Gannid Civil War

The Gannid Civil War was a major conflict within Gannid space in the early 26th century. It was the first civil war fought by the Gannid

Causes

The Gannid Commonwealth signed a controversial alliance with the Karkouri and the Dhau which was seen by many Gannid as a betrayal of their traditional alliances with the Terrans. There were also a large number of Gannid who were very unhappy that they had signed to an alliance with a slaver race.
After the Karkouri declaration of war on the Terran polities after the Battle of Whitworth in 2527, the Dhau followed their treaty stipulations and declared war. The Gannid Government went into debates and many top Gannid government officials and military officers deeply opposed the decision.
The Chancellor, Voristradd, stated that the Gannid would honour treaty stipulation and declare war on the Terrans. This was a very unpopular choice and the Chief of Staff of the Twin Circles, the hugely respected General Azahkian, called for the Chancellor and his cabinet to resign, which they refused to do.

The Attempted Coup

In July of 2527 Gannid troops loyal to the General Staff attempted to arrest the Chancellor and his cabinet. The Chancellor's guards got word of the attempted coup before it could be executed and they seized the local barracks and arrested all the officers present.
They also secured the capital city and the downport (or so they thought). The Chancellor, relieved a second coup attempt had been warded off, ordered the arrest of the entire general staff, over the objection of his Defence Minister.
Troops and police arrived at the Fortress of Twin Circles (the HQ of the Gannid military) but found that General Azahkian and much of the general staff had escaped to their ships. The remaining members of the general staff claimed to be loyal but the Chancellor ordered them arrested anyway
General Azahkian broadcast from his flagship, the cruiser "Konnastan" that all loyal officers should join him at the Rally Point and with that nearly half of the Gannid Navy went into mutiny
There were protests all over Gannid space and the Guilds called on the Chancellor to resign to restore order, which he refused to do. Five Gannid worlds then seceded from the Commonwealth "until the Chancellor resigns and a new government is installed). The first Gannid Civil War had begun.

Factions

The Government Forces

A bare majority of the Gannid Navy remained loyal to the Chancellor and his government. There was a dearth of senior officers however, with the most senior Generals all under arrest. The Chancellor promoted his military aide Colonel Kozatavan as the Commander of the Government Fleet and promoted him to General.

• 75 frigates
• 13 cruisers
• 40 armed freighters
• 100,000 soldiers
• 500,000 soldiers garrisoned in the former Dragonfish Protectorate

The Rebel Forces

Just under half of the Gannid Navy went into rebellion and joined General Azahkian at Grungini, a previously established Rally Point. There was a brief attempt by four Gannid officers to arrest General Azahkian but this was put down after a scuffle. Only five Gannid worlds had gone into rebellion but the rebels had supporters across all the Gannid worlds
Whilst the Rebels were slightly outnumbered and lacked the industrial support to replace lost ships, they had lots of experienced officers and it was generally felt that the better officers had all joined the rebels

• 60 frigates
• 14 cruisers
• 15 armed freighters
• 125.000 soldiers
• Worlds of Hannivar Dahl, Grungini, Shaki Finn, Mit Irithill, Soliburi

Opening Skirmishes During 2527, neither side were willing to make the first move, each feeling that the other side should be the one to draw first blood. Both sides sent out envoys to Gannid politicians, leaders within the Guild and garrison commanders to attempt to change their loyalty.
There was an attempt in early 2528 to bring the two sides together as retired Gannid Chancellor Voriskar arranged a conference but the Loyalist faction attempted to arrest the envoys sent by the Rebels.
The first shots fired in anger occurred in April of 2528 as three Rebel frigates attempted to link up with a rebel freighter carrying vital arms and equipment. A loyalist squadron of four frigates chased them down and the two forces exchanged weapons fire at maximum range. No ships were destroyed but the rebels were forced to jump away, though they did rescue the freighter
There was also an attempted uprising on Lahndir as a Gannid garrison commander, a former protege of General Azahkian, led his forces in a military takeover of the planet. However loyalist forces arrived very quickly and after four days of fighting that left 2,100 Gannid dead, the Rebels were defeated.

Battles

The Battle of Shaki-Finn

A Rebel Task force, consisting of around 50 fighting ships, attempted to force a landing on the planet of Shaki-Finn.  However, a government task force intercepted them and scored a tactical victory, destroying 6 rebel ships for the loss of 3 government ships
Due to the Rebel force being forced back, the Government force was able to put the rebel planet to siege

The Battle of Hannivar Dahl

There was another major battle in the Gannid Civil war as the Government Fleet attempted to finish off the rebel fleet but was thrown back with the loss of a cruiser at the battle of Hannivar Dahl. The Gannid Rebels, lead by General Azakhian, scored a significant victory over the larger Government fleet
The Rebel fleet lost 4 frigates whilst the government lost twice as many, as well as losing the first cruiser during the civil war

2531

The Battle of Dahlier Undrimm

Following their victory at Hanniver Dahl, General Azahkian led their largest force to relieve the siege on Shaki-Fin.  They encoutered a government task force at the uninhabited system of Dahlier Undrim and won a battle their, destroying 5 frigates and were able to continue on to Shaki-Finn

The Second Battle of Shaki-Finn

The Rebel force arrived in orbit around Shaki-Finn and won a second space battle, destroying another six government frigates and a cruiser.  The government force was forced to withdraw out of the system and leave the crippled cruiser Korsatan behind, which was later scuttled by its captain.
The Rebels were able to relieve the siege on Shaki-Finn with the surrender of the government's ground force there.

The Battle of Soritaye 119

The Gannid Rebels won another battle at Soritaye 119, catching a retreating government task force and dealing them a significant defeat, including the loss of a cruiser. The Rebels then withdrew out of the system before reinforcements could arrive.

2532

The Battle of Sovindar Dahl -the War Ends

The Gannid Civil War has been brought to an end as the Rebel Fleet has successfully defeated the last government fleet and blockaded the Gannid homeworld. After a fierce battle that cost more than 22 ships and 5,000 lives, the Gannid Chancellor and his government surrendered, ending the war.
With the Gannid government's surrender, talks began to form a new government.

Conclusion

After a few weeks under an interim, emergency government, the Gannid Commonwealth announced that General Azahkian would take over as the new Chancellor.  He formed a broad coalition of political, military and guild representatives.  He also limited repercussions against the former government, attempting to draw a line under the issue.

Casualties

During the war, the Gannid lost 48 frigates and seven cruisers, as well as another 35 auxiliary ships.  Around 30,700 Gannid died during the fighting and another 40,000 were seriously wounded.

Post War

The new government was faced with needing to rebuild its civil war losses, restore faith in government and to descalate a possible confrontation with the The Terran Republic .  They were able to prevent the Republic from declaring war to retake Avalon, Al Ahily and the other former Dragonfish worlds and eventually a deal was agreed to hand the worlds back to the Terrans.
The Gannid Commonwealth entered into a long period of attempting to rebuild relationships with the likes of the Rorn, the Bl'Hud and the Mor-Du as well as replacing their lost ships in a major ship construction program.