The Decade of 5 Emperors

The Decade of 5 Emperors is a major event in the history of the empire, it took place roughly 20 years after the last major war between the Empire of Dercia and the Principality of Clifia. The empire had just begun to return to a state that reminded of the time before the war, so the civil war that would end up lasting just over a decade was utterly devasting for the empire.
The civil war would end up being the most devasting war fought on Dercian soil with millions death and an even greater number wounded or missing, and it would end up changing how the population saw the royal family, while before the monarchs of the empire had mainly been seen as just the rulers of the land but with heroic last stands or rescue mission undertaken by members of the royal family, the view would begin to change towards the population seeing them as the protectors of the land and the population.
The emperors 9th Legion was early on in the war placed as the unit to guard Geralt's wall in the event of Clifia taking advantage of the civil war, it was decided that the 9th was better used as a warning towards Clifia than against the rebel forces.
The longest time of relative peace during the civil war was between 1147 and 1149 after the rebels had taken the capital and placed Cedana Astalles on the throne, the loyalists were buying their time, gathering new forces and supplies ready to regain the throne.

The Conflict

Prelude

A few years leading up to the war, Cedana Astalles a member of a side branch of the dynasty who began to make claims for the throne of the empire.

Deployment

the rebels deployed their forces along the continental highway during the first part of the war to gain finances and resources from the trade along it, later on, they began to take over the fortifications along the road to protect their income.
The loyalists at the beginning of the war believed the rebels to be unable to gain much ground so when reports of rebel forces in the area, they only send a minor force out that normally ended being killed, during the middle and later part of the civil war they began to make use of more mobile forces to make sure the rebels could not escape and a favoured tactic among certain generals was hit and run tactics copied from the early days of the rebellion.

Battlefield

During the first part of the civil war, the rebels made use of guerrilla warfare and attacked the loyalists where they were weakest, later on when the rebel side had gained enough men to begin to engage in pitched battles was when prober battles like the battle near Flaterse took place that was a defeat to the loyalists.

Outcome

The short-term effects of the civil war was a Dercia in ruins and not long after the loyalists had placed Eleanor Astalles on the throne before a new contender rose to oppose the newly crowned empress and this would continue for the next decade with most monarchs either dying on the battlefield or being assassinated with the one exception being Jarin Astalles dying of natural causes but without an heir so a new civil war over succession started

Aftermath

The Decade of 5 Emperors finally ended with Emperor Malthin II defeating the last rebel forces and through some clever politics and having gained a reputation as a merciful man during the war by often forgive his opponents when they surrendered he was able to finally bring peace and stability to an empire that for the last 10 years had seen millions of fathers, sons, daughters and mothers die and whole villages being burnt down.

Historical Significance

Legacy

It is hard to determine what the legacy of the civil war is since a lot of the members of the longest living races are still around who either fought in the war or have parents who did. 
But the empire has still to recover from the war, its population is still lower than what it was before the onset of the civil war, and around the nation, it is still possible to see the abandoned villages laying around as ghosttowns. 
Culturally one thing that the war changed to a major degree was that because of the actions of the loyalist camp during the war, the popularity of the royal family increased and this was also one reason for the rebels defeat, they were at the end unable to gather enough followers to continue fighting.

In Literature

Lots of plays and music have been written about the war, but the most famous is probably the play of Hadrian Lunadream who wrote: "The Dragon from the west" who is about the late emperor Zane Astalles who was the legitimate heir to Eleanor Astalles had gathered an army among the horse people to the west and when Pearlhal was under siege he came from the west and his army that consisted of a large force of cavalry came thundering into the besieging forces and routed them, the soldiers around him said he fought like a dragon so thereafter he was known as The Dragon from the west.

Technological Advancement

During the war, the armour of the legions evolved majorly, while it before had largely been consisting of whatever type of armour the soldier was able to pay for, during the late part of the civil war the side of the emperors began to equip their forces with the same armour.

Included Conflicts

• Haenna, the last battle
• The trouble of succession

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

1145

Ending Date

1155

Conflict Result

The defeat of the contenders to the throne.

Belligerents

The loyalists.

• Empire of Dercia

The camp of Cedana Astalles

• Empire of Dercia

Strength

While the strength of the army varied depending on, time of year, battlefield losses or other reasons an estimated seize of the army is that it was around 166.600 soldiers strong not counting supporting personal.

Being the side to start the rebellion, the camp of Cedana Astalles in the first months to a year of the rebellion had to rely on guerrilla warfare to make up for their fewer numbers but when they began to gain ground, their strength began to grow and when their armies where strongest they numbered around 143.720 soldiers strong.

Casualties

While it has not been possible due to the large loss of official documents during the civil war, later historians estimate the number of casualties to be around 1.561.600 million military personnel.

Due to the large loss of official documents during the civil war, later historians estimate the number of casualties to be around 2.593.600 million military personnel.

Objectives

Secure the throne of Dercia.

Secure the throne of Dercia.

Maps

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  Mirateia