Papalanian-Bardonia War

Papalanian-Bardonian War
Clockwise from the top: Papalanian aircraft flying over burning North Bardonian Oil Wells in the North of Surdistan, North Bardonian troops in Surdistan, Imagery of VU aerial bombing, Road into Kalidara after bombing, VU Tank outside of Astanhar.
Date July 19th, 2018 - August 28th, 2018 Location North Bardonia & the Penitusian
Belligerents
Vabasian Union Papalania Vabasian Federation Tribia Haverade Provisional Goverment of North Bardonia	North Bardonia
Commanders and leaders
Arthur Samuel Holcom Gregory Tarpel David Tsavi Sax Samuel Joshua Dikla Eric Larson Marie Yelker Tomas Hezender Alexander Baganenhow	Tahid Al-Fahil (KIA) Alfur Tarkos

The Papalanian-Bardonian War (sometimes referred to as the VU-NB War, or the Penitusian War) was an armed conflict fought between member states of the Vabasian Union and the Republic of North Bardonia. The coalition assault occurred in three main stages: Operation Talon, the destruction of North Bardonians ability to pose an aerial threat to the VU, Operation Quaking Sand, the military invasion of North Bardonia, & Operation Preserving Liberty, the pacification of North Bardonia and the capture of its military leadership.

Both sides were aggressive and attempted to present dominances over the situation that lead to the conflict boiling over. After the seizing of the ships the VU and North Bardonia meet in Jaredistan, neutral ground, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the conflict but both factions' unwillingness to back down lead to escalation.

In the aftermath of the failure of the Jaredistan Conference rouge elements of North Bardonias military would take an aggressive stance against the Papalanians, leading to roughly 4 Heavy Ekranoplans controlled by these rouge elements attempting to bomb the capital of Papalania, although the raid was unsuccessful with one Ekranoplan lost and limited damage it proved that the North Bardonians could pose a threat, simultaneously the batteries of Kalidara opened fire on the Papalanian fleet before being destroyed by an Papalanan counterattack.

Background

Bardonian Instability

In the years prior to the inciting incident of the War North Bardonia suffered and brutal economic recession. In the years of 2008 & 2009 an Housing Crisis followed by a stock crash lead to a crash of the competitiveness of North Bardonian credit. In 2011 another additional crash lead to the deepening but the Democratic Liberal Party managed to hold onto power for a few more scattered years before in 2016 the Young Nationalist Party bridged a coalition with the Social Conservative Party and the Union for the Nation to form a conservative coalition government. Alongside the political strife caused by politicking in the coalition and a drug crisis the economy was still no in anyway in "bouncing back".

Alongside the instability in the Economy & Politics the military remained deeply divided between the Traditionalist , Warhawk, Conservative faction that dominated the Army and the Kalidara Fleet Command against that of the more pro-Republican, peace focused faction that saw control of the Airforce and Navy. This divide lead to great mistrust and a lack of communication between branches of the Armed Forces would lead to a number of incidents that lead to the deaths of military personnel, the most famous of these was the 6th of November Incident of 2014 where several soldiers of the Army would become injured after army personnel would intercede on a Marine wargame.

Naporia Conflict

Main article: Arstotsko-Papalanian War

Barossa Incident

Initial Boarding

At 1:30 am on 10 July 2018, the SS Barossa, a transport ship from the Papalanian Navy, detached from Papalanian Carrier Fleet Group 1 off the coast of Tribia en route to Cordo Fa for a routine provisions stop. The carrier group, which included the recently repaired SRP Allegiance, had just concluded a joint training exercise with the Vabasian Federal Navy in the Mediriman and was returning to Blaenau Air Force and Naval Base in Papalania. As the course had been approved by the North Bardonian government prior to departure, the decision was made to let the Barossa proceed without a supporting ship, so as to prevent the mission from being delayed by the slower speed of a battleship.

The Barossa reached Bardonian waters 13 hours later at approximately 2:45 pm. The ship proceeded along the designated On 11 July 2018 at 12:13 pm, local time, the Barossa was boarded and impounded by North Bardonian Vice-Admiral Alfur Tarkos off the coast of Kalidera on the grounds that it was carrying illegal cluster munitions and in violation of Bardonian anti-piracy law.