OFK-EC War

## Belligerents

**Organization of Free Kingdoms:**
• Kingdom of Egypt
• Kingdom of Hatti (Muwatalli III's faction)
○ Alliance to Restore the True King• Mycenaean Confederation
○ Kingdom of Ahhiyawa• Kingdom of Alashiya
• Assyrian exiles (until 76 AEE)
• Kingdom of Kush (from 75 AEE)

**Eastern Coalition:**
• Kingdom of Elam
○ Kingdom of Assyria○ Kingdom of Babylonia○ Kingdom of the Levant (until 76 AEE)• Kingdom of Hatti (Hakkarpili's faction) (until 75 AEE)
• Kingdom of Lullubum
• Kingdom of Kush (until 75 AEE)
• Merchant State of Dilmun (from 74 AEE)
• Merchant State of Magan (from 74 AEE)

## Commanders and leaders

**Organization of Free Kingdoms:**
• Ramesses XI *(Egypt)*
• Nechtarhebi *(Egypt)*
• Horminuter † *(Egypt)*
• Muwatalli III *(Hatti)*
• Tiglath-Pileser † *(Assyrian exiles)*
• Shu-Kutum *(Assyrian exiles)*
• Eteweokles † *(Mycenaean Confederation)*
• Huzaru *(Alashiya)*
• Harsiotef *(Kush)*

**Hattusa-Babylon Axis:**
• Shilhak-Inshushinak † *(Elam)*
• Lim-Kiririsha *(Elam)*
• Eparti † *(Elam)*
• Nebuchadnezzar *(Babylonia)*
• Ninsina *(Assyria)*
• Harharran *(Levant)*
• Zubani *(Lullubum)*
• Taharqa † *(Kush)*

## Strength

~265 000
**Eastern Coalition:**
~297 000

## Casualties and losses

~116 000
**Eastern Coalition:**
~141 000

**Spoiler warning: this page contains spoilers for the novel The March of Deshret.**

The OFK-EC War was a conflict immediately following the Great Powers' War, fought between the newly formed Eastern Coalition, led by Elam, and the Organization of Free Kingdoms, informally led by Egypt. The war itself was fought mostly in the Levant, but included other sub-conflicts taking place at the same time - the Hittite Civil War, the Kushite Civil War and the Kushite Rebellion, the civil wars in Dilmun and Magan, the Sons of Montu insurgency in Egypt, and Tiglath's insurgency in Assyria. The war lasted over 3 years and officially ended in 76 AEE, when the Treaty of Euphrates was signed during the Damascus Peace Conference, leading to a peace between the OFK and the EC and a Cold War between the two factions.

## Progress of the war

### Start of the war

Once Assyria fell to Elam and the rebels in 73 AEE, the remaining western powers learned of Shilhak's betrayal and the Great Powers' War turned into a three way conflict for a short while. However, with Hakkarpili usurping the Hittite throne and aligning himself with Elam, the Hattusa-Babylon Axis was essentially disestablished, leaving only Egypt resisting Elamite advances. After the First OFK Conference in Men-nefer, taking place a few weeks after the fall of Assyria, Egypt, the Mycenaean Confederation, Alashiya, and the Assyrian and Hittite exiles, under Tiglath-Pileser and Muwatalli III respectively, formed the Organization of Free Kingdoms, replacing the Pact of Civilizations. The military alliance united the remnants of the two previous warring factions against a now much greater threat in the east. Meanwhile, Shilhak-Inshushinak also formalized his faction by creating the Eastern Coalition, which consisted of Elam, its puppet states of Babylonia, Assyria, and the newly founded Kingdom of the Levant in former Kingdom of Ugarit, Hakkarpili's Hatti, and some unofficial allies, such as the Lullubi under the chieftain Zubani and the Kingdom of Kush. While the exact date of the switch from the Great Powers' War to the OFK-EC War can be disputed, the start of the new war is most often cited as 10 Peret III, 73 AEE, the date of the founding of OFK.

### Insurgency in Egypt

Seeing that Egypt was still resisting, Shilhak began funding the Sons of Montu - the largest terrorist organization in Egypt, which had been involved in previous assassinations of pharaohs - in late 73 AEE, as they had become resurgent during the war, by way of Kush, with Kush itself becoming an informal ally of the EC. The revolt was quite successful at first and attracted many members, mostly united by their hate of the Hittites and Assyrians staying in Egyptian territory and the fact that Ramesses XI signed a decree allowing women to join the armed forces in 74 AEE. In the same year the Sons of Montu attempted to storm the Royal Palace in Men-nefer, and while they managed to get inside the royal quarter, they were stopped by a united force of the pharaoh and his royal guards, the Men-nefer medjay force, and the women's division of the Army of Horus. Later the main hideout of the organization was raided and taken over and the organization disestablished. The leader of the organization Montuherkhepeshef - Ramesses XI's uncle - was publicly executed before the crowds of Men-nefer by being burned alive. In 75 AEE the Hittites finally departed Egypt to reclaim Hatti from Hakkarpili, which ended this crisis for good.

### Kushite switchover

In 73 AEE Taharqa became a middleman for funding the terrorist group the Sons of Montu in Egypt in an attempt by Elam to destabilize it, despite his brother's protests, but this ultimately failed. Taharqa nonetheless continued his advance north into Egyptian Kush and took the city of Chenem-Waset, the capital of Egyptian Kush, and moved his seat of power there, though Kerma still remained the administrative capital from where the conquered territories were managed, mostly by Taharqa's brother Harsiotef.

Harsiotef secretly met with the Egyptian royal envoy Amenemheb in 74 AEE and decided that the best course of action would be to kill Taharqa, so that Harsiotef would take the Kushite throne and could end the war with Egypt. Harsiotef instead favored forming a union with Egypt, as he felt that Kush had no way to stay completely independent in the long term and that Shilhak would eventually betray it if the EC won the war. The plan was presented to and accepted by the pharaoh Ramesses and preparations began to be made. In 75 AEE Taharqa was assassinated by an Egyptian assassin known as the Silver Serpent and a supporting team of Egyptian operatives, including captains Rashaken and Sutenhi. This sparked the Kushite Civil War, with Harsiotef, secretly supported by Egypt, fighting Benemba, Taharqa's wife. The war lasted only a few months and soon Harsiotef emerged victorious and assumed control of the entire Kush, while also making a ceasefire with the Egyptians. In the last year of the war, Kush was in theory aligned with the OFK, but could not send many soldiers or resources to the front in the Levant, as he was focused on the rebuilding of his realm. However, this still helped Egypt, as now they could send the soldiers from the Kushite front to fight in the Levant.

### Civil wars in Dilmun and Magan

During the Great Powers' War Dilmun and Magan remained neutral, though mostly trading with Elam, as Karduniash fell early in the war. However, in 74 AEE, shortly after the start of the OFK-EC War, they were strongly incentivized to join the EC by Lim-Kiririsha, the queen of Elam. The Dilmunian and Maganian kings and courts refused to do so, wanting to preserve their neutrality traditions, which led to Lim and EC supporting and arming the corporatist factions of Dilmun and Magan, which had no qualms about joining the EC if it was profitable.

This began the Dilmunian Civil War and the Maganian Civil War in 74 AEE, and while the OFK supported the monarchist factions which had now aligned themselves with it, the OFK was much further away and so its shipments could not arrive as quickly to the countries. Not too long later, in 75 AEE, the corporatists assumed control of both countries and established the Merchant State of Dilmun and the Merchant State of Magan, both ruled by a council of the most wealthy merchants in the respective country, and represented in the international stage by a selected executive. Meanwhile, the kings of Dilmun and Magan fled to Egypt, but not much effort was spent on trying to reclaim the countries.

### Hittite Civil War

While the Hittite exiles stayed in Egypt and recovered their strength, the Alliance to Restore the True King established itself all over Hatti and began its guerilla campaign to prepare for Muwatalli's return. It had few victories at first, but as time went on it gained more and more members and became more formidable, with Minimu becoming a recognized general. The Hittites in Egypt became targets of some hostilities by the civilians and the Sons of Montu, funded by Elam, but eventually the situation stabilized. The Hittite soldiers continued readying for a new campaign, establishing contacts with the mainland, and in 75 AEE finally sailed out of Egypt to reclaim Hatti. In the meantime, Hakkarpili married Muwatalli's sister Niwalka and had a son with her, and Kapurti, Muwatalli's mother, and Arnuwanda, Muwatalli's oldest brother, were killed to make it more difficult for Muwatalli to establish contact back home.

The Mycenaeans continued fighting the Hittites as they had during the Great Powers' War and by late 74 AEE conquered all of Lukka. Not much changed in Mycenaean tactics and strategy until 75 AEE, when they joined forces with the Hittite exiles. Their first common engagement was the naval Battle of the Alashiyan Strait, where a Mycenaean fleet under Anaxandrides saved Muwatalli's troops, which were being transported to Hatti by Egyptian and Alashiyan ships, from an ambush of Hakkarpili's fleet. Once the Hittites landed, they met up with the Mycenaean land force under Eteweokles and the two armies began their reconquest of Hatti.

The two armies first fought together on land during the Siege of Tarhuntassa, and after a decisive and easy victory, the city was established as the headquarters of Muwatalli's army. The armies then proceeded to capture Tuwanuwa and other cities, steadily advancing north and defeating Hakkarpili's forces. They were also soon joined by the Hittite Resistance, which participated in the Second Battle of Tuwanuwa. After that, the Resistance went west to fight the Battle of Purushanda while Muwatalli and Eteweokles fought in the Battle of Kanesh, with both being decisively won and the cities secured. Over the campaign, the two forces and their leaders began trusting each other and cooperating more, starting the process of putting an end to centuries of unrelenting Mycenaean and Hittite hatred for each other. Nerikkalli, Muwatalli's last surviving brother, also managed to escape Hattusa and join up with Muwatalli for the remainder of his campaign.

Eventually the Siege of Hattusa began, though Hakkarpili and his faction only controlled the royal palace on the hill, as most of the city and the surrounding areas had fallen to barbarians who had been hired by him but realized that the EC would lose on this front and so wanted to ransack the region before the OFK arrived. The Siege was eventually won by the OFK, with both the barbarians and Hakkarpili's faction being defeated and Hattusa reclaimed by Muwatalli. As this was unfolding some Mycenaeans under Eteweokles were fighting at the Battle of Suppiluliuma's Pass during the latter part of the siege and defeated the advancing barbarian band led by Argishti, but in the process the wanax Eteweokles was killed. In general, the whole campaign was quite costly for everyone involved, with dozens of thousands of military and civilians casualties, and prominent Hittite generals and Mycenaean kings dying: the Mycenaean king Conon of Ephyra was injured during the Battle of Tuwanuwa and later ambushed and killed by the Luwians as he was being transported back home, while the Hittite general Lihsuman and Mycenaean kings Tharybis of Pylos and Trechus of Delphi were all killed during the Siege of Hattusa. With the reclamation of Hattusa, the Hittite Civil War came to an end, though Muwatalli still had to deal with some holdouts, mostly in Kizzuwatna. Yet the leadership of the rebels was destroyed, as Hakkarpili, Washuba, and Hakkarpili's son were all killed during the Siege of Hattusa.

After the war, the Hittites and Mycenaeans officially signed a peace treaty, putting an end to hostilities between Mycenaeans and any Hittites, which finally made it possible for the Mycenaean troops to return home after many years. The treaty included the return of Wilusa to Mycenae and the return of Lukka to Hatti, setting the borders back as they were in 71 AEE before the Great Powers' War. In 76 AEE Wilusa and Ahhiyawa were annexed directly into the Confederation and made into fully fledged kingdoms with all the rights and responsibilities, as they were now seen as developed enough and worthy of this status due to their contributions during the war. This was also allowed by the treaty, as the borders between Mycenae and Hatti became much more open. However, due to Eteweokles' death, a succession crisis began in the Confederation between his sons Tirynthius and Hecataeus, with both receiving support from some kings of the Confederation, though the OFK leaders all supported Tirynthius due to his policies of increased trade and cooperation with Hatti and pacifism, while Hecataeus still opposed Hatti.

### Levantine front

The EC advance in the Levant continued as it had, with Shilhak still winning major battles such as the Fourth Battle of Kadesh in 74 AEE, where the Egyptian Army of Montu was defeated and general Horminuter captured. A major advantage for the EC was their use of war elephants from the Indian subcontinent, and this allowed them to surprise and defeat the OFK forces a few times, though eventually strategies were made to counter the elephants and they were not as useful anymore. Still, the EC continued advancing, taking other major cities such as Baalbek, even while Shilhak was away in the east, having left the Levantine command to his generals Eparti and Kindattu, who assumed control of the Kingdom of the Levant and in reality had even more power than its king Harharran. By 75 AEE most of the Levant was captured, excluding Phoenicia, which had become a neutral independent confederation in 74 AEE, as both the OFK and EC tried to sway it to its side. Some naval battles also took place near the coast, with the EC buying hundreds of warships from Phoenicia in order to fight the OFK fleet, composed of Egyptian, Alashiyan, Mycenaean, and Phoenician ships. However, the EC never had any major naval victories and so was confined only to the Levantine coast, unable to assert its dominance over the Mediterranean Sea. The Lullubi also fought in the Levant, though many were later pulled out by Zubani to expand his own realm and conquer the former lands of Azzi.

After returning to the front in 75 AEE, Shilhak still chose to focus on the Levant, even after the fall of Hakkarpili's regime and the switchover of Kush to the OFK, in late 75 AEE reaching Ashkelon and hoping that after taking it the EC could conquer Egypt itself easily and then refocus on Hatti. However, these plans came to an end when Shilhak was assassinated right before the battle by Horminuter, who had poisoned Shilhak's drink with the same poison used during the Fifth Conference of the Great Powers' Club to assassinate the four kings. Horminuter had been a prisoner in Ugarit in 74 - 75 AEE but later appeared to defect to the EC and asked to come with Shilhak to the front and serve him there. The king accepted the offer and had the former Egyptian general under supervision, but ultimately was outsmarted and killed by him. Horminuter himself was killed by the Elamite general Eparti, who also wanted to kill Shilhak, hoping to become the new king of Elam and the supreme commander of the EC, but his attempt was unsuccessful and he was arrested. After Shilhak's death, the EC army was in disarray and the OFK army under general Nechtarhebi used this opportunity to attack. The EC suffered a disastrous defeat near Ashkelon, retreating north afterwards. General Kindattu, now the highest ranking Elamite general, was ordered by Lim-Kiririsha, now the factual ruler of Elam and the leader of the EC, to pull back to the Euphrates, and so he did, while Eparti was denounced and stranded in Ugarit.

The Egyptian forces, along with other OFK troops, quickly secured most of the Levant and put Ugarit under siege, eventually taking it in 76 AEE, killing Eparti and capturing Harharran. Egypt reclaimed its lost lands, as well as those of its former puppet state Amurru, while the northern Levant, formerly the Hittite puppet Kingdom of Ugarit, was transformed into the OFK Mandate of Amurru, under joint rule of all OFK members. Phoenicia, now seeing that Levant was under the OFK control, agreed to rejoin Egypt and become part of Retjenu - a third part of the proposed union, having the same rights as Egypt, now known as Kemet, and Kush. The Levant was lost to the EC, but the OFK advance stopped at the Euphrates, in part due to Lullubi efforts, as Zubani secured a new deal with Lim which allowed him to create the Kingdom of Lullubum and become a full member of the EC with all its benefits. Thus the front froze for around a year at the Euphrates, and in 76 AEE a ceasefire was signed between the two factions in order to prepare for a peace agreement.

### End of the war

Before the end of the war, OFK representatives visited Mycenae to attend Eteweokles' funeral and show their support for Tirynthius, one of the two potential Mycenaean successors, and Ramesses personally guaranteed to help Tirynthius reach the throne. However, once the front in the Levant stabilized and stood there for around a year, in 76 AEE during the Second OFK Conference in Enkomi the OFK decided to seek peace and leave the Euphrates as the border with Assyria still within the EC, a decision to which Tiglath protested. He wanted to reconquer Assyria but was ultimately shut down, which led to him leaving the faction in the middle of the meeting and going rogue along with his remaining followers.

In 76 AEE the Damascus Peace Conference took place in Damascus, headed by the chief of the city Hadadezer. Along with other treaties signed, such as the new version of the Knossos Conventions, the Treaty of the Euphrates was signed, which ended the OFK-EC War. The EC was reduced somewhat from its peak but still remained an almost equal opponent to the OFK. However, some conflicts still continued, including Muwatalli fighting the holdouts who had supported Hakkarpili (though they had been denounced by the EC formally), and the Assyrian renegades attacking the Kingdom of Assyria with secret support from the OFK by way of Kemet Intelligence Agency, which had sent general Shu-Kutum to kill Tiglath-Pileser and send the remaining men, armed with Egyptian weapons, to cause chaos in Assyria. The Mycenaean Confederation continued dealing with its succession crisis, even with Tirynthius now representing the country in foreign diplomatic matters, while the EC sought closer cooperation and integration among its members, making efforts to further the connections between Elam, Babylonia, and Assyria in order to establish a single empire capable of defeating the OFK. Finally, in Egypt shortly after the war, the creation of the Commonwealth of Kemet, Kush, and Retjenu was proclaimed by Ramesses XI, who united the Kingdom of Egypt, the Kingdom of Kush, Phoenicia, and the remaining Egyptian Levantine holdings into a single federal country. which remained the leader of the faction in the Cold War with the EC following this conflict.

## Army sizes and casualties

1Alashiya, Dilmun, and Magan not included, as they mostly provided ships while their troop contributions were negligible. 2Includes all puppet states. 3Babylonian, Assyrian, and Levantine forces were under the command of the Elamite generals. 4Integrated into the OFK armies. 5Includes barbarian mercenaries. 6Became part of the Commonwealth army.