First Stonish Invasion of Hoterallia

Stonish Invasion of Hoterallia
Two Daiki warriors with a dead Stonish soldier 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 Hosu Taichimate, demanding that the nation cede Flatstone concessions in exchange for naval protection. This demand was denied without hesitation by Taichima Oirune Hosu 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 Hoterallian 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. Regardless of this, the Hoterallians didn't hesitate to put up a fight. The Stonish fleet had managed to encircle the contingent of Hoterallian ships, preventing any from deserting the battle. After inflicting a considerable amount of losses on the Hotellarian ships with the use of arrows, 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 Armies, 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 an 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 fire 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 two fleets had engaged with eachother face to face. The Hoterallians utilized gunpowder weaponry against the Stonish raiding fleet, however due to superior numbers were unable to resist. An account written by a Stonish soldier who had participated in the battle speaks of the Hoterallian valiance and how the Hoterallians were so unwilling to give up. The Hoterallian fleet fought to the last man in the First Battle of the Sunadic, however despite technological superiority were unable to beat back the Stonish fleet.

Landings in Hoterallia

Prior to the Stonish occupation of Saipoi and Ryuiki, efforts were made to seize the islands stationed off the Hoterallian coast. However, because the Stonish fleet had been badly damaged in the First Battle of the Sunadic, the Stonish army was unable to make any significant progress and was refined to just one or two islands that could be used as a staging point into mainland Hoterallia. The local garrisons were no match for the Stonish army, although despite this the Stonish armies found themselves unable to force the garrison out from behind it's fortification for multiple days. The garrison only surrendered once they could no longer bear the lack of food or proper supply, surrendering the fortifications to the encirclement. This now occupied island allowed for the Stonish to coordinate a more organized landing in mainland Hoterallia. The diminished armies were slowly being reinforced by troops from mainland Flatstone, and in 1332 the Stonish armada had fully recovered from the two battles. The fleet had been divided into two separate squadrons, one, much larger then the other, was set to land in Saipoi. The second, much smaller then the Saipoi raiding fleet, was sent to the city of Ryuiki.