First Stonish Invasion of Hoterallia

Stonish Invasion of Hoterallia
Two Daiki warriors with a dead Stonish soldiers at their feet.
Date 1327-1334 Location Flatstone, Hoterallia Result Inconclusive Treaty of Jyo-daika Flatstone forced to pay war reparations to Hotellaria
Belligerents
Flatstone	Hoterallia
Commanders and leaders
Bjarn II Von Stone Bas Pumice  † Jonob Sidian  † Rhyo Lite Jonas Steinherre	Emperor Gon-Suda Taichima Oirune Hosu Kazuyuki Fujimoto  † Junkichi Hori Iwata Toyoto Noguchi Bunshi Higuchi Ueda
Strength
23,000	45,000
Casualties and losses
17,500	6,700

The Stonish Invasion of Hoterallia, or the Stonish War on Hoterallia was a small naval conflict between the Kingdom of Flatstone and Hosu Taichimate.

Outbreak of War

The war between the two nations had initially started after King Bjarn II of Flatstone announced an ultimatum to the First Hoterallian Empire, demanding that the nation cede Flatstone concessions in exchange for naval protection. This demand was denied without hesitation by Emperor Gon-Suda of Hoterallia, and thus the Kingdom of Flatstone issued a declaration of war.

War on the Water

Battle of Stoheпopt

Illustration of the Battle of Stoheпopt

Flatstones fleet, under the command of Bjarn II, had rallied in the port of Stoheпopt, a Stonish-controlled archipelago north of its capital that had served as a launching point of the Stonish campaign against the Hotellarian navy in the Southern Sunadic. Bjarn II and his men departed from the port in 1327 shortly after the declaration of war, engaging in a skirmish on open waters with a small detachment of Hotellarian ships that had been stationed near the island in order to prevent Stonish forces from reaching mainland Hoterallia. These efforts proved to be fruitless, however, as they hadn't prepared themselves for the battlefleet constructed by Bjarn II just two years prior. Hoterallian forces failed to match the naval experience possessed by the Stonish forces, soon finding themselves to be overwhelmed by Stonish galleys and barques. The Stonish fleet had managed to encircle the contingent of Hoterallian ships, preventing them from deserting the battle. After inflicting a considerable amount of losses on the Hotellarian ships, Stonish forces began to board enemy ships, partaking in melee combat with one another. Stonish forces were met with fierce Hoterallian resistance, unable to break their morale. Instead, Bjarn II ordered for the Hoterallian fleet to be burned and its crew left to die. Dozens of ships were set ablaze, their crews forced to abandon ship and drown as the Stonish fleet made its withdrawal back to Stoheпopt.

First Battle of the Sunadic

Depiction of Stonish forces engaging with the Hoterallian Navy in the Sunadic Ocean

After having achieved an overwhelming victory over the port in Stoheпopt, Bjarn II knew not to waste the boosted morale and enemies devastation while it was still there, thus seizing the opportunity and engaging in a second naval battle with what remained of the now badly battered Hoterallian Fleet, as well as reinforcements that had arrived from Saipoi to reinforce it. After regrouping with an additional squadron that had arrived from Sлate, Bjarn II ordered his fleet to depart from Stoheпopt to the Hoterallian port of Saipoi in early-1382. This time, he'd been accompanied by the 1st and 2nd Slatian regiments, the combination of the two boasted a sum roughly 10,000 strong. This armada made its way through the Southern Sunadic, arriving off the coast of Hoterallia in 1329. There, a formation of Hoterallian vessels awaited the arrival of the now-massive Stonish battlefleet, in a desperate attempt to ward the invaders off from the Hoterallian coast. On an August morning, the two fleets met face to face off the coast of the Saipoi area, an exchange of arrow rainfall announced the start of the battle. Throughout the day, the Hoterallian fleet was battered by a constant stream of arrows. Wave after wave, their crews slowly diminished under the pressure of the Stonish battlefleet. By the time the sun began to set, the Stonish fleet had ceased its constant barrage and made its way into the heart of the Hoterallian fleet, deploying similar tactics to those used in the battle of Stoheпopt. A journal recovered from a Stonish soldier recounts the discovery of idol Hoterallian warships that had been completely abandoned by their crews, unable to resist the constant downpour of arrows. Some ships that had been captured were incorporated into the Stonish fleet, others burned. None were taken prisoner.

Landings in Hoterallia

Prior to the capture of Saipoi and Ryuiki, Stonish forces embarked on an island-hopping campaign in an attempt to occupy the various islands that littered the Hoterallian coast. This campaign was for the most part successful, as Stonish forces deployed on the islands met little to no resistance from local garrisons. This occupation would prove detrimental to Hoterallia, as it allowed for Stonish blockades to be employed more efficiently, cutting off trade from the sea entirely for a period of two months before Stonish garrisons began to abandon the islands. Stonish forces would use the islands as a staging point for landings in mainland Hoterallia, specifically the two trade cities of Saipoi and Ryuiki, which had become points of interest for the Stonish army, as controlling them would allow for the reparations' of the Stonish fleet to be conducted in Hoterallia, rather than having the Stonish fleet embark on a journey back to the Pёkkapлeeпeлaгo archipelago just to undergo repairs. In 1331, a contingent of 13,000 landed in Saipoi, and another 8,000 landed in Ryuiki. 2,000 were left to garrison the islands off of Hotellaria's coast.