The 2nd Great Realm War

The **Second Great Realm War** was a war fought between the Axis (Albania, Tibet, and Arstotzka) and the CAA/Allies (Japan, Dexistan, India, The Greater Teutonic Realm, and the CSA) over Albanian state sponsored terrorism. It lasted from December 14th to December 29th, with the peace treaty concluding weeks after the initial armistice. It featured the introduction of new weapons and tactics and was far more deadly than the First Great Realm War. The alliances had changed significantly from the last war, partially due to more countries entering the diplomatic stage and also due to shifting geo-political attitudes.

## Background and Causes

The catalyst of the conflict was the Albanian government funding impersonators of the Atompoopen Division (a Dexistan-based ethno-nationalist militant group) which sent an ultimatum to the GTR for the President to resign. This was presumably done in an attempt to raise tensions with the GTR and try to destroy and/or weaken Dexistan and the GTR by making them fight to exhaustion and capitulation. Dexistan didn't take kindly to this and tensions started to rise, eventually breaking out into a debacle in the UN building that led to the war. That being said, the war declaration sat unsigned by President Moonfire for several weeks in an effort to mobilize the Dexistanian industries before entering a Realm wide war.

## Battles

### First River Assault

A day after the war had been declared, on December 15th, the Axis positioned and fortified themselves well in Albania. After the arrival of a significant amount of troops, the Allies launched an expansive and purportedly fool-proof plan that failed horribly, leading to thousands of Allied deaths as well as tangled and delayed supply lines. They assumed the Axis forces would be more spread out but instead they executed massive assaults through supposed "weak links" that had heavy defenses including machine gun nests, artillery, and impassable natural barriers. Despite this massive miscalculation, they reorganized in the small Teutonic village of Tierra Plana which bordered Albania, only separated by a river. Allied forces attempted a push into Albanian land through the river, launching from Tierra Plana. An Albanian infantry brigade was slain by Confederate fire and Tibetan troops held their own against encroaching Japanese rifles as the Axis firmly resisted the second wave of reorganized Allied forces. The Teuton forces were the only ones left wholly unscathed from the battle.

### Battle of Tierra Plana

The remaining Allied forces were forced to retreat and evacuate from Tierra Plana after a defeat in the first push to the river. Allied troops reorganized the next day and mobilized further to regain the small village of Tierra Plana, heavily bolstered by the power of newly arrived Dexistanian units. Tibetan troops were slain by Japanese infantry while a Mexican infantry division was almost entirely wiped out by Japanese artillery. An Indian infantry brigade was slowly picked off by special Arstotzkan snipers until a retreat was signaled. The Sixth Infantry Division of Dexistan slaughtered defending Albanians en masse on Main Street, leading to accusations of war crimes, mainly due to the reports of shootings of POWs and medics. Friendly fire from Japan to India killed several hundred before it was called off. Allied powers swiftly regained the small village and began to plan their next attack.

### Second River Assault

The day after regaining Tierra Plana, Allied forces attempted a second push to Albania through the river. The combined naval forces of the GTR, Japan, and Dexistan also arrived and began bombarding the coast with salvos, attempting to soften the Axis defenses for the infantry offensive. They launched from Tierra Plana in a highly organized push through the water, which was of minimal deterrence to the Allies, as they deployed newly designed amphibious vehicles. Scattered Arstotzkan artillery divisions faced off with Emperor Wah’s personal detachment of infantry and ceremonial cavalry while two advancing Indian platoons were sought out by Albanian snipers and slaughtered almost to the man. 500 Dexistanian troops charged and routed two brigades of Arstotzkan infantry as the Allies began to clear the beach. Albanian and Tibetan infantry fell to a Confederate charge. This ended in a small land gain with the Allies landing on Albanian beaches.

### Invasion of Albania

Allied forces then took the war inland in an attempt to take full control of Albania and end the war with victory. General Xarvatium of the CSA dispatched hundreds of Albanian troops with his special forces, aptly dubbed “*Mister Fisters*”. The Fourteenth Albanian Cavalry Brigade fell to an Indian division using Teutonic rifles on an isolated meadow outside of the small town of Mobile. Roughly 5000 Dexistanian troops charged 3400 Albanian soldiers, winning decisively and taking over 1000 prisoners. Albanian troops were slain by the Eighth Imperial Japanese Infantry Division, their general fell to “*Karera no Poku*”, Fung Wah's personal saber, in an execution ceremony shortly after the battle.

An under-equipped Indian brigade faced the strength of several hundred Tibetan troops and lost brutally, losing an estimated 1200 men. Scattered Albanian troops continued to fall to the superior strategy and equipment of CAA forced as the push closed in on Tirana and the Heartlands. Tibetan general “HITTORI\_RELLA\_4” is then slain in battle after two Japanese divisions pushed through Tibetan lines in an unrelenting human wave. A small Arstotzkan artillery battery fell to a disorganized Japanese banzai charge several miles to the south of Tirana. The push inland was successful as the Allies began to close in on victory after a week of vicious fighting all around Albania.

### Storming of the Mormon Tower

   The push inland was a great success, the last step towards Albanian capitulation was to storm the Mormon Tower (the largest building in Albania as well as the capitol building of the entire country). On Christmas Day, several recently mobilized Albanian armed civilian squads were mowed down by Teutonic MG fire on a hill close to the tower. Albanian troops also fell to Japanese forces several miles to the south. ObamaLand of Tibet decided on use of IEDs and explosives in order to hinder the advance of CAA forces. Japanese and Tibetan special forces then took the battle deep down a cavern in central Albania in which many on both sides went missing, resulting in an inconclusive end. Thousands of Allied, especially Japanese troops, were killed by Tibetan explosives that lined every major road and route to the Mormon Tower.

The storming of the Mormon Tower itself was a quick and relatively bloodless affair compared to the rest of the war. In mere minutes, the Mormon Tower was secured and the flag of the CAA soon flew over the building. A Dexistanian general infantry squad was credited for massacring the entire Cabinet of President my\_ballz\_itch, after finding them trying to escape in the building's ventilation system.

### Battle of the Country Side

After the success in the primarily populated area of Albania, the Allies then proceeded to close in on and secure the last remaining land. This process came much more quickly, at a total of three days, than the previous invasion as Albanian and Arstotzkan forces were nowhere to be found and Albania was almost entirely destroyed. A Tibetan garrison of a few hundred covered the retreat of the larger Tibetan 1st and 2nd Armies and were the last standing in Skanderbeg Square as they were slain nearly to the man by the now disorganized and demoralized Allied forces. After this final straw, Tibet was thoroughly exhausted after a grueling war and agreed to an armistice on December 29th, leading to a conference at the Livonia Accords. Albania was secured by the CAA but this didn't stop mass anarchy from erupting all over the country. This chaos included thousands of rapes, lootings, and killings by Axis deserters, CAA forces, and Albanian criminals looking to make a quick buck.

## Post War and Treaty

India was the first to declare an Allied victory but the rest of the Realm soon followed. The war was soon deemed a decisive CAA win by outside observers. Albania was put under UN control and GTRAID soon entered the country to deliver food, medicine, and clothing to the devastated nation. Albanian President my\_ballz\_itch was nowhere to be found and Dexistan soon posted a bounty of millions of denarius for his capture, labelling him a Class-A war criminal.

Celebrations burst out in the streets of New Rawabi, Bog Harbor, and Livonia and memorials were quickly unveiled. The era between the UN invasion of Albania and the Second Great Realm War was dubbed the Interwar Period by contemporary scholars and a new ethos soon overtook the winning countries. The utter defeat of Albania led to heightened patriotism and national unity in all CAA countries and a baby boom as well as an economic one soon sprouted, especially in Dexistan and the GTR.

    This was dubbed the Era of Good Feelings and has yet to end to this day. As for the Axis countries, they faced economic hardship due to CAA sanctions as well as a general atmosphere of defeat and despair among the common people. These desperate conditions led to the rise of extremist groups and political tension in Arstotzka and Tibet, most notably resulting in the Nationalist coup in Tibet shortly after the war. Tensions have escalated once again as Japan and India began to build up massive aerial and naval forces, doing regular exercises and tests dangerously close to Tibet and the new nation of Yugoslavia.