First Cross-Strait War
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| Cross-Strait War | |||||||
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 Anachak Kang | |||||||
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150,616 men | ||||||
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Daoan Casualties
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Kra Casualties
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| XXX civilians killed | |||||||
The Cross-Strait War, also commonly referred to as the Daoan-Kra War, was an intense armed conflict fought between Anachak Kang and an alliance between Daobac and Tsurushima from 6 July 1897 until 4 February 1898. The war was borne out of Anachak Kang's, commonly referred to as the Kra, expansionist and hegemonic policy to dominate the Kayatman and east Ochran regions through political and economic means. The Kra government viewed the subjugation and annexation of Daobac as a stepping stone to achieve Kra hegemony over the region, while at the same time control a strategic port of entry for international trade. The independence of Daobac in 1845 presented a new entry point for goods to enter and exist the Ozerosi and Kayatman seas. As a result many nations, Tsurushima and Anachak Kang among them, sought to establish friendly relations with Daobac in order to cement access to trade with the new nation. Initially, the Kra had the upper hand in the war, to the point of being able to invade and occupy parts of Bautroi island in Daobac. However their decision to simultaneously attack, what they perceived to be a weakened nation in the wake of a revolution, Tsurushima proved to be a major factor in their defeat. The involvement of Tsurushima as an ally of Daobac has been largely credited with single handedly turning the tide of the war. On July 1897 all Kra armies that occupied Bautroi island had been routed, and by January 1898 Daobac and Tsurushima launched a concentrated amphibious landing at Anachak Kang and eventually forced the Kra to surrender by occupying the Kra's capital city: Viangchan.
Factions
Anachak Kang
Daobac
Daobac is an island nation comprised of the islands of Bautroi and Dammay and is located in the geopolitically strategic location of the Kayatman archipelago. The chain of islands that comprise the archipelago stretches all the way from Malaio to Ochran and, in a sense, forms a natural geographic barrier of sorts between the Ozerosi and Makrian oceans. In the ancient era the Kayatman archipelago has allowed archaic humanss to island hope between the two continents, spreading their population and culture. In the modern era, nation states who governed the archipelago are able to levy taxes from ships that enter their territorial waters and transform their ports and cities into major hubs of international, regional and local trade. In the classical era the Tahamajan Empire had complete hegemony over the archipelago, in the modern era this control was previously held by Kajera. However the independence of Daobac created a new entry point for goods and international trade. Daobac's strategic geopolitical location meant that many foreign powers attempted to exert their influence over the nascent nation in order to either gain access or control the strategic port and cities in Daobac. However this also meant that Daobac found itself in a position where it could leverage its location to extract concessions and various other favorable deals from foreign nations, in exchange for the goodwill of the Daoan government. As a result Daobac has done its best to maintain a free and active foreign policy, maintaining friendly relations with enough great powers but at the same time doing its best to not be anchored to one or more particular geopolitical bloc. The Daoan government was able to initiate and complete various public infrastructure construction projects and build up its armed forces from the assistance from many nations, though Tsurushima in particular invested heavily in both public infrastructure and defense of Daobac.
The war had a profund impact on how Daobac would view the importance of a modern and professional army, as well as its role in guaranteeing Daoan independence and sovereignty. The war firmly demonstrated that while a large standing army is not a guarantee of victory, an army that maintains modenr requipment and well coordinated is more than capable of defeating a larger opposing force. The war helped shape the Daobac Self-Defense Forces (DSDF) modern day doctrine and is commonly used as a justification to maintain a high level of government spending for the armned forces. In the late 20th century Daobac had only been independent for less than half a decade and the Daoan government was more primarily concerned with spending government funds on public infrastructure and social programs to stimulate economic development. While the armed forces received a decent amount of funding, it was not enough to the point that it met minimum essential force requirements to defend all of Daobac's territory. The armed forces, the navy especially, fielded equipment considered modern in the late 20th century provided primarily by Tsurushima. However they lacked the necessary manpower to defend both Bautroi and Dammay islands, in-depth defense analysis conducted by the armed forces consistently show that in the event of a war the armed forces would be unable to effectively defend both islands. This was proven to be true when commanders of the DSDF ordered a strategic retreat from the island of Bautroi in order to reinforce their defense strategy around the island of Dammay, leaving only a token garisson to coordinate a guerilla campaign against the Kra invaders. While the DSDF was unable to mount an effective counterattack until the arrival of Tsurushiman reinforcements, DSDF personnel who remained on Bautroi were able to mount an effective resistance against the Kra, while DSDF elements on Dammay were able to prevent a second amphibious invasion by the Kra.
Tsurushima
Background
Daobac's independence in 1845 resulted in a sudden geopolitical shift in the area as the island nation opened a new entry point into the Ozeros ocean through the Kayatman sea as it had been previously been controlled exclusively by Kajera. Many nations sought to establish friendly relations with Daobac in the hopes of allowing their goods to enter the diverse and rich Ozerosi market. Both Tsurushima and Anachak were quick to establish trade relations with Daobac and invested heavily in Daobac’s public infrastructure projects in the hopes to gain a favorable standing with the Daoan government. Tsurushima in particular helped develop not only Daobac’s infrastructure but also its armed forces. During this time, Daobac’s foreign policy was divided into three major factions within the Daoan Congress between those who wished closer relations with either: Tsurushima, Anachak Kang or the Ozerosi countries. While Tsurushima, Ozerosi nations and Anachak engaged in covert lobbying to achieve favorable trade deals, those from Anachak wished to install pro-Anachak politicians in the Daoan Congress to engage in subversion. Their ultimate goal was to initiate a general referendum within Daobac to become a province/colony of Anachak. Various pro-Anachak political parties were funded by Anachak throughout 1850 - 1897 and were able to gain a foothold in the Daoan Congress. The primary concern of the Kra government was the growing favoritism of Tsurushiman goods over those from Anachak Kang. This was largely due to Tsurushima's willingness to offer various incentives, such as transfer of technology and knowledge agreements related to the military, to sweeten their offers. However the 1893 Daitoa Revolution saw a significant reduction in Tsurushiman participation in foreign affairs due to the internal strife that took place. This perceived withdrawal from international politics emboldened the Kra government to take more decisive action to cement their position as the hegemon of the region. On 3 July 1897, a meeting between Kra agents and pro-Kra Daoan congressmen and businessmen was interrupted by Daoan Law Enforcement agents. This event would be referred to as the XXX Scandal. Documents and other evidence recovered from the meeting revealed that the Daoan congressmen and businessmen were offered various financial rewards to propose pro-Anachak legislation in Congress. Both the Daoan congressmen and Anachak agents were charged with espionage and imprisoned, an action which the Kra government strongly condemned and demanded the immediate release of their agents, claiming that they were not civilians, but ambassadors who have the rights of diplomatic immunity. Daobac rejected these claims and did not release the Anachak agents.
Timeline
Outbreak of war
Under the impression that: (1) Tsurushima was still recovering and relatively disorganized from the 1893 Daitoa Revolution and (2) that an attack against Daobac would result in Tsurushiman involvement regardless if the latter was directly attacked or not, on 6 July Anachak launched a punitive expedition against Daobac and attempted to implement a naval blockade against Tsurushima’s Kaihei islands. The Daoan government at the time, in spite of repeated warnings from the commanders of the DSDF and largely due to the influence of pro-Kra politicians within its own government, had been slow to respond to a potential hostile action. What preparations were made was only hastily done after the uncovering of the XXX Scandal. Due to this the Kra armies were able to land largely unopposed on the shores of Bautroi island with the DSDF arranging hastily organized defensive positions on the island. A large portion of the DSDF was evacuated to Dammay island in a large scale strategic retreat, leaving behind only token garrisons to initiate a guerilla campaign against the Kra. Though considered technologically inferior, the armies of the Kra had a large number of personnel and ships that were able to overwhelm any local resistance. The Daobac Self-Defense Forces stationed on Bautroi, caught off guard by the invasion, were only able to provide light resistance and initiated a guerilla campaign against the Anachak occupation force. The Kra navy was also able to impose a naval blockade against Tsurushima, for a time, largely due to the absence of a major Tsurushiman fleet in the Karaihe islands at the time. This however was largely done to prevent the Tsurushiman navy from assisting Daobac and keep them occupied throughout the remainder of the war.
Kra military leaders expected the expidition to only last less than one week and eventually on 9 July, under the belief they held the upper hand, Anachak presented the following terms for their withdrawal:
- Release of detained Anachak agents.
- Daobac is to pay an annual tribute to Anachak.
- Sign and ratify preferential trade agreement with Anachak Kang
- Provide Anachak exclusive access to Daoan ports and military facilities.
The Kra government purposefully presented these unrealistic demands to Daobac in the hopes that the Daoan government would reject it. The rejection would then be used as a pretext by the Kra to occupy and eventually annex all Daoan territories. However by 112 July the Tsurushiman fleet had been assembled and engaged the Kra fleet in the battle of XXX which decimated the Kra fleet. Tsurushima subsequently sent reinforcements to Daobac to drive out the Kra from Bautroi island. As the coalition fleet was assembled, the DSDF utilized various types of small but agile ships such as torpedo boats and fast attack crafts to probe the defenses of the Kra fleet which also blockaded Bautroi island. Small numbers of the Daobac Armies were also gradually inserted to Bautroi island to bolster the island's guerila fighters om preparation for a counter attack.
Daoan-Tsurushiman counter-attack
On 1 August the Daoan and Tsurushiman navies launched a counterattack and was able to decimate the Anachak fleet in the Battle of the Kayatman Sea. The battle also saw one of the largest scale naval engagements that involved major surface combatants, both sides utilized various types of protected cruisers, Ironclads and widespread use of smaller surface combatants such as torpedo and gunboats. The latter of which proved to be decisive factors in the battle as small but heavily armed and agile boats were able to harass the larger warhsips favored by the Kra, avoiding their large calliber guns and launch their torpedoes against them. The battle is often considered as a major turning point in the war as the Kra would be constantly on the defensive after this defeat. This victory gave the Daoan and Tsurushiman navies free reign over the seas in the region, the Kra navy having been relegated to largely coastal defense role. Reinforcements were deployed to Bautroi island to assist the Daoan defenders and rout all remaining Anachak forces on the island. Though than half of Bautroi island was under Kra occupation, the loss of their naval fleet had significant consequences for the army's morale. With the prospect of escape no longer an option, some Kra soldiers surrendered enmasses though some continued to put up what resistance they could. The Daoan-Tsurushiman armies liberated each village in various offensives throughout Bautroi while sustaining relatively minimum casualties compared to the Kra, largely thanks to the more modern equipment used by them compared to those by the Kra. By 20 August all remaining Kra forces on Bautroi island had either been killed or captured. The Kra government however stubbornly refused to surrender and continued to deploy more military assets, including the bulk of its naval fleets into the conflict. A Daoan and Tsurushiman naval task force decimated more fleets of Anachak’s navy in the Battle of XXX in late August.
Occupation of Vianchang
On 2 January 1898 amphibious assaults were conducted against key Anachak ports & cities throughout its southern coastline.