Second Reunification War of Hoterallia
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This article talks about the second reunification war of Hoterallia, for the first unification war and warlords Era in 1377, use the First Unification War of Hoterallia
| Second Reunification War of Hoterallia | ||||||||||
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| Part of Era of Civil Wars | ||||||||||
| File:Second Reunification War of Hoterallia collection.png Clockwise from the top:
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~1,200,450
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~780,320
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| Casualties and losses | ||||||||||
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50,000-60,000 civilians dead ~579,000 military dead | ~687,000 military dead | ~201,670 military dead | ||||||||
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The Second Reunification War of Hoterallia (Hoterallian: ほてらじあの第二次統一戦争, Hojo Romanization: Hoterajia no Dainiji Tōitsu Sensō) was a civil war in Hoterallia fought between the Shori Dynasty-led government of the Empire of Hoterallia and forces of the People's Revolutionary Council of Hoterallia(PRCH) lasting intermittently between 1939 and 1949.
In July 1939, the self-proclaimed People's Revolutionary Council declared their government as the true government of Hoterallia, holding Oracloer and they collapsed the whole country into war, the royal family created a provisional government based in their last bastion, Gerkoller, declaring the Provisional Government of the Empire of Hoterallia instead of their long lasting Empire of Hoterallia. After the two sides rallied up their army, regional warlords with enough money and manpowers declared their independence with their own intention of reuniting Hoterallia under their banner and their ideology.
Near the end of 1948 and the beginning of 1949, the Shori Clique runs a long campaign of encirclement and underground recruitment called Operation Phoenix Revival which helped their army grown in number, even many defected the Revolutionary Council due to their cruel ways to runs the country such as massacring individuals that opposed the regime, strict land reforms that causes wide famines,… By March 1949, many cabinet leaders of the PRCH had surrendered in their specific captured bunkers and by the 20 March, the Council finally surrendered and returned all captured POW and civilians. On the 28 March, the Shori Restoration occurred, returning the 48 years-old Emperor Norihi back to throne and proclaimed the Second Empire of Hoterallia.
Background
By the end of the Great War, the Empire slowly deteriorated in economic development even though not fully joining the war and getting invaded, the Emperor still launches massive reforms that eased up the mad population. But a small group intellectuals called themselves the Revolutionary Council and claimed that "They were the voice of the people…" which did not gain much attention until Emperor Norihi started to show his sickness, the power grip started to loosen, starting to past the power down to one of his son, Prince Momomito Shiro.
The Diet weren't established at the time, it was just a small parliament that issues works to intellectual and aiding the Emperor in his reign. The PRCH started to gain popularity slowly but steadily, their works were still unpopular to the mass population liking the Emperor greater reforms. Even though the Council lacks their popularity, they were stealing weapons from the military which were mostly worn out rilfe and weapons, they were also able to hide their secret underground airforce and armored vehicle that they built using scrap metal.
Their underground works was later found out and multiple councillors were arrested while many others escaped, they later formed the People's Liberation Front of Hoterallia. The front mostly ran small attacks on rice storage and banks, which mostly ended in failure, but they still go on with their ideas, they continued with small raids on army garrison and weapons storage.
On 7 April 1938, Norihi and several other old Taihago leaders held a meeting, during which they proposed that Communist activities were socially and economically disruptive and had to be undone for the country to develop. On 12 April, in Oracloer, many suspected Communist members were purged through hundreds of arrests and executions on the orders of General Chojiro Gozu. This incident widened the rift between the Heiji, the de facto leader of the Taihago, and Mamuguchi Hideyu, the leader of the PRCH who then expanded their control over the city of Oracloer. Eventually, the PRCH were deemed "A threat to the Empire" and cause a major shift. The Taihago resumed its campaign of reforms and changes in September 1938.
Communist Insurgency
On 11 May 1939, the Revolutionary Council launched an uprising in Oracloer against the Imperial Government in nearby Jotsu. On 14 May, the main forces of the Liberation Front left Oracloer and headed eastward for an assault on Gerkoller. Imperial forces quickly occupied Gerkoller while the remaining members of the PRCH in Oracloer reinforced their power. A PRCH meeting on 21 May in Jotsu confirmed the objective of the party was to seize the political power by force, but the PRCH was quickly suppressed the next day on 22 May by the Imperial government in Jotsu led by Kigata Howei. On 26 May, Norigi announced a state of emergency that has bestowed on the Empire, as the situation continued out of control for the Imperial government.
Attempts were later made by the PRCH to take the cities of Magateza, Jiko-risu and Go-kio. The Liberation Front consisting of mutinous former Imperial Army soldiers as well as armed peasants established control over several areas in western Hoterallia. The Imperial Forces continued to attempt to suppress the rebellions. The situation only deteriorate further with the fact that the PRCH launched multiple small campaign to try and distribute the Imperial Force out thinly, to which many documents by the PRCH officers wrote "to penetrate the line and broke the army".
On July 20, the PRCH proclaimed the Provisional Government of The Socialist Republic of Hoterallia with Oracloer as its capital, they ousted multiple high government officers that used to work with National Diet and replaced them with collaborators, they launched many full scale reforms, some seizing the lands and distributing it unfairly with little to no announcements which made some landlords poor and farmers rich. Some of these reforms undoubtedly destroyed the Western Region and further oppressing the people.
Finally on July 21, the Liberation Front finally launched the first offensive, which started the Second Reunification War. The Battle of Jotsu lasted for 3 days before the Liberation Front capturing it and pushed the Imperial Force east, which made other warlords saw the weakness in the Kingdom and formed their own state and factions, some of these warlords used the defectors weapons and manpower to keep their state independent.
The city of Oracloer during the Communist purge on 12 April
The PRCH addressing to the people in Oracloer about the occupation of fhe city
The Imperial Army marching towards Jotsu
The Imperial Force preparing to fight with the Liberation Front in Jotsu
Campaign For The East
The Imperial Force with no way to turn to, they marched East, stomping out any small warlords and integrated into the Kingdom. While they were marching through Central Hoterallia, the Imperial Force launched a scorched earth policy, killing thousands of ethnic minorities. This campaign was called the "Million Footsteps Campaign", it was important as it helped the Imperial Force to create a well fortified East to counter the PRCH.
Using a force of around 500,000 men and an extra of around 5,000,000 normal civilian that wanted to dodge the communist regime, they all walked day and night through the harsh environments of the Central Plains to meet up and prepare the next march but by December 11th 1939, they all reached the Central Plains earlier than expected and they continued to march East to the far countryside, they reached it by the New Year of 1940 and established a provisional government for the Empire.
As the PRCH continue to launch massive reforms after massive reforms, the people continued to suffer from oppression from the Revolutionary Council, corruption was wide spread in the cities while the poor in the countryside worked off their backs to survive. And to apprehend the enemy forces, they raised conscription, forcing around 500,000 civilian to joined the army, while most of them are unequipped and inexperienced.
As the provisional government was stabilising, they launched multiple small campaign against other small warlords, some of these warlords were previous generals, defectors or communist backed revolts, but the Imperial Force managed to subjugated them and stabilised region after region.
But as of May 1950, around 10 major different warlords revolted and form their own separated government, mostly held in the Central Plains, some of these warlords supported neither the communist nor the Imperial Force, they planned to reorganised Hoterallia under their own banners, some of these warlords followed some extremists ideology such as theocracy, autocracy and syndicalism.
After the Imperial Force stabilised the East, they continued to subjugate smaller warlords cliques, this in term strengthen the Force and slowly re-establish the Empire, but with the small population in the East, the Imperial Force encountered multiple problems, mostly on manpowers, in contrast, the East is rich in natural resources, using it, the Imperial Force built factories, even with the small population, the Shori Clique successfully industrialised the ancient lands. The Imperial Forces also helped multiple refugees from the Communist regimes, which in term resolved the population situation. The Emperor, Norihi, also stepped down as Emperor to help led the clique to victory, his posthumous name was changed to "Governor Norihi"
Period of Reforms
From 1950 to 1953 was dubbed as "Kaikaku no Jiki" or "Period of Reforms", during the four years, all sides didn't engage in anyway of fighting, they all launches reforms to both stabilise their territory and raised their army, this period was also a huge part in shifting the war tides.
Shori Clique
In the Provisional Government of the Empire of Hoterallia, the Taihu (Modern day Taihago) launched the "Jibun De Yare", a programme that encourages everyone, both poor and rich to worked together, ate together and lived together. By doing so for two to three months, they had sharply lowered the number of poor people, the programme saw the erase of class division and helped the people work in harmony. Besides the "Jibun De Yare", the Kodi (Modern day Kodoha) launched the "Wanrōdo, Wandei", an expensive campaign that contributed to the transportation during the war, the campaign sought to build a road in one day, even though the campaign was thought as impossible to many, the campaign was a massive success, over the course of one month, 27 different roads, railways and other forms of transportation were built, including 3 airways.
To trained the remnants of the Imperial Force after the "Million Footsteps Campaign", the Kodi and Governor Norihi launched the "Kare no Raifuru o Motsu Otoko" programme, which aimed to trained each and every citizens residing in the East to know how to use weapons, in fear of any impending attacks from the enemies, also using the same programme, a large part of the population volunteered to join the Imperial Force. As the programme was running, a different campaign was launched by the Taihu, the "Chi Ga Ochiru Koto Wa Arimasen" which helped build shelter and anti-air defense units against the slowly building new airforce of the PRCH, the campaign also sought to build houses and train medical personnel to help in the war.
People's Revolutionary Council
To reestablished their stability in their occupied region, they launched campaigns after campaign to solidified their control, with each campaign continued to both ruin the economy and raised multiple revolts against their government, with most revolt supporting the Imperial Force. Everything changed when the Council launched the "Burūburaddo", exterminating any suspects that supported the Imperial Force, this is term backfired, the people, being forced to watch their loved one being killed in public, rose up, with limited equipment, they sought to sabotage the Liberation Front.
While most of these ineffective sabotage began, the Council continues with their reforms, even though not being popular with those in the cities, they found supports in the countryside, mostly from poor farmers and fishermen, but the minority of intellectual continue to support the Imperial Force.
To counter the Imperial influences, the PRCH used propaganda, staging and misinforming the mass population to gain their support, while many started to believe the propaganda, some started underground group to sabotage the propaganda campaigns as they started to reap success.
Hong Chi's Autonomous Separatists
In a remote village, a scholar by the name of Hong Chi started a cult of personality based around him and tea which is grew in his village, this was met with many suspicion but he was successful, proclaiming the Kingdom of Tea. This "Kingdom" was small but as he continues to spread his influences, he followers grew in numbers, he was also able to be a formidable warlord.
He later teamed up with the Council, the PRCH also promised him autonomy for his proclaimed "Kingdom of Tea".
Atrocities
During the war both the Imperial and Communists carried out mass atrocities, with thousands of non-combatants deliberately killed by both sides. Historian Shojo Kouza has estimated atrocities in the Second Reunification War resulted in the death of between 50 thousands to 80 thousands people between 1939 and 1949.
Imperial atrocities
In order to slow the Liberation Forces down when they marched through Central Hoterallia, the Imperial Forces were made to burn everything in the agrarian lands to create a scorched earth strategy, which in turn destroyed hundreds of kilometre squares of farmlands, starving hundreds to thousands of Central Hoterallian ethnic minority groups and at one point, cannibalism almost killed an ethnic group.
Communist atrocities
While maintaining order in the controlled provinces, the PRCH council leader, Mamuguchi Hideyu, launched multiple radical policies to mobilize Hoterallia against the Landlord class, but protected the rights of middle peasants and specified that rich peasants were not landlords. Council work teams went quickly from village to village and divided the population into landlords, rich, middle, poor, and landless peasants. Because the work teams did not involve villagers in the process, however, rich and middle peasants quickly returned to power. After the policies, the 1940 People's Act worsen the situation and increased the pressure to the rich and well-off population and those condemned as landlords were buried alive, dismembered, strangled and shot.
In popular culture
Film
- The Day Break (1975), a documentary by historian Chusu Matsuma about the beginning of the war.
- I Were There (1982), a film based on multiple eyewitnesses during the communists purge of April 1938
- Burning Across The Highlands (1989) is a documentary about the scorched earth policy of the Imperial Force and its after effects.
- Court Without Justice (2000), directed by Nishikita Strong, is a documentary about the PRCH's 1940 People's Act.
- Another Body Down The Ground (2007), a dramatization of an Imperial soldier dodging execution of the Communists.
- Food As Last Resort (2008), a documentary about the ethnic group in Central Hoterallia that chose cannibalism to survive.
- A Red Flower (2019), is inspired by Josuko Hotoka, a gardener who were drafted by the Imperial Force and planted hundreds of flower during the war.
Literature
Fiction
- Maekawa Yoshio (1960). A Child of War
- Kubo Yoshiro (1967). Run, Run And Run
- Yamane Hotaka (1973). Death Beyond The Living
- Miura Aika (1977). Scorched Earth, Hell Earth
- Kurokawa Kaoru (1986). Went To Hell And Back
- Shimoda Hideaki (1999). Smokes Burning The Sky: A Novel
- Shimoda Hideaki (2000). Smokes Burning The Sky: A Novel (International Version)
Non-fiction
- Arai Katsuro (1943). Poems During Wartime
- Yoshida Yuichi (1974). A Story of A Veteran: How Hoterajia Was Cut Apart
- Jo Shuichi (1998). What A Day To Die
TV series
- Blood On Brothers Hands is a story about two twin brothers fighting for opposite sides.
- What I Would Do To Survive is a story of a small village in Central Hoterallia during the scorched earth policies.