Dragoian Civil War

"I think the only war in our entire history that was bloodier than this one was the unification war." Seldragia Bles talking to Drark shortly after the war ended.
The Dragoian Civil War, DCW for short, was a major war fought by the Dragoians in 1935 - 1940.
==Overview==
Fought between the Dragoian Imperial Army, IDA for short, and the Dragoian Revolutionary Army, DRA for short, the DCW was the bloodiest war fought by the Dragoians since unification. The war was primarily fought on the continent of the Great Dragoness, but smaller engagements happened on other continents between the IDA and various small rebel groups who saw the large war as an opportunity to attack the Empire while it was distracted.
The war was entirely land-based as the DRA did not have a navy although the Empire occasionally used ships to act as artillery bombardments during actions near the coast.
As with many internal Dragoian wars, the direct cause of the DCW was the Imperial policies which resulted in the poor never being able to be anything but poor due to a caste system which prevented low-born people from ever being allowed to climb out of their caste and it's inherited form of rule.
Unlike previous rebellions, the DRA decided to secretly mass forces consisting of civilian weapons and old mechanised weapons (such as tanks and artillery cannons) so that when they decided to attack Imperial forces, they wouldn't be crushed nearly instantly like the majority of past rebellions. This plan worked well for a while, but eventually got to a point where it was so big that it went beyond reasonable civilian purchases and Noble House army purchases and drew the attention of Dragyia Agthe's intelligence agents who began to embed themselves into what would become the DRA.
Due to this attempt to amass such a large army in secret as well as the involvement of a Noble House, Dragyia Agthe decided to allow the DRA to continue building it's forces until they attacked a valuable Imperial target which would prompt a response from the IDA as a whole rather than just the local regiment. As presented to Queen Bles, the reasons to allow a large build up was to allow pent up aggression within the Dragoian species to be released by giving them a big war to fight with the intent of having a massive show of force to end the war and also to give no impressions that the Empire would act against the Noble Houses without provocation. However, Dragyia also allowed the build up to go unchallenged because she wanted to hide the effectiveness of her intelligence gathering operations, as well as honouring a secret deal made with TwinBragia. It's rumoured by those aware of Dragyia's intelligence agents that pretty much every Rebel squad had at least one member secretly informing Dragyia, with most of these believed to have no allegiance to the Dragoian Empire itself and were instead directly loyal to Dragyia herself.
The war formally started when a small DRA force attacked a royal estate in the Lei Mountains while Seldragia was present. The strike was predicted, and in some part baited, by Dragyia's intelligence agents. To ensure no possible harm would come to Seldragia, TwinBragia and her personal squad were diverted to the Lei Mountains to ensure they would arrive in around an hour when Seldragia's Royal Guard called for backup. The strike was intended to signal that the DRA was ready to fight and could pose a threat beyond House Dragonarl's borders, with those taking part in it volunteering for what was almost inevitably going to be a suicide mission. A day after the strike at Seldragia's estate, DRA forces in House Dragonarl territory began a series of strikes which overwhelmed the remaining Imperial forces within two months, with many of the strikes succeeding thanks to many individual IDA soldiers renouncing the Empire and joining the DRA, having been secretly converted before the war started. The sheer amount of defections to the DRA were far higher than predicted by Dragyia's intelligence agents and actually resulted in several IDA loyalists being routed.
While the DRA solidified it's hold on House Dragonarl's territory, the IDA started to move it's forces to the border of House Dragonarl's territory. The heaviest concentration of IDA forces was on the House Okna side of the Oksted Bridge, with over 50% of IDA forces stationed inside House Okna's territory being relocated to the Oksted area with the intent or preventing any DRA assault across the bridge.
==Major Conflicts==
A list of major conflicts and battles from the war in chronological order.
====Declaration Of War: Location - Lei Mountains Royal Estate, Year - 1935, Month - 4, Imperial Victory====
The DRA strike that prompted the IDA to start taking action, it involved a small rebel force consisting of just one old Glory Mk III Class Light Tank and around 100 soldiers against a small Imperial force consisting of the local police, Seldragia, Drark, and some of Seldragia's Royal Guard.
The battle was short but bloody, starting just after 9am, and finishing a little less than 2 hours later with the rebel force wiped out and heavy casualties on the outnumbered Imperial side. Due to Seldragia being in danger, Imperial backup was called for as soon as the battle began, this backup, which was TwinBragia and her personal squad who were lingering nearby due to intelligence suggesting a rebel strike on Seldragia was imminent, arrived about 10 minutes after all fighting had ceased and their only involvement in the battle was the checking of the nearby village to make sure there we no rebel stragglers, much to TwinBragia's disgust.
The major impact of the battle was the formal start of the DCW, as the DRA had finally reached a state where they thought they could fight the IDA.
==== Imperial Rout: Location - House Dragonarl Territory, Year - 1935, Month 4, Rebel Victory ====
With a formal declaration of war broadcast by House Dragonarl the day after the DRA strike on Seldragia's estate, the DRA started their major push to evict Imperial forces from House Dragonarl's territory. The Imperial Rout wasn't one battle, but a collection of smaller localised battles that mostly ended in a DRA victory.
Months of clandestine conversion of sympathetic IDA members prior to the war gave the DRA an early edge in the war as these converts would show their true allegiance during a DRA attack, causing confusion among IDA ranks and occasionally complete disruption of IDA chain of command. A combination of: heavily planned DRA assaults; confusion among IDA ranks caused by large-scale defections; and a general lack of response from IDA forces outside House Dragonarl territory which had decided to amass their forces along the borders, led to the DRA having effective control of House Dragonarl territory in just 2 months, with just small pockets of IDA resistance remaining and the rest of the IDA forces stationed in House Dragonarl territory either fleeing to the borders or dead.
The aftermath of the Imperial Rout led to many senior officers in the retreating forces being dishonourably demoted for abandoning their posts and allowing their soldiers to be recruited by the rebels.
====Final Battle: Location - Belei Plains, Year - 1940, Month 4, Imperial Victory====
The final battle of the war was fought with the sole purpose of putting a decisive end to the DRA with a show of overwhelming force in the IDA's eyes, and a show of mass defiance against the IDA in the DRA's eyes. The DRA entered the battle knowing they would never win as Imperial units outnumbered the rebels over 3 to 1 during this battle.
The battle was fought during the 4th month of 1940 on the Belei Plains, a location chosen for it's sparse landscape suitable for a massive battle without any civilian casualties. The location was chosen by the DRA, who started massing their remaining forces there near the end of the 2nd month. During this time, the IDA also gathered their forces together out of artillery range for a massive final push to end the DRA once and for all. During the 3rd month, several skirmishes between the two armies would break out either to test the enemy artillery or because of an over-eager commander. It was clear before even gathering the troops that the battle would be the end of the DRA, with the sole purpose of showing that the DRA would rather die free than live under Imperial rule. Due to this, Duncan Dragonarl spread the word that anyone who didn't wish to fight for any reason was free to leave, despite this, over 90% of the remaining rebels stayed in the DRA ready to face their inevitable fate.
The first few days of fighting was fierce, but despite a numeric disadvantage (at this point the DRA was only outnumbered 2 to 1) and the presence of TwinBragia, the DRA held it's ground. The 4th day into the battle is when the IDA decided to send in it's final blow in a massive symbolic strike which involved a massive deployment of regular soldiers and equipment, in addition to the newly constructed Terrestrial Dreadnought (Landship) Dragmota, commanded by Seldragia Bles and Admiral Unamed, with an escort of 8 Gigas Class Heavy Tanks which included both Dragyia and her Dralkyritank as well as the Royal Tank. The arrival of the Dragmota and it's escort of tanks and infantry a little over a week into the battle signalled the end of the DRA, as it only took a few more hours upon arrival for all fighting to cease, with all DRA soldiers either dead or surrendered. Among the surviving rebels was their leader, Duncan Dragonarl.
The major impact of the battle was the immediate end of the Dragoian Civil War.
Category:Dragoians
Category:Dragoia (Planet)
Category:Conflicts