long.
The empire's navy was in polite terms poorly equipped and trained at best so when they had to deal with Drosden fleet which had years of experience in naval combat and boarding, they were essentially defenceless. Compared to the Red Army and ECA, KRAKEN actually took the least casualties. Until they had to fight on land, where it got harder for them.
Objectives
Aside from their usual objectives which is to loot, bully, and generally just make life miserable for an oppressive regime much larger than themselves, which the Drosden fleet was already infamous for. Kat had known about the empire's misdeeds for a long time, as she personally knew Sylvia and had been waiting for a good reason to bully them without being obliterated.
The Drosden Fleet also wanted an opportunity to put to rest once and for all that they were merely a pack of poorly organized drunks that picked on lone trade routes by showing off expert naval and espionage strategies.
Strength
The empire, by the time it was challenged, was already a giant superpower that could have smashed the united expeditionary force had they not underestimated them so much. Over the war, they deployed close to 450 million troops, as they always fought at full power and were not fond of splitting up troops.
They levied able-bodied fighters from wherever they could find them and deployed them, but their recklessness combined with their arrogance would eventually prove to be their undoing.
Casualties
To absolutely no one's surprise, being the ones that lost the war, the empire is also the side that had taken the most catastrophic loss of life. Essentially since in the empire it was a custom to execute soldiers if they failed.
Objectives
Being faced with 4 superpowers ready to fly at their throat, the short-term objective of the empire was to destroy the ECA, whom they considered the centrepiece of the united expeditionary force. If they subjugated the ECA, the rest would scatter, and they'd be free to take the rest of Jeslore at their own leisure. Unfortunately it didn't quite pan out that way as they vastly underestimated the might of naval superiority when fighting at long distances.
When they were starting to get pushed back, their objective changed from destroying the ECA to simply surviving for long enough in the hope that the united expeditionary force would wear out and eventually retreat. This strategy is why the war took so long, but they again underestimated the fury of their opponents and were ultimately destroyed.
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