Posolic Wars
The Posolic Wars were a series of two continental wars that occurred in Aurora between 1795 and 1826.
First Posolic War
Vakhudan seized power over Biramura in the July 1795 Coup during the Era of Uncertainty and immediately set out in the nation's establishment on the world stage as the Biramuran Empire, a de facto military dictatorship with a strong bureaucracy and a well trained army. He quickly formed a coalition with the Ethalrian Empire, who was ruled by Queen Matilda IV and were bitter with the Morstaybishlian Empire for seizing the Marislian region over eighty years before.
Ethalria had the Marislian lands and Kaltariezh as a whole set out to re-establish their naval supremacy on the world stage. Vakhudan wanted the Marislian lands, but with a powerful ally able to fend off Morstaybishlia, he allowed Ethalria free reign. In March of 1795, the first coalition came to fruition and the war began.
Ethalria at this point still had a formidable fleet based in Kostörsdel, and immediately rallied it at Kalivoni. Pooling in troops and resources from across the empire, including Axdelia; Morstaybishlia began mobilising troops to defend the Marislia lands. The Invasion of Marislia (1795-96) by the coalition saw them defeat Morstaybishlia at two big battles; the Battle of Fort Nocturnia and the Battle of Grafenlilasee; the final battle was fought by sea and land and forced Morstaybishlian forces back behind the Ider River.
Just after the Invasion of Marislia, Vakhudan’s forces moved through the Ethalrian-occupied Marislia and around the Kalivian mountains, and began their push southwards towards the fractured Salovian territories, who at this time had formed a number of different nations and city states in the absence of a unifying presence, most notably the city states of Shagonar and Novosibirsk, and the Nelic States.
During the time in which a new draft of conscripts from Axdelia was called upon to aid the Morstaybishlian war efforts, multiple secession movements took the opportunity to declare themselves independent from the empire. The most prominent and powerful were the Andel City State which declared itself independent in 1798, and the Jilkania Republic in the south east.
Seeing significant losses on the left and right of the empire within less than a year, the Morstaybishlian Empire called on forces from its colonies. The Viceroys from Lokania, Rodenia, Louzaria and Nevez Kaltariezh amassed all of their warships and sent them to Morstaybishlia. Combining with its Morstaybishlian Arcturia fleet, Morstaybishlia fought and won against an unprepared Ethalria for Grafenlilasee, establishing a foothold to the east of the Ider River for the first time since losing it.
Ethalria leagued with the newly independent Andel City State and Jilkanian Republic, and began invading the Valerian lands of Morstaybishlia. The new city state blocked off the Morstaybishlians from entering the Valerian lands via Axdelia, forcing them through the mountain passes. Morstaybishlia was forced through the Zycannes’ narrow mountain passes, and to the knowledge of Ethalria, was fought back and beat them back beyond the Zycannes. Ethalria made enormous territorial gains after three long years of sieges to Morstaybishlian cities.
In 1799, Ethalria beat Morstaybishlia at the Battle of Kirdintayos and began absorbing all of its surrounding lands and cities who surrendered. The South Ethalrian city states that today make up Asilica neighbouring this now colossal empire felt that their sovereignty was threatened.
By April 1800, the South Ethalrian city states reached an agreement with Morstaybishlia. This treaty between the two nations would see Morstaybishlia recognise an independent and unified South Ethalria (later to be named Asilica) if they could use their lands to port and invade the Ethalrian occupied territories. As the Morstaybishlians were sailing past Valerica, their enemy who had leagued with the Ethalrians; they were ambushed by a fleet from its capital, and the ensuing battle was known as the Battle of Baecca Strait. Morstaybishlia suffered losses, but they were strong enough to repel them back and continue with their mission. Doing so gave a massive element of surprise to Morstaybishlia, and at the same time in the Zycannes, Morstaybishlia broke through via a previously undiscovered route. Having a huge force north and south by the latter months of 1800, the Morstaybishlian and South Ethalrian forces encircled and starved out the Ethalrians.
Meanwhile, Ethalria ignored their losses and by February 1801 began a huge coalition invasion with Biramura for Kaltariezh. Their plan was to divide Kaltariezh between Biramuran and Ethalrian territories and so they pushed towards the coast but the Morstaybishlian forces emerged victorious in all of their battles except Lamburnum and Novenum. As part of a greater plan to invade and conquer Rouanezkador, the Ethalrian and Biramuran fleets amassed and sailed under the helm of Admiral Maria Valtruda from the port of Kalivoni on 15 November 1801 to invade Rouanezkador but were met by Admiral Prince Redmund, recently assembled to meet the threat in the Morstaybishlian Sea off the coast of Cape Mortagra. Admiral Valtruda was uncertain about engaging, and the Ethalro-Biramuran fleet failed to fully organize. In contrast, Redmund was decisive, organizing the Morstaybishlian fleet into two columns sailing straight into the enemy to pierce its wavering lines.
In a fierce battle, 44 Morstaybishlian ships of the line fought 58 Ethalrian and Biramuran ships of the line. Although the lead ships of the Morstaybishlian columns were heavily battered, with Redmund’s flagship MBS Superior nearly disabled, the greater experience and training of the Imperial Navy overcame the greater numbers of the Ethalrian and Biramuran navies. The Ethalro-Biramuran fleet lost 42 ships; the Morstaybishlians lost only two. The Battle of Mortagra was a decisive victory for the Morstaybishlians. The victory confirmed the naval supremacy Morstaybishlia had established during the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and it was achieved in part through Redmunds’ departure from the prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy of the day.
The battle saw Morstaybishlia take a more aggressive incentive as it now had naval supremacy in the Filari sea. It won relatively minor battles over the cities of Novin and Fhoghelm which gave them a foothold east of the Zycannes. During this time, it had naval supremacy over Tivot, which was a part of Biramura and blockaded the land.
Using this new foothold, Morstaybishlia found more success in reclaiming the cities of Lamburnum and Novenum in a series of battles between 1803 and 1805, the reclamation of the heavily defended cities would serve Morstaybishlia well, acting as a secure and larger base of operations to reclaim land further south. After reclaiming Waron, both sides laid off attacks in preparation for a Morstaybishlian invasion of Kingsfort; a strategic city, which reclaiming would prevent or greatly limit Ethalria from supplying its new coastal city possessions.
The war was relatively quiet between 1805 and 1808, with no official peace declaration and increasing armament of forces on strategic points of either side. Though it was relatively quiet in these three years, there were several battles and skirmishes that took place for possession of the Laulian Bay. Both sides began to stagnate, though Morstaybishlia made advances further southward with significant loss of life.
The Zycannes acted as a large natural barrier between the north and centre of Aurora, and was generally an expensive deterrent for forces to cross except in some places, including Redmund’s Passage and Rorikin’s Passage. For that reason, fearing loss in the war from a largely overwhelming force of Morstaybishlian forces that were amassing in the Calthia region; the Grand Matriarchy focused on moving a portion of its forces to seize the main passageway through the Zycannes which previously aided King Redmund II in his conquests of Valeria in the 13th century. Morstaybishlia had its own forces in southern Staynes but the Ethalrians overwhelmed them back past the Boe Hills in the Sperran Desert. The Morstaybishlians eventually sent forces through Redmund’s Passage and fortified their southern territories with a curtain of forces defending strategic ridges, valleys and other choke points that made the border with Ethalria.
With a stalemate that continued from 1808 to 1810 that overlooked several unimportant battles, and with a change of leadership in the Grand Matriarchy upon the death of Matilda IV in 1809, the belligerents met in Weyrcliff and signed the 1810 Peace Treaty.