Great War

The Great War was a large scale war fought between the Alliance for String Containment (ASC) and the String Kingdom over the increase of string soft power and influence.

## The Great War

### Battles

Battle of Tremoloa HillBattle of Lentando Lagoon Battle of Harp River

Various skirmishes

## Commanders and Leaders

### Attacking Leaders

King Trumpet VII (Brass)
King Glockenspiel VII (Keyboard)

King Snare VI (Percussion)

King Clarinet II (Woodwind)

## Timeline

### Next

Brass-Woodwind War

Once the String Kingdom's soft power became too much for the other kingdoms to bear, every nation of Orchestria formed the Alliance for String Containment (ASC) and declared war on the String Kingdom. Percussion troops merged with the Key Kingdom's army and marched through the Kettledrum Outlands, taking the small garrison by surprise. Meanwhile the Brass-Woodwind army began their march to Lentando Lagoon. Both armies were harassed during their march by string detachments. This slowed their advance and allowed the String Kingdom's army to muster just north of the Mezzo Plateau.

### Battle of Tremoloa hill

Once the Key-Percussion army exited the Mezzo Plateau they met with the String army encamped on a hill. Both sides deployed and prepared for battle. Due to a disagreement with the percussion and key generals, the percussion troops advanced without keyboard support. They attacked the String army's right flank, hoping to collapse it before reinforcements arrived. The string right flank retreated a short distance, giving time for the string center to reinforce the right, leaving the left to guard against the stationary keyboard army. This meant that the percussion troops were surrounded on three sides, the situation was unwinnable, but regardless the percussion troops proved their reputation and held their ground.

The keyboard units finally saw their chance and attacked the string left flank. After heavy fighting, the string left flank was routed. Seeing this, the string army retreated, denying the Percussion Kingdom and Key Kingdom the decisive victory they wanted. King Snare V is reported to have said "They can fight, and they can run just as well."

### Battle of Lentando Lagoon

After the Battle of Tremoloa hill, the String Kingdom's army marched south towards Lentando Lagoon and picked yet another battleground, this time for the Brass-Woodwind army. The battlefield had Lentando Lagoon to the string's right, blocking off any flanking attempts, and a small stream in front. Once the two armies met, they both deployed for battle.

The strings placed their wounded units in front, fooling the ASC army into thinking the battle would be quick. As a result of this, both sides deployed in a standard shield wall formation. Once the brass and woodwind units were close, the strings pulled back their wounded and charged. This caught the ASC army by surprise and forced them to give ground.

Due to the Battle of Tremoloa hill, the String Kingdom's army was outnumbered and so once the surprise wore off, it was the string's turn to be pushed back. After heavy fighting, an element of the string army began routing, this caused the string commander to order a general retreat. Once again denying the decisive victory the ASC wanted.

### Skirmishes

The String Kingdom employed hit and run tactics and fought multiple skirmishes similar to the Battle of Tremoloa hill, being defeated but ultimately never losing their army. This slowed the ASC armies and they were slowly worn down. The Brass-Woodwind army preferred to damage the String Kingdom as much as possible by pillaging the land they entered, successfully rallying the southern strings to use guerilla tactics, sabotaging the supply lines. This was countered by the Brass Kingdom as they diverted a detachment of units to protect the supply lines. The Percussion-Key army preferred to use a more honorable form of warfare, where conquered land was treated with respect, even more so if they fought back.

Both armies turned north towards the String Kingdom's capital of Stradivarius. They merged south of the city, while the String Kingdom's army sallied forth and chose their place of battle.

### The Battle of Harp River

The String Kingdom chose a plot of land near the Harp River, forcing the ASC to cross it if they wished to attack. The river is in a valley and so the wooded hills on either side of the river severely slows flanking maneuvers. They had picked their place well and when the ASC army approached they paused.

Once the plan was decided the Brass Kingdom's troops made two wedges on the left flank, the Woodwind Kingdom would form two more wedges in the center and the Key Kingdom would form a standard shield wall on the right. This was to prevent the String's left from being pushed too far back, since the Percussion Kingdom's troops were sent to climb the hill to the right and to flank the String Kingdom's army. If the string left was pushed too far back the percussion troops may not be able to flank the strings because of the rough terrain slowing their movements.

When the percussion troops were half way across the hill, the rest of the ASC army advanced. As the troops stumbled through the river the String Kingdom's units charged them. This assault killed many ASC soldiers but once the alliance's troops regained their footing they began to push back. Slowly, the String Kingdom's units were giving ground, except for the string right. This was because the Key Kingdom's units were only in a standard shield wall and were not trying to push.

As the battle became a stalemate, the percussion units descended from the hill undetected due to the forest. They slammed into the string left and trapped them, killing almost all of them. This caused string morale to plummet, some units attempted to flee while others fought, as chaos reigned in the String Kingdom's army.

Thoroughly humbled by the result of the battle, King Cello IV began negotiations.

### Peace treaty

The Brass Kingdom and Woodwind Kingdom argued for large land concessions in the center of Orchestria, but the Percussion Kingdom and Key Kingdom argued that the String Kingdom should instead have minimal land concessions and instead limit their diplomatic abilities. The Key kingdom hoped to keep a strong ally doing this, while the Percussion Kingdom were afraid of the Brass and Woodwind Kingdoms and wanted to preserve the balance of power.

Eventually, the Percussion Kingdom and Key Kingdom won the argument and the Brass Kingdom and Woodwind Kingdom begrudgingly signed the treaty. This marked the last time the kingdoms of Orchestria were united and the end of the second Stanza.