Kasai War
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| Kasai War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Unifying Revival | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Lower Karana governorates6th Governorate 8th Governorate 10th Governorate some forces of the 12th Governorate |
Makgato plateau governorates 29th Governorate 30th Governorate 31st Governorate some forces of the 12th Governorate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
BBB YYY Glorious Shenmesu Clique Grand Governor |
AAA YYY  Inglorious Airashe bastard | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 30-35,000 | 45-50,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| ~6,000 total | ~11,000 total | ||||||||
The Kasai War, less commonly known as the Second Kasai War, was a military conflict in the Central Karana Basin in 1950s. A major early part of the Unifying Revival, it saw the attempt of 29th Governorate of Airashe to expand the territories under its protection by establishing protectorate over the 12th Governorate downstream Karana river. This met resistance from the 6th Governorate further downstream, resulting in a series of military confrontations interrupted by rainfall seasons. After several military defeats, the Airashe governorate was forced to abandon their claims, and the resulting peace treaty solidified the right bank of lower Karana Basin under control of the 6th Governorate.
The war got its name from the nearby major inlet of Karana, Kasai river, confluent with Karana at the territory of 12th Governorate. It marked one of the several border conflicts of the Revival, but because of the state of Itayana at the period, much of the available information is drawn from the second-hand sources, making it one of the more obscure conflicts in modern history. The war itself is characterized by modern studies as one of the "forgotten wars" of the Karana Basin. It was overshadowed by the Ninvite War, in which the same opposing governorate cliques collaborated to form the core of the Thundering Elephant Army.
Background
12th Governorate, centered around HKU, has been an independent polity since the collapse of the Solar Realm in 1875. Although decimated by pandemics like other Karana governorates, it managed to reclaim and firmly assert control of its territory through careful balancing between neighbouring governorates, as well as expanding trade to 13th and 17th Governorates of the Kasai River. Its position made it a target of political efforts by the 29th Governorate to bring it in as a vassal polity in its sphere of influence by 1940s. These efforts attracted ire from the lower Karana governorates, as during the Agala War 12th Governorate was among those invaded by the Charnean Army vanguard units, leading to heavy fighting. After the war, the 6th Governorate (capital ─ Shenmesu) started consolidating its position in the late 1940s, asserting suzerainty over the 3rd, 8th, and 10th governorates by early 1950s, forming what is commonly known as the "Shenmesu Clique".
The first pretext of the war was found in a border conflict. The last rearrangement of governorate borders was done by the Solar Temple of Yanbango in preparation for the Wars of the Solar Realm in 1580s. During the collapse of the Solar Realm, many of the documents demarcating the governorate borders were lost, including those concerning the border between 10th and 12th Governorate. As there was no clear natural barrier between two governorates, which meant that after consolidating its position in the 10th Governorate, the eastern border of the Shenmesu Clique was undefined and exposed. In Rainfall 1952, Shenmesu and Airashe tried to agree on border demarcation between the governorates, but negotiations failed, allegedly due to the stubborn insistence of Shenmesu delegation on more favourable borders.
To compound on the issue, Airashe managed to politically outmanoeuvre Shenmesu in efforts to woo the 12th Governorate due to its neighbouring position and material backing. When the governor of HKU, AAA YYY, died in 1951, his son, XXX YYY, ascended to the throne and immediately signed the Treaty of ARH, asserting Ariashe suzerainty over the 12th Governorate. The move caused his other son, BBB YYY, to raise arms against the new central authority, forcing Airashe to send in troops. By that time, the Shenmesu Clique quietly consolidated forces in the 10th Governorate to both force the border issue and back the BBB, who promised to merge the 12th Governorate into the Clique.
Operations
1953
1954
1955
Aftermath
The Kasai War was an operational and strategic failure for the Makgato governorates. The entire sub-Makgato Karana Basin was now consolidated under the 6th Shenmesu governorate, with 12th Governorate joining 1st, 3rd, 8th, and 10th as its vassal tributary state. The war prompted creation of a more unified administration of the right bank of the Karana Basin, as well as deprived the 29th Governorate control over food supplies and irrigation facilities there. Although it didn't suffer irrecoverable losses in its troops, thanks to quick thinking and masterfully evading the double envelopment, Airashe governors did not claim the downstream basin again. Instead, the 29th Governorate diverted attention upstream and employed a more careful political manoeuvring to avoid confrontations, relying more on its larger resource and wealth pool. This culminated in alignment of the Makgato governorates towards the 1979 Statute of Airashe. The beginning of the Ninvite War diverted governorates' attention away from internal matter, with the former foes joining forces to form the Thundering Elephant Army, dispatched to Ninva in early 1984. Makgato governorates did not attack downstream until 2010, but the Central Karana War proved to be another, much heavier defeat, putting an end to attempts of military reunification of the Karana Basin as of 2024.
Today, Kasai War is largely forgotten and overlooked, known mostly to the experts and enthusiasts. Its only memorials are on the territory of the former 12th Governorate, where five markers and a museum dedicated to it were established in 2005 by the Two Basins Historical Sites Protection Association. Amayana National Army General Headquarters produced a three-tome study of the war in 2005-2007, reprinted by Makgato Defense Force in 2011.