Brau Sea crisis
| Brau Sea crisis | |||||
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    Clockwise from top left: The GGF Kapirtalu Mahajara sinks after being hit by a Yuaneze missile; the ZMS Elmhill fires at the JAI Guilin; Yuaneze troops on Chitpa Island; an ACWAC naval fleet in the Brau Sea | |||||
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 Qin Chen Mao Xieren Wei Shui |
 Sartaj Bali Sharya Kamath | ||||
The Brau Sea crisis, also known as the Chitpa crisis is an ongoing series of maritime and political disputes and subsequent military clashes in the Brau Sea. The date of the beginning of the crisis is disputed, though it is often considered to be January 4th, 2023 when the government of Yuan and several central Ausianan nations bordering Haduastan agreed to construct military bases, which Haduastan's government opposed. The crisis escalated dramatically on May 23rd, 2023, when a series of bombings hit military sites in Northern Elastan and Chittagon, Barangadesh, with the ACWAC coalition blaming Haduastan's government of supporting the terrorist groups responsible. When Haduastan denied the accusations, Yuan sent a carrier fleet into the Brau Sea and formed a blockade around the island of Chitpa. After days of tensions, including the sinking of a Haduastani tanker and the downing of four Haduastan fighter jets, Haduastan's government ceded the island of Chitpa to avoid a wider conflict, and on May 27th Yuaneze and aligned ACWAC forces began occupying the island.
The crisis has been labeled as an extension of the Jinchon Sea crisis and is considered a possible flashpoint for a second World War to break out. Spillovers directly related to the Brau Sea crisis include a May 25th, 2023 incident in which three Yuaneze naval vessels entered Titania Bay and were intercepted by the Zamastanian Navy and Drambenburgian Navy. The SMS Lange sunk the JAI Puhan, while the ZMS Elmhill sunk the JAI Guilin and captured the JIN Yantao. The crisis also led to a CCA condemnation of Yuan and Qin Chen, and many international governments closed their embassies in Shanghan and other ACWAC nations.
Background
Geopolitical tensions have existed in the Brau Sea region for hundreds of years, but the state of affairs which dominate this particular crisis arose following the World War, with the expulsion of Drambenburgian colonizing forces from Salubar and Joraistan, the partition of Haduastan and Barangadesh, the increasing importance of shipping routes between the Vulkarian Pass and the Cantalle Ocean, and the growing influence of Yuan.
Timeline
January
February
March
April
May 1-22
May 23-31
- May 23rd, 2023
A series of bombings hit military sites in Northern Elastan and Chittagon, Barangadesh. President Bahadar Panwar placed the Elastan national military on high alert. A series of blasts began around 1:30PM local time in the city of Habamila, with a car bomb exploding directly outside the headquarters of the Army's Northern Command. Several blasts followed in the minutes after, with at least two explosions at an airstrip possibly being the work of drones laden with explosives. The military confirmed that a fighter jet had been destroyed. Another explosion struck a checkpoint used by military police in the city of Habamila, and another explosion occured at a checkpoint in the adjacent town of Hajam'tiri. Another car bomb exploded at an army checkpoint near the border of Haduastan in an isolated mountain road, prompting some military spokespersons to say the attacks were sophisticated enough to suggest extensive knowledge of the military's inner workings and security apparatus. While the perpetrators had not been identified, Panwar and senior military officials placed blame on Haduastan, who they accused of funding a terrorist network in Salubar and Joraistan.
"The chances that this was the work of simple partisans is very low," said Panwar. "Our intelligence suggests that, while it may not be the direct work of foreign agents, the chance is that Haduastan directly supplied, aided, and abated the attackers."
In Barangadesh, a facility housing office of the National Army's East Division was the target of a car bombing, resulting in a major portion of the building and the adjacent structure collapsing. 68 people died, and President Abdul Sheihk Mahmed claimed the attack was the act of a foreign power, stating "we have reason to believe that Haduastan is responsible, or that Haduastan's government is sponsoring terrorist factions intent on causing harm towards our nation."
As a result of the attacks, the ACWAC coalition officially blamed Haduastan's government. Yuan's Secretary-General Qin Chen and Minister of National Defense General Wei Shui appeared in coinciding national addresses, vowing to come to the defense of ACWAC member states in the wake of the attacks, with Chen stating that the "whole might of Yuan's military will be used against those who dare cause harm to the proud nations of our alliance," and stated that while a specific group of perpetrators has not been confirmed, there were suspicions that the government of Haduastan may have been sponsoring extremist networks inside those nations, as they also had been accused of sponsoring rebel groups in Salubar and Joraistan, who recently became ACWAC members. Minister Shui said that the Yuaneze navy had dispatched a carrier fleet under the JIN Qigang to the Brau Sea as a precautionary measure and a show of intimidation, stating that "should we find indication of Haduastan's involvement and continued aggression, we will act."
Haduastan denied the accustations, and Prime Minister Sartaj Bali said that Haduastan would defend itself from attack. Bali condemned the bombings in Elastan and Barangadesh while vehemently denying any participation on the part of Haduastan, instead stating that ACWAC is "once again using false-flags and other tragic occurances to place an unwarranted and falsified reality of responsibility at the feet of our nation, in order to justify building their militaries and continuing to box us in." Bali went on to say that "Haduastan will do whatever it takes to defend itself, and if that means fighting, we will fight."
The Haduastani National Assembly subsequently reversed its peacekeeping initiative with the CCA, issuing a withdrawal order for all troops partaking in peacekeeping operations internationally. This included the 1300 troops who had been deployed to Sateroc as part of the Coalition Security Council Resolution 240. Haduastan's military was now on high alert and reservists were mobilized as a precaution, and naval ships were dispatched to intercept the fleet of Yuaneze ships.
At the same time, international intelligence agencies, including the ZIS, suggested the attacks may be false-flag operations. ZIS Director Adrian Sardou said that "there is no credible evidence to point to Haduastani involvement of any kind in the attacks throughout Central Ausiana yesterday", and President Sabine Armitage called for both sides to practice restraint. As the Yuaneze fleet headed towards the Brau Sea, the Zamastanian and Drambenburgian militaries began tracking three Yuaneze vessels which detached from the larger group and were sailing around the southwest tip of Drambenburg's peninsula, near the port town of Lasern. The ships were identified as the Chen-class destroyers JAI Guilin, JAI Puhan, and the Xining-class destroyer JIN Yantao.
- May 24th, 2023
A Haduastani JU-10 Hammer was shot down after intercepting the JIN Qigang and its fleet near Chitpa. Yuan claimed that the fighter jet, which was downed, and its compliment of adjoining aircraft performed "dangerous flybys" of the aircraft carrier Qigang in international waters. However, Haduastani military officials released a stream of satellite images and aerial camera footage which suggested the fleet had entered Haduastan's territorial waters near the island of Chitpa. Prime Minister Sartaj Bali said that Haduastan was on a war footing, and the National Assembly overwhelmingly voted and President Sharya Kamath approved a callup order, with President Kamath stating that "the defense of our nation may be required soon, and our nation must be prepared to fight against a hostile incursion." Vice President Agamjit Datewas, a general in the army, stated that intelligence and radio intercepts suggested Yuan was preparing to stage a strike of some kind, likely against the naval and air force facilities on Chitpa.
The island of Chitpa was subsequently placed under martial law, its security forces on high alert, and civilian evacuations began with dozens of ferries and hundreds of civilian vessels taking round-trips between the island and the mainland (an excruciating seven-hour ride for most). The government did not issue an official evacuation order, but the island's governor Anuraag Phadatare advised civilians to do what they consider best for their own security, saying "we are in a situation where I am not at liberty to provide false hope; we don't know what is about to happen, our state is in a perilous issue between the vessels which lay off our shores and the divide of water between us and the mainland."
President Kamath stated that the Haduastani navy was accumulating vessels to defend Chitpa should the Yuaneze attempt a sort of strike. Haduastan's Foreign Minister Ruldu Mahanti called on the CCA Security Council to issue an immediate condemnation and stand down decree against Yuan and the ACWAC nations for "perpetuating a false pretense to take unwarranted strikes against our nation." Mahanti also called on nations to support Haduastan if a strike occurs, saying "we can defend ourselves and will fight to the end to protect our people, but the reality is that Yuan's aggression and their manipulation of our neighboring states has effected our capability to wage a prolonged defense."
Within hours, two more JU-10 fighter jets had been shot down near the Yuaneze fleet, which was in a circling pattern only miles north of the Chitpa island. Haduastan's government issued a state of emergency and warned that any further shootdowns would be met with an armed response.
A total of 14 Yuaneze naval warships were now in the Brau Sea and entered Haduastani waters off the coast of the island of Chitpa. Qin Chen stated that the presence of Yuan's ships in Haduastani waters were a direct result of Haduastan's aggression against ACWAC nations. "If they didn't want us here, they shouldn't have poked the bee hive," said Yuan's defense minister Wei Shui. "We have abandoned our decision to stay in international waters and are taking a response as we stated we would. We are occupying a portion of Yuaneze territorial waters until they call off their fighter jets from these dangerous engagements against our vessels. Once they back off, we can negotiate. But until then, we hold the cards, and your island of Chitpa stands closer to us than it does to you."
WEDA conveened an emergency meeting in Viitaniemi, Caspiaa, as Zamastanian Secretary of Defense Harold Casey authorized the dispatch of a carrier fleet to the Brau Sea, helmed by the ZMS Kordia and ZMS Dubois.
International responses to the crisis came quickly, with Emmirian President Akram Sulaiman leading the calls to condemn Yuan's actions in the Brau Sea. The Emmirian government called ACWAC's claims "unfounded and dangerous speculation," and Sulaiman called the escalation a "potentially world-threatening event... two of the world's largest militaries, armed with nuclear weapons, standing off in tense back and forth of rhetoric, should not be the state of events we are currently seeing. The world is watching with gathered breath, and I advise all parties to take restraint."
On May 24th, President Armitage briefly spoke from the Presidential Residence in Tofino, stating that she had met with the national security team and that Secretary of Defense Harold Casey had authorized the dispatch of the ZMS Kordia and ZMS Dubois carrier groups into the Brau Sea. Coming only a day after the decision to set a withdrawal timeline from Terehan, the President urged Yuan's president Qin Chen to order her navy to stand down, saying "your predecessor was ousted for similar war-mongering. Don't follow the path of Chairman Xi, pursue peace on your continent. If you don't, the effects on your nation and the rest of the world will be beyond belief in the possibility of destruction and carnage."
Secretary of State Chantelle Carson confirmed that the embassy staff in Lalkot was being evacuated, and urged Zamastanian nationals on the island of Chitpa to evacuate if they have the means to do so. Ambassador to Haduastan, Oscar Spillett, said that he and his staff had been ordered by the State Department to evacuate and were being relocated to Lutharia. Likewise, the embassies in Tasiastan and Jaginistan were also being evacuated, as those nations also faced pressure from ACWAC in recent months and were increasingly worried of action from Yuan and its bloc of allegient member states.
Haduastan, despite being a regional ally of Zamastan, does not have a defense agreement with it. President Armitage ruled out direct military intervention in the crisis, saying that a strike on Yuan by Zamastan would essentially start a wider war. However, conversations being held between WEDA officials in Caspiaa suggested there may be a course of action which would allow WEDA to lead evacuation and humanitarian efforts from Chitpa. "A military intervention where we take out Yuaneze forces attacking Haduastan is a non-starter," said Secretary of Defense Casey. "Do that, and we start World War 2We aren't doing that, for the sake of the world we aren't doing that. But there are other avenues, and not the least of which being, Yuan should withdraw and practice restraint immediately."
Chancellor Anton Wimmer ordered the evacuation of the Haduastan embassy in Lalkot over fears of a potential conflict, and Wimmer called on Yuan to "practice restraint" and withdraw from the Brau Sea, calling the situation "the most severe standoff between developed militaries our world has seen since the World War." He went on to say "Haduastan and her people are our friends, regardless of their political relationship with the Jyau government and the rest of the TTPA. We cannot rush to their defense under legal pretenses without getting drawn into a conflict, but we will always push back against the vehemently dangerous and escalatory rhetoric by Yuan and its allies."
While the government of Drambenburg took a stern stance to Yuan's aggressions, Chancellor Giorg Auster-Brautstadt controversially stated in reference to Haduastan's exit from the TTPA the prior year; "it seems Haduastan has learned a new dance move - the betrayal waltz. We never knew they were such nimble dancers!"
- May 25th, 2023
A Haduastani tanker ship, GGF Kapirtalu Mahajara, was hit with a missile fired from a Yuaneze destroyer when it entered a zone of water which Haduastani officials labeled as "unsafe due to hostile foreign presence", and where the Yuaneze carrier fleet had called a no-go zone for any vessels or aircraft around the flagship of the fleet off Chitpa, the aircraft carrier JIN Qigang. The crew of the Kapirtalu Mahajara managed to survive the sinking and was evacuated by Haduastani coast guard vessels.
About an hour later, another JU-10 Hammer was shot down as it neared the Yuaneze fleet. The pilot was able to eject and parachute into the sea safely, where he was rescued. Prime Minister Bali said that the "situation remains incredibly volatile, and we cannot promise that Chitpa remains safe at this moment."
The Chitpa administrative council stated on May 25th that more than 90,000 civilians had fled the island for the mainland.
Three Yuaneze naval vessels enter Titania Bay and are intercepted by the Zamastanian Navy and Drambenburgian Navy. The SMS Lange sinks the JAI Puhan, while the ZMS Elmhill sinks the JAI Guilin. The ZMS Amaury cripples the JIN Yantao, which surrenders.
- May 26th, 2023
- May 27th, 2023
To avoid escalation and a wider conflict, Haduastan's government cedes Chitpa to Yuan, and ACWAC forces begin to occupy the island.
- May 28th, 2023
- May 29th, 2023
- May 30th, 2023
- May 31st, 2023