Parabocan War
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 Zamastanian troops parade in Cardoza, Paraboca, following their victory in the Parabocan War | |||||||
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Zamastan Chanchajilla Rio Palito |
Paraboca | ||||||
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The Great Cardoza War, or more commonly, the Parabocan War as it is known in Zamastan, Rio Palito, West Chanchajilla, East Chanchajilla, Ruskayn, and Quetana, was a military conflict which involved the Empire of Paraboca invading the southern border of Zamastan in 1871 in a continuation of their military conquests. The Empire had previously conquered large swaths of Chanchajilla, Rio Palito, and Quetana. The war was heavily shifted in the favor of the Parabocans until the addition of allies like the remaining armies of Commonwealth of Chanchajilla and Los Isles de Rio Palitos, alongside mercenaries from the islands of Ruskayn, created the conditions possible to drive the Parabocan forces out after four years of near stalemate land-warfare in 1875.
The war tested Zamastan's small army by promoting the first draft of soldiers and the concern of being conquered by a foreign power. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed during the war, and the death toll for civilians in Zamastan and Rio Palito was also staggering, as the Parabocan soldiers were notoriously violent. When the war ended, Paraboca went into political upheaval and turmoil, leading to the collapse of the nation in 1879, three years after the war ended. Paraboca would remain in a state of civil disarray and conflict until 1910, when they federalized their government and reorganized, including establishing diplomatic relations with their neighboring countries.
The victory and territorial expansion following the war President of Zamastan William Castovia envisioned inspired great patriotism in Zamastan, but the war and treaty drew some criticism in Zamastan for their casualties, monetary cost, and heavy-handedness, particularly in the later stages of the war when the Parabocan armies had began their retreat.
Background
Throughout the late 1700's and early 1800's, the military dictatorships of Paraboca thrived to conquer territory to reach their imperial boundaries to the Olympic Ocean. In 1788, the captured Vilanja after a month-long siege, ultimately annexing much of the eastern regions of Chanchajilla into their empire. Thirty years later in 1819 in another bout for resource-fueled expansion, a more aggresive push westward brought the Parabocan armies to Ivora. With the northern stretch of the Chanchajillan provinces held, and much of the southern Lake Greening shoreline under their control. Throughout the next twenty years, Parabocan armies began to seize area around the lake and eventually into indigenous Zamastanian lands in current day Redeemer’s Land, where the fledgling tribes were either conquered or retreated north towards the newly established nation of Zamastan. President Tomias Hapson established projects to house and protect fleeing indigenous refugees, one of the first refugee-crisis management projects in history.
In 1832, Paraboca invaded Rio Palito, seizing their southern shoreline and effectively capturing their access to the Olympic Ocean. In 1840, they moved northward and captured territory that bordered Zamastan's newly established frontier. President Hapson met with Parabocan leader Osi Jo Oberk when the latter traveled to Tofino, and aggressively talked him down from any more aggression northward, to which the Parabocans agreed. Instead of expanding north, the Parabocans moved southwest, capturing swaths of land up to just shy of the southern border with United New England's peninsula.
In 1850, Zamastan defeated Shen in the Louise Mountains War. Avi Taures, concerned about his nation's ability to wage war, began amassing troops on the southern border. He declared truthfully, according to historians, that he would not fight Paraboca unless they attacked, and that the troops were simply there for defensive purposes after being faced with the Shen invasion three years prior. Taures died in 1868, handing the presidency over to William Castovia. Castovia was more confident than his predecessor, and pulled thousands of troops from the southern border in a show of good faith towards the Parabocans, who had not betrayed their agreement in nearly thirty years. Also in 1868, Manuelo Cardoza became President of Paraboca, and began secretly planning for an invasion of southern Zamastan. In 1870, Cardoza also pulled his troops away from the northern border so as to appear peaceful against their neighbor.
War
Invasion of Southern Zamastan, Spring 1871
On January 5th, 1871, Manuelo Cardoza ordered hundreds of contingents of the Parabocan army to advance into southern Zamastan along a nearly 500 mile long stretch of land. The Parabocans descended from the Redeemer's Land highlands and into the prairie and crop regions of Pahl, seizing villages and catching Zamastanian divisions off guard. By the end of January, nearly the entirety of the southern quarter of Zamastan was under Parabocan control. The Zamastanian army was divided as contingents and divisions were surrounded and caught behind enemy lines. As President Castovia responded by sending nearly the whole force of 300,000 troops to face the 700,000 invading Parabocans, divisions that were behind enemy lines attempted to break back to their Zamastanian brothers. On January 16th, 300 Zamastanian soldiers stuck in Parabocan territory attempted to defend the city of Addleview from advancing enemy forces, but failed to keep control of the city. However, they managed to take over 6,000 enemy soldiers with them as they fought to the end.
For the first month of the war, Zamastanian forces consistently faced loss upon loss in battles across the frontier. Parabocan armies far outnumbered the Zamastanians, and their tactics in overwhelming conquer warfare was too aggressive for most generals to force a counter attack. In February, Zamastanian forces were soundly defeated at the Battle of Duncan, and Parabocan forces nearly completely raised the city of Duncan to the ground. It became clear to the Zamastanian leaders that the Parabocans were fighting a total war and were not concerned about civilian casualties. In Duncan alone, over 10,000 non-combatant civilians were killed.
