2034 Matsume Invasion
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| 2034 Matsumae War | |||||||
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 Neo-Korean Wyverns refueling over the Mare Noctus | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Beom Dae Naito Keiji Kyo Oki † Nakatani Momoe (Fukuyama flag here eventually) Imekanu Kimyo |
 Atuy Kamuima Taguchi Yasotaro Reizei Mitsutsune † | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
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CIS Aerial Assault Grouping First Reserve Engagement Fleet Fuzan Central Fleet First Ground Corps |
Republic of Matsumae Army Eastern Naval Fleet  Carrier Battlegroup Prima | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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32,400 (First Ground Corps) 1,500 (CIS-AAG) 4,500 (First REF) 8,500 (Fuzan Central Fleet) | TBD | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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6,000 (CIS-AAG and First REF) 1,620 (FGC) 270 (Fuzan Central Fleet) 7,890 (Total) | TBD | ||||||
The 2034 Matsumae Invasion, also known as the Matsumae War was an armed conflict between Neo-Korea and the Republic of Matsumae taking place from the 27th of December, 2033, to the 6th of February, 2034. Following the Sinking of RTS095, Neo-Korea would accuse Matsumae of harboring terrorists who had fired some form of weaponry at the ship, in what is broadly agreed to be an false-flag attack in an attempt to implicate Matsumae. Following the rejection of a series of demands which would have obligated the importation of Neo-Korean troops, the arrest of members of Matsumae's coast guard, and the arrest of anti-Kāichrén politicians, Neo-Korea would launch an attempted paratrooper assault after a series of cyberattacks on key governmental targets.
This paratrooper attack would fail severely - leading to the death of almost all involved, in one of the greatest aerial military disasters in human history, which was tied to the leadership of the Central Intelligence Services over elite military forces such as the Aerial Assault Grouping, which were then redistributed to the Neo-Korean Ground Forces. Following a period of limited direct conflict primarily carried out via drone strikes on port facilities, elements of Matsumae's Eastern Naval Fleet would be drawn into conflict with the First Reserve Engagement Fleet under Kyo Oki, which they would destroy in its entirety due to outdated missile defense systems, and the outdated nature of the FREF as a whole. The Eastern Naval Fleet would then be destroyed in its own majority, excluding three Taga-class ships, two of which were captured by the Neo-Korean Navy and now serve as the Kogane (formerly Nihomi) and the Hikarikagayaku (formerly Kapiw).
This sacrificing of the FREF would allow for landings to occur on Matsumae, carried out by the First Ground Corps - which would rapidly seize territory through the use of naval support from the Fuzan Central Fleet, alongside an overwhelming air advantage. The FGC would liberate several notable political figures relating to previously existing northern separatism from prisons in the north, with these figures declaring the creation of an independent Republic covering the north of the Matsumae Island, named Fukuyama.
The Kāichrén assault would be stalled on January 29th, with the city of Morioka resisting capture due to both a dedicated defense by local forces and the inability of of the Fuzan Central Fleet to provide assistance during the battle, due to a short exchange of fire between them and the Carrier Battlegroup Prima, which resulted in the sinking of the Kujira-class Destroyer Tatakru-1 and the flight of the FCF as a whole. Following this battle, peace negotiations would rapidly occur due to the fear of future greater intervention, ending in the splitting of the island between Fukuyama and Matsumae, the cessation of relations between Matsumae and Neo-Korea, and the obligation for Neo-Korea to pay reparations to civilians who were harmed in strikes on southern port cities.
Background
Historical Control of Matsumae by Kāichrén
Matsumae, historically, would find itself under the control of Marquesan following the initial colonial push of the state, with the island falling under Marquesan control in the early 1590s, to be shortly followed by the Sabi Republic in 1610. Matsumae, while previously an independent colony, would be folded into the colonial Nán Yánshēn alongside Jungg'o, in an attempt to reduce anti-Marquesan tension within the colony by redirecting said tensions to ethnic and political violence within newly incorporated territory, an act which would to some degree work.
This incorporation meant, however, that when the state of Kaesong was formed in an anti-colonial revolt lead by Hamamoto Jaeon, Matsumae would follow them into independence, becoming an autonomous province of Kaesong which would see notable industrial and naval investment, as a result of their usefulness in naval assaults against Marquesan - as seen with the Chamorro War, where Matsumae-built ships would achieve a shocking victory over the dominant Marquesan navy. This relationship between the two also had its detractors, especially in regards to Matsumae nationalists - who found the supposed autonomy highly suspect due to the influence Kaesong had over elections and those appointed within the civilian bureaucracy by those elected. These nationalists would be a persistent thorn in the side of the Hamamoto government, with their political critiques being highly circulated in regions as far away as Kaihima. Under the short reign of his successor, limited reconciliation would be pursued with Matsumaean elements, although this would have no impact before the coup which brought the KDS into existence occurred.
When the Kāichrén Democratic State emerged, there were widespread political reforms in an attempt to equalize the power of parts of the new state, including in Matsumae - which would reduce but not eliminate nationalist irritation with the government. This relationship would then rapidly begin to turn hostile during the course of the Great War, with Kāichrén dominance of the economic, military, and political dimensions of the war - and the reducing of autonomy engaged in by them, in an attempt to secure greater material capacity to fight Marquesan - being highly unpopular and leading to large scale domestic protest, which would be responded to with military force.
This would re-instate the status quo, but relations were permanently damaged, a consequence which would have impacts during the Kāichrén Civil War.
Kāichrén Civil War
The Kāichrén Civil War would see the collapse of all external possessions of the Nán Yánshēn excluding Kaihima - and while Jungg'o was the greatest loss of this period, the loss of Matsumae would have severe economic impacts as well, especially on the naval industries. While it would not be caught in the same conflicts as Jungg'o and the Yánshēn itself, Matsumae would still see a period of civil struggle, with pro-independence paramilitary organizations engaging in reprisals against figures formerly associated with the KDS, with the tacit support of the pro-independence coalition then in control of the state apparatus due to a desire to encourage emigration of Kāichrén elements. These paramilitaries would also see action against northern separatists, who had also emerged under the KDS - with the imprisonment of a majority of pre-KCW civil bureaucrats in the region being engaged in, again with the tacit support of the state.
These actions would see the desired exclusion of Kāichrén occur throughout the early 1950's, but would also see paramilitarism expand to other aspects of post-independence society, especially when the governing coalition separated from one another. For the first few years after the split in 1955, there would be largescale violence of party-managed paramilitaries against one another, with the first President (or Sapaneaŋɡuɾu) Kaizawa Kanno unwilling to use military force to curtail these actions, as a result of his belief that this paramilitarism would allow for the maintaining of civilian military strength in preparation for the event of an invasion of some variety. Following Kanno's own impeachment in 1959 on corruption charges, his successor Torazo Ikkō would work to disarm the paramilitaries, and by 1962 the majority of said organizations had been successfully disarmed.
Post Civil-War Relations
While the reunification of the Nán Yánshēn occured under Hikaru Sakuma in 1959, and the formation of Neo-Korea followed shortly in 1961, relations between the two powers would be delayed from restarting until 1963, due to Kanno's own hostility towards the Kāichrén as a whole combined with his fears of an invasion. Under Ikkō, Neo-Korea would officially recognize the independence of Matsumae, in exchange for the resumption of trade and general resumption of shared diplomatic activity as a whole. This relationship would continue in the same vein under the remainder of Hikaru's term, no greater interaction being pursued until the government of Anzai Kurou began in 1986.
Kurou, a somewhat committed reformist in regards to foreign policy when placed in comparison to other members of the mainstream Keieikō worked to establish stronger trade and political ties between Neo-Korea and Matsumae, which he believed would voluntarily enter mutual agreements when the benefits of such interaction had been established. This policy would continue despite the political differences he possessed with his successors, with Goya Tadashi not having the time to influence foreign policy due to his near-exclusive focus on domestic work. Okuma Taro, who had been a mentor for Kurou, would also continue and expand his policies of diplomatic outreach, which would eventually result in the signing of the first tentative treaties establishing Pan-Hiakemirian regional institutions.
Invasion of Jungg'o
Matsumae and Neo-Korea would immediately and rapidly break off these tentative ties after the ascension of Beom Dae to power, with the Invasion of Jungg'o launched causing massive distrust and leading to Matsumae's immediate withdrawal from Pan-Hiakemirian institutions. Beom's government would not take action to attempt to mend these ties, instead turning inwards and focusing on the 1995 Economic Reforms, whose abolishment of currency would also lead to the cancelling of trade with Matsumae due to the failure of attempts at renegotiation of existing trade treaties. This hostility would continue throughout the rest of the 2000s, with no major interactions occurring between two powers until the false flag attack which started the Matsumae War itself.
Invasion
Battle of Kutchan
On the 30th of December, the first large scale conflict between Matsumae and Kāichrén forces would begin, following a cyberattack which targeted several governmental and military communication lines, in the only Kāichrén part of the battle to be generally successful. Matsumae's high command would be succesfully decieved by these tactics, sending the majority of their aerial forces southwards and not moving their Taga-class vessels, the few ships possessing notable anti-missile or anti-air capacity, to intercept potential hostiles in the north. This deception would be followed by the deployment of approximately three dozen transport aircraft - with no notable fighter escort, a decision which would have immediate and severe consequences following the sending-up of a squadron of F6M2 Wasp fighters, which were able to destroy the entirety of the gathered craft - though this did not kill the paratroopers aboard, who would survive nd organize rapidly in an attempt to reclaim control of momentum.
This would also be foiled, as Matsumae forces, or more specifically a small subsection of such would successfully repulse and destroy the remaining paratroopers in the course of a single night, with effective utilization of sniper fire being responsible for preventing any figures of leadership from going to ground, alongside the more direct deaths caused by machinegun fire and grenades - capturing or killing all 1,500 members who had landed in the greatest military disaster in Kāichrén history. The battle, or more specifically the performance of Kāichrén forces within such, would immediately become the subject of international mockery, even within Neo-Korea itself (as seen by GATORNET posts released by Kyong Hoshino), with the lack of ground support, lack of moral justification, and almost comedically poor tactical sense exhibited by the planners being roundly mocked.
This tactical failing, in hindsight, has been traced back to tension between the formerly-dominant Central Intelligence Services and the Neo-Korean Aerial Defense Force, with the latter's leadership having actively refused to give aerial support to the operation, due to what was perceived as lacking tactical planning, a poor plan for how to exploit territorial gains even in the event of notable success, direct rivalries between the leadership of both organizations, and the continued support the NKADF gave to the absorption of the paratroopers under the Neo-Korean Ground Forces. This suite of issues meant that the only support given to the CIS's operation was continentally bound - that being a single bomber which fired a small salvo of missiles before immediately returning to its airbase. While, ultimately, the distribution of blame would not prove to be a salve to the failure of the military operation itself, it would prove to be effective in removing a fair amount of the CIS's political and military power, which allowed for greater influence by figures such as Naito Keiji over future aerial operations, especially when combined with the redistribution of military assets which occurred.
Removal of CIS Control over Military Assets
The failure of the battle of Kutchan would reflect severely negatively on the CIS itself, and with the death of their foremost leader Pyoyter Nakiovich due to heart attack, the organization lacked any notable figures to protest in their defense. With this being the case, a broad series of military reforms would be carried out - with the military wing of the CIS, once including Neo-Korea's frogmen, paratroopers, and special forces as a whole being redistributed primarily to the NKGF - excluding the frogmen, who would be distributed to be under the control of the Neo-Korean Navy. The newly claimed forces would be uniformly sent for retraining, in an attempt to determine and solve issues created by the CIS in their organization of the bodies, while the CIS itself would be unable to make any notable political noise over the matter due to continued lack of organization. The appointment of Ueda Kenji as the organization's new leader also served to prevent them from making an issue of the matter, due to his own lack of care in relation to those forces and his focus on domestic matters in the wake of his appointment.
This reform would open the door to greater specialization of forces in the conventional military as a whole, with increasing focus being given to the incorporation of said special forces in the expeditionary conflict which Neo-Korea has historically been involved in. This is most represented by the sending of former-CIS forces to Anagonia in the course of the ongoing Great Marinian War, where they played a role in the attempted curtailment of Ashilosan independence forces through the targeted elimination of members of their key leadership. The reduction of military power possessed by the CIS would also play a role in reforms which occurred in the CIS's policing forces, where greater devolution was pursued - with a number of provinces gaining the right to independently organize communal policing forces in what has been seen as a rejection of the previous status quo of CIS-militarization.