World War Three

### Alliance Leaders

Svend Anker (Nordica), Kezia Natsir (Indomalaya),Catherine Van Helsing, General Albert Ader (Neo-Europe)

**The Thrid World War**, alternately called **World War Three**, or simply abbreviated, **WW3**, was a global conflict involving every major superpower that took place for nearly five years, from 2145 until 2150. It is a culmination of the rise of republicanism in **Neo-Europe**, and the growing tensions between **The Realm** (mainly Nordica and Indomalaya) and **GUISS**. The conflict started when the **Neo-European Socialist Republic**, or **NESR** shelled and invaded the city of Nice.

## Background & Origins

Several factors are responsible for the outbreak, both short and long term.

### The Republican movement of Neo-Europe

The Republican movement in Neo-Europe is almost as old as the nation itself, but only really started growing in prominence after the 2090s, and especially after the Civil War. A National Party plurality in 2125 meant they had to form a coalition, selecting the Environmentalists and Republicans to form the coalition. One of the conditions was for the organisation of a referendum on the continuation of the monarchy, which was granted in 2126. The result showed a 55% support for the monarchy continuing, though many protests were seen throughout Neo-Europe as many republicans were unhappy with the result.

Protests became common in major cities demanding the removal of Emperor Franz and, later, his son Oliver.

The Republican victory of 2140 came to the surprise of many (and it later turned out this was fraudulent); Republican Oscar Murphy was quickly elected Premier and enacted various reforms, though many failed to succeed.

### Rivalry Between GUISS and Nordica

The rivalry and tensions between GUISS and Nordica began with the rule of Myron Kuzmenko, whose anti-Finnish rhetoric frequently led to large displays of force at their mutual border, especially along those of Finnic states, such as Suomi and Karelia. This very much agitated Nordica, who feared GUISS may try to take these areas for themselves. In turn, this led to an increased resentment of Nordica's Russian minority, which only exasperated the situation. Kuzmenko would try to use pressure to make Nordica work on the image of GUISS, but this only played into the hands of those who saw GUISS as a threat. Nordican media portrayed GUISS as a political agitator, blaming them for a string of communist uprisings since they emerged as a nation. Likewise, GUISS propaganda portrayed Nordica as 'Bourgeoisie', tyrannical, and oppressive.

### Rivalry Between GUISS and Neo-Europe

Although not as prominent as the rivalry between GUISS and Nordica, and alleviated somewhat by the Republican electoral victory in 2140, this was still a substantial factor in the origins of the war. The ruling National Party had an, initially unofficial, anti-communist policy. Tensions rose following the Neo-European Civil War, in which the socialist, Slavic breakaway nation of the **Slavic Republic** was defeated. Criticisms of the GUISS by influential figures, especially Premier Alois Carron, became more common in the 2130s; he made such comments as calling the Politburo 'swine' and Communism 'prone to tyranny,' as well as tearing up a copy of one of Kuzmenko's speeches. Foreign Secretary Catherine Van Helsing was dispatched to be Neo-Europe's representative to prove their innocence.

## Pre-War Events

### Breakdown of the 'Ten Year Peace'

The **Ten Year Peace** was a non-aggression pact suggested by then GUISS leader Myron Kuzmenko in 2130. It proposed **demilitarisation** and **cooperation against radical extremist groups**. While initially a signatory of the pact, Neo-Europe would later withdraw from it following the **2131 Premiership election**, with a weaker coalition government wishing to distance themselves politically from GUISS. Nordica, on behalf of the Realm, would reject the pact outright, citing that the public believed GUISS had involvement with many of the communist groups rising on the continent, and as such, signing the pact would be very unpopular. They instead offered to work unofficially with the pact, complying with some of it's terms, although they stopped doing so when Neo-Europe withdrew the following year.

With the pact failing, Kuzmenko would go on to state that "GUISS must go down a separate path", with GUISS forming their own **Marx Pact** with the communist nations under their influence. The pact carried over many of the terms of the earlier Ten Year Peace, but somewhat unsurprisingly had a broader definition of extremist, particularly in regards to non-communist groups.

### Political Assassinations, Party Suspensions, and The Neo-European-Nordican Pact

#### Assassination of Leena Ilves

On the 12th October 2131, **Nordican Vice-Commissioner**, Leena Ilves was assassinated in her home with a stolen museum artefact, namely the Ice pick used to kill Leon Trotsky, which was stolen form a museum in New York 5 days prior. The perpetrator, **Finnish Communist Party** member, Kyösti Heikkinen, was detained shortly afterwards. This provided a tangible link between the attacker and GUISS, owing to them being a known benefactor of the Finnish Communist Party, even though their claim the attack was state-sponsored was dubious. Subsequently, The Realm blamed GUISS for the incident, accusing them of the act in revenge for withdrawing from the Ten Year Peace, while GUISS firmly denied involvement. As a result, Nordica and other Realm members imposed heightened border checks with GUISS, beginning the process of closing off their mutual borders outright, something that would later become a key touchpaper for the coming war.

The assassination of Ilves caused Nordica's commissioner, Kaia Halverson to delay her planned retirement. Concurrently, it became a high priority to restabilise Nordica's position.

#### The Neo-European-Nordican Pact

Nordican Commissioner Kaia Halverson and Vice-Commissioner Svend Anker met with Premier Alois Carron in the Mendip Hills, Britannia, to discuss the formation of a pact against GUISS influence.

### The 'Party Mystery' at Krivoy Rog

Neo-Europe was wrongly accused of kidnapping and murdering several prominent GUISS party officials in Krivoy Rog, about a decade after they vanished. This accusation brought further anti-GUISS sentiment across Neo-Europe

### Border skirmishes between GUISS and Nordica

with tensions rising across the world, escalation began at Nordica and GUISS's mutual border, especially near the **City of Leningrad**. The area was perhaps the most heavily guarded border in the world at that time, owing to a shared distrust of the other's intentions. what began as heightened border checks had devolved into a practically closed border, only allowing a scant few civilians to pass between daily, most of whom had to return before the day ended. Notably, however, Nordica used these provisions to offer refuge to those wanting to flee GUISS, which led to GUISS cutting down on access, implementing a restricted area around crossing points, which forced the refugees to have to climb the border fences in areas where there were no GUISS guards.

In late 2142, one such refugee tried crossing the border at night, at a point with an absence of GUISS guards, but with Nordican guards on the far side. However, their attempt to cross spooked the Nordicans, who believing that a GUISS soldier had come to attack them, shot the civilian. The death sparked further tensions, with GUISS condemning what they perceived to be an attack, initially unaware that they were trying to defect. Regardless, tensions around Leningrad were becoming fierce, with many believing war to be imminent.

## Course of the War

### Invasion of Nice

When NESR forces invaded the Francian city of Nice, which killed several thousand soldiers and residents, the Neo-European War Council saw it as time to declare war against NESR and GUISS. This was immediately followed by The Realm's own declaration of war against NESR and GUISS. [more detail]

### Ladoga Offensive

The Ladoga Offensive began the day after Nordica’s declaration of war on GUISS. It centred upon Lake Ladoga, which was shared between GUISS and Nordica. Its key objectives were to Capture Leningrad, Secure the entire coast of the lake in order to prevent resupply across it, as had been done historically when the lake froze, and build a fortified position on the far side. Nordica needed a large push at the start of the war, in order to gain a significant buffer zone with GUISS. That way, when it got pushed back, it would be into captured GUISS territory, and not its own. The primary objective of GUISS was simply to defend the city of Leningrad.

#### Border Fighting

Conflict on the border was difficult, with significant loss of life. Nordica had amassed a significant force, tasked with pushing deep into Russia. and whilst GUISS had a more limited force at the border, due to it already fighting **God’s Duty** in the far East, leaving the northern border with Suomi relatively underequipped. However, GUISS maintained a strong defence in the south, where the border lay **just west of Leningrad**. As a result, Nordica quickly broke through the line in the North, but took longer in the south. GUISS forces there dug in amongst the outskirts of Leningrad, though to the South of the city, Guissan forces were routed, allowing for the Nordican army to advance.

#### Seizing the South of the Lake

After successfully passing the border region, Nordican forces began to surround the city of Leningrad, met by forces from the North. This allowed them to both encircle the contingent stationed to protect the city, as well as to guarantee the transportation of supplies across the Gulf of Finland, in case the **Silver Arrow Bridge** was made unusable by bombing (which did eventually occur). From here, they pushed eastward, along the shore of **Lake Ladoga**. This would provide Nordica with a buffer against a future attack, while allowing them to mount their own deeper into GUISS.

#### Svir River Push

During this time, an attack came from the State of Karelia, in between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega. With GUISS distracted further west, Nordican forces quickly crossed the Svir river, preventing the use of the Volga-Baltic Canal network towards Leningrad. The push continued south until it met with Nordican forces from the earlier attacks at Domozhirovo. This would complete the capture of the lake, blocking its use to re-supply the city of Leningrad across it during the winter.

#### Fortifying the Front Line

Upon completion, the army began to create a series of defensive positions, across their new front line. The heaviest of this was positioned towards Tikhivin, from where GUISS could potentially launch a counterattack. Outposts equipped with artillery positions were distributed along the length of the front, with barbed wire and fences between them. These also had several access points, both to allow defectors, and eventually their own passage into Russia for the second phase of their campaign.

#### Siege and Capture of Leningrad

While the Ladoga Offensive was completed in a couple of weeks, capturing Leningrad proved much more difficult and time-consuming, with the city being under siege for 10 months before falling to the Nordican Army. This was largely due to a number of forces personally stationed in the area, by the commander of the GUISS military, Agripin Tarasov, including a few of his own personal guards to defend key sites in the city. An initial attack of the city by Nordica began in the South, both trying to subdue the city, and to capture the strategically important **Kotlin Island and Causeway**. It would later gain support when the **Vyborg group** reached the city from the North. Nordica would capture the causeway, opening up the City to Naval attack. Immediately afterwards, Nordica deployed the **Vanern class NMS Tallinn** to the area, to harass coastal parts of the city. Meanwhile, the Army had pushed significantly into the outskirts of the city, taking a number of key bridges along the Neva. This was followed by a series of naval landings, under the cover of Nordica’s air superiority. Under pressure from multiple sides and cut off from supplies, the city surrendered on 22nd March 2146.

#### Consequences

Victory on this front was instrumental for the longevity of Nordica's war effort, as it provided an opening for the creation of a substantial buffer from GUISS attack, which would be achieved in the following year. In turn, this bought time for Nordica, whilst making it harder for GUISS to expel the invaders. Furthermore, the loss of Leningrad was a significant hit to GUISS morale, although those who knew of the **People's Wrath**, hidden beneath the city, were happy to let the Nordicans think they had won.

### Invasion of Trans-Poland

Fighting in Trans-Poland began on 15th May 2145, eight days after war was first declared. All major parties had a stake in the fighting here, and such, fighting would be quite intense. The fighting ended with the surrender of Warsaw in the February of 2146.

#### Initial fighting

A simultaneous strike came from Prussia to the North and West, and Belarus to the Northeast. Resistance was mostly lead by NESR, with GUISS occupied with fighting in the far East, and as such dedicating very little to their allies in the early stages of the war. Neo-Europe wished to reunite it's territory, and provide itself protection from an attack towards Berlin, like had occurred in its civil war 20 years prior, whereas Nordica merely wanted a forwards position to launch an attack into the Ukraine and eventually the Caucasus, hoping to deal a quick blow to GUISS. The loss of Trans-Poland would be a difficult loss for NESR, as they would lose a mainland connection with GUISS, which would hinder their supplies and any chance of reinforcements from their larger ally. Fighting here was difficult, mostly due to high morale on both sides, fed on both sides by vicious propaganda and a sense of national and ideological pride.

#### Securing the Vistula

Of particular importance to the success of this offensive was the capture of major population centres within the Vistula's watershed, including Warsaw, Kraków, Lviv, and, Bydgoszcz. The Alliance would press their advantage in the region, having initially surrounded Trans-Poland on three sides, splitting their forces, they would exploit vulnerabilities in the Polish Defence, making massive headway early on. NESR would begin to regroup, and slowed the advance, however found themselves unable to dislodge the invaders anywhere, with the notable exception of Warsaw, where experienced NESR soldiers came up against relatively inexperienced recruits from Neo-Europe. These too would fall in time, though not without heavy resistance. Alliance forces would eventually capture much of the Vistula basin, although an area around Warsaw would hold out, aided by daring supply runs by NESR deep into occupied territory. The attackers would begin to drive out the remaining pockets of NESR troops elsewhere in the state, before advancing on to the coast. Warsaw would continue to hold out.

#### Carpathian Attacks

With much of the flattest parts of the state under Alliance occupation, NESR forces fortified themselves amongst the Carpathian mountains, where they held a geographic advantage, as well as the opportunity to fall back into Czechoslovakia, although it too was becoming occupied by Neo-European forces. While they were currently unable to retake Trans-Poland, the Alliance army would have to move on, with Nordica planning an all out offensive along the Black Sea coast, and Neo-European forces likely needed in retaking lands in the Balkans, which would give NESR forces a chance to strike, potentially turning the war in the Comintern's favour. As a result, The Alliance coalition would have to dislodge the NESR forces before moving on. Fighting was at its worst in the region, with a number of suicide charges carried out by NESR forces, becoming increasingly frequent as the Alliance would see more success. The last NESR forces in the Carpathians were captured on 2nd January 2146, around two weeks after Czechoslovakia finally fell to Neo-Europe.

#### The Fall of Trans-Poland

With much of Northwestern Trans-Poland under occupation by the Alliance, attention turned to the Southeast, where Trans-Poland met with GUISS along the Black Sea. As securing this area was a primary Nordican objective, they would constitute much of the Alliance forces in the region, while Neo-Europe predominantly tackled the remaining forces in the Carpathians and surrounding Warsaw. Initial plans were to connect the main force from the occupied Northwest of the state with a reserve force, that would begin a push from Belarus. However, the reserves never came, being re-assigned to the north to defend against GUISS's Minsk Push. This left the main force alone, which slowed the advance somewhat. NESR forces were heavily concentrated in the Southern part of this region, along the Black Sea coast, and an important supply route from GUISS. As such, initial advances were quick, but slowed significantly as they pushed their objective. However, NESR forces would be insufficient to stop the advance, being beaten by Nordica's technological edge, and a newfound air superiority. Reinforcements were requested from GUISS, but denied by Tarasov, since he had already used most of what little manpower he could scavenge from GUISS's reserves to defend Leningrad, and press an offensive into Sudriland. They were told to 'hold out until we capture Minask', although that never happened. With the exception of Warsaw and the Carpathians, Trans-Poland was completely occupied by December.

#### Consequences

The fall of Trans-Poland had dire effects on the Comintern's war effort, driving a buffer between NESR and GUISS, meaning NESR would struggle to import weapons, munitions and supplies from Its ally. It was partly due to this reason that they would attack Constantinople later in the war, as controlling it would be instrumental in reopening resupply routes with GUISS. For its part, GUISS now found the Ukraine in danger of invasion from two sides, something that Nordica would capitalise on in the coming weeks.

### Invasion of Patagonia

With a number of Patagonia's most major cities located directly across from their mutual borders with The Realm Nations of Chile and Argentina, few expected NESR's South American outpost to withstand Invasion for long, least of all, NESR's command, who largely left the territory to fall. The one advantage it did hold, it's remoteness, was overcome quickly by a stunning invasion by Chile, beginning two weeks after the onset of war. The hardest fighting occurred along the Rio Negros, where Patagonian troops held back the Argentinians, though were progressively dislodged by the Chileans pushing downstream on the opposite bank. Within two months, much of Patagonia had been captured. A contingent of their army tried to flee from the Valdes Peninsula, though their escape was intercepted by a Neo-European fleet from the Falklands, and they were captured. Further south, the city of Comodoro Rivadavia held out, but was successfully taken by late August 2145.

#### Consequences

Overall, the Patagonian offensive was of little consequence, though upon completion, Chilean troops would be redirected elsewhere, commonly serving alongside Nordica as elite units.

### Siege of Hong Kong

Six months into the war, Hong Kong was besieged by GUISS forces, limiting its tactical abilities as a Neo-European base.

### Minsk Push and Velikiya Counteroffensive

The **Minsk Push** was an attempt by GUISS forces to take the key Nordican city of Minask, as a direct response to Nordica's successful push on the region surrounding Lake Ladoga to the north. It was met by stiff resistance, and resulted in the **Velikiya counteroffensive** when their forces were routed.

#### The Minsk Push

The main objectives of the Minsk Push were to capture the state capital of Sudriland, Minask. The city's capture would demoralise Nordica, and provide relief to NESR, who were losing ground in Trans-Poland to both Nordica and Neo-Europe. For the offensive, Supreme Marshall Tarasov took direct command over the forces in the region, disobeying an order by his General Secretary, Albert Jach to reinforce the bulk of the army in Siberia against **God's Duty**. Instead, he marched his men towards Minask, hoping to deal a devastating blow to the Nordicans before they could capture Leningrad. With Nordica mostly prioritising the **Ladoga Offensive**, they were less equipped to deal with a GUISS attack. This was compounded with nerves surrounding the lack of proper resistance in the North, leading them to believe GUISS would launch a decisive, all out attack in the region (not knowing their forces had instead been sent East to deal with God's Duty). As a result, GUISS made massive advances respective of their relatively small group. However, Nordican resistance increased as they had more success in the region.

#### The Velikiya Counteroffensive

Mostly due to a lack of manpower on the part of GUISS, (which was characteristic of the fighting between Nordica and GUISS at this stage of the war), GUISS forces were routed **near Poltask**, in Northern Sudriland. A counteroffensive began to capitalise on this, hoping to cut off the contingent of GUISS forces before they could return, in the form of a plunging attack from Velikiya. Whilst the path the GUISS forces had taken was cut off by the Nordican troops, the encircled GUISS forces would have an opportunity to flee through the frontline developing to their East. Nordica pushed to ensure this wouldn't occur, successfully stopping the retreat. However, they captured very few men, as many of them became involved in more and more suicidal attempts to flee, and likewise, when in the face of capture, a trained GUISS soldier would chose an honourable death instead. The last GUISS soldier surrendered on the 6th February 2146. Owing to a successful counteroffensive by Nordica, the Minsk Push was a **complete loss for GUISS**, who staged no further attacks into the country until later in the war, when they were much better equipped, and had the full support of their army.

#### Consequences

Successfully repelling the invasion raised Nordica's morale, reassuring the public that they could hold off GUISS. The failure of this offensive was a turning point in the war, as it further distanced Jach and Tarasov, in part, leading to Jach's execution the following month.

### Black Sea Offensive

The Black Sea Offensive was a Nordican offensive with the objectives of occupying the Ukraine. Like in the North, it would provide Nordica with a buffer against future GUISS attacks, but would also give Nordica an opening to attack into the Caucasus, where they could leverage a number of underground resistance and independence movements to gain a massive advantage. The invasion was an initial success, but following Supreme Marshall Tarasov's Coup in March 2146, the advance slowed to a halt at the Dnieper River, as GUISS forces arrived in the region. Fighting in the region would not move again until 2148.

#### Opening Push

Fighting initially resembled conditions in the North, with little to no GUISS resistance, and where it was found, it was ill equipped and disorganised, owing to the bulk of the army being engaged in Siberia against God's Duty. In fact, progress here was far easier than in the preceding Trans-Poland invasion, given NESR had put up an effective resistance. As expected, much of GUISS's forces in the area were protecting the key city of Kiev, which Nordica would have to take to achieve their objective. With the exception of an area around the city of Kiev, Nordica pushed beyond the Dnieper, intending to continue their invasion.

#### Siege and Battle of Kiev

The City of Kiev first came under siege in late December, 2145, with a significant contingent of the GUISS army defending the city. A number of small scale naval incursions occurred in the Dnieper, with the intention of traveling into the heart of the city, and landing troops, as had been carried out in Leningrad around the same time, however, they were pushed out by GUISS, many being captured. Despite this failing, the city was cut off from supplies, and expected to fall. This was interrupted by Tarasov executing Albert Jach, and taking complete control of the army, since he immediately sent much of GUISS's army West to defend against Nordica's advancement, and would push back their forces to the Dnieper, providing reinforcements and supplies to the defenders. A hard fought battle would begin around Kiev, with Nordican and GUISS forces properly clashing for the first time. After months of fighting, Kiev was fully captured in the October of 2146, although this foothold would remain in flux for much of the war.

#### Arrival of GUISS forces and ensuing Stalemate

With the execution of Albert Jach, Tarasov redirected his forces against Nordica, immediately stopping their advance. GUISS would successfully push them back to the Dnieper River, where Nordica had significant fortification against a GUISS attack, although it meant losing ground in Kiev, which severely damaged Morale. From here, neither side was able to break the deadlock until significantly later in the war.

Nordica's Offensive had come to a complete standstill, jeopardising their chances of victory. Despite their failure, Nordica had found a strong defensive position to prevent a push into their homeland, but had not been able to hinder attempts to resupply NESR, as even though they couldn't transport goods by land, Nordica had no ability to police the Black Sea waters, only possessing one ship (Taken from NESR at Odessa, which was of too great of a tactical advantage to risk losing in a fight).

### The beginnings of The Russian Offensives

Despite public perceptions of a grand push into GUISS, the 'Russian offensive', in reality, a loose grouping of interconnecting Offensives, was the main theatre of war between GUISS and Nordica that lasted between 2146, with the completion of the earlier Ladoga offensive (inexplicably escaping being grouped here despite also occurring in Russia), and culminating in GUISS's surrender in late 2149. Like most Offensives ongoing during the war, it entered a brutal stalemate around 2147. Historians tend to break the Offensives down based on the overlapping designations of Nordica and GUISS.

#### The Barents Sea Offensive

Beginning concurrent to the wider push for Moscow, the Barents Sea offensive was largely a manifestation of Nordican desires for a buffer from GUISS, as the offensive would capture vast swathes of otherwise useless land, and a scattering of smaller cities and towns, with much of the actual fighting done further South. Emblematic of this, there were few elite units among Nordican soldiers here. The few exceptions were Chilean units, with good experience fighting in these conditions, honed in the invasion of Patagonia. The secondary purpose of the invasion was to limit GUISS access to the Arctic Ocean, as it, in conjunction with the Ural Offensive further East, took much of their Arctic Coast West of the Ural mountains. Fighting here was rare unless near a particularly major city or town, with the notable exception of Arkhangelsk, where pockets of resistance held out for months, even managing to launch a naval counterattack in Saami, before eventually falling in early 2147. Unlike efforts further south, the region saw very little long term fighting, such as after Tarasov's coup, as GUISS prioritised their push West, largely neglecting the less valuable North. As such, much of the region was Nordican held for the majority of the war.

#### The Kara Sea Landings and the Ural Offensive

Although initially a part of the wider Barents Sea Offensive, The Kara Sea landings sparked an offensive of it's own, when it was re-designated for the specialised task of cutting GUISS's supply lines from East to West, using the cover of the Urals in doing so. The hopes were, that if successful, GUISS would no longer be able to reallocate forces between the Russian Offensives and those occurring further East, or be able to plug gaps in it's damaged production lines with supplies and weaponry from the relatively unaffected Asian parts of the superstate. Initial advancements were slow, as Nordica took time to divert manpower away from the main push for Moscow, and would only become slower and less successful, as it was the first place Tarasov's reinforcements would hit. Eventually, the Offensive was completely abandoned, with much of the captured territory conceded. The Nordicans set up a defensive line towards the coast, and would remain there for the rest of the war, although a gap was driven between them and the units further West, ending Nordica's dominance of the Arctic.

#### The Push for Moscow

Although able to be further segmented, the 'Push for Moscow' was made up of command groups with a singular objective: capture the GUISS capital of Moscow. Although, it was not believed that doing so would categorically end the war, as many believed GUISS could continue to fight without Moscow for a number of years, especially in Asia. Regardless, a victory here would greatly impact GUISS's ability to win the war. The attacks began in late January 2146, following successes in the Black Sea offensive, which was initially supposed to link up with this push. The fighting began along Nordica's fortifications in captured Ingria, as well as from Velikiya, and although initially struggling to advance past the GUISS army contingents stationed there, the invasion would begin to make massive advancements from here on out, with Jach's refusal to engage with anything other than the civil war with God's Duty in Siberia only becoming more dogged as the insurgency neared its end, even while Nordica advanced towards Moscow. While large chunks of territory were captured, a number of cities were not properly occupied, and entered into prolonged resistance, some of which was still ongoing when Tarasov's forces arrived. With Tarasov taking power, Nordica would begin to encounter stiffer resistance, as GUISS began to properly enter the war, leading to the beginnings of a lengthy and destructive stalemate.

#### The Yaroslavl Offensive

An interesting example of the changes apparent around this time, the Yaroslavl Offensive would begin as part of the wider attempts to initiate an invasion of Moscow, with units converging towards Moscow on multiple sides, with Yaroslavl being distinctly important in relation to that cause. Prior to Tarasov's coup, Fighting here was drastically in Nordica's favour, with it beginning to capture the city. However, Tarasov's reinforcements would come at a crucial time for Yaroslavl, as fighting began to shift in GUISS's favour. in turn, Nordica began to place a large impetus on the capture of the city, resulting in the sort of fighting that would become indicative of the front in the years to come. GUISS would recapture the city in it's entirety by June, though not without substantial losses. The defeat here killed any hopes of capturing Moscow and in turn, that of a quick, decisive victory.

### Beginnings of the British Offensive

The British offensive began in late 2146 with the Caithness Landings, the first successful naval landing in Britain in over three centuries, although partly attributed to the remote location of the landings, With the Alliance hoping to establish a significant presence in the sparsely populated north of the Island, drawing away NESR troops, before conducting further landings elsewhere on the island.

#### The Caithness Landing

The initial landing was composed entirely of Nordican forces, most of which were recent recruits resulting from the now mandatory conscription. They were to run a tight gambit, carving out as large a foothold as possible in the highlands, forcing NESR forces up north to meet it. The large numbers in this wave, as well as counterintelligence suggesting more waves would arrive at Caithness in the coming days, would force NESR troops up north to meet it, at which point, the true invasion would be launched, with simultaneous landings at Penzance, Folkestone, Dunbar, Saltburn, and Morecambe, led by experienced troops from across the Alliance.

The landings at Caithness were largely successful, overwhelming the limited numbers of NESR in the region. As expected, this prompted NESR to begin sending their men north to meet it, opening up the window of opportunity needed for the largest Naval operation since the invasion of America to begin.

#### The Parallel Landings

With NESR's attention directed north, five simultaneous landings would occur across the island state of Britannia, with the intention of conquering the island, including NESR's capital, hoping to push them out of the war. Freeing up men for the fight with GUISS in the East was a major priority for Nordica, and defeating NESR was the clearest way to achieve this outcome. Should they surrender, it would simultaneously free up men fighting in Western Europe, and later America. Likewise, the Nationals needed to decisively defeat NESR to put an end to their conflict, and begin the reunification of Neo-Europe. Of the five designated strike groups, Nordica and the Nationals made up two a piece, while Chilean units would carry out the remaining landing: Nordica's landing at Morecambe and Dunbar, Neo-Europe's landing at Penzance and Folkestone, and the Chileans landing at Saltburn. Of these landings, the one at Morecambe would prove the most difficult, with the strike groups having to sail through the NESR controlled Irish Sea, which was heavily patrolled and mined. In this, it was aided by a number of Nordican warships. The largest loss of life would come at Folkestone, where advancements were significantly delayed, due to heavier than expected resistance, with NESR digging in.

#### Conquer of the North

With Neo-European forces clashing in the south, the men sent north by NESR were split, and sent in whichever way they could, partly a result of NESR being caught off-guard by the scale of the invasion. However, they would come to prioritise the South, where the larger amount of their population was, as well as their capital. This left the North poorly defended from the Realm forces that had by now, become almost impossible to dislodge. Over the coming weeks, a number of key cities would fall, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Newcastle. NESR would attempt to retake the land gained, though would ultimately fail. Having successfully linked up the landings at Morecambe, Saltburn, Dunbar, as well as the Initial landing at Caithness, The Realm forces would begin to push south, targeting Yorkshire and The Humber. In doing so, they would attempt to divert what resistance NESR did have in the region towards Liverpool and Manchester, although needed aid from Neo-European counter-intelligence in doing so. Having sent NESR West, they launched a plunging attack into North Yorkshire, although the communists would realise their mistake, and attempt to reinforce the Area, though in doing so, provided an opening near Manchester, which a reserve force filled, putting pressure on NESR to withdraw their forces back to Manchester, and concede Yorkshire to The Alliance. NESR committed to neither, and instead chose to further divide their forces, though did concentrate them into the key cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield. While this did protect these cities from falling, it left the East coast almost completely open, which Realm forces exploited, crossing the Humber and invading northern Lincolnshire. They would then target the cities NESR had been protecting, with Leeds and Sheffield, on the opposite side of the Pennines as to where NESR held ground, being particularly vulnerable, falling to The Alliance not long after. NESR would eventually stop the advance with reinforcements pooling in form across the country, although by this time, This one front alone had captured around half of the island.

#### The Battle of the Westcountry

The most controversial choice of landing, Penzance, opened The Battle of the Westcountry, with a seemingly insignificant objective of capturing the Southwest Peninsula. However, the invasion was important for two reasons: firstly, it would further split the NESR defendants, forcing them to fight on multiple fronts; and secondly, The Alliance suspected NESR was monitoring both nation's internet connections, with much of their Atlantic network infrastructure running in the waters just off of the coast. On top of this, concerns arose that they would cut the internet access, potentially redirecting traffic onto Nordica's antiquated satellite internet network, slowing all Alliance communication. This would, in turn make co-ordinating military operations significantly more difficult, and thus the landing points of these cables, on the Cornish mainland had to be controlled by The Alliance. Neo-European forces advanced quickly, taking around half of Cornwall within the opening week, taking control of most, but not all of the crucial cable landing points. The advance slowed as NESR would begin to re-organise, mounting a resistance near Plymouth. Neo-Europe would press the objective, and secured the remaining cable landing points. They would struggle to gain much more ground, owing to heavy resistance, though not to the extent of the resistance met by their forces in Kent. By the time NESR reinforcements arrived, they had neared Exeter.

### Finnish Landings

Shortly after Tarasov took control of GUISS, he organised a landing near to Murmansk, in the state of Saami.

### Nordica-GUISS Stalemate and the 'Ocean of Blood'

With the bulk of GUISS's military freed up from the fighting in the East, It now began to push back the invading Nordicans, who fell back to a series of heavy defensive outposts, though still with a substantial buffer of captured GUISS land behind them.

### Chemical, Biological, Nuclear and other such Warfare

Characteristic of the central phase of the war, with a multitude of fronts reaching a bloody stalemate, including the hotly contested Russian and British fronts. A number of unorthodox tactics were put into use, with the intent to hamper their enemies war efforts and cripple morale. Notably only the Neo-European nationals would forbid such practices, although they were complicit in the actions of their main ally, Nordica. The other side of the war was not any better, with both GUISS and NESR engaging in such practices.

#### Bombing of Helsinki

In the days following Tarasov's coup, he authorised a civilian bombing campaign on the city of Helsinki, the culmination of GUISS's anti-Finnish rhetoric, stoked by Kuzmenko before the war. In the bombings, a large number of buildings and other structures were damaged, notably including parts of the Silver Arrow Bridge, connecting the states of Suomi and Estonia. While most of the bridge remained intact, it became inaccessible from the Finnish side, cutting one of only two connections between Scandinavia and the Baltic. The other, direct land access through the captured city of Leningrad, would later be cut by the 'People's Wrath' attack. Nordican Commissioner, Svend Anker condemned the actions, citing a general lack of military assets in the city, and an almost surgical precision in it's bombing of civilian targets. He issued Tarasov with a warning that should GUISS continue targeting civilians, Nordica would reciprocate.

#### Mirravirus

The Mirravirus, specifically **Mirravirus 46C**, was an artificially made virus, capable of killing in both old and young hosts. Its two most known symptoms were coughing up blood and severe breathing difficulty. The disease targeted blood vessels, causing them to swell and burst. This led to the loss of blood, and thus oxygen in its hosts, causing death within days of infection. In some cases, a **cytokine storm** was triggered, similar to that of Influenza, as a result of the afflicted's immune system overcompensating for the virus, which in extreme cases, caused their lungs to fill with fluid. In both instances, the result was commonly fatal. It was intentionally released on NESR after sustained bombings of civilian centres, including **Grimsby** and **Halifax**, and is the first ever use of a Bioweapon in warfare. Due to Mirravirus' artificial nature, a vaccine was developed ahead of time, and administered in secret as part of nationwide vaccination programs across The Alliance. A further four climate adapted strains were released on GUISS following the detonation of the **Peoples Wrath** under Leningrad, as to maximise the impact of the virus. The attack is considered among one of Nordicas ‘Five Horrors’ (a series of damaging strategies for turning the war in their favour, by creating mass death and hysteria, whether in military ranks, or the civilian population). However, it was only designated as the third most severe option.

#### People's Wrath and nuclear attacks in America

With Nordica showing it's hand, GUISS felt that they would soon follow up on their earlier threats, and would begin discussions surrounding the use of the **People's Wrath**, buried underneath the city of Leningrad earlier in the war, when it became clear that the last of their forces would fall. While advisors protested, fearing Mutually Assured Destruction, Tarasov would remain unconvinced that Nordica would not attack. With the death of a close personal friend to Mirravirus in early May, Tarasov would snap. He would personally detonate the device at the end of a publicly broadcasted speech, decrying: "Victory to the people - victory to the whole world of workers - death to capitalist scum!". The attack severely damaged the city and surrounding areas, taking massive casualties. Nordica had to respond, with Anker, seeing this as an unprovoked attack, immediately setting about preparations for a nuclear retaliation. However, he was talked down by Vice-Commissioner Annaliisa Lund. Anker settled on authorising the use of **Seismic Bombs** in future bombing campaigns, with the first of such attacks coming within five hours of the detonation of the People's Wrath. Within this time, Nuclear attacks would also occur on the American cities of **Chicago and Atlanta**, severely damaging both. The aftermath of the Nuclear attacks would be the closest humanity would come to the nuclear apocalypse, with tensions at an all time high around the globe.

#### Seismic Bomb attacks

In the aftermath of The **People's Wrath** attack, Nordica would unveil the second of it's 'Five Horrors', Explosive devices capable of channelling energy into the ground, causing **earthquake-like effects**. The devices, dubbed 'Seismic Bombs' caused destruction on par with that of a small nuclear bomb if used effectively, though generally caused a substantially smaller loss of life, and without the consequences of radiation. The bombs were used on a number of major Russian cities, including Kazan and Samara, although Moscow was deliberately spared. These cities, being far from any major faults, were unprepared for such an event, and a significant number of buildings collapsed, causing a significant death toll. However, since the attack was sub-nuclear, and having already got away with a nuclear attack, GUISS did not escalate further. Furthermore, Tarasov had learnt of the existence of the Five Horrors, and the designation given to the two deployed against GUISS, did not want to risk further escalation for the sake of Mutually Assured destruction.

## Aftermath

### Border Changes

The war, especially due to the Treaty of Moscow, saw significant border changes, mainly resulting in the reduction of GUISS. Their access to the Indian Ocean was completely cut off, with their Persia region as well as Oman being annexed by Neo-Europe and other Arab regions by the Realm. In Europe, GUISS lost a significant portion of Western Russia to Nordica. Much of southern Ukraine, including the Crimea, was ceded to Neo-Europe. It was also made to de-militarise the remaining GUISS portion Ukraine and western Russia. In the far East, GUISS lost Burma, Vietnam, Yunnan, Hainan and Okinawa to Indomalaya.

In the Pacific, Japan and much of Korea were granted independence as a Realm Member, Japan-Korea. The whole of central Asia - including the Turkic regions of Xinjiang, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, among others, became the independent nation of Turkestan (with very close ties to Neo-Europe). Likewise, Tibet was ceded to Neo-Europe and incorporated into the Commonwealth of India.

### Neo-European Governance

Catherine Van Helsing acquired the status of 'Caretaker Premier' for two years following five as the de-facto Premier of the breakaway nations. Likewise, Elaine Von Stuttgart became Empress of the whole of Neo-Europe, though her coronation did not occur for several more years.

### Agreements

Following a period of war crimes, and civilian attacks in the middle of the war, the affected nations would sign a number of Agreements concerning banning the future use of these types of weaponry. It included nuclear disarmament, and the creations of international regulatory bodies to police war criminals. Furthermore, Nordica agreed to destroy it's Five Horrors, although one, the captured Tuttle-Swift comet, which would not be possible to destroy, was kept. Despite never being used during the War for the fear of causing an extinction level event, later mathematical models would show that launching it at the Earth would not cause as dire an impact as speculated. Subsequently, Nordica would later threaten Tekinite Neo-Europe with the comet at the height of the Great Interplanetary War. Furthermore, copies of the designs of Seismic Bombs were not properly disposed of, and were found and recreated in the build up to the Soft War. Despite these clear failings, the Agreements were otherwise, largely successful. Nuclear Devices have been drastically reduced, with each of the superstates holding only a few of the devices. Creation of more nukes are also banned, though developments in the technology would continue, mainly for the purposes of maintenance.

The war also brought about a need for greater dialogue between the three superstates, and thus, a number of International conferences were scheduled, set to occur every five years. These had less of an impact, as they seldomly occurred after the change in leadership of Neo-Europe in 2178, brought about by substantial mistrust among the superstates at this time. Though they were re-established following Tekin's death, and these were largely more successful than their post-war predecessors.

## Impact

### Economic Impact

The War is credited with delaying technological improvements involved with Space Travel by several decades. This in turn caused economic stagnation for industries related to space travel.

All the economies of the superpowers suffered, with each nation having to enforce rigorous 'Restoration' policies post-war. GUISS and Neo-Europe in particular, having much of the war fought across their nations, saw the most austerity, with Realm states, having largely avoided the widespread physical destruction of the war, still seeing economic hardship due to their extensive conscription program leaving behind only a small workforce.

#### Technological Developments

While the War certainly hindered some developments, it enhanced others, such as de-radiation techniques and vaccine development. The horrific loss of life on the Russian offensive influenced Nordica to develop AI guided weaponry, a step on the road to fully sentient AI by the end of the century. [more needed]

### Wider Impacts

The war led to the creation of the Auroa Vanguard Republic as a state, as Jasper Hughes' ideas allowed him to profit from Nordica's war efforts, alongside post-war de-radiation of cities damaged by nuclear attacks. As a result, they, along with The Realm and the help of engineer Lauren Skell, helped him to establish the Country.

Ekrim Tekin began his military career as a result of the war. Some have postulated he may never have come to power without it, however, many believe otherwise.

The Treaty of Moscow would hold GUISS back until the time of the Hoon Dynasty, forcing them into a long-held position of neutrality.