Hugo's War
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| Hugo's War | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
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Pro-Hugo Coalition Supported by:  Charnea  Ankat
 Tikal |
International Coalition Supported by:  Yisrael | ||||
| Strength | |||||
 526,800  100,000+ Charnea 10,000 10,000  5,000 2,400 |
 1,141,850  592,000  350,000  331,120  <1,000 | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
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| As of 7th of January 2025 | |||||
Hugo's War is an ongoing military conflict involving primarily the Mutul against Orun Redisus, supported by an international coalition led by Belfras and including Gristol-Serkonos, Latium, and North Ayeli. It began in December 2024 when the Mutul escalated the diplomatic crisis with Orun Redisus' monarchy by launching a large scale invasion of the country and began occupying vast sways of territory in support of Prince Hugo of Ivorea bid for the throne. The war further escalated when the Federation of Belfras declared war to the Mutul in the hours following the invasion, quickly joined by Gristol-Serkonos and Latium. All three countries then launched a joint military invasion of Ayeli to save the North Ayeli regime which, during the previous Campaign of 2023, had collapsed until it could only hold on to territories protected by the Belfrasian Army. The island was rapidly put into strategic encirclement. The scale of the war and its intensity makes it the largest conflict in both Norumbia and Oxidentale since the Belfro-Mutulese War of 1928, earning the monicker of Third Belfro-Mutulese War or Belfro-Mutulese War of 2025.
Background
Cavalier Coup
On August 26th 2024, the government of Orun Redisus announced that a coup d'état was foiled by the Silver Knights of the Royal Palace. The king's older brother, Hugo of Ivorea, and a number of other disgruntled nobles, were immediately accused of leading the conspiracy with the aim to overthrow Indóre II of Orun Redisus. While some of the suspected conspirators were arrested, Prince Hugo managed to flee the country and find refuge in the Mutul where he obtained the K'uhul Ajaw protection as the Divine Throne publicly raised questions about the veracity of the official story surrounding the event, the Mutulese press accusing Indóre II and his cousin, Grand Duke Ixdira Ivorea, of running a defamation campaign against Hugo and referring to the arrestations as "purges" within the military, government, and administration of Orun Redisus.
The Coup take its name from the 12th Cavalry Platoon which, under the young lord Alarc Melendos leadership, spearheaded the coup attempt as well as the high number of cavalry officers who were part of the conspiracy.
2024 Ayeli Crisis
The Josanek, or foreign minister, of the Mutul, Ahin Chan Toktan, visited South Ayeli on the 7th of December 2024. It was the first direct visit of a Bakab ranked Mutulese official since the beginning of the civil war. In the following reunion and press conference, he reaffirmed the Mutul commitment to the State of Ayeli which had reconquered about 90% of the island, and that negotiation with Belfras were ongoing with the goal to remove the last Belfrasians troops present on the island that had prevented the fall of North Ayeli capital Uyatlaudali. The Mutuleses and Ayelians officials notably referred to plans for an Oceanic Enclosure in the South Kayamuca: a joint international shared defense area that would allow free trade, safe passage, and territorial safety between Tikal, Ayeli, and the Mutul. Military and naval exercices were also publicly announced with international observers suspecting those movements to be a preleminary to a direct Mutulese intervention on the island.
The Oceanic Enclosure project was immediately denounced by Belfras as "unacceptable aggression" and announced plans for a high-profile freedom of navigation operation through the waters which they considered had been claimed by the Divine Throne, the latter emiting an official statement refuting the accusation and reasserted that the Oceanic Enclosure was a defense project that did not affect international water treaties and proposed a resolution of the misunderstanding through the Common Congress of Oxidentale.
On December 08, Gristo-Serkonan National Office of Defence made the surprise announcement that the Royal Gristo-Serkonan Navy was deploying units in Southern Belfras: an initial task force of 8,098 naval personnel and 2,500 marines to be stationed in NS Aegaeon and Fort Bellatoris. Naval assets included the newly commissioned carrier RGSS Mammut and guided missile cruisers RGSS Eidsvold and RGSS Nidaros. A further 4,200 civilian personnel were to make up the civilian support element. Elements from Gristo-Serkonan Army's 1st Army Division and Royal Gristo-Serkonan Air Force's 2nd Air Division added a further 10,000 army personnel and 6,000 air force personnel. Furthermore, the frigates RGSS Leopard and RGSS Argonaut were sent to take part in the Belfrasian's freedom of navigation operation.
Orun National Army
In the wake of the Cavalier Coup, pro-Hugo partisans from within the army regrouped and met up with Orun nationalists and Chieftains representatives on the southern reaches of Orun. They formed a new organisation, called the Orun National Army in opposition to the Orun Royal Army. They openly proclaimed their support to Prince Hugo of Ivorea and, more importantly, to his promised program of social and economic reforms aimed at industrialising and revitalizing the state of Orun which had fallen economically and demographically behind the island of Redisus.
Throughout the month of december, the ONA led a campaign of drone attacks, surprise attacks, and ambushes against the Royal Quasitores, the military police forces of Orun Redisus and the main symbol of royal authority in Orun.
Hostage Crisis
On the 12th of December, a troop of armed men entered the Choj Nonah Hote in K'alak Muul, where Prince Hugo of Ivorea resided, leading to a shootout and a number of hostage being taken. During the following five hours, hostage-takers and the K'alak Muul city guard would alternate confrontations and negotiations until the order came for a large scale assault of the Hotel, leading to the death of the hostage-takers and the liberation of all civilians within the building although three had been heavily wounded during the fightings alongside a city guard.
While none of the assaillants could be traced back to Orun Redisus directly, the Mutul denounced the crisis as a terrorist attack ordered by Indóre II of Orun Redisus and Ixidira of Ivorea. The Divine Throne further accused Orun Redisus of preparing an unprovoked attack on Ayeli with the support of Belfras. The condemnation led to a mutual recall of the two countries' ambassadors, severing diplomatic ties.
Course of the war
Operation Covenant
On the 17th of December 2024, the Mutul declared war to the Noble Republic of Orun Redisus. Three of the five military corps of the Mutul, which had been participating in military exercices in the Viceroyalties of Xukaj and Nokaj crossed the border with Orun unopposed. At the same time, the Mutulese Navy exercising south of Ayeli redirected southward and the Marin Corps they carried occupied the four islands of Bak Te Ka, Dedros, Porto Creth, and Tigmas without noticeable fighting. The Mutuleses Marines began entrenching themselves on the islands, having brought anti-air and anti-surface equipment with them in the early hour of the invasion.
The rest of Operation Covenant is commonly known as the "Three Days Onslaught": over the course of 72 hours, the Mutulese army progressed over 282 kilometers from the border to the Rathmore Strait and Lake Tamanakun. Prince Hugo of Ivorea was able to return to Orun and proclaimed himself as King, forming a new Martial Government with claim to sovereignty over all of Orun and Redisus. The ONA recognized Hugo as their Monarch, and Hugo established the ONA as his Martial Government's defense force. Through recruitment of turncoats, exiles, and volunteers, the ONA was able to expand its numbers to 5,000 men. Numenis, renamed Waborun, became the capital of Hugo's government and a symbol of the pro-Hugo and Orun Nationalists factions, being the only city fully "liberated" by the ONA alone.
The Mutul rapid advance through Orun was made possible by the lack of opposition from the Orun Royal Army, the failure of its engineer corps to destroy bridges, roads, railroads and other vital infrastructure in time, and the absence of combat-ready troops outside of Redisus beyond Quasitores military gendarmes: against an estimated 150,000 Mutuleses soldiers gathered for the invasion, 14,000 Quasitores were tasked to stop them. The lack of military readiness led to only 3,500 being able, or willing, to escape. The rest was either killed, captured, or turned coat to join the growing ONA and the Martial Government.
Rapid Reaction Forces
The Rapid Reaction Forces (RRFs), the active-duty component of the Orun Royal Army, landed on the continent the second day of the invasion and began operations to slow down the Mutuleses' advances while the rest of the country mobilized. The RRFs represented a peacetime Corps of 25,000 men and were reinforced by Quasitores units deployed from across the country for a total strength of 43,000 men. Because of the overwhelming number disparity, the RRFs led mainly ambushes and surprise attacks to harass the invading forces with the support of allied air force. The grinding effort managed to produce a brief stoppage of the Mutul' forward elements to let heavy assault units catch up, but did not lead to an actual halt of the offensive. The cities of Vasilarus and Dimariz fell, while a 50,000 strong spearhead pushed through the RRFs elements in front of it from Deracmora to the Rathimore Strait. As mobilized elements entrenched themselves in a new line of defense, the RRFs suffered 12,900 casualties including 3,225 fatalities and 6,450 prisoners or missing.