Vinyan War
| Vinyan War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Clockwise from top: Tairngiric infantry during the opening offensives; Glasic troops depart from an APC; Kolodorian mechanized infantry; Anglian soldier on a captured Kolodorian tank; Kolodorian heavy artillery in Tír an Crainn | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kolodoria  Polvokia |
 New Tyran  Tír Glas  Hallia  Themiclesia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Aleksis Kraulis Jazeps Buļs |
Andrew Forster Robert Hurst King Henry II Marcus Heffernan | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
3,500,000 15,000 |
2,300,000 60,000 25,000 50,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
550,000 killed 1,500,000 wounded |
350,000 killed 950,000 wounded | ||||||
The Vinyan War (Kolodorian: Vinija Karš) was a war between Kolodoria (with the support of Polvokia) and the Anglo-Ivernic Coalition composed of Tír Glas, Anglia and Lechernt, and the other Ivernic states. The war began on 10 April 1975 when Kolodoria invaded Tír Tairngire following decades of border disputes and tension.
At the height of the Anglian Empire, the region known as Zavijava came under Anglian control but was inhabited primarily by ethnic Kolodorians. Tír Tairngire was granted independence in 1968 from the Anglian Empire, but retained control of Zavijava. The establishment of the Socialist Republic of Kolodoria in 1954 and the subsequent growth of Kolodoria as a major power in Vinya led to increased tensions between the two states, in large part due to the nationalist and expansionist desires of Kolodorian dictator Aleksis Kraulis. Beginning in 1972 Kraulis began lobbying the Tairngiric government for a peaceful transfer of control of Zavijava to Kolodoria. While the Tairngiric government did not completely disavow the idea, suspicions around Kolodoria's communist government and the trustworthiness of Kraulis undermined negotiations, and after dragging on for two years Kolodoria withdrew from the negotiations and began planning an invasion.
Kolodoria invaded Tír Tairngire in 1975 and made rapid progress as the much larger Kolodorian People's Defense Forces routed the Tairngiric Armed Forces in a series of clashes in Zavijava. The invasion prompted condemnation by Tír Glas, Anglia and Lechernt, and the other Ivernic states, whom declared war on Kolodoria and deployed their armed forces. By May Kolodorian forces had seized nearly all of Zavijava, however their rapid success led Kraulis to believe that even more territory could be gained and he ordered the KPDF to push even farther south. Through the summer Kolodorian forces seized Ballindine and Lahardane, but were halted by a combined Anglo-Ivernic forces outside Knightstown and Newtown. The Anglo-Ivernic Coalition would then push Kolodorian forces back across the entire front, and by December 1975 had restored the pre-war borders.
Believing it necessary to destroy further Kolodorian ability to wage war, the Coalition then invaded the southern Jedorian regions which held much of Kolodoria's industry and agriculture. By July 1976 the Coalition had captured Dranga, Elgin, Strana Mecthy and Leoben and were threatening to cross the Luminovian Canal the heart of Kolodoria. In response, Kolodoria opened a second front in Tír an Crainn, invading the Ivernic nation on 19 July. Caught off guard, the Coalition was forced to divert much needed manpower and supplies to the newly formed Crainnic Front, allowing the Kolodorians to reinforce their lines in the east. In August they launched a major counter-offensive in Jedoria, and proceeded to drive Coalition forces south in a series of hard fought campaigns. By January 1977 the Kolodorians had recaptured Zavijava but were halted in the central highlands of Tír Tairngire. The situation on the Crainnic Front continued to swing back and forth until the summer of 1977, at which point the entire war settled into a stalemate, with both sides launching large scale but ultimately unsuccessful offensives.
Ceasefire negotiations began in late 1978 but dragged on for over a year as both sides attempted to leverage their position by military success on the battlefield, which resulted in tens of thousands of casualties on each side. By early 1980 Coalition forces had driven the Kolodorians back to the northern mountains of Tír an Crainn, but attempts to dislodge Kolodoria from Zavijava failed. A peace agreement was finally signed in 1980 following mediation by Themiclesia, and the war officially ended on 4 October. Per the terms of the armistice, Kolodoria gained control of Zavijava, fulfilling the original goal of the invasion but was forced to withdraw all other military forces from territory occupied during the war.
The bloodiest war fought in Vinya since the Northern War, the Vinyan War had a severe political and psychological impact on Vinya and the states involved. Kolodoria's war effort incurred billions in debt, but convinced Kraulis of Kolodoria's ability to take what it wanted through military force, leading to later conflicts against Vyzhva and the Cherniyan War. The Vinyan War would profoundly impact the development of the Vinyan Defense Union and the development of the Ivernic nations post-independence.
Background
The territory of Zavijava had been conquered by the Anglian Empire during it's colonization of Vinya, despite being populated primarily by ethnic Kolodorians. Kolodoria, a mess of various kingdoms and states, were powerless to prevent Anglian conquests, a fact that did not change when the Confederation of Kolodoria was founded in the 19th century. Kolodorian efforts to regain Zavijava were primarily diplomatic in nature, as Kolodorian leadership did not believe a military solution was feasible against the power of the Anglia. Kolodorian focus on Zavijava was suspended in the middle of the 20th century due to the threat of the Letnian Empire, which culminated in the Northern War. Following Kolodoria's defeat in 1944 the cost of the war, combined with numerous domestic issues such as rampant income inequality and aristocratic corruption, drove Kolodoria into internal unrest, which paved the way for the communist led Kolodorian Revolution in 1954. The Socialist Republic of Kolodoria was established that same year, led by General Secretary of the Kolodorian Communist Party Aleksis Kraulis who served as Kolodoria's de facto dictator.
Following the Pan-Septentrion War, Anglia and Lechernt began dissolving it's overseas territory during a prolonged period of decolonization. The Ivernic nations (with the exception of Tír Glas, which was granted independence in 1902) began gaining their independence in the 1960s. Tír Tairngire was granted independence in 1968, while retaining control of Zavijava. Originally General Secretary Kraulis was openly supportive of Ivernic decolonization and personally toured the Ivernic states in the late Sixties while calling for greater "Pan-Vinyan Cooperation and Prosperity". On the surface relations between the Ivernic countries and Kolodoria remained cordial, but internally many of the Ivernic governments questioned the sincerity of Kolodorian efforts. Attempts by Kraulis to create a "Vinyan Community" largely fell flat once it became clear that Kolodoria intended to dominate Vinyan affairs, while spreading its communist ideology throughout the continent.
Beginning in 1972 Kraulis began lobbying the government of Tír Tairngire for discussion of the state of Zavijava, which had remained populated largely by Kolodorians despite centuries of Anglian control. The Tairngiric Prime Minister Covey Keefe was not entirely opposed to the idea of ceding Zavijava to Kolodoria and agreed to meet with Kraulis regarding the issue, but negotiations failed to solve the issue. Undercutting talks was Tairngiric concerns about Kolodorian intentions and trustworthiness, which Kraulis failed to ease with his often bellicose stance and speeches regarding Kolodoria's intentions to spread communism throughout the world. By 1973 Keefe and Kraulis had failed to reach a settlement, and Kolodoria broke off the negotiations. In a meeting with his chief of staff in September 1973 Kraulis outlined his desire to take Zavijava by force. Many senior members of the Kolodorian People's Defense Forces were unenthusiastic about the idea; their chief concern was that other Ivernic states, along with Anglia itself, would object and possible retaliate against Kolodoria. But Marshal Jazeps Buļs, chief of staff of the KPDF, believed that a rapid invasion could seize Zavijava before any major foreign forces arrived, at which point they could be persuaded to back down in order to avoid a prolonged conflict.
The sudden end to Kolodorian diplomatic efforts concerned Tír Tairngire, but after a year of inaction many assumed that Kolodorian interests had been focused elsewhere. Between 1973 and 1975 Kolodoria took advantage of the growing crisis in Tír Ealga to steadily build up and expand the KPDF in preparation for the invasion.
Course of the war
Buildup and invasion
Since its inception in 1954 the KPDF had been extensively developed and expanded with assistance from Letnia, despite the ideological differences between the two. By 1974 the KPDF numbered well over two million men in uniform. Extensive preparation for the invasion began in 1974 and were concealed as "national emergency exercises". The KPDF took advantage of the concurrent turmoil in southern Vinya to covertly train and field an invasion force larger than the entire Tairngiric Armed Forces. While the KPDF was armed primarily with Letnian-influenced weaponry and equipment, the TAF was equipped mostly with surplus from the Anglian Armed Forces. The Kolodorian name for the invasion was Operation Viper a their forces were led by Lt. General Noldis Brunkevičs. Brunkevičs had at his disposal four corps (11th, 15th, 20th, 29th) formed into the Second Army Group, for a total of 200,000 men, 1,500 tanks, 2,000 artillery pieces, and 150 combat aircraft. The TAF numbered just 110,000 men in total, and on the even of the invasion only three light infantry battalions were stationed near the border. Most of the Tairngiric Armed Forces were only put on alert a few days before the invasion, and the Army lacked heavy weaponry.
Kolodorian invasion
The KPDF began its invasion in the early morning of 11 April 1975, using artillery and aircraft to target border outposts and checkpoints that had been identified by Kolodorian intelligence in the preceding months before the invasion. In 1975 the border between Kolodoria and Tír Tairngire was defined by geographic features, namely the Azuolus, Rudzitis, and Arins Rivers, and the Visvaris Mountain Range. Within 24 hours of the invasion the Kolodorians had seized every major bridge crossing the Rudcitis and Azuolus, and within 48 hours two entire Corps had crossed the rivers and were pushing deeper into Zavijava. Initial resistance by the TAF was limited and light, largely conducted by disorganized border guards and local reserve units that lacked the numbers or firepower to halt the Kolodorian advance. Haldana was captured by the KPDF on 14 April, as the city had been left largely undefended by the TAF. Kolodorian airstrikes continuously harassed the TAF as it attempted to mobilize and respond to the invasion. By 20 April the first Kolodorian advance guard had reached the foothills of the central highland of Tír Tairngire. With the aid of terrain and freshly mobilized reserves the TAG was finally able to put up credible resistance, but severely outnumbered and still short of heavy weapons including artillery and tanks they failed to halt the advance. On 24 April the Kolodorians broke through Tairngiric defenses around the Red Friar Hills, effectively leaving them in control of all of Zavijava.
Within 48 hours of the invasion, the governments of the Ivernic states as well as Anglia and Lechernt had condemned Kolodoria and demanded an immediate withdrawal of all Kolodorian forces behind the pre-war border. Once it became clear that Salhar would not oblige, both declared war on Kolodoria and made plans to dispatch military forces to aid in the defense of Tír Tairngire. At the time of the response it was uncertain whether Kolodoria intended to invade just Zavijava or all of Tír Tairngire, but regardless hundreds of thousands of Ivernic and Anglian troops were mobilized and prepared to be transported to Tír Tairngire, although due to the sudden nature of the conflict it would be weeks before significant numbers arrived.
On 25 April Lt. General Brunkevičs contacted Salhar to inform the KPDF Headquarters that all of Zavjiava was under Kolodorian control. According to the original text of Operation Viper, once offensive operations had been concluded the Second Army Group was to dig in and prepare to repel counterattacks by Tairngiric and other enemy forces. But on 26 April KPDF Headquarters informed Brunkevičs that he was to continue his advance and seize as much territory as possible. This apparently stunned Brunkevičs, whom had already ordered his troops to begin digging defensive positions. Brunkevičs made clear his concerns in a message to General Headquarters later that day, outlining that he neither had the supplies or manpower to