Senrian Front
| Senrian Front | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Great War | |||||||
 Clockwise from top left: Katurou Imahara with his generals; Senrian civilians evacuating from Sakata in 1929; Xiaodongese troops entering Sekiguti; the destroyed city of Ukyou in 1933; Xiaodongese scientists performing experiments at the Itinoseki Extermination Zone; Senrian troops drilling for a planned invasion of Xiaodong in 1933. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
Grand Alliance SenriaFile:Estmere.png Estmere (1927) Air and naval support  Etruria Werania |
Entente Xiaodong Occupied Senria Gaullica | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Katurou Imahara Isao Isiyama Hatirou Nakayama Sintarou Miyake Nobuyuki Youiti Isoroku Nomura Ienobu Miyazawa † Hisahiro Nisinoya Mituyosi Tanaka Soukaku Sioda Akitosi Hanayama Itirou Tadatomo Iesugu Yosiyama File:Estmere.png Roger Henderson  |
Shanrong Emperor Qiu Hanjie Yao Fuzhang Ren Xilian Lu Keqian Li Yongjin Liao Yinzhai † Qing Qishuo  Shen Jinping Yao Xiangxi Zai Quanyou Yosito Otuzi Itio Huziwara Léonard Bertillon | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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1,015,000 soldiers |
1,200,214 soldiers (1930) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 347,000 soldiers |
568,000 dead 258,000 captured | ||||||
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8,800,000-9,500,000 Senrian civilians killed [TBA] internally displaced persons or refugees | |||||||
The Senrian Front of the Great War was the conflict between the Entente powers of Heavenly Xiaodongese Empire and Functionalist Gaullica against Senria and other members of the Grand Alliance including Estmere from the invasion of Senria in February 1927 to the defeat of Xiaodongese forces in Sakata in June 1933. It was primarily fought on the island of Tousuu with Kousuu being a front earlier in the conflict and the Isotama Islands seeing minor conflict. Naval warfare in the Hurasima Strait, Honghai sea and Bay of Bashurat also occurred as did aerial combat across the majority of the Senrian archipelago. The Senrian Front was the first to open in the Great War following the Second Sakata Incident when Senria seized the Xiaodongese concession of Sakata which led directly to the outbreak of war. Although not the largest front in the war compared to the Asterian and west Euclean theartes the Senrian Front was one of the bloodiest of the war due to intense fighting between the combatents and the Senrian Genocide
The war traced its roots back to centuries of mutual distrust and conflict between Senria and Xiaodong, both of whom in the 19th century underwent political, economic and social modernisation in the Keiou Restoration in Senria and the Restoration War in Xiaodong. By the early 20th century Xiaodong had remained politically stable and militarily powerful whist between 1918-26 the Senrian Revolution resulted in political chaos in Senria, as the country's monarchy was overthrown in favour of a republican regime; this new republican regime, however, was divided between a populist faction led by Isao Isiyama and a nationalist faction under General Katurou Imahara. During the same period, Xiaodongese leaders had sought to expand their sphere of influence, including annexing the port concession of Sakata in 1909, as the government under the Shanrong Emperor became increasingly ultranationalist and totalitarian following the Jiayin Uprising.
In November 1926 the Senrian government ordered the unilateral annexation of Sakata, prompting Xiaodong to invade Senria in February 1927 amidst fears of the new Senrian regime would curtail Xiaodong's imperialist ambitions. This triggered a chain of events that precipacated the outbreak of a global war as Senria's allies of Estmere, Werania and Soravia declared war on Xiaodong and its own Entente ally Gaullica. From 1927 to 1929 Xiaodong with the support of the Gaullican navy made significant advances, seizing control of most of the island of Tousuu, attempting assaults on the islands of Kousuu and destroying much of Senria's fleet. In regions occupied by Xiaodong, occupying forces created a client regime known as the Reformed Government of Senria which mainly consisted of collaborationists, functionalists and conservatives opposed to the post-revolutionary politics of Senria. However under the direction of Qiu Hanjie Xiaodong implemented increasingly policies to the local population, interning large numbers of Senrian civilians in concentration camps called "extermination zones", where they were used for hard labor, subjected to medical experimentation, and murdered en masse to prepare Senria for settlement by ethnic Xiaodongese.
In late 1929, Senrian forces- led by an "government of national preservation", formed as a compromise between Imahara and Isiyama- mounted a series of counterattacks. While Senrian forces were able to eliminate Xiaodong's limited presence in Kousuu, they failed at making anything beyond minor gains in Tousuu. Senria's new government also began a program of "mass production, mass industrialization, and mass mobilization", aimed at rebuilding Senria's military capacity. Senrians in Xiaodongese-occupied territories also began organizing guerrilla resistance groups, taking advantage of Senria's rough and mountainous terrain. Xiaodong attempted a second offensive beginning in early 1930, and retook some territory in Tousuu; but this offensive was hampered by continuing Senrian guerrilla activity and the increasing power of Senrian industry alongside a steady withdrawal of Gaullican naval support and eventually devolved into a stalemate. Xiaodong was forced to halt its offensive altogether in February 1931 with the start of the Ukyou Uprising; while Xiaodong ultimately put down the uprising, it was a pyrrhic victory for Xiaodong and prevented them from continuing any offensive operations.
By the time that Xiaodong might have been capable of resuming offensive operations in 1932, Senria had reconstructed its navy and alongside Etruria and Werania was able to sever the supply lines between Xiaodong and its troops in Senria. An attempt by Xiaodong to regain naval supremacy was halted by Senrian admiral Ienobu Miyazawa with the Battle of Hurasima Strait; while Miyazawa was killed during the battle, the Xiaodongese navy was obliterated with the Gaullican Flotte de l'Austral crippled resulting in Grand Alliance naval superiority was effectively unopposed for the remainder of the war. Xiaodongese troops in Senria, left without supplies and opposed on all sides, attempted to hold out; by June 1932, the Senrians had reclaimed the entirety of the Senrian archipelago from Xiaodongese control. Xiaodong bombed the islands several times over the reminder of 1932 although for all intents and purposes active fighting on the front ceased after June 1932. In March 1933 Senria launched its invasion of Xiaodong which would ultimately end the Great War in December 1935.
The Senrian Front was the most deadly of all the fronts in Coius, albeit the later Xiaodongese front would be much larger, due to the attrition warfare used by both sides to defeat the other. The Senrian front is commonly considered to be one of the most key in the war being credited for being the major factor in the defeat of Entente forces in Coius. The war on the front left a lasting legacy on Senria and Xiaodong in particular, with both countries accusing the other of failing to apologize for war crimes and atrocities committed on the front; Xiaodongese refusal to pay the reparations has been a major sticking point in relations between the two countries.
Names
In Senria
- Senryuu Gyoutou Sensou (썬류우교우또우썬쏘우): Literally translating to "Senrian-Xiaodongese War", this term is generally used in official documentation and is regarded as a politically neutral term.
- Sengyou Sensou (썬교우썬쏘우): A contraction of the war's official name, used in common parlance by modern Senrians.
- Youkou (요우꼬우): Literally, "Yao invasion". Similar in construction to Kyoukou ("Xiang invasion"), Toukou ("Tao invasion"), and Soukou ("Jiao invasion"), the names used in Senria for the three prior Xiaodongese invasions of Senria. Rarely used.
- Sinryaku-koku ni Taisuru Sensou (씬랴꾸꼬꾸니때쑤루썬쏘우): Literally, "war against the aggressor nation". Commonly used in Senrian propaganda during the conflict. Was also used commonly by Senria during the rule of Takesi Takahata, though it has since fallen out of usage.
- Kokka Hozen no Sensou (꺾까호선노썬쏘우): Literally, "war of national preservation". Commonly used in Senrian propaganda during the conflict.
- Aikoku Teikou Sensou (애꼬꾸떼꼬우썬쏘우): Literally, "patriotic resistance war". Commonly used in Senrian propaganda during the conflict. Frequently used as an alternative name for the conflict.
In Xiaodong
- Qiānlóngguó Xiǎodōng zhànzhēng (千龙国晓东战争) - Literally translates to "Senrian-Xiaodongese War". Most commonly used within Xiaodong and by government officials.
- Wěidà de zhànzhēng dào jiěfàng Qiānlóngguó (伟大的战争到解放千龙国) - Literally translates to "Great War to Liberate Senria". Used extensively during the war by Xiaodongese propagandists.
- Fǎn zéi yùndòng (反贼运动) - Translates to "Anti-Banditry Campaign". Also used during the war by Xiaodongese propagandists and during the 1960's-1980's under Li Zhaozheng and Sun Yuting. Used in recent editions of Xiaodongese history textbooks.
- Zhànzhēng shōuhuí Bǎntián (战争收回阪田) - Translates to "War to retake Bantian". Commonly used in Xiaodong.
Background
First Sakata Incident
As Xiaodong improved its military and political profile during the later 1890's and early 1900's, there was increasing advocacy within the Xiaodongese army on dominating Senria. It was perceived by the Xiaodongese command that Senria in its weak state would be the next country in Coius to be colonised by Euclea and that Xiaodong had to gain a stranglehold over the country politically, economically and militarily to prevent that possibility and ensure Xiaodongese domination of the Honghai sea. This strategic view was accompanied with a widespread opinion amongst Xiaodongese policymakers that Senria was an inferior nation and that is was natural territory for Xiaodong to expand into. In 1907 the Xiaodongese general staff proposed annexing eastern Tousuu unilaterally although this idea was dismissed by the Qingzhuo Emperor.
In 1909 a Xiaodongese military attaché, Jiang Hui, was shot in Keisi by a left-wing agitator named Taguti Hirotada. The Senrian government quickly imprisoned Hirotada and had him hung for murder; however the killing outraged the Xiaodongese public who saw the assassination as part of a plot to remove all Xiaodongese in Senria and demanded concessions from the Senrian government in order to maintain order. The general staff called for Xiaodong to invade the entire island of Tousuu but this idea was hotly contested by the Emperor and premier Zhang Qisun. The Xiaodongese instead through gunboat diplomacy demanded to Senria the transfer of the city of Sakata to Xiaodongese rule, control over the Sakata-Ukyou railway and financial concessions for the Xiaodongese Bank of Commerce and the Zhongdong Industrial Bank. The ultimatum was begrudgingly accepted by Senria on the 17 May 1909 after foreign powers gave scant support for the Senrian position.
Xiaodongese troops moved into Sakata fifteen days later, renaming the city Bantian, the Xiaodongese language translation of the characters used to spell its name. Xiaodongese companies also took advantage of the newly gifted preferential framework to practice rampant economic imperialism, with Xiaodongese companies moving assets and production to Senria in an attempt to re-orient Senria to be so dependent on Xiaodong that it would be reduced to a de facto client state.
Within Senria, the concession of Sakata provoked widespread public outrage, provoking a series of riots known as the 1900 Concession Riots; a total of 417 separate interests across the country resulted in the deaths of 103 people. Calm was only restored after a brutal crackdown in which another 250 people are believed to have died.
Anger over the concession and Xiaodongese economic imperialism, mixed with discontent based in Senria's continuing status as an absolute monarchy, also led to the formation of the Senrian Republican Association by Ryuunosuke Miyamoto on January 10, 1910; on July 21, 1914, the Senrian Republican Association rebranded itself as the Republican Party, establishing itself in opposition to the monarchist Constitutional Association, or Kenseikai. Tensions between monarchists and republicans in Senria continued to rise throughout the 1910s, before ultimately reaching a breaking point in 1918 with the start of the Senrian Revolution.
Jiayin Uprising
Senrian Revolution
In late 1917, the leadership of the Republican Party under Ryuunosuke Miyamoto began preparing to organize a series of marches, protests, and strikes that would begin on April 7, 1918. The date would mark the 128th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of the Rights of the People- an early Esquarian human rights declaration drafted during the Aucurian Revolution, one of Esquarium's first republican revolutions. The Republicans planned for these rallies to be held simultaneously across the country, with the hope of mobilizing enough people to force the government to make concessions to the republican movement; the concessions sought by Miyamoto and other leading republicans included the creation of a legislature and the transfer of executive authority from the emperor to an elected government.
On April 7, as planned, the Republicans launched a series of nationwide strikes and protests. The largest of these marches took place in Keisi, where as many as 3,000 individuals marched, led by Republican party leaders. As the marchers approached the Keisi Imperial Palace, however, they were halted by municipal police and by the Imperial Senrian Army. Keisi's police chief, Yosimasa Tiyoda, issued a demand that the protesters disperse; when the protesters refused, the soldiers and policemen opened fire, killing as many as 300 people. While this temporarily crushed republican activity in Keisi itself, news of the killings caused the protests in other regions of the country to turn into full-fledged riots. On April 8, Emperor Hisahito ordered the arrest of Miyamoto and several other leaders within the Republican Party; Miyamoto, however, was able to successfully flee Keisi and regroup with other Republican leaders in the northern city of Ukyou. A prominent general within the Senrian army, Souzirou Okada, tendered his resignation to the emperor on the 8th; he resurfaced in Ukyou the following day. On April 10, Miyamoto issued the Declaration of the Senrian Republic via radio, establishing an ad interim republican government. The interim government was heavily modeled off of the government of Montecara, with the executive role filled collectively by a council known as the Council of the Senrian State. The six-seat body consisted of Miyamoto, Okada, Sigenori Hirabayasi, Isao Isiyama, Mitio Morioka, and Yosito Otuzi. While all six were ostensibly equals on the council, Miyamoto- as leader of the Republican Party- quickly became the de facto head of the body.
Initially, the Senrian Republic mostly held territory on the islands of Kitasuu, Hiyokusuu, and Okasuu; most of the island of Sadaisuu, Senria's largest, remained held mostly by imperial forces. Most initial battles- including the First Battle of Koriyama, Battle of Yosigahara, First Battle of Kaziwara, and Battle of Susaka- were also imperial victories. During this period, the Imperial Senrian Army had several advantages over the Senrian Republican Army; imperial troops were better-trained and better-equipped than their republican counterparts, had more support infrastructure behind them, and held naval superiority that was crucial in transferring troops and supplies between Senria's major islands. The Senrian imperial army was also buoyed by its highly competent officer corps, and by a group of highly skilled generals including Noriyosi Horigome, Tutomu Abe, Katurou Imahara, Iturou Nakagawa, Nobuyuki Youiti, and Isoroku Nomura.
On May 5, 1919, Emperor Hisahito was assassinated by a member of the Republican Party, Akane Takenaka; Takenaka fired at the emperor as the imperial motorcade was travelling between the Keisi Imperial Palace and Tokiyori National Military Academy, where the emperor was scheduled to inspect a class of cadets. Hisahito was succeeded by his son, Katuhito of Senria. Katuhito- only seventeen when he took the throne- proved to be an incompetent commander. Fearing for his own safety, he ordered massive numbers of troops to be stationed in Keisi and around the Imperial Palace, reducing the number of troops that could be sent to the front. He spent money fortifying government buildings in Keisi instead of using it to provide rations or upgraded equipment to soldiers on the front lines. He also frequently overruled his generals and commanders, instead ordering imperial troops into situations where they could be ambushed by republican forces.
Following the ascension of Katuhito, the war began to turn in favor of the Republic of Senria. Between 1919 and 1920, Republican forces were able to drive all imperial troops off of the islands of Tousuu and xxx with the battles of Hisakawa, Fukuda, and Kuriyagawa. Several battles on the island of Kousuu between 1919 and 1924 were also victories for republican forces, including the Second Battle of Koriyama, Battle of Hagiwara, Battle of Sibakoya, Battle of Iwase, and Battle of Aomizuumi. Nevertheless, imperial forces continued to control a large area of Sadaisuu stretching from Simada to Utimura.
By 1924, Miyamoto was 64 years old and was beginning to suffer from poor health and periodic illness; on February 22, 1924, he disclosed his intent to retire from the Council of the Senrian State when its six-year term expired on April 10, 1924. Many expected General Souzirou Okada- immensely popular for the role he had played in securing republican military victories over imperial forces- to succeed Miyamoto as de facto President of the Council and as leader of the Republican Party, but shortly thereafter Okada announced his intent to retire as well. Two main candidates arose to succeed Miyamoto, Isao Isiyama and Yosito Otuzi; a potential third candidate, Sigenori Hirabayasi, cast his support behind Isiyama on March 3. Isiyama and Otuzi were longtime rivals, and a deep animosity existed between the two; there were some fears that the Republican Party would be torn apart by one if the other was elected president. On March 10, the Council voted to have Hosato Korematu and Yatarou Kuroda fill in the vacancies that would be created by Miyamoto and Okada retiring. On April 10, following Miyamoto's formal resignation, the Republican Party voted to name Isao Isiyama leader of the Republican Party; the following day, the Council of the Senrian State voted 5-1 to name Isiyama President of the Council. Otuzi, disgusted, resigned his seat on the council and his membership in the Republican Party. By the end of the month, his seat on the Council had been filled by diplomat Nobusuke Takeo.
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In 1922 the Xiaodongese government approved of the Tousuu Expedition when 70,000 soldiers under the command of Zhang Haodong were deployed from Sakata to aid monarchist forces in Senria. The Tousuu Expedition Force mainly operated on the Sakata-Ukyou railway occupying the cities of Oue and Mutumura. Republican forces engaged them in the Battle of Mutumura which saw republican forces defeated by their Xiaodongese counterparts; however under orders from command the Xiaodongese did not do moves outside of these three cities, being defeated in engagements in the Senrian countryside. With criticism of the expedition increasing at home and with the monarchy being almost certain to lose the war Zhang was ordered to withdraw the army in 1925; the Xiaodongese had however during the intervention made extensive notes about the republicans and the terrain of Tousuu, using the lessons of the intervention in planning further military action in Senria.
On the field, republican forces continued to score further victories in the battles of Simada, Hamamatu, Ueda, and Higasioka. On December 6, 1925, the problems facing the Empire of Senria were further compounded by the Great Sansuu Earthquake, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake that devastated large areas of Keisi and surrounding cities like Aoyama, Kakogawa, Itimura, Saeki, and Kasuura. The earthquake also caused several firestorms, landslides, and a tsunami in the Sisou Inland Sea; it is estimated the earthquake and related events killed an estimated 115,000 people and left another 45,000 missing. Relief and reconstruction efforts forced vast amounts of material away from the front line; furthermore, because Katuhito had stationed large numbers of troops within the city, large amounts of military materiel was damaged and many troops were injured or killed in the earthquake.
Katuhito, overwhelmed, finally moved to allow the generals greater freedom in the operation in areas of strategy and tactics, issuing a telegram to military commanders stating that "the Imperial House will presently focus its energies in rebuilding the city of Keisi". By this time, however, several members of the imperial military's upper echelons feared that republican victory was imminent, and that Katuhito would likely again attempt to take a more domineering role in strategy once the situation in Keisi had calmed. Six of these generals and admirals- Katurou Imahara, Sintarou Miyake, Iturou Nakagawa, Nobuyuki Youiti, Isoroku Nomura, and Ienobu Miyazawa- began to plot, in secret, to overthrow Katuhito and defect to the Republic. These generals- retroactively known as the First Gang of Six- carried out their plot on January 17, 1926. Imperial armies under Miyake and Nakagawa abandoned combat on the front lines, while Imahara's army- stationed in Keisi- moved to seize the Imperial Palace and the buildings of major ministries. Meanwhile, Youiti's navy would blockade Keisi harbor while the navies under Nomura and Miyazawa abandoned their blockade of republican-held regions. Loyalist armies under Noriyosi Horitome and Tutomu Abe were ultimately unable to stop the plan from being carried out.
The First Gang of Six forced Katuhito- who had been captured by troops under Imahara while attempting to flee the city- to abdicate, and demanded that he and the other members of the Kiyokawa dynasty enter exile abroad. Without any other choice, Katuhito accepted. Imahara immediately ordered that Katuhito's resignation be broadcast on all radio frequencies and sent out on all telegraph lines; news of Katuhito's capture in turn led to the surrender of loyalist armies under Horitome and Abe. After news of Katuhito's capture and abdication reached Ukyou, Isao Isiyama sent a telegram to Imahara, proposing a bilateral cessation of hostilities; Imahara accepted at 4:17 PM, formally ending the Senrian Revolution. A few days later, Isiyama formally offered Imahara and his fellow generals a role in the interim government; Imahara accepted his offer as well. Isiyama increased the number of seats from Council of the Senrian State from six to eight, asking Hosato Korematu and Mitio Morioka to resign from the council so that it would be evenly divided between four members of the Republican Party and by four members of the military; both acquiesced. Imahara selected himself, Miyake, Nakagawa, and Nomura for the four seats allotted to the military. Shortly thereafter, Imahara announced the formation of the People's Party of Senria, which would serve as a more nationalist opponent to the more populist Republican Party.
In the wake of the revolution, Senria was severely damaged by the ravages of the war, and its government was firmly divided between the populist Republican Party under Isiyama and the nationalist People's Party under Imahara.