History of the Shazbotdom Military
The Shazbotdom Military has a long storied history, dating back from the protection of a couple hundred people during the migration away from the Oppressive governments of Europe in the 11th Century, to the settlement of lands within North America during the times of the Viking Settlers in the 12th Century, to the discovery and colonization of the old Imperial Mainland and the current Imperial Mainland. From the "Shazite Protection Authority" to the "Imperial Army" then on to the "Shazbotdom Marine Corps", it has stood the test of time, countless battles, and increasing threats from those who wish to destroy the Shazite way of life. From attempted invasions on Colonial Possessions to nuclear attacks upon the Imperial Mainland, they have answered the call of our leaders to protect Imperial Interests, both at home and around the globe.
The Original founding
- 78 years after the original Founding of the first Nation, the original armed forces of Shazonitedom was founded as a paramilitary militia of who's sole purpose was to the defense of the original settlements. The number of troops totaled 50 at this time frame.
The First Reorganization
- In the middle ages, advancements in military technology helped to make updates to the paramilitary forces made up the Shazonite Defense Forces. What forced these changes was the founding of three new settlements a couple miles away from the original settlement The first chainmail armor made its appearance and became a staple for years to come, with some advances though next fifteen years. Swords and crossbows also became staple weapons during this timeframe. The defense forces domesticated horses a little prior to this date and thus formed mounted, ranged and infantry divisions. The number of forces swelled to 250 troops.
New Lands and More Territory
- After setting to the seas in 1456, the Shazonite people found a new land that was believed to be uninhabited that they could call their own. They set up new cities and thus hand to revamp their military to help protect these new lands. Shazointe City, the first city founded near the interior of the land, was built with large wall around it to help protect against any unknown indigenous people. It was then that they made advances in their bow and arrow technology in an effort to increase the range of the projectiles to hit targets further away. They also designed the first small catapults that would be mounted on top of towers that were built every couple hundred feet into the wall for an extra range attack.
- It was during this time frame that an official name was given to the contingents of soldiers. From hereon, it was decided by Master Strodent, leader of the Shazite People during this timeframe, that they were referred to as the Shazite Protection Authority.
A New Government
- After nearly a year and a half of one person ruling as a despotism in their new land, he decided that it was time to give more control to more people. The population of the group had already exceeded 12,000 people and it was becoming too much on him to assist everyone that needed help. He thus create the Council of Elders who would help with the tedious day to day jobs that came up. They also helped to form the first rules of the society. The military at this point has swelled to nearly 800 soldiers and they have begun to explore the surrounding areas. The Expeditionary forces of the Armed Forces have explored an area of nearly 300 Square Miles from Shazonite City. This helped to create the first maps of the land and they made first contact with one Indigenous Tribe that came to be known as the Okampan.
- Monthly meetings were set up so each group could learn about the other and a lasting friendship was created.
The Reacquaintance with Europe
- After years of living in isolation, several settlements were formed throughout the middle and lower gulf regions of the new lands with an estimated 55% of the land charted extensively and another 40% of it undergone a preliminary charting. A ship came back from a fishing expedition 2 kilometers off of the coast and notified the local town magistrate that it spotted an unidentified ship another 4 kilometers out to sea. Immediately, word was sent to the closest fort and a contingent of 150 troops was sent to the town.
- They arrived just as a rowboat was coming ashore. Fifteen soldiers were spotted aboard the rowboat and were immediately surrounded by members of The Shazite Protection Authority. It didn't take long to figure out that they were English and that they were sent to explore the oceans of this area. They were ordered to leave the area at once and complied. Although the Shazonite people knew that this wasn't the last that they would see of their old oppressors.
English "Dominance"
- The discovery of Gunpowder made it so that the Shazonite people began to feel better about protecting themselves, which was a good thing because nearly thirty years after their reacquaintance with the English, the young fledging nation found itself, once again, seeing something on the horizon. Several English Ships were seeing this time, and the Shazonite people retreated from their seaside town while the Shazite Protection Authority took up defensive positions throughout the town.
- As rowboats began to flood into the bay, English Troops landed onto the shoreline and began to scout around. The leader of the group, a man by the name of Meinhardt Schomberg, approached the leader of the Protection Authority troops that were stationed in the city for its defensive purposes. He went on to state that the Island that the Shazonite people found was now the property of the English Crown. What he didn't know was that his contingent of 120 troops was surrounded by nearly 500 Shazonite's with 25 canons pointed at his ships.
- As soon as the Shazonite commanded denied that the land was under the authority of the English, a deafening explosion was heard for mile away as all 25 canons fired, inflicting severe damage upon the four ships that the English sent to the region. The English troops were captured, and one of their ships was able to leave. Although a message was sent back with them to the English, telling them that the Island was under the authority, and ownership, of the Shazonite people. A month later, a vessel returned from the America's with a note from the regional military officers saying that the Shazonite people were on notice, and that the English would retake the land sooner rather than later. Which was the last message that the Shazonte people would receive for many years.
The American War for Independene
A Call for Help
- After years of peace and prosperty for the Shazonite People, a small vessel was found drifting into the Bay. Amoung the ship were some malnourished soldiers who said that they had come from the America's. They said that they were sent to gather allies for a war that was ravaging their homes for over a year. It was then that the Shazonite People found out that the Americans were fighting for their independence from the British, of whom was ruled by the English Crown. Within days, an expeditionary force was organized of nearly 500 strong soldiers. They set out across the sea, heading towards the land that was home for a short time some 400 years ago. After 3 months at sea, they landed on what is modern day Georgia. And thus started the first major armed conflict in the history of the Shazonite Military.
The Final Push
- After a difficult campaign, the Shazonite forces assisted the American Continental Army push the British out of varied parts of the 13 Colonies and surrounded them at Yorktown, Virginia. Throughout the campaign, only about 45 Shazonites became casualties of war, with only 17 of them being deaths. The first push of the Shazonites weakened the defenses of Yorktown. Volley after volley of Shazonite artillery weakened the defenses at Redoubt #9 and Redoubt #10, causing French and American troops to move in and take them over. Moving swiftly through the streets, allied forces captured group after group of British Troops until, on October 17th, General Cornwallis asked for the Americans to give him Terms of Surrender. Two days later, the British surrendered to the Americans, ending the war. Within a week’s timeframe, the Shaznoites loaded back onto their boats and began the journey home. It was later found out that the Shazonite role in the War for American Independence was left out of their history books but was added to Shazonite History Books and taught within Shazonite Schools.
A More 'Modern' Expansion
- After recruitment numbers of the forces within the Shazonite Protection Authority continued to swell throughout the later part of the 18th Century and throughout the 19th Century, it was the decision of the leadership of the fighting force that they should expand the capabilities. Under this reorganization, the name of the fighting force would change to the Shazite Armed Forces, with subsets of the Navy and the Army. The Naval expansion included the building of 20 ships. With the building of these ships, the original 5 that were use for the move to the continent 300 years prior were scuttled into the ocean for the purpose of expanding the coral reefs and expand upon the natural barrier that protected the nation from hurricanes.
- The Army also saw expansions. With the creation of an Infantry Division, Calvary Division and a rudimentary Mechanized Division, this was the largest expansion and reorganization to date. Numbers for the combined Armed Forces, at this time, have swelled to nearly 45,000.
World War 1
- With the explosion of the First Great World War, the Shazbotdom Empire attempted its best to stay out of the conflict. Using its Merchant Marines to continue to provide food to the nations that were being rampaged by the War on both sides, they were the target of pirates and other outlaws that were being paid by unwelcome agitators from both sides attempting to draw the Empire into an armed conflict. It wasn’t until two years into the war in which the Imperial Navy began to send ships to help protect the food transports.
- Throughout the later part of the War, a total of 4 Shazonite transport ships were lost, but the Imperial Navy sunk a total of 8 ships that attacked imperial assets. There was discussions within the Parliament at the time to declare war on whomever attacked Imperial Shipping, but those discussions were squashed by a coalition of Members of Parliament who did not want to sink money into an unnecessary war. In late March of 1918, Imperial activity ceased throughout all theaters and the nation reverted to a state of Isolationism, intent on keeping to itself.
World War 2
1943
- With the onset of the 2nd World War, the Empire continued to maintain it's isolationist principles, turning away any ships form foreign nations that it will not be dragged into the affairs of the world at large, especially with the 1st World War costing the Empire nearly 250 Million in lost revenue due to multiple ships being sunk by the Central Powers. In early 1943, such an incident occurred when a British vessel was spotted approaching the shores of the Empire and a couple ships of the Imperial Navy were dispatched out to turn them away. It was then that they attempted to force their way past the Imperial Navy ships and was fired upon by the Empire. The ship eventually turned away, never to be seen along Imperial Shores again.
- The British sent an official letter of Protest to the Emperor at the time and brought the issue before the League of Nations, which attempted to bring Sanctions against the Empire but that effort failed when the Empire put the League on notice that since they were not a member, the League had no power over the Internal Affairs of the Empire. A few weeks after the meeting was over, the Empire began routine patrols of the coastline of the Empire with not only Air Force Assets, but also Naval Assets, in an effort to discourage other nations from attempting to come to the Empire seeking aide.
1944
- On the evening of the 5th of May, 1944 a vessel of the Nazi Navy approached the Imperial Waters and laid out an ultimatum to the people of the Empire. They were to accept the rule of Der Führer or be subjugated through war. Seeing as the Navy of the Empire was not one to be a pushover to anyone, including an imperialistic warmongering nation such as Germany was at the time, three battleships left port at the main Naval Facility and several other smaller cruisers and destroyers left from some of the other smaller Naval Bases.
- They met the Nazi fleet in the open water and ordered them to turn around. They were met with retaliatory fire from the Nazi Fleet, striking several Imperial Ships and causing damage to them. With that, all the main guns from every single ship of the fleet turned it's attention to the Nazi command ship and opened fire, obliterating it in an instant and forcing the enemy fleet to retreat. Once again, the Empire maintained that it was a force to not be trifled with and that they would not take part in any war that didn't involve them.
The Cold War
- With the end of World War 2, the world didn't drop into a peaetime stance as the superpowers of the world continued to play games with eachother, this time using peon nations as pawns in their global struggle to consolidate power into their corner. These nations utilized the Far East, for the most part, in their little chess game. Vietnam and Korea were decimated with wars that lasted years, causing millions of dollars worth of destruction and tens of thousands of lives lost on both sides. During this timeframe, the Empire continued its Military Isolationism, slowly building it's forces, once again, as just a defensive organiation for the imperial Mainland.
The Colonization
- After the need to expand Imperial Assets, several Colony ships left port after the lands were spotted by Sattlites that looked like they were Uninhabited. These colonists would set up structures and endure hardships for many years. With that, the Naval Assets of the Empire were expanded to include a few more Coastal Defence forces that would assist in the defence of these Colonial Possessions while the Army Corps of Engineers started building forts in strategic locations close to the settlements. Within a few years, these Colonial Holdings would become busling centralized locations of industry. In 1999, they would have several settlements and would have their own Colonial Governmental Authority for each of the Colonial lands, now named Alraibris, Bolrasha, and Halnara. By 2014, each of the Colonial Posessions would have their own independent Militia for the defene of the Colonies and the bases built by the old Army Corps of Engineers would be handed over to them.
An Attack on the Empire
- In the morning hours of the day, it was a sepcial day. 3 Marine Corps Bases across the Imperial Mainland were taking part in an event that occurs every year. They open up to local schools, of whom bus students in for a day of education about the Military of the Empire and to learn what the Military does. At 13:24, at two of the bases, warning sirents went off and everyone who worked there knew what it was. They started their evacuations into the multitude of underground bunkers on the bases in preparations that they were trained for. At one of the bases, though, not everyone got into the bunkers and were caught outside when each base was struck with a 10kt Nuclear Weapon.
- It didn't take long for the Empire to find out who did it, and with the help of the International Community, those that were at fault were bought to justice. That day, roughly 134 Children, 314 Marines and 400 Civilian Support Staff perished in an instant. Over the next couple years, space launches were stepped up by the Shazbotdom Imperial Space Administration and the Shazbotdom Marine Air Corps to put newly designed Sattelites into orbit to begin the building of a Missile Defence Shield. Along with these, CGNs were purchased from shipyards across the world as mobile platforms for Anti-Ballistic Warfare to ensure that the trajedy would not be duplicated.
- With the expansion of colonial territorial assets, it was necessary to expand the naval capabilities to better fulfill the protection needs of The Empire. After gaining some purview with the Ownership of Halcyon Arms, the Shazbotdom Empire placed it’s largest order from the Military Manufacturer. They ordered the Domestic Production Rights for nearly a dozen ships and then for ships that those rights were not available for, they purchased several of each ship type. After all was said and done, the Empire spent nearly $1.3 Trillion on purchases from Halcyon. To complete the purchases, they worked with the shipbuilders to build and train needed individuals domestically to build the ships.
- After everything was completed, the aging fleet was replaced and the numbers expanded to the point where the varied fleets of the Empire now comprised of a total of 1,141 Ships. The aging ships were, after they were stripped of all technology, brought out close to the barrier islands off the coasts of the Empire and sunk to assist with building up better Hurricane Defence.