Mutulo-Reze Wars

Mutulo-Reze Wars
Part of War of the Exiles
Rezeses armors as used during the Wars
Date 1671 to 1686 Location Mutul Sante Reze
Belligerents
Mutul	Sante Reze
Commanders and leaders
Janab Pacaal Walijaj Chan K'awiil
Strength
150,000 in total	Template:Country data Reze 60,000 in total
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Mutul - Reze Wars, also sometime known as the Ucayare Wars or the Wars of the Exiled Houses are a serie of conflicts that opposed the Mutul and the Noble Houses of Sante Reze, then forced in a de-facto exile by the Trade Cartel.

The reasons behind the wars are numerous. Since 1502, the Aristocracy of Sante Reze had been dominated by the high bourgeoisie of the coastal cities. While at first they still controlled vast swath of lands in the interior and owned many plantations and exploitations that made the wealth of the country, by the second half of the 16th century they started to loose control of their own lands, seized by Cartel officials through various legal and financial means. Slowly but surely, the Aristocratic landowners were forced further and further westward, far away from the country’s political centers.

By the early second half of the 17th century, expeditions led by exploitants of the Noble Houses had finally come through the Ucayare forest and reached the mountains known as Nojwitz that marks the southern border of the Mutul, as well as the central mountain range marking the separation between Western and Eastern Oxidentale. They explored these mountains in hope of finding gold and other precious minerals, and established new plantations in the valleys and the areas of the Ucayare they had deforested alongside the main rivers.they used to export their products.

The first real war between the Mutul and the “Noble Houses” was preceded by years of small scales conflicts as the exact border of the Divine Kingdom were unclear and poorly defended. The K’uhul Ajaw claimed ownership over most of the Nojwitz’ plateaus and valleys,a sovereignty not recognized by the Houses. In 1671, the Mutul attacked the Houses establishments west of the T’ekot Pass, helped by the insurrection of many Ucayara tribes. The war ended with a truce and the construction of new fortresses to control the T’ekot Pass and other important crossing points into Western Oxidentale.

The second war began with surprise attacks by the Noble Houses against Mutuleses positions in Nojwitz. They managed to seize some forts and take control of various passes and valleys. The rest of the war was made by the Mutuleses trying to reclaim their strongholds, with the notable exception of one expedition by a Reze aristocrat deeper in the Mutul-controlled plateaus.

The Third Mutulo-Reze war started in 1684 when the K’uhul Ajaw B’alijaj Chan K’awiil ordered expeditions against the Noble Houses, crossing the T’ekot Pass and attacking the Rezeses possessions in the Ucayare forest, while also besieging forts in the Nojwitz still held by the Houses.

The Fourth War is generally called the “Subterfuge War” or the “False War”, as it lasted only a few months with no casualty, as its true aim was to hide the existence of the recently signed pact between the Noble Houses and the K’uhul Ajaw and notably the travel of the all the Houses’ children, sent away to K’alak Muul as hostages and guarantees for the Pact.

Thus the Pact marked the end of the fightings between the Mutul and the Rezeses Houses. It led to the official alliance between the K’uhul Ajaw and the Noble League that would rise against the Trade Cartel in 1699, thus moving their interests away from the Mutul and the Ucayare. The Pact also officialized the border between Sante Reze and the Divine Kingdom, largely to the advantage of the later who now owned the quasi-totality of the Nojwitz Mountain Range and was recognized its sovereignty over the lands west of the T’ekot Pass. In exchange for all of this, the Mutul agreed to support the Noble Houses in their conflict against the Trade Cartel, sending ressources, weapons, and even men, through the Ucayare Forest, bypassing entirely the Cartel’s control over sea lanes. Thus, the Pact marked the start of a long period of friendly relations between the Mutul and the Noble Republic, lasting to this day.

Prelude

The Ucayare Far-West during the 17th century. In red : the area recently explored and claimed by the Noble Houses. In Yellow, their old base of power in the Middle Bassin. In green, areas under effective Mutulese control

Following the minor wars and conflicts between the Ucayara tribes and the Noble Houses, the latter had been mostly free to push further westward their expansion. Their goal was to reach the Central Mountains and find the gold and iron mines said to be there, to exploit it both for their own profit but also in preparation of a future uprising against the Cartel, as a rebellion against the Republic was already in their mind.In the 1660s, they reached these mountains and started various mines and exploitations at the foot of the mountains. But since the economy of the Noble House relied on their expansion and clearance of new lands, the younger members of the Houses continued past these mountains to start their own exploitations. It’s this crossing that alerted the Mutul. Diplomatic missions were sent to get the Rezeses to recognize the sovereignty of the K’uhul Ajaw over these lands, to no avail, thus setting up the situation for the first war.

The Wars

First War (1671 - 1673 )

Control of the waterways is how the Noble Houses managed their quick expansion through the Ucayare regions

The casus belli for the first War was the call for help sent by the Ucayare Chieftain Awa Yavi to the K’uhul Ajaw Janab Pakal in 1670 after he had been chased from his lands by Rezeses expeditions. In 1671, a Mutulese expeditionary force followed the Kannoj River southward and reached the most westward plantations of the Rezeses the same year. Quickly, these outposts were overrun and destroyed, resulting in the Rezeses having to flee back to the east of the Central Mountains, while being harassed by the Mutuleses forces and their Ucayare allies.

After this first battle, the Noble Houses formed a common front against the aggressor, and sent troops to stop the Mutuleses who had already crossed the T’ekot Pass. What followed was a year and a half of fighting, with multiple large scale battle but also long periods of skirmishes between the Mutuleses and the Rezeses, but also between the Rezeses and the Ucayare whom the war incited them to resume their own revolt against the “easterners”. But despite great successes against the unprepared Houses, the Mutul decided to not go further eastward out of consideration for their supply lines and their slowly dwindling numbers, both because of the battles and the diseases. They returned west of the Central Mountains, but not before securing the T’ekot Pass by building a fort there, manned by a small core of permanent troops helped by Ucayare auxilliaries trained and equipped the Mutulese way. A truce was officially signed between the Mutulese general and the Noble Houses, putting the war on hold.

Second War ( 1676 - 1680)

The border regions of the Nojwitz Mountains is where most of the battles of the second war took place

After the first Mutulo-Reze war, the Divine Kingdom had not only began to fortify the T’ekot Pass, but also the Nojwitz Mountains. In the opinion of the Noble Houses’ Leagues, this was a threat to their future, slowly choking them by denying them to continue their economic model of expanding westward so their descendants always had enough lands for them. Rather than wait for a possible crisis, they decided to take matters in their own hands and organized expeditionary forces and small armies ready to strike against the Mutuleses. In 1676, they broke the truce and after hard-fought battles in the first valleys of Nojwitz, the Rezeses started to besiege Mutuleses forts.

One of the most remembered episode of the war was that one of the Rezeses army managed to pass through the frontline and enter deep in Mutuleses territories, ravaging the highlands and plateaus of Nojwitz. This expedition was a quick succession of raids against Mutuleses settlements and towns, as well as skirmishes against troops sent to stop the Rezeses. It managed to successfully hold off the Divine Kingdom’s men long enough to allow a number of forts and strategic checkpoints to fall to the Houses, even if it was ultimately defeated in 1678. The last years of the wars saw the Rezeses holding on their newly acquired ground and trying to push back Mutuelses reinforcements. Some valleys were claimed backs, others were definitively lost, but ultimately both side signed a new truce recognizing the statu quo.

Third War ( 1684 - 1686 )

A Reze depiction of Houses troops repelling the assault of Ucayare tribesmen who took the opportunity of the Third War to revolt

Some times after the Second War, the K'uhul Ajaw Janab Pacaal died and was succeeded by his son : Walijaj Chan K'awiil. The new Divine Lord, unwilling to ignored what he considered to be the humiliation of the second war repaid and having to prove his worth as a newly crowned leader, organized a new military campaign against the Rezeses houses. He sent his best Kaloomte southward with a relatively small but rapid forces, with the aim to cross the T'ekot Pass into the Reze controlled Ucayare and plunder the region, sending in disarray the Houses' supply lines and attacking directly their sources of revenues. Meanwhile, other armies were sent to the Nojwitz mountains to besiege the Reze-controlled forts.

The Mutuleses, despite attacking on multiple fronts, outnumbered the forces of the Noble Houses, especially after they once again started to recruit and arm Ucayare soldiers against the Rezeses. Walijaj Chan K'awiil sent south new canons of larger calibres, the kind the Houses did not have access to as the Trade Cartel was unwilling to let the Aristocracy have access to more modern and dangerous weapons. In two years, the Mutul restored its control over all of Nojwitz and had plundered the Houses new territories, pushing them away from the mountains.

The Pact

The Third War was not only devastating in and of itself, but the Noble Houses getting slowly bogged down in conflicts in the far west changed the political balance of Sante Reze. In 1684, sure of their strength, the Trade Cartel performed a coup against the Republic's government, removing and ultimately executing many of the Church's and Republicans leaders. This served as a demonstration of the Cartel's power and once done, merely replaced them with a puppet government even more dedicated to their cause than the previous one. This served as the de-facto end of the Ecclesiastical republic as the Church was no longer able to serve as the arbiter of the conflicts between the Aristocracy and the High Bourgeoisie.

Understanding that they were next on the Cartel's list, the Noble Houses sent ambassadors to the court of Walijaj Chan K'awiil. The K'uhul Ajaw, also worried by the Cartel's growing power, agreed to begin secret negociations with the Noble Houses toward a possible alliance against the Trade Cartel. Said alliance became known by the historians as The Pact.

The False War (1690 - 1699)

Example of Mutuleses ceramic hand grenades. These became part of the Houses' new military.

In order to sedate the Cartel and to not raise their attention on the Far West, the Noble Houses and the Mutul co-organized a vast operation known as the False War. Under the pretense of a fourth war, the Mutul and the Noble Houses performed large scale exercices, fake battles, drills, slowly creating a professional and experimented core to the Houses' armies. The False War also served as the pretext for the Mutul to send enough materials to re-equip the Houses military, including cannons, arquebuses, grenades, armors, and so on.

As per the details of the Pact, the Noble Houses were to send their children to the K'uhul Ajaw's court in K'alak Muul, both to protect them in case of their parents' defeat but also to serve as hostages and guarantee of the Pact. They also served as "prisoners of war" in public, and proof that a conflict was indeed ongoing between the Mutul and the Houses, one that the latter were obviously loosing. It is actually unknown if the False War really managed to fool the Trade Cartel, but it serves to show how far the Mutul and the Houses were ready to go to keep secret their true goals.

Mutul’s participation in the Noble Insurrection

During the Noble Insurrection, the Mutul at first tried to maintain a neutral facade. But when the Trade Cartel learned of the Mutul's role in supplying the Houses, they threatened retalations against the Divine Kingdom. Not waiting on the Cartel, the Mutuleses seized all Rezeses Guilds vessels in their ports as well as capturing any and all individuals affiliated with the Cartel. Following this first move, Walijaj Chan K'awiil then sent an army to support directly the Houses on the frontline, while his Kayamuca Fleet sat sail against the Cartel on the sea. The direct involvment of the Mutul in the war proved instrumental in the Houses' success, and Mutuleses ambassadors were present in 1702 at the proclamation of Noble Republic.

Aftermath and Impact

The wars resulted from the direct opposition between Mutuleses and Rezeses interests in central Oxidentale. The Noble Houses needed new lands permanently, as it was one of their last source of wealth that wouldn't involve weakening their descendants by dividing their old properties between their children. Thus the wars only stopped when the Aristocracy regained control of Sante Reze and was no longer bound to always expand westward.

But to reach this conclusion, which is technically the aftermath of the Sante Reze Noble Insurection, there were more direct consequences to the Wars, most importantly that they represented an important internal schift in the Sante Reze Ecclesiastical Republic's political power. The weakening of the Noble Houses, their expansion blocked as they were caught in a seemingly never-ending conflict, was interpreted by the Trade Cartel as the sign it was time to secure their position in the Republic. The subsequent purge of all neutral or moderate elements that had tried to keep both Cartel and the Houses in check for the past two centuries would have dire consequences on how future events would play out, notably by offering no alternative to the rapid radicalization of all factions present.

Alongside the signature of the Pact, the wars also gave both the Mutul and Sante Reze their modern southern and western borders respectively. More than the Nojwitz mountains, the Mutul also secured possession of the north-western foothills of the Central Mountains, reaching the southernmost point of their expansion. These borders remain more or less unchanged to this very day.

Culturally, the Pact would also have an impact through the Rezeses hostages in K'alak Muul. This direct immersion in the lifestyle and culture of a foreign country of young people who would end up being the next generations of Sante Reze's rulers would play out in interesting ways for the next fourty or fifty years, with the apparition of a "Mutulophile" lifestyle. A mouvement that would prove to be very rich in term of artistic representations and innovations, inspiring many artists, be they under the protection of these ex-hostages or not.