Annexation of the Northern Midlands

The Annexation of the Northern Midlands or the Occupation of Frostbain was the unplanned result of several military incursions that was originally set up to take revenge against Rockie_dog for attempting to betray the UTC while under negotiations. Directory member Irishkaiser, feeling it an insult to the Company's honor, mobilized the UTC's forces to hunt down and kill the betrayers. In order to sustain the operations being conducted in securing the Midlands, the Company sent storage alts to the region. Abundant with resources such as health potions, food and armor, only specialized equipment from the Westerlands such as Diamond Swords, Void Bows, Lone Swords and Binding Helmets were supplied to arm the Company forces stationed there.
The death of Rockie_dog on the 15th of May 2016 accomplished the original objective but by this time, the UTC had already established itself and was also finding and fighting off other players whilst declaring certain players as "Imperial Citizens" that were under the protection of the UTC and not to be harmed.
Throughout the weeks, bored Company Members, not finding any enemies to fight or kill in the Midlands began to cross the border and raid the neighboring Gravelands with much success, bringing home iron armor, Power II bows and Diamond swords from fallen premiums in combat, which was far exceeding the parameters of their original mission, but was met with approval back home. The Directory then decided to maintain the presence of a permanent UTC force in Frostbain, thus annexing the region.
== Background ==
Company Member cyclone_43 and a friendly player known as CloneSniper was killed by Rockie_Dog's group at Frostbain, then simply a colony at the time. The Company prepared to counter attack but the attackers included Anthobot, a friend of the UTC, which made the issue complicated. Not wanting to appear weak and passive to their friends and to assert their dominion over Frostbain, the Company, facing the dilemma of attacking a friend, decided to issue a warning and demanded the return of just and only just the diamond sword of cyclone_43 or be killed on sight in the future in a revenge hit.
Anthobot agreed to the mild terms and also decided to give back the iron armor as well, but Rockie_dog sent Prot2Sharp3 to intercept the two people and CloneSniper was once again killed while cyclone_43 managed to get away. This sparked ire in the UTC main chat and Irishkaiser decided to mobilize UTC forces to fight in the Midlands on the 11th of May, 2016, particularly to hunt down Rockie_dog & associates.https://www.reddit.com/r/UnknownTradeCo/comments/4islg2/all_company_members_are_to_concentrate_in_the/
The Company at this time was pre-occupied with gathering gunpowder in anticipation for June Reforms celebration and was still reeling from the end of a golden age and loss of manpower - making any suggestion of using the Company's limited strength to hunt down an unimportant group an unappealing idea. Irishkaiser nonetheless organized the invasion force and achieved the objectives of hunting gunpowder while still producing arms for the Company's expedition and trade.
== Prelude==
The Company, being pre-occupied with trade runs and gathering gunpowder was under no state to be mobilized to hunt and kill Rockie_dog. In order to ensure secrecy while rapidly concentrating troops to the front, Irishkaiser gave a vague order to concentrate in the Midlands to gather gunpowder and for "other agendas". After which Irishkaiser proceeded to cobble up a force of effective size, consisting of three regiments which composed the Army of the Northern Midlands, the task for responsible
To sustain operations within the region, the 222nd South Aspermont Regiment deployed an alt to the area to be regularly supplied with weaponry from the Westerlands. The Company set about immediately gathering intelligence on the routes and hopping patterns of the target from friends of the enemy who were also mutual friends with the UTC and scheduled their patrols accordingly.
== Hostilities ==
=== Company Forces Occupy Frostbain ===
Company forces set themselves up to patrol and hunt down the bandits in Frostbain, but did not find their targets. Instead, the Company found various other bandit groups that were not associated or part of Rockie_Dog's group.
This resulted in many engagements with multiple hostile bandits ranging from regulars, premiums, hackers or a combination of above. The Company found itself allocating more resources to sustain the Army of the Northern Midlands to sustain the operations. The Company's occupation in sufficient numbers began after one week from the Order issued on the subreddit. While under occupation, Company forces fought off not just Rockie_Dog's group, but various other players as well ranging from premiums, regulars, cheaters and sometimes friendly players.
As a result of multiple instances of collateral damage, the UTC created what they called the "Imperial Citizens List", a list of players that were declared to be friendly to the Company in general and should not be harmed. The original purpose of this List was to make it easier to judge between friend and foe, but the relationship eventually evolved to emphasize more of the protection the UTC can provide to them.
Garrisoning and hopping areas became much easier after this and troops could now kill without hesitation because of clear rules of engagement. Rockie_Dog's group however, was a very rare sighting or instance and the Army of the Northern Midlands became restless for lack of action against their intended enemies.
=== Knoxmoor 2016 Battle Honour ===
Company Forces, being increasingly bored of garrison duty began to use Frostbain and other territories as a base to launch raids into the Gravelands. On the 15th of May, 2016, the 111th Frostbain Regiment gained its first Battle Honour, Knoxmoor 2016, with some help from the 93rd Regiment and initial support from the 222nd.
Captain Irishkaiser ordered an attack near Death Mansion and succeeded in capturing supplies from premium enemies and then took the 222nd and withdrew to store the trophies. The 111th and the 93rd however stayed to continue operations in the Gravelands, setting up a base in Knoxmoor Inn, the only casualty from engaging multiple premium bandits were FinnMNMiner.https://np.reddit.com/r/UnknownTradeCo/comments/4jei51/111th_frostbain_finally_granted_right_to_bear/?st=irls5k21&sh=4f0075e9
=== Defeating Rockie_Dog ===
Company Forces finally got a wind Rockie_Dog and another player named SwordART_online on the same day as the Knoxmoor Inn battle. FinnMNMiner's report described the encounter:
Friendly players: StealthStrike (Cyclone) FinnMNMiner CloneSniper
Enemies: Swordartonline or something and Rockie_dog
Friendly Casualties: 0
Enemies Casualties: 2
The team assembled in Clarce with simple intentions of just gearing. Stealthstrike mentioned that he had been killed in frostbain twice recently so the group stuck together and went frostbain after obtaining more potions. The team made a pit stop at fort z to try and obtain a helmet. Leaving fort z the group came up on the east side of the frostbain cathedral sneaking up to the wall. No players were spotted so the party went to loot the town. Suddenly, while clonesniper was parkouring up the windmill he came under bow fire stealthstrike called for Finn and they proceeded to attack sword_art_online (SaO for short). SaO ran South East fleeing us. After passing the graveyard a little he turned and fought a short meelee battle occurred and he ran off northeast back to the town stealth strike tossed his nade then Finn tossed his, killing the enemy. I think it is worth noting that the player was carrying an usually large amount of cookies. Between 7-9  stacks of mini carb cakes. 4 D-swords  and 2 inf bows were obtained. Clone sniper played no role in combat, she was stuck in the tower. By the time she came down the fight was over. 
We walked to stealthstrike's alt  to put the excess diamond swords and 1 infinity bow onto then walked back to frostbain clonesniper had to logout. Upon entering frostbain we saw no sign of any players and proceed to loot it for more sugar and grenades. Stealthstrike spotted Rockie_dog and attacked I then came to his aid rockie_dog was moving like a moron in my opinion and even to his sweet time to run away and type "1v1" (it's funny how he wanted us to play by his rules after double crossing the UTC) the fight consisted of him running back and forth finally he was killed by stealth strike. Strangely he had quite a few splashes and drink iiis left in his inventory. The screenshot taken is as soon as the battle was finish. The other screenshot of SaO was taking after a bit of looting. Why so many cookies????? -FinnMNMiner
============
Company troops finally avenged themselves after four days of operations and could finally return having satisfied honor, but Irishkaiser, wanting to be sure the message was loud and clear, continued the operation for eleven more days to track and kill Rockie_Dog.
=== Continued Operations ===
The Army of the Northern Midlands then experienced another lull as Rockie_Dog was no longer being found in the Frostbain area or region. The List of Imperial Citizens was expanded to include other players the Company came across with and as such brought them over to what the UTC called as its "Empire", even though Imperial Citizens is largely a formal title and in practicality are widely autonomous and not even considered UTC, the Company and its Imperial Citizens had a mutually beneficial relationship with each other.
== Military Legacy and Results ==
The war in Frostbain brought the UTC out of its depression and established a permanent garrison in the area, cementing the region as not just a UTC colony, but an integral part of the Company's territory. The conflict took people's minds off the depression and re-invigorated them with a purpose and a sense of national unity.
The garrisoning of troops in the Midlands allowed for the re-incorporation of Rainytown(Paluster) as well, which was well received back home as the town was finally brought back to the Company's fold after years of absent administrationhttps://np.reddit.com/r/UnknownTradeCo/comments/4p2obr/shall_we_reclaim_rainytownpaluster/?st=irlr582j&sh=35a8ea33.
A sharp increase of membership during and after the conflict were noted as well, many new players were primarily recruited from the Midlands who not only supported the Company's operations in the Midlands, but also manned the positions and populated the area.
However, the most important development that arose from the conclusion of the campaign was the creation of the Imperial Citizens List, a list of players under the protection of the UTC, in exchange for protection, the Company is provided with much needed intelligence and local support from the area.
The Company's decision to honor defending everyone the list however, served as an impetus for the next war in the Midlands.
== see also ==
Imperial Citizenship
== references ==
Category:Conflict
Category:War
Category:Midlands