Peninsular-Vault War

The Peninsular-Vault War was an armed conflict fought between the forces of the Peninsular Empire and the dwellers of Vault 24 between 2268-2273. It resulted in the defeat of the Vault dwellers and the dismantling of their small empire. It was subsequently incorporated into the Peninsular Empire as the District of Eastern Saginaw.

Origins

The Peninsular Empire had conquered most of the western lower Peninsular by the early 2210s. They subsequently case their eyes southwards and advanced slowly but surely, defeating or incorporating many small tribes and settlements into their territory. They did not encounter any major obstacles until reaching the former settlement of Bay City. There they would encounter the heavily armed Vault Dwellers.

Vault 23 had been a control vault set to open after 100 years. When the signal was received the Dwellers spread out to begin settlements on the surface using their GECK devices. They were highly successful and their population boomed. Their leaders became aggressive and soon began attacking surrounding tribals in order to take slaves. By 2215 Vault 23 ruled over much of the eastern Saginaw peninsula, with its core population of ~2000 Vault Dwellers and several 10s of thousands of tribal subjects. This represented a formidable force in the area, and only the relative isolation of the Vault Dwellers prevented their spread. They also lacked enough technology to equip their troops and hoarded it in the Vault for safekeeping.

War Begins

The Peninsular Republic reached the border with Vault 23 territory in 2234. They demanded the Vault Dwellers submit themselves and become citizens of the Empire or face war. Their emissaries were sent back in jars as glowing ash, having been fed to a fusion reactor.

The Peninsular Republic's early victories on the frontier would not translate into an easy victory overall. They advanced into the Bay Valley region, just west of the Saginaw River itself. Here they would enounter the first serious resistance. The Vaulter Army had dug in around an area of numerous small lakkes, rivers and swamp areas. The terrain seriously impeded the speed of the Peninsular Army and it took them some time to locate a bridge. A small battle followed as they captured the north side of the crossing and began sending their troops across.

Shortly after the first company had crossed, the Vaulter Army launched a surprise attack. They struck from three sides, catching the troops on the bridgehead in a crossfire. For the first time, the Vaultborn soldiers joined in the fighting. They were much better armoured then the regulars and had highly advanced weapons. Rapid firing lasers shredded poorly armoured Helots and within a half an hour the Peninsular Forces on the south side of the river were in a near rout. They clamboured over each other to flee across the bridge, whilst some tried to swim across. Vaulter soldiers picked off many whotried to flee, and in short order the remainder who were on the southern side put down their weapons and surrendered. Most of the survivors were Helots and slaves, the Hoplites preferring to fight to the death. The last handful had tried to launch a sortie to surprise and drive back the Vaulter soldiers. An extended clash ensued which would last the next few days as the two sides traded fire across the bridge. The Vaulters then ended this battle by demolishing the bridge, making the crossing useless to the PR.

Foiled, the Peninsular Republic sought another way. They followed the Tittabwassee river and struck west of Saginaw City. A massive open battle would be fought as the Vaulters attempted to resist their advance. They dug in at the edge of the forest, massing forces for an apparent counter attack. The morale of their soldiers was high with the recent victory and the presence of the Vaultborn themselves on the battlefield The Peninsular Republic prepared to attack Saginaw City, but first it would have to eliminate the potential threat. A force of some ~200 men, divided into 3 sections, assaulted along a narrow front, seeking to drive Vaulter forces back across the river and be free for their attack on the town itself. They advanced into heavy resistance, taking high losses. Only the southern most wing managed to reach the Vaulter lines, capturing some fortifications. Two of the three commanders leading the troops died, the third, Captain Lester Bennett, distinguished himself leading from the front, commanding the southern wing. He was forced to withdraw from the positions he captured as the Vaulters staged a counter attack against the scattered remnants of the other two wings. At risk of being overrun, Captain Bennett bitterly ordered his men back, across ground that half the troops in his company died to capture. He would be promoted to Major after the sacking of the overall commander of the operation.

Five battles had been fought, the Peninsular Republic winning three, but they were no closer to their goal. A shift of generals was ordered by the government.

With the Peninsular Army paralyzed by the needs of bureaucracy, the Vaulters made their next move. A group of Vaultborn volunteered for a dangerous mission to attack the PR Army's main camp at night. Only a handful of these volunteers, which totalled 29 men, would return. In the darkness they silently killed the pickets and then proceeded to infiltrate the camp and start shooting into tents. The PR troops aowoke to a punishing crossfire, most died without knowing who was shooting at them. The Vaultborn detonated explosives in ammo caches and set tents on fire. For several hours they rampaged before being suppressed. The few who survived fled early, while most stayed and fought to cover their comrades retreat. In all they had killed more then a hundred PR soldiers including several dozen hoplites. The attack had also destroyed most of the munitions the army had, along with supplies of food. Demoralized PR troops abandoned it as soon as it was day arrives, whilst the other camps dismantle and their troops go north following a decision to abandon this front. A new strategy is adopted to attack along the coast, capture a crossing on the Saginaw river and then move north and south at same time to cut off the city from rest of Vaulter Empire. Three full regiments would be used for this operation, a force of nearly 5000 men. This would be the largest single force for a campaign in the history of the Republic. Furthermore, the troops who are fighting near Lansing are withdrawn and a de facto ceasefire with the Red Star Army is enacted so that the Peninsular Republic can concentrate its whole force on the Vaulters. In addition, a board of inquiry was drawn up to examine the armies performance thus far in the war.

The next major battle would be fought at the Interstate's crossing west of Bay City. The Vaulters utilized the underpasses as frontier forts, and had a large amount of troops stationed here waiting to see the PR's next move. When the Peninsular Army began to surround and prepare to storm forts, the vaulters counter attacked. In this battle the PR would emerge victorious, though at a heavy cost. They had brought a full regiment worth of soldiers and suffered several hundred deaths, almost a third of the force. However, the other two regiments were still at full strength and were able to push against the depleted ranks of the Vaulter Army as they tried to make a stand. They would retreat back to the Saginaw River. The half a dozen forts in the area would be systemically surrounded and stormed, which again incurred high losses for PR forces but equally high losses for the Vaulters who could not afford to lose those troops in the same way their opponent could. A contingent retreated north into Tobico marsh. The remaining troops on the west side of the Saginaw River north of Bay City decided to retreat back across while they still could and destroy the bridges behind them. They retained the garrison at Bay City, as it was expected the PR would try to use the large bridge there as it was easiest to fix.

The Tobico Marsh campaign would last several months, the Peninsular Republic surrounding the area and combing it for the remaining vaulter soldiers west of the river. The Vaulters put up a terrific fight but were no match and eventually the last holdouts surrendered. While the forces of Major Bennett dealt with that, the rest of the army moved to enact the river crossing operation. Rather then assault Bay City, they crossed it on a large bridge they constructed by sinking barges and laying structure on them. With a force of nearly a thousand slaves this work took a matter of days and the PR army was across and marching before the Vaulters could know what hit them. The Battle of Bay city would begin shortly afterwards, as a third of the river crossing force advanced north to assault the eastern side. Fresh troops attacked the city from the west, forcing the Vaulters to defend on both sides of the river. A contingent remained at the bridgehead to keep control of it, while the majority of the remaining troops began marching down the Saginaw river. Without firing a shot they forced the Vaulter army on the west bank to retreat as their supply lines were cut. Another regiment arrived to launch an offensive down the west side of the river bank. In all, more then half the PR's army was engaged in these operations. Fresh regiments were raised at home as the army began to enact reforms. The generals had conferred and decided upon a new strategy, to overwhelm the Vaulter Army with a battle too big for it to fight.

As a result of the inquiry into the Army's performance, several factors were noted. One major problem was the poor armament of the helots who were using single shot breech loading muskets. They simply did not have accuracy to deal with targets further then a hundred meters. The primary rifle of the Hoplites was found to be deficient, lacking a full automatic setting and having a lower caliber then necessary. A new weapon was being designed to requipp troops of all sorts. Tactical reformation was also enacted, as many battlefield commanders found the old rigid formation tactics were untenable against a highly mobile enemy with good training and armament. Within the first year of the conflict close to 1000 Peninsular soldiers would die, losses this high in one campaign had started the civil war. This represented a large proportion of the army, so plans were made to expand it. From this point on regiments would number 1600 combat troops, 300 hoplites and 1300 helots. Plans were made to raise 10 of these regiments in total and another as a rapid reaction force. This would be an army of unprecedented size and could only be supported by the massive amount of slaves in the Peninsular Republic. In order to foresall a slave rebellion an even more coontroversial decision was announced. Helots who survived 10 years of service would be freed and granted land. Exemplary performance on battlefield would be met by the preferential treatment and possibly freedom of ones family. This was designed to keep slaves loyal as well as provide a way to increase the number of taxpayers and base for Hoplite recruitment.

The Battle of Bay City lasted for three straight weeks until the Vaulter Army retreated and abandoned city. The PR had now conquered from the coast to Crow Island and inflicted considerable losses on the army of the Vault Empire. The Vaulters would regroup and prepare to defend Saginaw, and mass troops for an expected upcoming counter attack.

2273 - Battle of Vessar leads to the Vaulters having to abandon Shiawasee front in a race for encircled troops to escape before the PR closed the noose. Half make it through but most are forced to surrender. This is a huge blow to Vaulter Manpower and ends their hopes of offensive action for the rest of the war