Helian War

Helian War
Part of Pan-Septentrion War
Date 2 April 1937 - 24 June 1946 Location Helian Ocean Result Entente victory End of the Pan-Septentrion War Fall of the Dayashinese Empire Formation of the Republic of Dayashina Weakening of Casaterran colonial powers in the Helian Ocean Menghean Civil War Hanhae War Sundanese Revolution Independence of many East Meridian states Ceding of the Divine Island Chain to Dayashina Rise of Tír Glas as a world power Glaso-Tyrannian occupation of Dayashina Removal of all Dayashinese troops from the Helian Ocean Temporary disbanding of the Imperial Dayashinese Armed Forces Seizure of Sakurajima by the Septentrion League
Belligerents
Entente Tír Glas New Tyran Viceroyalty of Vinya Viceroyalty of Sundan Tyrannian Far-East Territories Sylva Sylvan Far-East Territories	Hemithean Axis Dayashinese Empire Hanhae
Commanders and leaders
TBD	Shogo Genki Suzuki  † Gen Yutaka Ueda Gen Kantaro Yamaguchi  † Adm Yasuhiro Oniishi  †
Strength
5,000,000	3,750,000
Casualties and losses
750,000+ dead	650,000-750,000 dead

The Helian War was the largest theatre of the Pan-Septentrion War, spanning across nearly the entirety of the Helian Ocean, from Dayashina to Vinya. After a long buildup in the Dayashinese Empire, hostilities officially began with the Dayashinese reclamation of Ryujima from Tyran in 1937, and the subsequent repatriation of the Divine Island Chain from Tyran and Sylva. Hostilities began with Tír Glas in 1943 with the Battle of Inishmore. The war ended with the usage of the second and third atomic devices on Dayashina by Tyran in 1946, and with the ritual suicide of Genki Suzuki and his faction.

Tensions between Dayashina and Casaterra

In the years leading up to the conflict, tensions had been quickly rising between the Dayashinese Empire and various Casaterran powers. As Dayashina modernised and built up a powerhouse military-industrial complex, an increasing amount of people began to share the belief that Dayashina itself should ascend to a rightful dominant position in the East by doing away with the presence of the Casaterran powers, who they believed to be historical oppressors, purposefully holding down the might of Dayashina with all their power. Almost immediately, attention was drawn towards their presence in the Divine Island Chain, historical territory of Dayashina that had seen a vast increase in Casaterran presence in the midst of the Dayashinese Civil War, which gave rise to the Dayashinese Empire.

Citing the historical presence of Tyran and Sylva in Dayashina, the overwhelmingly negative and humiliating economic effects that came with it, and their clear opposition to the rise of the Empire, a new faction in Dayashinese politics, dubbed the Ascendancy Party, began to gain traction in the Imperial Diet with constant inflammatory rhetoric being thrown at neighbouring Casaterran holdings. The Ascendancy Party also commonly forwarded racist ideals, stating that the Dayashinese people were the master race and that some Casaterrans were "subhuman product of the devil." The Party believed that the Casaterran Empires such as Tyran and Sylva represented not only the greatest existential threat to Dayashinese culture, but also the most virulent and potent evil that the world had ever seen. Furthermore, they continuously pushed for the prioritisation of the strengthening of the Dayashinese military-industrial complex, aligning with their view that the neighbouring evil could only be dealt with through absolute force.

The Ascendancy Party, while they struggled in their early years, eventually were able to not only sway popular support in their direction, but also gain the approval of a number of extremely important Imperial military figures. They finally took the seat of governmental power in 1900, and immediately began instituting policies to align with their stated values. The military became the center of society in Dayashina, secondary education began pushing racist ideals, and various elements of Dayashinese culture were actively manipulated to fit the needs of the Empire. The military began sending students off the Casaterran states to not only study the basics of modern military doctrine, but also to find weaknesses in such a doctrine and develop independent strategies to defeat them. The Imperial Dayashinese Navy was progressively built up into one of the most powerful navies in the world. The withdrawal of Dayashina from the Septentrion Naval Treaty instilled an increased feeling of worry in Tyrannian, Sylvan, and Glasic diplomats.

All of the international worries culminated to truth in 1935, with the election of Genki Suzuki as the Dayashinese head of government. By then, the Ascendancy Party had all but complete control of the Imperial Diet, and Suzuki represented the most extreme of the Party's views. Suzuki formed a cadre of elite Imperial military personnel, called High Command (abbreviated as HighCom), which placed the now built-up military under his wing. HighCom was unified by a desire to reclaim the Divine Island Chain (later, HighCom would split into two factions for various reasons).

On 28 March 1937, Genki Suzuki ordered the immediate removal of all Tyrannian presence from Ryujima and Sora, and all Sylvan presence from Aijuku and Shogazu. Tyrannian and Sylvan diplomats lobbied to hold a diplomatic meeting with Suzuki, but were stonewalled on more than six occasions. The Imperial Dayashinese Navy moved into position around Ryujima and Sora, while Suzuki continuously made demands for the Tyrannians to leave. After no reconciliation, Suzuki declared war on the Tyrannian Empire and Sylvan Empire on 2 April, 1937.

Dayashinese offensives, 1937-1939

Divine Island Campaign

This campaign began on 2 April, 1937, immediately following the issuing of a declaration of war from Dayashina to Tyran and Sylva. The Imperial Dayashinese Navy unleashed a week long bombardment of the Tyrannian garrisons on Ryujima and Sora, reportedly resulting in over a thousand casualties on each occasion, forcing the Tyrannian soldiers into makeshift fortifications and tunnels.

On the 7th of April, IDN Marines made landfall on Ryujima, facing limited resistance on the beaches. IDN Marines were able to breach a deep hole in the middle of the Tyrannian frontlines, subsequently branching out to the sides and systematically destroying resistance alongside the small detachment of armour embedded with the force. Resistance was reportedly weak and disorganised in general, as the Tyrannian forces had suffered heavy losses in the initial bombardment, and were forced to move out of advantageous fortifications and into less optimal areas of cover. Dayashinese troops also reportedly came across scores of Tyrannian troops suffering from untreated jungle-induced diseases, as the medics focused nearly all of their attention on the injured from the catastrophic initial naval bombardment. All in all, 5,203 Tyrannian troops perished on the island, in comparison to the 1,136 Dayashinese dead over the course of a week of fighting. About 1,000 Tyrannian troops surrendered when the IDN Marines reached Tyrannian governmental estate on the island. With specific orders from General Yutaka Ueda, the Dayashinese troops on the island treated the POWs relatively humanely, supplying food and medical supplies to them before instituting them for minor labour within the Empire. The Tyrannian diplomat on the island, however, was executed due to Genki Suzuki's incessant behest. Similar events occured on Sora, with the fighting ending quicker, the island having a smaller garrison than Ryujima. 2,350 Tyrannian soldiers and 632 Dayashinese soldiers perished on Sora, with a further 600 prisoners of war being taken.

Following the rapid victories accrued on Ryujima and Sora, the Imperial Dayashinese Navy moved into position around the Sylvan holdings of Aijuku and Shogazu. After about two days of continuous bombardment on both of the islands, the Sylvan diplomats agreed to surrender, saving the lives about 7,242 of their troops after a further 1,821 had perished in the bombardments. IDN Marines landed on the islands to claim the prisoners, who were distributed amongst the Divine Island Chain to rebuild airfields and naval yards for the Imperial Dayashinese Navy and Imperial Dayashinese Air Force. Because of their early surrender, the Sylvan diplomats were allowed free passage back to Maracaibo.

This campaign, being a sweeping victory for Imperial Dayashina, resulted in a monumental growth in confidence in the military by a number of members in the High Command, including Suzuki. These members vied to push Imperial Dayashina out of its shell and to further continue their conquest onto neighbouring Casaterran territories. The other faction of High Command, including the legendary General Yutaka Ueda and Admiral Yasuhiro Oniishi, argued that their counterparts were trying to achieve a very long term goal too quickly, stating that their rapid hastiness would cost Dayashina in some form sometimes down the line. Ueda argued that a defensive war against two declining empires, as Menghe rose, could be won easily, but that biting off more than they could chew would come with a risk far too great for Dayashina to handle. Suzuki countered this argument by stating that Tyran and Sylva had already issued their declarations of war against Dayashina, and so there was no point in waiting for them to come back to the Dayashinese home islands, when the creation of an ocean-spanning buffer would make such a prospect extensively harder. Eventually, Suzuki's side of the debate won majority amongst High Command members, and Imperial Dayashina turned its attention to the Tyrannian protectorate of Sundan.