Papalanian-Bardonia War
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| Papalanian-Bardonian War | ||||||||
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 Clockwise from the top:
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| Belligerents | ||||||||
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 North Bardonia | |||||||
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| Units involved | ||||||||
| TBD | TBD | TBD | ||||||
| Strength | ||||||||
| 200,000 | 655,000 | |||||||
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Total: TBD | TBD | Total: 90,000-120,000 | ||||||
The Papalanian-Bardonian War (sometimes referred to as the VU-NB War, or the Penitusian War) was an armed conflict fought between member states of the Vabasian Union and the Republic of North Bardonia. The coalition assault occurred in three main stages: Operation Talon, the destruction of North Bardonians ability to pose an aerial threat to the VU, Operation Quaking Sand, the military invasion of North Bardonia, & Operation Preserving Liberty, the pacification of North Bardonia and the capture of its military leadership.
Both sides were aggressive and attempted to present dominances over the situation that lead to the conflict boiling over. After the seizing of the ships the VU and North Bardonia meet in Jaredistan, neutral ground, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the conflict but both factions' unwillingness to back down lead to escalation.
In the aftermath of the failure of the Jaredistan Conference rouge elements of North Bardonias military would take an aggressive stance against the Papalanians, leading to roughly 4 Heavy Ekranoplans controlled by these rouge elements attempting to bomb the capital of Papalania, although the raid was unsuccessful with one Ekranoplan lost and limited damage it proved that the North Bardonians could pose a threat, simultaneously the batteries of Kalidara opened fire on the Papalanian fleet before being destroyed by an Papalanan counterattack.
Background
Bardonian Instability
In the years prior to the inciting incident of the War North Bardonia suffered and brutal economic recession. In the years of 2008 & 2009 a Housing Crisis followed by a stock crash led to a crash of the competitiveness of North Bardonian credit. In 2011 another additional crash led to the deepening but the Democratic Liberal Party managed to hold onto power for a few more scattered years before in 2016 the New National Party bridged a coalition with the Social Conservative Party and the Union for the Nation to form a conservative coalition government. Alongside the political strife caused by politicking in the coalition and a drug crisis the economy was still no in anyway in "bouncing back".
Alongside the instability in the Economy & Politics the military remained deeply divided between the Traditionalist, Warhawk, Conservative faction that dominated the Army and the Kalidara Fleet Command against that of the more pro-Republican, peace focused faction that saw control of the Airforce and Navy. This divide lead to great mistrust and a lack of communication between branches of the Armed Forces would lead to a number of incidents that lead to the deaths of military personnel, the most famous of these was the 6th of November Incident of 2014 where several soldiers of the Army would become injured after army personnel would intercede on a Marine wargame.
Additionally, the conservative government was deeply unpopular with trade unionists and radical socialist and Sturmist political parties leading to a fierce militant opposition to the war, almost on par with 'treasonous activity' and 'conspiracy to commit terrorism, treason' according to North Bardonian Department of Justice and Criminal Proceeding in the summer of 2018[1]. Although many of these suspicions would be unfounded, they laid the foundation for the formation of the Provisional Government
Naporia Conflic
Blaenau Air Force and Naval Base F-117 Nighthawk Cisteri Gustus Mediriman Papalanian Minister of Defense Dáire MacGuire
Barossa Incident
Papalanian Training Exercises
Papalanian Carrier Fleet Group 1, including the SRP Allegiance, departed Steyeruthmen on 25 June 2018 after being held there for 4 months for repairs. The fleet proceeded southeast through the Forsian Sea, passing through the Suryian Canal before arriving at Olga Velikoye in Kathricore on the 28th. The fleet would spend six days there conducting joint training exercises with the Navy of the Grand Order in the Mediriman, as well as refueling before crossing the Mediriman. The training exercises were mostly aimed at stress testing the repairs, focusing on the F-4 Phantoms and F-14s which had seen action over Arstoia.
On the 3 July, the office of Dáire MacGuire issued a statement that aerial trainings would be occurring over the Penitusian near Galarney for the following two weeks. That same day, Cisteri Gustus and F-117 Nighthawk squadrons were spotted leaving Blaenau heading south. The PDF would begin running extra policing patrols the area between Naporia and Galarney the next day, under the guise of anti-piracy measures. Numerous news sources at the time speculated that the trainings were merely a cover for a reconnaissance mission.
After participating in a gun salute ceremony aimed at demonstrating continued friendship between Papalania and Kathricore, Carrier Fleet Group 1 would depart Olga Velikoye on July third. The fleet would head eastward across the Mediriman, arriving in Lexa on the 7th, where they would conduct a two-day training in the Mediriman with the VFN before setting back out on the 9th towards Blaenau.
Initial Boarding
At 1:30 am, local time, on 11 July 2018, the SS Barossa, a civilian tanker ship which had been requisitioned for use in the Naporian Conflict, detached from Papalanian Carrier Fleet Group 1 off the coast of Tribia near the Vabasian Strait en route to Cordo Fa to restart normal operations and receive a shipment of oil that it was to bring to Naporia. As the course had been approved by the North Bardonian government prior to departure, the decision was made to let the Barossa proceed without a supporting ship, so as to prevent the mission from being delayed by the slower speed of a battleship.
The Barossa reached Bardonian waters 7 hours later at approximately 8:45 am. The ship proceeded along the designated course for another 3 hours before it began to receive orders from the Kalidera Port Authority to dock in for inspection. Despite repeated explanations of the situation by the captain of the Barossa, Éanna MacDonagh, at 12:13 pm the Barossa was boarded and impounded by North Bardonian Vice-Admiral Alfur Tarkos 15 miles off the coast of North Bardonia on the grounds that it was in violation of Bardonian anti-piracy law due to its failure to comply with port authority orders. The ship was subsequently seized by Bardonian sailors and docked at Kalidera to be integrated into the Bardonian Merchant Marine under North Bardonian civil asset forfeiture law. The crew was arrested for piracy and smuggling and placed in Kalidera Prison to await Bardonian Naval tribunal.
Search of the Barossa
Pre-war Efforts
Initial Response
The initial response to the incident in North Bardonian Circles was rather quiet, with politicians and the government scrambling to figure out an acceptable solution for the conflict. Iniatially the North Bardonian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Relations released a statement that the SS Barossa would be "Sailing by the end of the week". The War Department was reported stating that "It is in the interest of the state to back Vice-Admiral Tarkos"[2]. Alongside the disorganization of the North Bardonian government the lack of response lead to mass panic when the military raised the alarm on the 14th of July leading to the evacuation of civilians to the countryside in major cities like Krondor, Carthiada, Cordo Fa, Uiortel, Lordsfountain and Kalidara.
A response was also quickly delivered from the Papalanians...
Followed by the Papalanian Response the Vabasian Federation would deliver its official message to the world...
Responses from the International Community were more varied with the Commonwealth of Haverade taking the official VU stance and condemning the incident and the lack of response from the North Bardonian Government, the Magnaterran Economic Community were more cautious with their response being quieter whilst questioning the event and signaling to the North Bardonian government that of 'Make Peace'.
Jaredistan Conference
The Jaredistan Conference would be described by many North Bardonian and international historian and political analysts as "a catastrophe easily avoided"[3], wither this disaster came about be from the hawkishness from both sides, the indecisiveness it led to one of the most violent conflicts that the Penitusian would ever see. The failure of the conference could be attributed either to the VU's aggressiveness in negotiations or the lack of support for peace from MEC or even the inability of the North Bardonians own indecisiveness towards the crisis.
This indecisiveness in the North Bardonian diplomatic staff was mainly due to different orders received from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Relations; mainly this divide was between the two main factions in the North Bardonian Government that fought over what message the government should present to the international community at the Conference in Jaredistan mainly because of the difference in which report to follow. The two government sanctioned reports differed in their tone and evidence to explain the situation leading up and during the boarding: Vice-Admiral Tarkos's report or the Manistein, Commander of Kalidara Coast Guard Commands, report. Alexander Nelmar, Chief Ambassador and Representative backed the second report, but the Foreign Affairs Committee (dominated by the New National Party) backed the first. In the end Nelmar had to use Tarkos's report leading down a line to blame the Papalanians and attempt to turn the world against them
During the first days of the conference the more militant elements of the North Bardonian envoys accused the Papalanians, and the VU, of fearmongering and warmongering against North Bardonia as they denied the accusation that they had used and carried cluster munitions, a war crime under the TBD Convention.