The Second Leersog War

The cover of the Second Leersog War Collection by Sofa

Bressian volunteers

Chergarian volunteers

The Second Leersog War is one of the most important conflicts of the Westenlands Wars. (Some of this is Speculation, take this with a grain of Salt)

**Click on this sentence for a summary**

## The origins of the conflict

At the end of 525, the situation on Altirus was quite tense. The Pansk Treaty, which committed the nations of the Commonwealth and the League to remain neutral in all conflicts between the countries of the Westenlands, was signed after the end of the invasion war of Chergaria in Syrvania.

But, after his victory over the Chergarian Empire, Bartoniy Kruvik, the Syrvanian leader, sought revenge and set his sights on Hetland, a neighbor who helped the Chergarian Expeditionary Force during the invasion.

But many other reasons have made the Hettic realm the ideal target. First, the resentment of the Syrvanian people towards this nation has been strong since the First Leersog War of 416. The Hettic Home Army was also quite weak, mainly because most of its officers were more interested in their own problems than those of the country. And finally, the Leersog, the Hettic central region, was one of the richest and most valuable territories in the Westenlands.

Kruvik therefore urged Andri Larmos, the general-in-chief of the Syrvian army, to draw up a plan in one year. Of course, it was too short, but Kruvik insisted, seeing the Hettic Home army taking up position at the border.

## The first weeks of the Syrvanian offensive

In the summer of 526, the Syrvanian forces were ready. On the other side of the border, the enemy was also ready: a huge defensive device, the Perlechkin line, was put in place and two Home Armies were mobilized to hold it. The Hettic officers were confident, except Iftan Litcwermenn, one of the only real generals in the kingdom, and a few others, who knew the blitzkrieg tactics used by Andri Larmos during the Chergarian invasion of 524.

   The Battle for the Perlechkin Line began in the southern part of the front, between Pringaen and Kitter Moer, where the 3rd Syrvanian Armored Division broke through the enemy lines, with the center of this assault on the fortifications near Preagan where a section of older trenches had not been upgraded and were considered vulerable. The 18th Hettic infantry division was wiped out. Further north, the 14th Mountains Rangers Regiment repelled the 9th infantry division after breaking through a mountain pass.

This opening assault would be followed by the Dash across Urdow, where Syrvanian Armored Thrusts tore apart the 1st Home Army in a series of short high intensity engagements across Western Leersog. Adding to the Chaos, Home Army regiments were not informed of the mass breakthrough, and instead told that the Perlechkin Line was still intact and only "small isolated units" had made limited penetrations, and any enemy forces they might encounter would be small and unsupplied. The Home Army put up a dogged defense despite the escalating crisis, with many of the troops being part of the Regular Army, but outdated tactics and doctrines as well as the Tenacity of the Syrvanian thrust won the day.

While this occured Syrvanian Naval assets began to operate in Hettic waters, mostly attacking fishing vessels, providing coastal gunfire support, and minelaying. In response Hetland began to assemble its naval forces in order to counter the Syrvanian raids as Gadnowé. Syrvania moved to disrupt this action with Submarines and Army Bombers, which were partially successful, sinking a Destroyer and a Frigate, but were unable to tip the balance of power at sea.

The remaining Hettic forces had to retreat behind the Zlowice River. Fortunately for them, the 2nd and 3rd Syrvanian Armored Divisions needed time to recover all their combat capabilities after heavy losses on the Perlechkin Line and the Urdow Dash. To prevent the enemy from forming new defensive positions on the east bank, General Larmos sent his reserve infantry regiments (which had remained unused during the first weeks of the war due to the mechanized nature of operations) to capture strategic points on the river. During the Battle of the Ćerzieg Bridge, the 8th Syrvanian infantry division made a bridgehead on the other bank held by the 4th Hettic motorized division, and a few miles south a rail bridge and highway bridge would also be captured shortly after.

## The successes (and the failures) of the Syrvanian blitzkreig

At the beginning of autumn, half of the Leersog region was under the control of Syrvania, the blitzkrieg tactic of General Larmos was definitely a success. Moreover, the incompetence of the Hettic officers had led to the Home Army suffering heavy losses, both in terms of equipment and men.

The Syrvanian forces soon found themselves fighting a mass counter-offensive along the Zlowice in the south centering around Gadnowé and St. Lyvan. This counterattack though failed for a variety of reasons and the remaining troops withdrew to St. Lyvan and were surrounded shortly after, with the Port of Gadnowé falling shortly after. This resulted in a brief pause along the front, broken by the mass use of Poison gas was used to break the Hetts at Skolgva, in the fog of the gas there are unconfirmed reports by the Syrvanian troops that the Dead rose from the grave to fight them. This would see Syrvania restrain the use of Chemical weapons for the rest of the war.

Fortunately, the other members of the Sovereigns League, who noticed the complicated situation in which their ally found themselves, began to make available weapons and volunteers. One of the first Bressian convoys was sent to St-Lyvan, a large town at the mouth of the Zlowice River besieged by the enemy. The Syrvanian Navy and Air Corps were mobilized to stop this operation, but delays in beginning the counter operation combined with the determination of the Hettic Royal Flying Service had led to one of two major Syrvanian defeats of the war: St-Lyvan would resist until the end of the conflict, in 527. However, the resistance of this city did not affect the main plan of Andri Larmos, which remained unchanged. Thus, the southern Syrvanian army continued its advance across eastern Leersog.

The other major failure of the Syrvanian forces was the Ludow pocket. Here a large Syrvanian force became overextended and encircled by a Large and well-coordinated Hettic formation, the Syrvanian forces attempted a breakout supported by most of the Syrvanian air assets, but in the mass clash of armored units the Syrvanian forces were completely destroyed as a fighting force and were captured in a matter of days, and many of the air units of Syrvania suffered heavy losses, the victory is mainly credited to Iftan Litcwermenn who violated orders from the high command to pull off this victory, as well as the Hettic Royal Flying service, who's flexibility gave the Hetts almost total Air Superiority.

However, this victory did not save the Kingdom. A few weeks later, Syrvanian forces crossed the Diska River and Attacked Labwun, the capital of the region. The Battle of Labuwn was the bloodiest of the war with desperate House-to-House fights through the city, often turning from hand to hand. Also, the Syrvanian forces were caught in a bottleneck along the river causing heavy losses being taken by reinforcements from Hettic bombers and fighters who had near total Air supremacy as the Syrvanian air cover was devastated after Ludow and St-Lyvan. But the deciding factor was the armored clash east of the city in the fields of Ladvice where the Syrvanian armored units plowed through the Hettic tanks and cut the rail line resupplying the city, and thus The Home Army was again forced to retreat and abandon Labwun to the enemy.

At that time, another major battle was waged on the northern front by a unit of a new kind. The raid on Dazhid Castle remains one of the most unknown actions of the war, despite its enormous impact, both on this conflict and on those to come. During this attack, the First Light Patrol Group is deployed behind enemy lines, at Royal Flying Service HQ in Dazhid Castle. It was one of the first real operations with paratroopers (others were launched during the Chergarian invasion of 524, but they were more modest) and it was a total victory. Many prominent Hettic personnel (mainly pilots and officers) were captured or killed, ending the era of domination by the Hettic Air Force, which had carried out many devastating bombing operations on Syrvanian troops throughout the first part of the war, notably at Ludow, St-Lyvan and Labwun. The Action at Dazhid Castle likely prevented the Hetts from stabilizing the front while they still had strength using their air assets, but with the loss of RHFS Command the Hettic Air Service was dissolved and its units were attached to Land Units, neutering the Hetts Air Power.

## The last months of the Hettic Kingdom

At the beginning of 527, the Home Armies were forced to retreat to the Capital Provinces, the whole Leersog region was occupied and, to the north, the 3rd Sylvanian armored division crossed the last defensive lines of the Radetziy Pass. The Kingdom of Hetland was lost. King Zrikosy III had left the country by boat for Fallesdam, the Bressian capital after his son became seriously ill, and now it is to General Iftan Litcwermenn that the responsibility for leading the Hetland towards an honorable defeat rests.

The Victorious Syrvaian Forces poured out into Hetland's capital provinces, but a late spring freeze halted their advance, giving the Hetts enough time to set up trench defenses. This devolved into trench warfare as the deep snow prevented Syria's greatest asset, their armored spearhead from entering the fight. After Several weeks of bloody fighting, the spring thaw came, and between the heavy losses and the mud, the two sides signed a truce to bury the dead and re-organize.

Iftan Litcwermenn had an impossible task, the Hettic army was devastated and the Air Service non functional, he used all the remaining armored forces during the Battle of the Itlast Valley to try to prevent the Southern and Northern Syrvanian Armies from meeting. Unfortunately, most Hettic officers already considered the war over for them, trying to recover what they could before the kingdom collapsed. Ilast Valley was a defeat, and the most important part of the Home Army was divided into several independent factions which obviously did not follow the orders sent by Litcwermenn. The last real operation led by the Central Staff was the counter-offensive in Tába, where Hetland's only Capital ship, the Grand Rorigan, would be sunk by Syrvanian air attack. After this battle, the remaining loyal troops will be divided into several "free forces" until the complete victory of the Syrvanian Armies.

## The End of the War and Following Events

The Lingaen Treaty, signed in the summer of 527, ended the Second Leesrog War. The Kingdom is replaced by a puppet state set up by Syrvania. This new Hettic Republic was ruled by Iftan Litcwermenn himself, one of the only respected officers on both sides. The old king died of a heart attack during his escape to Bressia. His son fell from the second floor of the Hettic embassy in the Fallesdam two years later. After this latest tragedy, the Queen committed suicide, forever ending the Hettic Kingdom...

The Home Army itself was reformed into the Hettic Republican Army, but a significant portion of its personnel and assets from the war were split among feuding factions, each with their own plans for the future of the country and how to defeat the occupiers. While many of these consisted of small groups of insurgents, Zwerca militia cells, or gangs of bandits and petty criminals, two names tend to share prominence: The Restorationists, and the Hettic Free Legion.

##### Hettic Republican Army

While Syrvania aided in suppressing insurrections during the Broken Years, their own forces were still scattered and fatigued from the war. Even after they had a chance to recover, their focus had shifted north to Lavinia. Thus, it was the Republican Army, formed from the remains of the Home Army, that was entrusted with keeping the peace. The Republican Army’s cohesion was assured largely by historical precedent. In the decades prior to the war, the military was targeted by all who partook in the power struggle in Lingaen, with all parties concerned that it might be bought out by their competition or attempt to launch a coup of their own. With the regular army effectively disbanded, professional officers found themselves sprinkled among ranks of conscripts led by bureaucrats. Thus, with the National Party’s militarist leanings, these officers were finally granted the power and autonomy they had been denied. Moreover, many of these officers viewed their former Field Marshall Ifan Litcwermann as “one of them”, a distinguished and respectable military professional, and his appointment to Prime Minister by the Syrvanians ensured their loyalty to the occupiers.

##### Restorationists

The Restorationist movement was formed by nobles and connected elements of the Central Staff. Consolidating followers and equipment as the war drew to a close, they sought to eject the Syrvanian occupiers and restore the Monarchy. Of course, with Zrykosi and his family dead, the question of who would take the throne did not lend itself well to the group’s cohesion, and the term “Restorationists” came to refer to many different insurgent and resistance groups within Hetland during, and even some time after, the occupation. Within ten years of the war’s end, underhanded competition between Duke Roltho, who once sat at the head of the Central Staff, and the late Queen’s brother, Prince Ierek, had turned into open conflict. Minor splinter factions, including a religious order led by Ackys Major Levin, and The New House of Lethwick, a group supposedly loyal to a secret illegitimate son of Zrykosi, also emerged during this time, before infighting and suppression by the Republican Army would lead to their dissolution, at least for the most part. After the collapse of the Syrvanian National Party, the name “Restorationist” would be used by rebels seeking to undermine the now-independent Republic of Hetland, as well as those who objected to Leersog being granted its (brief) independence and engaged in skirmishes with Leersogite separatists along the border.

##### Hettic Free Legion

The Free Legion comprised elements of the Taba Guards Regiment and mixed units of other Home Army regiments, organized by Brother Colonel Haas Marcek. Born of frustration with increasing dissonance within their command, the Legion undertook a bold effort to flee the country, planning to base regrouping and resistance efforts in Lavinia after the end of the war. Ostensibly, the Free Legion planned to install a transitional government headed by a group of military officers. However, it was revealed later that, shortly after the end of the war, Marcek had entered into correspondence with Ifan Litcwermann, who was secretly supporting their efforts. While Litcwermann’s involvement remained unknown by the Syrvanians, the Legion’s presence in Lavinia would be discovered, helping prompt their invasion of the country. After the arrest of Minister Valadam Ramis, who orchestrated their asylum, the Legion was forced to once again relocate for Marazheivo, in transit to which Marcek was ambushed and killed. As this relocation was split between multiple officers, some were able to make it over the border and continue their efforts, while others remained in Lavinia to aid in their defense, though all cells would eventually be tracked down and eliminated by the Syrvanians and their Lavinian and Marezi collaborators.

In 540 Iftan Litcewermann was able to change the treaty making Hetland fully independent of Syrvania and re-gaining Eastern Leersog after the Kruvik regime collapsed when Elandris invaded, and a functional Republic was established.