Midsummer War

Midsummer War
Clockwise from top: Æþurian infantry during the initial invasion; A Shalumite mortar fires on Æþurian positions; Acrean Stormers in urban combat; An Acrean EF-662 takes off at night; Shalumite infantry holding a defensive line; A destroyed Mammut tank on Iron Island.
Date 21 June 2015 – 15 March 2016 (8 months, 24 days) Location Iron Island Æþurheim Result Coalition Victory Treaty of Nice is imposed on Æþurheim, forcing Æþurheim to accept full responsibility for the conflict and to pay reparations to Shalum and Acrea for loss of life, materiel, and destruction Karlos Vocht resigns from his position, leading to the election of Monika Schefer as his replacement. Permanent Acrean military presence in Shalum is increased by several thousand troops.
Belligerents
Coalition Shalum Acrea Cacerta	Æþurheim

The Midsummer War, also referred to as the Iron Island Conflict, was a major conflict fought between Shalum, Acrea, and Æþurheim (Aethurheim). The war took place from 21 June 2015 to 25 September 2015, following heightened tensions and a prolonged military buildup in the aftermath of a breakdown in talks concerning a dispute over the treatment of peoples in Maldoria and its status as former Æþurian and Svinian territory.

Aethurheim began a military buildup in December 2014, while still in the midst of heated negotiations with Shalum regarding Maldoria. As talks progressed into 2015 they began to devolve, beginning a reciprocal diplomatic escalation of tensions which came to a head when Supreme Chancellor Karlos Vocht abruptly ended negotiations at the beginning of May 2015. Although Shalum had been building up its own forces for several months as a precaution since January, Acrea had refrained from deploying further substantial numbers of troops to Shalum in the hopes of not escalating tensions.

In the aftermath of the conflict, the Coalition forces had dealt a severe blow to the Aethurian military, and crippled its air force. Their success in the conflict was afterward attributed to a number of factors. One of these factors was the numerous misperceptions and miscalculations were made by Aethurian leadership; Vocht believed that the invasion would be capable of inflicting enough shock on the Shalumite defence that it would be able to occupy the entire island within days, and thus little accommodation was made for supporting sustained combat operations. Likewise, he believed that the relative isolation of Iron Island and the rapidity of a presumed Aethurian victory would mean that the Acreans would either decide not to intervene in strength, or if they did that they would be unable to mobilise enough forces fast enough. Vocht believed that by seizing Iron Island, he could force Shalum into ceding the territory of Maldoria. The defeat caused Vocht to resign in shame, paving the way for Monika Schefer to replace him.

The conflict dramatically subverted expectations of how a war between the belligerents would play out. Traditional perceptions had assumed that any conflict between the two sides would result in a large-scale war of attrition, following the example set by the earlier Zemplen War which it has often been analysed alongside. By contrast, the fast-paced and technologically-dominated nature of the conflict surprised observers. Criticisms have been leveraged at both sides, especially in the Aethurian treatment of Shalumite civilians on Iron Island and the collateral damage resulting from the Acrean-led bombing campaign over Aethurheim. Tensions have remained high in the years since.

Course of the war

Initial Invasion

The invasion began in the early morning before daybreak on June 21, with Aethurian landing forces landing on the southern and western parts of the island. Coalition surveillance recognised the impending attack, however were only able to maneuver forces on the island into pre-prepared defensive positions per an existing war plan, and only began preparing reinforcements to move to the island shortly before Aethurian landing forces arrived. Consisting primarily of six infantry brigades, the first wave of the invasion force concentrated at the relatively lightly defended stretch of Brighton Beach, using amphibious troop carriers and heavy transports to land tanks on shore. The shock troops swept over the seaside residences in what was initially bitter house to house fighting with forward elements of the Shalumite National Guard, who did not fare well against the aggressive breakthrough formations. At the time, air support for this landing was mostly handled by the RMS Jormungandr, with her supporting naval group providing long range cruise missile fire on positions further inland.

Although the initial landing was successful, with Aethurian Stormtroopers managing to establish several beachheads and begin pushing inland towards Iron Island's capital of Kaiserwerth, they suffered heavier casualties than expected due to a tenacious Shalumite defence, bolstered by strong defensive positions and fortifications. Aethurian naval assets, initially poised to provide fire support to landing forces further north, were forced to fall back towards Aethurian waters in a to avoid engaging newly arriving Acrean and Cacertian warships: several Type 729-class cruisers and Type 727-class destroyers supported by other smaller vessels arrived to the north off Iron Island, alongside several Type 906-class submarines launched from submarine pens near Aragon. Considerable Aethurian coastal defences including mobile long range anti-ship missile batteries forced Acrean and Cacertian surface vessels to maintain a safe distance until such defences could be located and targeted.

Aethurian troops had made their way deep inland despite stiff resistance. Their advance was largely halted by the arrival of Shalumite and Acrean reinforcements from the mainland. Aethurian naval assets were redirected to secure their line of supply from the Aethurian mainland, protecting logistical ships transporting troops and materiel after several transport vessels were sunk by Acrean submarines. Despite the intial success of the land operation, the Luftforsvar was still continuing to struggle for air superiority. Aethurian fighter aircraft utilised "jousting" tactics learned from the Syaran CAF during the Zemplen War, firing at long range at Shalumite fighters before turning away to avoid committing to engagements. Aethurian attack aircraft endured more substantial losses in the initial stages of the invasion, suffering from prevalent Shalumite surface-to-air defences and a lack of air superiority to prevent them from being engaged by Shalumite fighters. Ground combat turned into a functional stalemate; the Aethurian advance was halted at the point it had progressed by nightfall. Rather than attempt a counterattack, Coalition forces bolstered their defensive positions in the face of aggressive Aethurian maneuvers.

Aerial Campaign over Æþurheim

With the frontline on the island stabilising, Coalition attention turned to the implementation of Fall Høst (Acrean: Case Harvest). Envisioned as the blueprint for an air campaign in case of an Aethurian attack across the southern Shalumite border, the plan was slightly modified and implemented as Operation Harvest. The operation consisted of two components: an extensive bombing campaign accompanied by an offensive counter air operation. The bombing targeted Aethurian military installations in six states: Norscveg, Skjardel, Gallagher, Radik, Fjellende, and Liam. Priority targeting focused on striking pre-identified SAM sites, ground radar installations, airbases, and other key command centres.

The operation began shortly after nightfall at 21:00 on 29 June. The opening strikes proved devastating; although Aethurian radar detected Shalumite, Acrean, and Cacertian strike packages, the initial wave of fighters launched to intercept them were almost completely wiped out by a fighter screen of Acrean EF-662 Vampyrs that had gone undetected. Supported by an additional screen of RAAF EF-165 Drakens and CRN NSF-13s, Aethurian attempts at intercepting strike formations were unsuccessful. The Aethurian defences were further hampered by Acrean electronic warfare and SEAD aircraft, and the use of blankets of anti-radar missiles resulted in the disabling of several radar sites.

The airstrikes severely damaged the incomplete Aethurian integrated air defence system along their states bordering Shalum, which had been undergoing construction following a doctrinal shift in the early 2010s after the Luftforsvar's experience in the Zemplen War. The Luftforsvar suffered the destruction of key command centres for its fledgling IADS. These stations were responsible not just for tracking and assigning targets for SAM sites, but were also responsible for guiding and directing Aethurian fighters, as the Luftforsvar did not use AWACS aircraft. Aethurian pilots had become over-reliant on the use of the stations, lacking other supporting assets such as airborne early warning and control. As a result, Aethurian fighters attempting to respond to the airstrikes had limited situational awareness.

Subsequent waves took advantage of the chaos that had been created by the operation's opening airstrikes, hitting a wide array of targets. The bombing of Aethurian harbors and rail stations severely hindered the URA's ability to resupply and reinforce its troops on Iron Island. Over the course of three weeks of sustained airstrikes, Operation Harvest succeeded in rendering 30% of Aethurian airbases in the north and east of the country completely inoperable. In combination with continued OCA operations, the Luftforsvar was unable to organise an effective defense of Aethurian airspace and suffered heavy losses to its air fleet from a combination of aerial engagements, anti-air defences over Shalum and Iron Island, and aircraft lost on the ground.