The Pacification of Vizeria

The Pacification of Vizeria, also known as The Red Reaping, was the culmination of the Athocist-Vizerian conflict, which saw the homeworld of the Vizerian people under siege by the combined forces of the Athocist Empire between 1657 and 1660. The siege saw the most bloody and appauling fighting in the history of Mercia, and even in the present day (1663) this siege was the single most important event of recent history.

The Pacification was hindered immensely by the utilisation of war magic on behalf of the Vizerians, allongside their Leader, Chief Snowdance, who turned the entire planet against the invaders, including plants and animals, the weather, and natural phenomena. The Athocists successfully deployed a biological weapon called "Weeping Scarlett" which ravaged Vizerian defences before the Athocists arrived, with the majority of all Vizerian losses being due to this weapon. Similarly, in response to the planets natural defences being used against them, the Athocists utilised a slash and burn technique, burning all plant life and having magic users purge the ground to render it useless if it was retaken by the Vizerians.

The Conflict

Prelude

Under the "Free Eagle" treaty, The planet Vizeria, and its territories in the Sea of Suns were granted a degree of self autonomy, partially due to the trade deals which existed between the Vizerian people and the Athocists, but also because Vizeria was long seen as impossible to conquer, and so an uncomfortable trade deal was the solution. As the Athocist empire grew, many because increasingly uncomfortable with the broadly Monotheist Vizerians existing within the Athocist borders, and disquiet grew amongst famed generals that a forced pacification was possible. Many also dislike the Vizerians for their unique gifts, similar to the Trifold Monks, Vizerians had a much higher Mage population, which, alongside the Monotheism, directly contravened Athocist beliefs.
The tolerance of Vizeria was seen as a dangerous time bomb within Athocist borders, and many other conquered peoples would seek self determination. As such, it was decided that Vizeria would undergo Athocist assimilation in order to avoid open conflict. These attempts broke down and failed, and with the potential for rebellion sparking up, the Athocists declared that all Mages in the empire must declare themselves and register under their local Starmaster. The Vizerians stated that this infringed on the "Free Eagle" agreement and so cut off exports to the Athocist Empire. The Athocists used this as the justification for a Pacification, intended to break the Vizerians economically and politically, without the need for military involvement. So in early 1653, the first Athocist troops marched into the Sea of Suns.

Deployment

Athocist Military: Army - 68,000,000,000 armed personnel, including cavalry. (comprising around 5 Astralegions) Navy - 7,500,000,000 personnel, manning ASV's and Sub-atmosphere vessels. Other - 300,000,000
Vizerian Militia: - 9,000,000,000 armed personnel

Battlefield

The Planet of Vizeria is roughly the same size as Indyra, the Athocist homeworld, although more of its surface is ocean. Vizeria is a planet of largely fertile plains, containing the most arrable land in the Athocist Empire, growing an enourmous quantity of its food. Natural harbours surround most landmasses, and massive internal rivers and lakes flow across the continents. In a normal scenario, invasion is challenging, as the large open plains, often flanked by deserts make establishing supply lines hard, and seaborne assault is difficult due to the natural harbours.
During the Athocist invasion, the world was magically terraformed by Chief Snowdance in response to the invasion. Trees bore no fruit or bore only poison, crops failed in Athocist controlled regions, and wildlife because extremely hostile to the invaders. As a result the Athocists often resorted to burning and purging land either before invasion or immediatly after taking a region. Open fields and plains made advancing Athocist columns hard to defend, and easy to isolate and attack from forrested areas.

Conditions

Fighting was broadly appauling on all counts, with this conflict seeing many atrocities and deaths. Athocists utilised an agressive biological virus as a weapon known as "Weeping Scarlett", which killed billions of Vizerians. The scorched earth policy of the Athocists meant that reconquered territories were virtually useless to the Vizerians, and due to the hostility of the wildlife, Athocists actively exterminated all animals they found, destroying the Vizerians ability to feed themselves, with millions dying of starvation. The Athocists showed no hesitancy to use full force against civilian population centres, catching women and children in the crossfire, and those who survived were often expelled from Athocist territories in order to destroy civilian population centres. Oftentimes the civilians were simply rounded up and razed with their tribe to deny the Vizerians anything.
Vizerians fought without consideration of their own lives, as many knew they would die anyway, leading to the astronomical death toll. Vizerians often did not take prisoners, sparing no quarter when eliminating Athocist outposts and columns, and often mutilated their bodies as a warning to the invaders. It was commonplace for entire Athocist units to march into enemy territory and never return, as all were killed and their bodies often left to rot. The utilisation of the planets natural defences created an atmosphere of horror for the Athocists, as all crops wilted and died where they went, rain and thunderstorms followed invading forces for months on end, and predatory animals stalked and killed Frontsmen as they slept or were on night duty. Some engagement zones were deliberately rendered inhospitable by the Vizerians to prevent crossing on the part of the Athocists. The Plateau of Fire was one such area, where the active stratovolcano was forcibly erupted by Snowdance, killing almost all combatants on the Plateau and stalling the Athocist advance for several months.

The Engagement

The Athocists tended to move in large expedition formations, tens of thousands strong. These proved troublesome when pacifying the plains, as food was sparce and hard to come by, supply lines hard to build and maintain due to raids and attacks, and movement was slow, owing to poor weather and low morale.
Engagements tended to be smaller scale. Vizerian tribes would travel and harass the pioneers and forward scouts, hindering the advance of the main force. They rarely met the Athocists in open field, where their jezails and arquebuses could cut them down, instead, tribes continued to harass until the Athocists were lured into traps. A Vizerian tribe would often operate for several months before being effectively tracked down and neutralised.

Outcome

Immediately following the conquest of the Vizerian capital Confluence, the Athocists began a mass evacuation of the planet, funnelling any surviving civillians and prisoners off world, while also withdrawing their military. The Vizerian Pacification had killed 98% of the total pre-invasion population, and completely destroyed the Vizerian sovereign region. Smaller states within the Athocist Empire made no move to seek self determination, and it was expressly known that the Vizerians had been exterminated. Vizeria was sectioned off from the Sea of Suns, and the entire war was ended.
The Athocist military losses were unheard of a the time. Almost every member of the Athocist military was involved in the pacification in some way or another, with only garrisons and strongholds left to defend borders not being mobilised. The initial invasion consisted of only 14,000,000,000 personnel, but this was increased as the invasion went on. Casualties mounted so quickly that new soldiers would last days. This conflict featured the highest death total and death percentage of casualties in Athocist history, primarily for two main reasons. Firstly, Vizerian victories often resulted in the complete annihilation of their opponents. very rarely were prisoners taken, and often the dying were simply killed and mutilated. Engagements also tended to happen at close range, which increased the death toll as melee was significantly more lethal that ranged warfare. Secondly, the theatre had almost all able bodied soldiers the Athocists could muster, and so in many cases, they had no choice but to arm the injured or put them to work, both of which worsened their conditions and led to more deaths.

Aftermath

The Pacification is now a cautionary tale of independence. The Athocist empire has since undergone a quiet period of stability, also while slowing down its territorial aquisitions to account for the enourmous losses on Vizeria. The Vizerian people are scattered and broken, with no Vizerian identity remaining. The Athocist military gained prestige in the galaxy, as the conqurors of Vizeria. The Athocist military is currently (1663) undergoing retraining to learn from mistakes made on Vizeria.

Historical Significance

Legacy

In the general population within the empire, Vizeria is seen as a crowning moment, but one enshrouded in sorrow. The victory of Athocist values over the barbaric and backwards Vizerians was an important step in solidifying the Athocists as the new Superpower, but it came at a huge economic and human cost. 
In the military the campaign is seen much more negatively. Broady there was no need to invade Vizeria, and the military undertook such harsh fighting that it was permenantly damaged in ways still not repaired to this day. Billions had died and many more were suffering extensive physical and psychological injuries. Generals and tacticians made names for themselves for managing to take down the previously believed to be unbeatable Vizerian warrior culture, and many became revered heroes for their actions. These generals however were generally embittered by the losses and appauling state of the invasion, and have now entered a period of having little appetite for war. 
The Vizerian people are no almost non-existent. Many captured Vizerians were either executed for their invelvement in the rebellion, and many more continued to suffer and die from "Weeping Scarlett", leading to a Vizerian population which now numbers in the hundreds of thousand. The Vizerians themselves are a multiplicity of tribes and cultures, with most tribes now only having a dozen survivors.

The Vizerian Resistance: 9,000,000,000 fighters.
Losses: 8,500,000,000 military dead, with 1,300,000,000 civilian dead

Athocist military: 75,800,000,000 personnel.
Losses: 34,236,344,000 casualties, including 28,000,000,000 dead.

Conflict Type

Military Campaign

Start Date

1653

Ending Date

1660

Conflict Result

Athocist Phyrric Victory, Genocide against the Vizerian People, mass exodus of the Vizerian People, Vizeria rendered inhospitable