War of the Council

War of the Council (Zhoushi Civil War)
Zhoushi soldiers rise flag over Council Rada
Date May 9th 1937 - September 5th 1941 Location Western Bogmia (present day Western Zhousheng) Result Council State defeated Unification of Zhousheng The Communist Trials
Belligerents
Zhoushi Union Bogmia Zhengia Gadorien Neuewland (political support) Colony of Dei Neak and Khangcheung (political support)	Council State Haldenian militas International Brigades Velharia (political support)
Commanders and leaders
Benjamin Totoj Filip Poglasov Marꞇin Limovsky	Vladimir Maȝ Jeliþo Ƞihilnyj Franklin Bloomberg
Strength
2.5 million troops	1.2 million troops
Casualties and losses
~1,350,000 killed	~1,200,000 killed

War of the Council, at the time called the Bogmian Civil War, was a conflict in present-day Zhousheng.

Historical background

For detailed information, see article about The Troubles

Before 1938

After the breakup of the Empire of Three Kings, total of three big countries arose from the imperial ashes: Monte Blanco, Zhengia and Bogmia. Monte Blanco, the biggest of those, quickly set up isolationist policies. Zhengia and Bogmia quickly fell into a economic downturn caused by the collapse of unified economic institutions. By 1912, a Zhoushi Union was formed by a cooperation charter in Zhousheng City (Bogmia), trying to integrate the two country economies into one and quickly develop industries. Although this system perfectly worked in the East and in the South, but across the mountain range in the West, Bogmian territories were still lacking behind, mostly because the remnants of Haldenia continuously raiding northern Bogmian lands as well as Eastern Gadorien. That also caused many riots and breaking of industrial machines, causing even more economic downturn.

Red Spring

In early February 1938, the failing regional administration in Haldenia fell apart and the political vacuum was filled by communist sympathisers. The new "Halderian Commune" tried consolidating its pre-imperial borders (Bogmian-Gadori border was unspecified eversince the collapse of the Empire of Three Kings, but was relatively calm, following ethnic boundaries (although de-facto control of the area was discutable as local Halderian separatists were de-facto either directly or indirectly administering local cities).
In late April, similar revolution occured in the rest of Bogmian territories, declaring the "Union of Bogmian Councils" as the legitimate worker-farmer proletar government. Haldenian Commune took the opportunity for the recognition and power and joined the Council State as of early May. On May 9th, early in the morning, Bogmian police, post, railroads and administrative institutions were attacked by untrained Council militiamen. Although better trained and far better equiped, Bogmian officers were quickly overrun by a body of revolutionaries. This act is seen as a official declaration of war.

War begins - 1938

Union of Council States Svaz Radovyȝ Шtatu
Flag State Emblem
Motto: Workers of the world, unite! (Bogmian: Proletaꝛi vшєȝ zemi, spajte sє!)
Anthem: The Internationale
Capital and largest city	Orlobirg
Official languages	Bogmian, Louzenish, Gradi
Ethnic groups	Bogmian, Louzenish, Gradi, Gadori
Demonym(s)	Council
Government	Dictatorship of the Proletariat
• First Chairman of the Council Assembly	Vladimir Maȝ
• Leader of the Peasant Army	Jeliþo Ƞihilnyj
Population
• Estimate	17,000,000
HDI (2019)	0.934 very high
Currency	Council Xailis (stamped Bogmian Xailis)
Time zone	UTC-5 (PST)
Driving side	left

Situation in 1938 (Halderian areas excluded)

The Battle of the Range

After the Council state established itself, it tried breaking through the central mountain range and occupy Zhousheng City to unite Bogmia under Communist government. According to the discovered documents, around this time, the idea of unification of eastern Kento-Polyash Slavs into a the Union of Council States was forged (Projected members were Bogmian Socialist Council Republic, Zhengian Socialist Council Republic, Haldenian Socialist Council Republic, Belgorian Socialist Council Republic, Slovanian Socialist Council Republic, Karaalanian Socialist Council Republic and Arasatian Socialist Council Republic).
In June, Council troops managed to quickly advance through mountain passes and reached Ukadsk (Zhengian city), which was previously foritified by Bogmian Army. Their early attempts on capturing the city were quickly repelled and their advance was halted in a street-to-street and house-to-house fighting. At this time as well, Council State attacked disputed areas in Grad area and overrun local Gadori military stationed in the city, forcing the Council to diverge part of the captured assets to the Western Front, which quickly expanded into Gadorieni mainland, but was halted in a trench warfare.
The Battle of the Range began when Council armies reached Minimalstrit, a city between three mountains, letting only southern entrance open (this entrance was held as a supply corridor by Bogmian military). Zhengian armies, following the Zhoushi Union obligations, quickly mobilized and rushed to break the siege of Minimalstrit, but were halted by Council military in the Rohun mountain pass. Over the span of July, August and September, bloody battles happened in Minimalstrit between malnutritioned Bogmians and the Council standing army (which was formed from workers under commanders defecting from Bogmian and Gadori armies). By early October, Zhengian armies managed to push the Council back and relieve Minimalstrit, winning the Battle of the Range.

The Second Battle of Ukadsk

Situation in October 1938

Council new strategy

After the deafeat in the Battle of the Range, Council realized, that forcing Zhoushi Union into surrender can not be achieved by sewering their supply routes from the sea, but only by focusing on Zhengia and pushing them into defeat by capturing their capital, Ukadsk.
By late October, minor fightings around the outskirts of Ukadsk escalated with Council throwing more soldiers into the battle. In early November, Council brought bomber planes to the battle (mountain range in the middle of Zhousheng made it impossible to fly planes across the country. Those planes had to be dismembered, loaded onto trains and shipped across the range, where they would be re-assembled).

Airplane raids

In the battle of Ukadsk, Council airplanes tried bombing the centre of the city, where they hoped Zhengian defence coordination would be stationed. However, due to incredible logistical difficulties of bringing the airplanes to the battle, Council air force was easily dispersed by joint Bogmian-Zhengian air forces. After the Council Ukadsk front general realized, that air superiority can not be achieved, an order of suicide bombing raids was given to all bomber units. In the next 3 days (after that, Council ran out of bombs), many buildings were damaged. Among those was the Zhengian national archive, from which the "Music and poetry" section was caught on fire (many Zhengian citizens ran into the flames to pull folders of flamable documents out. This sacrifice saved about 70% of the scripts archived in the section).

Battle ends

By mid November, Council ceased most of the offensive pushes, because the Mountain passes froze over and supplying of the standing army became difficult. Zhengian and Bogmian troops took the opportunity and pushed the Council out of the city and created a 50 km long perimeter connecting landmarks on the outskirts of the city. Council armies dug into the ground as winter began, creating a long trench, ending the Second Battle of Ukadsk.

Situation in December 1938

Gadori front

Although Gadori front was far closer to the Council capital, Gadori forces remained stationed on their positions, holdouts and bases, hoping to starve the Council in the long run. In August, few minor paratroop missions were conducted by the Council in Gadori rear, but due to lack of proper training, equipment, weather and quantity of troops, those forces were easily dispersed.
In the air, Council fighters and bombers didn't manage to cause much damage to the Gadori positions. In the meantime, Gadori forces were pushed out of Grad and that area was brought to the Council as a quasistate, a "Grad Autonomous Socialist Council State".

The winter in the South

Council troops quickly overrun Bogmian positions on the Velharian border. Velharia, having almost no standing army at the time and fearing Council invasion, officially recognized the Union of Council States as the only and true Bogmian government.

The interlude - 1939-1940

A harsh winter

Zhousheng, being highly elevated, is used to somewhat hard winters compared to the rest of the countries in the region. This year, however, winter was extremely harsh with temperatures dropping to -15°C on same days (although it is common in higher latitudes, Zhousheng was not used to temperature dropping below -5°C for more than few hours on the coldest night. This situation was extremely devastating mainly to the Council armies, which were stranded with many troops across a mountain range with minimal supplying.

Prei Mean lease

On March 5th, 1939, Prei Mean colonial authority for the provinces of Dei Neak and Khangcheung (a Neuewland colonial government) signed a deal, leasing 4 docks (Krong Baram, Krong Sivuk, Krong Sa Phu, Krong Ka) to Zhengia, creating a second supply route across Prei Meas, rendering Council's attempts on cutting the Mosterec region from the rest of the country pointless. Although no military was allowed on Prei Mean soil, Prei Mean colonial government de facto became an ally of the Zhoushi Union. This lease was later confirmed by independent Prei Mean government.

Situation in May 1939

Battle of the loop

The Northern Strategy

Council armies, being desperate after a crippling winter, were ordered to redirect as much forces away from the Ukadsk perimeter towards north, trying to capture Zhousheng City (Capital of Bogmia).
In April, on the first anniversary of the Proletarian uprising in the west, 4 Council divisions thrusted around the perimeter and quickly rushed towards the central plain towards Zhousheng City. By mid May, 2 divisions reached Zhousheng City and were quickly caught in a crossfire in a strongly fotified perimeter.

The push for encirclement

Council commanders, having realized, that Zhoushi Union is trying to repeat the Second Battle of Ukadsk and cause Council another fiasco, from which they couldn't recover, ordered the troops to encircle the city from the right, flanking Bogmian armies and encircling them in them in the city, using a strategy of starving them to dead.
Bogmian commanders, realizing what the Council troops were up to, ordered their reserve armies (prepared southeast of the city) to following the Council armies, breath on their back and use hit-and-run tactics. Council armies easily pushed through the intentionally weakened left wing of Bogmian defense and rushed to encircle the city, followed by Bogmians. Council commanders, realizing their mistake too late, ordered their troops to loop around the city and hit through the Bogmian perimeter right wing from the back.
The following series of battles, called "The battle of the loop" were disasterous to the Council formations, most of them being dispersed and captured in villages around Zhousheng city by July.

The battle of New Gadorien

New Gadorien, a city in Gadorien, was attacked by Council armies, which were trying to conquer a better position around the lake. Gadori troops held well, but were eventually pushed out of New Gadorien, restoring the trenchech right behind the city. Although this battle was presented by Council propoganda as a turning point in the west (Propaganda commissariat was desparate because of the lack of success in the east), it was rather a Pyrrhic victory, causing enormous casualties, especially to trained army. By September, city was mostly abandoned by Council troops, except local standing militia, which was subjected to Grad ASCS.

Situation in September 1939

A push for the central range

With the destruction of Council troops in the Battles of Ukadsk and Zhousheng City, Zhoushi Union officially moved their military and political and miltiary HQ to a Zhengian city of Kandan (which remains a capital of Zhousheng to this day), de facto unifying the two countries in political functionality. By September 1939, Zhengian and Bogmian troops pushed Council militias back to the mountain ranges. Council militias were now trying to fortify valleys and passes across the mountains they so famously captured almost without a fight in 1938.
Similar strategy happened in the south, with Southern Force (Bogmian and Zhengian armies in the south integrated under autonomous HQ with the approval of both Zhengian and Bogmian HQs, which were busy with the defense of Ukadsks and later Zhousheng City) advancing and reaching mountain passes of Minimalstrit mountain range. At the same time, Southern Force also captured about a half of Velharian border, creating a long front reaching from Minimalstrit all the way to Velharian border.

A mild winter

Council troops, hoping for the repeat of the harsh winter waited for Zhoushi Union troops to attack. The winter was hardly as harsh as the previous one, but still, Bogmian and Zhengian troops evacuated their forward positions on the mountain passes. This was exploited by the Council militiamen, which conducted hit-and-run operations across most of the passes. This action caused some casualties to both sides, but failed with the original purpose of causing a collapse of the Zhoushi Union armies, allowing Council to conduct another attack into Eastern Bogmia and Zhengia.

An army united

With the enormous success of the Southern Force, Zhengian and Bogmian armies integrated into one, unified Zhoushi military, hoping to ensure better cooperation between units and ensure easier response. Southern Force was reformed into "Southern Front", Bogmian and Zhengian units in the east were split among "Northwestern Front" and "Southwestern Front"

Situation in February 1940

The battle for passes

After the winter ended, Zhoushi forces were ordered to march through the passes into West Bogmia and secure bridgeheads there. At this point, Council Army was pushed out of the ranges, because they didn't fortify the areas well enough, trying to maximalize their ability of raiding Zhoushi positions. By April, Zhoushi armies occupied all the passes and conquered fields usable for airport construction. Although Council air force was no longer a force, Zhoushi were still hesitant about transporting their air force across the relative safety of the mountain range.
In the south, Southern Front conquered the Lonely Mountain and occupied all of the Velharian border. Velharian government officially apologized and retracted their recognition of the Council State. Political actions of Velharia during the war caused Zhousheng to void Velharian entry into Shanghou Pact in 1974 and in Sekidean Union in 2011. Until 1962, diplomatic relations were not restored. Southern Front also gained a connection of land with Gadori troops, which conducted attacks against Grad ASCS territory.

A phony peace

After Zhousheng and Gadorien occupied all the strategic locations on almost all sides of the Council State, it was expected, that Council would surrender, so for 5 months, neither side conducted any attack, waiting for each other to launch a new operation. This period of a unofficial ceasefire was called a "Phony peace", but at the time was reffered as "Peace with gunfire". After finally both sides realized, that neither negotiations nor attack by other would come, conflict restarted shortly before monsoon season, which again made the fighting almost impossible.

Situation in May 1941

The Victory - 1941

Zhoushi go for the last final push

Zhoushi forces are ordered to finish the operations against the council capital: Orlobirg. Council realized, that it is now or never, ordered all of the troops to withdraw from the fronts and to fight in the defense of Orlobirg Region. This was the relief mainly to the Southern Front and Gadori forces, which easily re-captured all territories in Gadorien and Grad, and Gadorieni troops even occupied Duchy of Louzeni (area of former separatist Haldenia). The withdrawal of troops turned out to be fatal choice to Council, which later regretted the action, because this gave enough breathing ground to Zhoushi troops to conduct air raids on Orlobirg.

A red terror

Although being brutal to people deemed anti-revolutionary and bourgeois from the beginning of the uprising, Council officially adopted laws allowing soldiers and workers to execute suspected criminals on spot en masse without a trial (fair trials were of course only on paper, but military trials were present until then). This caused massive scare in the people living in Orlobirg. There are reports of people being shot at for wearing black shoes (because black is the color of contrarevolution), refusing to give soldiers their house, looking on a stray animal for a longer time (because that would imply hunger for food, no matter if it is a stray dog, which is in communist utopia absolutely unforgivable), as well as personal vendettas, mostly by men angry on woman refusing sexual intercourse.

A battle of Orlobirg

In July, after minor fightings and desperate idealists conducting suicide attacks on Zhoushi positions, Zhoushi army entered Orlobirg, capturing street after street, house by house. The battle was brutal, but citizens were often helpful to all the Zhoushi personnel, which were seen as liberators, from which they naively ran in 1938. On September 5th, 1941, a flag was raised over the Rada (Zhoushi term for Council, a de facto HQ of the Council State), officially ending the war. In next few days, Vladimir Maȝ, the First Chairman of the Council Assembly (the dictator), was captured and imprisoned to be judged. Similar fate met another 358 high-ranked officials, which were all judged in the Communist Trials (113 were sentenced to death, 98 got life sentence, 76 got sentences from 65 to 25 years, 60 got sentences of 25 years or lower and 12 people were aquitted).

Consequences

Political

Two years and one day later, a Federation of Zhousheng was formed from the Zhoushi Union. Areas administered by the Council State were underrepresented until 2015, in which the Zhoushi president Sergej Napiчu officially reformed the "Federal Lands" into units called "Regions". Gadorien and Zhousheng ratified a border and autonomy agreements in 1944, ratifying a joint border (Grad areas were ceded to Zhousheng, Louzeni was ceded to Gadorien. Both areas are autonomous on their nations). In 1957, Shanghou Pact was formed from Monte Blanco, Zhousheng, Prei Meas and Gadorien. Velharia was embargoed by Gadorien and Zhousheng until the "Mistakes of the Past" Agreement of 1962.

Socio-economical

The so-called Western Federal Land, mostly the area around Orlobirg, voted conservative and centre-right to mid-right representants for 2 generations, having strong disbelief to the left.

In Popular culture

Many books, movies and documentaries were made about the war, including a 2020 TV series Maꞇчina, which paints and alternate history scenaria where Council won the war.