Discovery Wars

Discovery Wars
Part of Hegemonic Wars
Serikese Cavalry during the 3rd Century
Date 39 BCE-545 CE (584 years) Location Northern and Central Siduri Result Symmerian Victory Symmerian conquest of Serikos
Belligerents
Symmerian Empire	Serikos
Units involved
Ancient Symmerian army Ancient Symmerian navy	Imperial Serikese military
Strength
Millions	Millions
Casualties and losses
Heavy	Heavy

The Discovery Wars (察覺戰爭), also known as the Serikomahkia (Serikos Battle) in the Symmerian language, alternatively known as the Wars against the Western State (Serikese: 西邦戰爭) in some Serikese sources, were a series of conflicts between multiple dynasties of Serikos against the Symmerian Empire, lasting from 39 BCE to 545 CE. At 584 years, it was one of the longest running wars in the history of Tyran. The Discovery Wars were, as the name implies, not a single conflict, but a series of wars and struggled between Symmeria and Serikos over northern Siduri and the Sundering Sea, ranging from small border incursions and raids into full fledged wars of conquest. The Discovery Wars were the largest and longest lasting component of the Hegemonic Wars, which were fought between Symmerian and the various powers of Siduri in antiquity.

The conquests of Orestes II had brought Symmerian borders into modern day Shirvaniya, where the various steppe tribes of the Naran Dahyu roamed and made war against one another and outsiders. Indirect contact between Symmeria and Serikos had been established during the time of Ancient Symmeria, but the arrival of Symmerian officials and soldiers in northern Shirvaniya paved the way for more direct contact. Both Symmeria and Serikos forged ties and relations with the various proto-Turkic tribes of the region, which occasionally drew in Serikese and Symmerian involvement. The first direct conflict between the two powers began in 39 BCE and concluded with a peace treaty just a year later, but relations between the two powers quickly soured as both began pushing to secure their territorial boundaries.

With a large population, abundance of natural resources, and access to the extensive trade networks of eastern Siduri and Eracura, Serikos was able to field large, well armed forces supported by advanced technologies in shipbuilding, chemistry, archery, organized and led by an extensive and meticulous bureaucracy. Serikos represented the most capable and powerful of Symmerian opponents during the Hegemonic Wars, and the balance of power between the two empires waged back and forth over the course of their conflicts. The duration of the wars are usually divided into epochs based around the Serikese Dynasty of the time, beginning with the Qho Dynasty, followed by the Guan Dynasty, the Hui Dynasty, and and finally the Zhang Dynasty.

The Qho Dynasty (270 BCE - 74 CE) was the first to make war with Symmeria, but despite ushering into the era was reluctant to pursue a full scale conflict with Symmeria. A total of 14 armed conflicts broke out between the Symmerians and Qho, but were mostly restricted to border battles and engagements in northern Naran Dahyu. The Guan Dynasty which followed a brief period of civil war (74 - 78 CE) was more willing to engage in direct confrontation with the Symmerians, having built up a large army and extensive cavalry arm. The Guan-Symmerian wars began in 131 CE with an invasion of Symmerian held Naran Dahyu. A peace treaty followed after seven years of war which resulted in the Symmerians ceding much of Shirvaniya to the Guan. The outbreak of the Symmerian-Hannashka Wars subsequently divided Symmerian focus away from Serikos to the Hannashka Empire, depriving Symmeria of the ability to challenge Serikese rule over northern Siduri. In 181 CE however the ascension of Eudoxos to the throne of Symmeria saw a reversal of Symmerian fortunes; between 185-191 Symmeria reconquered much of the lands it had previously lost to the Guan, before turning south and inflicting serious defeats on the Hannaska.

Fortunes were once again reversed in the middle of the 3rd Century, driven heavily by the success of Kamadyu the Magnificent. Weakened by Kamadyu, Anaxandridas and his Symmerian armies were decisively defeated by the Guan between 270-290, losing much of Naran Dahyu to the Guan. Symmerian fortunes went into rapid decline during the Symmerian Recession, while the Guan, supported by their allies the Abkai, raided deep into Symmerian territory, reaching as far as the Kurilla Mountains in Ruvelka in some instances. By the 5th Century the Symmerian Empire was teetering on the brink of collapse, divided by the rise of Zobethos and the subsequent Zobethos Civil War, sparking the 16 Years' Crisis. Just as Guan ascendancy seemed seemed apparent however, the sudden death of Emperor Ao Zhen sparked a succession crisis within the Dynasty, causing the Guan to collapse into civil war and preventing Serikese efforts to exploit the turbulent rule of Alexarchus.

The subsequent Hui Dynasty (455 - 501) inherited an empire bled white by years of war and opted to focus on maritime power. The commissioning of a large fleet of warships led to protracted fighting in the Sundering Sea between the Hui Navy and the Ancient Symmerian navy, which the Hui largely emerged victorious from. By 480 the Hui were raiding Symmerian holdings in Ruvelka and Chryse, threatening the very heartland of the Symmerian Empire. Hui endeavors on land were far less successful, leading to a number of embarrassing defeats. With Hui political power already nearing instability owing to unpopular land and tax reforms, Emperor Shan Hui attempted to shore up Hui prestige by personally leading Hui armies in battle, which ended in disaster following his capture and execution by the Symmerians in 499 CE. The Hui Dynasty rapidly collapsed into infighting between Shan Hui's son and brother, which ended with the dissolution of the regime and the establishment of the Zhang Dynasty.

By the 6th Century the Symmerians had emerged from their recession, and with the Hannashka Empire gone and peaceful relations with the Rideva Empire, were free to focus their intentions on Serikos. The Symmerian conquest of Serikos began in 508 CE and would last 37 years, becoming the bloodiest and most destructive of the conflicts during the course of the Discovery Wars. The Zhang mobilized massive armies of hundreds of thousands of soldiers to repel the Symmerian invasion, which was spearheaded by armies drawn up from across the empire, to include some former Serikese allies such as the Abkai. By 514 the Symmerians had reached the Ziying River and invaded the Central Provinces, besieging the Imperial City in 520. The four year siege ended with the capture of the capital, which the Symmerians subsequently razed and burned most of its structures. The Zhang refused to submit and withdrew further east, fighting a war of attrition before falling back to the fortresses and mountains of the Feiyan Peninsula. The Symmerians reached the east coast of Serikos in 532 before turning north to capture the remaining Zhang holdouts, the last of which fell in 545. The Symmerians concluded the conquest by exterminating the Zhang bloodline, destroying any evidence of its existence, while hundreds of thousands of Zhang followers were sold into slavery and scattered across the Empire.

The conquest proved devastating to Serikos, which saw its population halved and most of its major cities reduced to ruin. Hundreds of thousands of Symmerian soldiers and levies perished in the fighting, forestalling Symmerian plans for Quenmin for nearly a century. The Symmerians subsequently established the Yu Dynasty to rule Serikos on their behalf. Serikos was gradually incorporated into the Symmerian Realm, though it would remain perennially on the verge of rebellion, ranging from minor peasant revolts to wide spread insurrection. Symmerian occupation of Serikos would continue off and on for centuries; Serikos would temporarily secede from the Empire during the Crisis of the Ninth Century, but was ravaged by the Burning Plague which allowed Aristoxenus to reconquer it in three years. During the 11th Century Seleucus of Ioklos would incorporate much of Serikos into his domain during Seleucus' Civil War. Symmerian rule would last another two centuries before it was permanently broken by the War of the Marked and the establishment of the Tai Dynasty.