Emergency War

Emergency War
Part of the Great War
Date 21 February 1946 – 3 September 1951 (1946-02-21 – 1951-09-03) (5 years, 6 months, 1 week and 6 days) Location Musgorocia
Belligerents
Carloso Agostinia	Bourgougia Barssois
Commanders and leaders
Emanuel Sartega	Marchel Blanchet
Casualties and losses
1.1 million soldiers killed	2.6 million soldiers killed
At least 2 million civilians killed, including 1.2 million Bourgougian Catholics.

The Emergency War (21 February 1946 – 3 September 1951) was a large military conflict bought primarily in Musgorocia. Running concurrent to the later stages of the Great War, the conflict was fought between two opposing alliances; the Bourgougia-Barssois Axis and the Carlosian-led Allies. Preceded by the Invasion of Thouthen, the war was triggered by the invasion by Bourgougia of its neighbours Agostinia and Côte d'Émeraude and the Carlosian exclave of Victora, the war formally beginning on 21 Februrary 1946 following a formal declaration of war by newly elected President Emanuel Sartega. Belligerents dedicated the entirety of their economic, political and scientific resources to the conflict, becoming Musgorocia's first total war and blurring the distinction between military combatants and civilians. It saw the first use of jet aircraft and strategic bombers, as well as the debut of ballistic missiles and guided weapons in Musgorocia. Throughout the war, Bourgougian forces launched anti-Catholic pogroms within its own territory and in occupied countries, murdering 1.2 million recusant Catholics. Many others died of widespread starvation and disease. Carloso's use of nuclear weapons to bring an end to the war in 1951 was the first and so far only use of nuclear weapons in Musgorocia.

In 1939 the Parti Synarchiste Huguenot de Bourgougia (PSHB), led by former Colonel Marchel Blanchet, secured a majority in the general election, immediately setting about dismantling the country's democratic institutions and implementing a Protestant fundamentalist and revanchist regime which sought to reclaim territories lost to its neighbours during its historic wars with Carloso. Blanchet had himself appointed Dirigeant of Bourgougia, making him dictator for life, and began a rapid process of rearmament and reindustrialisation. Despite the vehement anti-Catholicism of the PSHB, mutual hatred towards the Carlosians allowed Blanchet to form an alliance with his Bar counterpart, President Raymond Montségur. The Democratic Party-dominated government of Carloso struggled to take the threat posed by Synarchist Bourgougia seriously.

In 1945 Bourgougia invaded and annexed Thouthen and began mounting forces on the borders of its neighbours, finally spurring Carloso to mobilise for war. Public frustration with the pace of rearmament, however, led to Alán Orihuela's defeat by former Army General Emanuel Sartega who, while a military independent himself, formed a mainly Conservative government. Within days of Sartega becoming President, on 21 Februrary 1946 Bourgougia invaded Agostinia, Côte d'Émeraude and the Carlosian exclave of Victory. Côte d'Émeraude was quickly defeated, surrendering by the end of March. Carlosian forces deployed to Agostinia to push the Bourgougians back and, despite some initial successes, were forced to withdraw after the Fall of Ninfas in June.

Bourgougian forces then commenced an invasion of Carloso's south-eastern province of Badasca and Tascay, beginning an extensive bombing campaign against Carlosian cities. A gruelling campaign of attritional warfare ensued as Carlosian forces fought the Bourgougian invaders from town to town, slowly withdrawing towards Madrigal. Secano, Carloso's third largest city, fell after a protracted siege in early 1947. Bourgougian forces also invaded Cispania and Aspinia, annexing the former and partitioning the latter with Barssois. Meanwhile, in the air, Bourgougia's air superiority began to deteriorate as the Carlosian arms industry began producing colossal amounts of armaments, including advanced turboprop fighters as well as its first jet-powered combat aircradt. At sea, Bourgougia failed to undermine the operations of the Carlosian Navy, thwarting attempts at a naval landing in Menerissa.

The momentum of the war shifted decisively in favour of Carloso in mid 1947 after the Miracle at Madrigal saw the encirclement and surrender of 400,000 Bourgougian soldiers, as well as a decisive defeat at the Battle of Estara. Carlosian forces then went on the counteroffensive, pushing the Bourgougians out of the Carlosian heartland. A massive offensive in the summer of 1948 saw Carlosians force liberate Secano and push the Bourgougians back into Agostinia. With the bombing raids on Carlosian cities subsiding, the Carlosian Air Force began its own campaign of strategic bombing on Bourgougian infrastructure and industry, attaining air supremacy as thousands of jet aircraft began entering service. The Bourgougian Navy was devastated in the Battle of the Sanander Islands, leading to the destruction of most of its battleships and all of its aircraft carriers.

In 1949 Agostinia was liberated by Carlosian forces, aided by a partisan uprising in Ninfas. In 1950 Carlosian and Agostinian forces invaded Bourgougia, while a second front was opened when a combined force lead by the Carlosian Marine Forces conducted the Arceneaux Landings, liberating Victory. Seeing no way to win, Barssois signed a white peace with Carloso and exited the war. The Bourgougians, meanwhile, employed more and more desperate tactics to fight the Carlosian invasion. Having secretly tested nuclear weapons a year before, in late August 1951 the Carlosian Air Force bombed concentrations of Bourgougian forces using a dozen atomic bombs, killing 100,000 Bourgougian soldiers and many high-ranking military officials. Facing the prospect of nuclear annihilation, the Bourgougian military launched a bloody coup against Blanchet on 3 September 1951 and immediately communicated its unconditional surrender to Carloso.

A joint occupation of Bourgougia by Carlosian, Agostinian and Côte d'Émeraudean forces then ensued for the next 6 years, finally withdrawing in 1957. During this time, many officials of the Synarchist regime in Bourgougia were tried and executed. While Carloso and Agostinia rebounded after the war, Carloso in particular enjoying an unprecedented period of massive economic and demographic growth over the next 30 years, the rest of south-eastern Musgorocia was absolutely devastated, with millions having lost their homes. The feeble Carlosian-supported democratic regime in Bourgougia was eventually overthrown in 1964 by a communist military coup, paving the way for the remilitarisation of Bourgougia and the eventual Bourgougian Blitz in 1987.

Map of the situation in Musgorocia immediately prior to the Miracle at Madrigal.