The Conoilithian-Mittelrijkian War

The Conoilithian-Mittelrijkian War was a major military conflict between the Kingdom of Mittelrijk and the Conoilithian Empire, lasting from 2913 to 2915. The war started over an alleged assassination attempt on the Emperor of Conoilith carried out by Arjentrian terrorists, who were allegedly secretly being funded and aided by Mittelrijk. Its aftermath served as the final blow to the Conoilithian Empire, which collapsed shortly after the war, and guaranteed the Kingdom of Mittelrijk its new position as a superpower in Burithién.

## **PARTICIPANTS**

### **THE CONOILITHIAN EMPIRE**

The Conoilithian Empire had maintained its position as the largest and strongest empire in Eithlith for centuries, maintaining dominance over all other nations on the continent, and keeping its presence known all over Burithien. It started the conflict by declaring war on the Kingdom of Mittelrijk, after an assassination attempt on the Conoilithian emperor and the discovery of terrorist weapon stashes, believing that the Mittelrijkians were funding separatist insurgents in its territory.

### **THE KINGDOM OF MITTELRIJK**

The Kingdom of Mittelrijk was a rapidly rising power in Eithlith, having thrown off the yoke of Conoilithian dominance after the 2850 Coup. A militarily and technologically advanced nation, although much smaller than the Conoilithian Empire, the Kingdom of Mittelrijk was more than capable of holding its own, being involved in the conflict after the Conoilithians declared war on it.

### **THE SECOND EMPIRE OF VIRGANDIA (Summer of 2914)**

The Second Empire of Virgandia was also briefly involved in the Conoilithian-Mittelrijkian War, invading Mittelrijk in the summer of 2914 to settle a border dispute; however, Virgandia's participation in the war was as short as its military campaign, which ended in disaster.

### **THE ARJENTRIAN REVOLUTIONARY ARMY**

The Arjentrian Revolutionary Army was a large rebel group in the Conoilithian Empire, made up of ethnic Arjentrian nationalists who sought to achieve independence from the Conoilithian Empire through military force. They played a crucial war in the war's beginnings, being responsible for many of the Conoilithian Empire's reasons to go to war, and also in the last few months of the war, mounting an offensive into Conoilith which forced Conoilithian troops to be diverted from the main front against Mittelrijk.

## **BACKGROUND AND CAUSE**

There were numerous factors which contributed to the start of the Conoilithian-Mittelrijkian War. Relations between the Conoilithian Empire, the largest empire in Eithlith and traditionally the most powerful in Burithién, and its southern neighbour the Kingdom of Mittelrijk had consistently gone downhill in the past decades, following the 2850 Coup in the latter. Mittelrijk had traditionally been subservient to Conoilith, but Mittelrijkian nationalists had seized power in the coup and broken off ties with its northern neighbour, instead turning Mittelrijk into a self-sufficient, technologically and militarily advanced state. This was seen as an act of betrayal by many Conoilithian imperialists, and a rivalry developed between the two former allies.

By the time of the war, the Conoilithian Empire was also beginning to show the signs of seperatist activity. Arjentrian nationalists, inspired by events in Mittelrijk following the 2850 Coup, who wanted independence from the Conoilithian Empire, had formed their own militias and secret revolutionary groups, initially meeting only to discuss ideas in secret, and eventually resorting to acts of terrorism.

One such act of terrorism occured in the spring of 2912, on the 3rd of May, when an attempt on the Conoilithian emperor's life was made by an Arjentrian nationalist. The assassin intercepted the emperor Kinriān's carriage while he was touring through the city of Kralkuren, but was stopped by police and arrested before he could fire. When interrogated and searched, investigators found that the pistol was made in Mittelrijk, but initially thought nothing of it.

Throughout 2912, Arjentrian nationalists grew in number, eventually forming the Arjentrian Independence Front. In response to this, the Conoilithian imperial government further restricted freedoms and rights for ethnic Arjentrians, deporting entire neighbourhoods to labour camps at times for 'treason' and 'conspiring for rebellion'. This simply further inflamed the Arjentrian nationalists, who soon created their own military branch, the Arjentrian Revolutionary Army. They secretly acquired weapons on the black market, and established hideouts all over the eastern borderlands of Conoilith, their traditional homeland. Conoilithian agents eventually located the site of a major hideout, named 'Point Hawk' by the rebels, and the Imperial Army launched a night-time raid on it in July of 2913. The Arjentrian revolutionaries inside were quickly overwhelmed, and when they surrendered, the weapons stashed inside the hideout were seized, and the rebels were executed on the spot. A large majority of the guns captured were found to be Mittelrijkian-manufactured, and suspicions began to arise. Conoilithian investigators demanded answers from Mittelrijk, which stoutly denied any involvement.

A few days later, on the 8th of July, there was another failed assassination attempt on the Emperor, and again Conoilithian authorities found that the assassin was using Mittelrijkian weapons. By now, the Conoilithian government was convinced that Mittelrijk was supporting the Arjentrian rebels, and agreed to take military action.

## **EVENTS**

### **2913**

On the 8th of July, 2913, the Conoilithian Empire signed its declaration of war on the Kingdom of Mittelrijk, citing supposed Mittelrijkian collaboration with Arjentrian revolutionaries as its *casus belli* (though the declaration was announced at 1:00am on the 9th). King Gustav V of Mittelrijk viewed the accusations as a major insult to his country's honour, and accepted the declaration of war. Both sides mobilised their forces, with the Imperial Conoilithian Army being mustered for an invasion against the much smaller Mittelrijkian Royal Army.

However, being a smaller country, and possessing a far more efficient railway network, the Mittelrijkian forces were able to muster much faster, whereas Conoilithian troops from all over the empire took days to reach assembly points. Additionally, the Mittelrijkians constantly maintained an active force of 1 division on standby on the border at all times to quickly react to threats. Aware of the sluggish nature of Conoilithian logistics, the Mittelrijkians struck first. Engineers hastily built bridges and rafts on the Bren River, while the 1st Frontier Army was quickly formed as more troops were rushed to the border by train, and only a night after war was first declared, 3 Mittelrijkian regiments crossed the Bren River in the hours before dawn, quickly overwhelming the Conoilithian border force and entering the Conoilithian Empire. The 1st Frontier Army advanced rapidly for the first few days of the war, quickly covering much territory in Southern Conoilith, and were well on their way to capturing their first Conoilithian city of the war; ironically, despite declaring war first, the Conoilithians found themselves the victim of a Mittelrijkian invasion, not the other way around as Conoilithian High Command intended.

Unfortunately for the 1st Frontier Army, they had advanced too fast, and quickly found themselves deep in Conoilithian territory, cut off from the rest of the Mittelrijkian forces, whose progress in the hilly landscape was burdened by having to bring heavy artillery. The Conoilithians soon made their counterattack, now with their troops amassed in sufficient numbers, and quickly reversed the Mittelrijkians' gains, pushing them all the way back to the border with overwhelming numerical superiority; in one incident on July 14, an entire Conoilithian battalion charged a platoon's worth of Mittelrijkian scouts.