Ledyanaya War
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 Depiction of the Battle of Adrikagorod in 1903 | |||||||
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Slavic Imperator Aleksei II |
Paraboca | ||||||
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The Ledyanaya War was a military conflict between the Slavic Union and the Empire of Paraboca, which occured from June 21 1901 to September 22 1908. The war would be one of the most brutal fought up to that point, despite the small scale of the conflict. There would be 215,000 casualties between the 2 nations. The Slavic Union, having a pre-war population of 3,800,000 the majority of the countries entire adult male population would at some point see combat. By the time peace was achieved in 1908 1 in 33 people alive in 1900 would have died because of the war. This would also be the worlds first display of warfare of the 20th century, with new weaponry and old tactics leading to massive casualties, chemical warfare, which would be banned soon after the conflict, would be used heavily.
The Parabocans would invade in 1901, and after 6 years of trench warfare would attempt to go through Ledyanaya to flank the Slavic army, this endeavor would fail horribly with hundreds dying of hypothermia and the army being forced to surrender in April of 1908.
Background
Throughout the 1700s and 1800s the Parabocan Empire would expand their territory through conquest after conquest until a crippling loss in the Parabocan War would send them into political chaos, leading to a revolution in 1879 that nearly overthrew the empire, though they would end up surviving.
The Slavic Union was a relatively isolated nation, but in the late 19th century they would discover massive oil reserves in the region of Ledyanaya, leading the Parabocan Empire to turn to it's northern border, those in power in the Empire believed that all Paraboca needed was a decisive victory to invigorate the population, with the annexation of Ledyanayan oil fields also being a primary goal.
Ledyanayan War
Initial Invasion and southern success
Paraboca would launch an invasion on June 21, 1901, the Slavic Union was caught off guard and Parabocan forces advanced quickly, taking the city of Khizny on August 19, the Slavic Army would set up a defensive line a few miles north of the city, the Slavic army was no match for the better equipped Parabocan military, being outnumbered heavily.
The tide was turned in December as the famously frigid Slavic winter set in, and both armies dug into their trenches. Neither side was able to push in the freezing cold, with hundreds of Paradocans and Slavs freezing to death in the trenches. Eventually in June 1902 there would be more attempts to advance but would mainly just end with more and more deaths.
Stalemate
As the war of attrition raged on the Slavic lines found themselves cracking, though they were outnumbered and outgunned the Slavic army was said to have fought with ferocity despite their eventual losses. Slavic lines would shatter in March of 1903, triggering a rapid retreat to Adrikagorod (Modern day Osipovgrad). Slavic forces dug in there and waited for Paraboca to reach them.
On June 21 1903 the Battle of Adrikagorod began, the battle would last 3 months and would end up being the deadliest battle of the entire war, with 1/5 of the wars casualties happening during that battle, the battle was fought fiercely, and today Slavic bravery during the conflict has become a great point of national pride. Ultimately the Slavic Union would win and Paraboca would retreat south, with the Union able to dig in enough to repel any further Parabocan attack.
The stalemate would continue for another 3 years, with thousands more deaths and the morale of both nations being incredibly low, with mutinies a possibility that could kill the war effort.
Phoenix Offensive
with Paraboca needing a victory quickly if they wanted to keep things on the homefront from collapsing into chaos they launched the Phoenix Offensive, where an army of 60,000 would go around Slavic defenses through through Ledanaya.
Parabocan high command heavily overestimated their ability to navigate the mountainous and icy terrain of Lenadaya, they also didn't account for the Okhotnik, special forces units made of natives of the Ledanaya region, specially trained in guerilla tactics. Tales of the Okhotnik quickly spread through the ranks of the Parabocan, causing hits to morale, there were exaggerated stories of them eating human flesh and removing organs. This caused thousands to desert, terrified of the okhotnik.
Parabocan forces were severely weakened, and by the time they reached Noyalensk they had no choice but to surrender. The war would officially end on on September 22 1908 with the signing of the Treaty of Khizny, forcing Paraboca to pay massive reparations and eventually causing their collapse in 1910.
Aftermath
The war would cripple both nations, leading to federalization of Paraboca in 1910 and the start of the Slavic Civl War in 1917. The war was devastating for both populations, with Slavic losses causing the economy to crash. While the results of the war meant little for the world at large it was still an example to other nations on how easily this new technology could kill on a massive scale.