Fourth Sand War

The Fourth Sand War, or the Great Mango War was a conflict fought between Mangiferia and its allies, against Die Volksrepublik Merkonis. The war officially started when Mangiferia and Kryvonea declared war on Merkonis.
== Prelude ==
=== Previous Sand Wars ===
Merkonis had gained many enemies over the previous three sand wars, setting up a coalition of enemies against them. After the fall of The Pale, Magniferia took its place, with a desire to retake the city of Oblitus, which was claimed to be historically important to Magniferia, however the nation never controlled Oblitus. 
=== Merkonian Expansionism ===
In the previous two months since the Third Sand War, Merkonis had nearly tripled in size, annexing Eidenburg, Oblitus, and Zarprovince Kronetsk. This nearly tripled the nation's size, but may have contributed to it's defeat in the end. Attached is a map of Merkonis on September 11, 2022. By the end of October, they lost Oblitus and most of Kronetsk.
=== End of The Invicta-Merkonis Squatter War ===
Merkonis ended a long conflict with Invicta, an island north of Kronetsk, in August of 2022 following the nation squatting on Merkonian land. The state was back by various mercenaries, due to its leader's multiple connections. It is due to this conflict, that Invicta joined the war against Merkonis despite a peace settlement being reached. 
=== Magniferia-Kryvonea Relations ===
The threat of Merkonis becoming a problem to Kryvonea continued to escalate. The Kryvoneans had spent time to prepare for a possible conflict with the Merkonians, beginning a conscription campaign, and producing stockpiles of equipment. This led to TheWorkingGamer, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Kryvonea, reaching out to Baeked Perron (leader of Mangiferia) for a possible alliance, seeing that the two nations had similar ambitions (reclaiming territory). ur_baked declined at first, but after short negotiations, agreed to an alliance. And so, the two states began making plans for an invasion of Merkonis. ur_baked's connections with various mercenaries. 
== War ==
=== Declaration of War ===
On September 11th, Magnifiera and Kryvonea officially declared war on Merkonis, with the casus belli being that Merkonis had supported multiple rebellions within Kryvonean territory, however no evidence was given, as well as Kryvonea's desire to reclaim Kronetsk, and Magnifiera wishing to reclaim former territories of The Pale, as Magnifiera is seen as the main successor of the former state.
=== War Preparations ===
Both sides immediately began massive efforts to mobilize. Both sides had large monetary reserves, and sought out mercenary aid. This was especially in the case of Merkonis, as their available native manpower was dwarfed by the combined armies of its enemies, as was common for all conflicts Merkonis was involved in. 
Merkonis, had been preparing on the diplomatic front for a while. Samora, a bordering nation of both Merkonis and Kryvonea, always had bad relations with the Kryvonean state. This is due to multiple incidents of both nations trying to get an upper-hand over the other, be it through supporting rebellious groups, or disputing territories. An often overlooked part supporter of Merkonis was The Union, as they helped with building defences, sending volunteers, and helping with armor and weapon support.
=== Skirmishes Throughout The War ===
Throughout the war, there would be no declared battles in the Kronetsk Zarprovince of Merkonis, which made up roughly half the nation's land and population. Instead, the Kryvoneans and Merkonians engaged in large skirmishes frequently, sometimes drawing over forty combatants. Kronetsk became unsafe outside of Kirvograd, as on the other side of its walls, Kryvoneans roamed around searching for any way to disrupt Merkonian war efforts. This ended when the center of Kronetsk revolted against Merkonis, which eventually lost all control, outside of Kirvograd city center.
There were multiple skirmishes in Das Versprochenn, the Merkonian heartlands, during sieges, when forces would attack heavy industry centers and weapons cashes. This proved to be an ineffective tactic, as most Merkonian war storages where located outside of the nation in offshore facilities. 
=== Third Battle of Oblitus ===
The Third Battle of Oblitus was the first battle of the war, and saw Merkonis defeated by Magnifiera, due to Magniferia's large stockpiles of equipment and potions. The outcome of the battle led Merkonis to increase efforts to obtain mercenary support.
=== Fourth Battle of Oblitus/Second Battle of Perria ===
At the Fourth Battle of Oblitus, and concurrent Second Battle of Perria, Merkonis won a stunning victory against the Magnifieran army. Ur_Baked was unprepared for the battle, as it was only after Magnifiera had begun the attack that he realized that Merkonis had hired dozens of Mercenaries, allowing them to route their enemy to Perria, capturing the city and defeating Baked. It was a massive morale boost for the Merkonians due to it being seen as revenge from the battle of perria in the second sand war. 
=== The Possibility of Early Peace ===
The defeat during the Fourth Battle of Oblitus/Second Battle of Perria, led some Kryvoneans, as well as Mangiferians, to have doubts about their ability to decisively defeat the Merkonians. ur_baked approached TheWorkingGamer about a possible peace deal with Merkonis, in which Kryvonea would see minor territorial gains in Kronetsk, Mangiferia gaining Oblitus and Eidenburg, and minimal war reparations. TheWorkingGamer would reject the terms, stating that Kryvonea would not agree to peace, unless the entire region of Kronetsk is given to them. ur_baked would agree to continue the war, and made sure that Kryvonea would gain Kronetsk in any peace offer Merkonis would bring up.
=== Fifth Battle of Oblitus ===
The Fifth Battle of Oblitus was the penultimate battle of the war. Merkonis, at this point, was economically strained by weeks of war, relying on foreign support instead of mercenaries, resulting in the Merkonian forces being outnumbered 3-1. This left the small Merkonian garrison vulnerable to being overun, despite this, the legion would hold Fort Merconis for roughly 45 minutes before eventually falling to the superior numbers of Magniferian forces. 
=== Battle of Eisenreich ===
The Battle of Eisenreich was the final battle in the war. On the back foot, Kanzler of Merkonis, Astapf, demanded a valiant defence of all homeland Merkonian cities and for all citizens to turn up for battle, with the sole purpose of preventing enemy forces from occupying the city.
The siege began when a Magnifieran-Kryvon joint army, led by TheWorkingGamer and Kyrveric, landed on the shores near Eisenreich. Storming the city, running battles occurred through the streets. With the Merkonian military utterly outnumbered, those who were left fled into caverns, underground tunnels, and houses. Stubborn resistance ensued, and roughly halfway through the battle a counter attack lead by DireWolf would see the city breifly regained by Merkonian forces. However, by the end of the battle, most Merkonian forces had been pushed out of the city, with the last forces surviving in a small fortress complex in the downtown of Eisenreich
== Aftermath ==
=== Victory of Magnifieran Coalition ===
The new Merconian state engaged in peace negotiations immediately after taking control of Merkonis. In the peace terms, Oblitus and Eidenburg were taken by Magnifiera, and Kronetsk by Kryvonea and "the homeland" terrotiries merging with Falkreath to form Orisfell. It should also be known that on October 28th, Mangiferia formed Great Polikos, with the same government in charge.
Category:Traveler's Era