Second Turkestan War (S3)

The Second Turkestan War (also known as the Turkmen War) was a major conflict which erupted on February 23rd 2021. A joint force comprised of the UASR, Northern Italy, the United States, and other CAU volunteers fought against the Turkmenbasi nation in Kashgar.

## Pre-war events

Following the First Turkestan War, further tensions arose between the UASR and the Turkmen group. The Turkmen were accused of creating "strange underground tunnels" leading to Moscow, which lead many to believe that they were planning a revenge counter-attack on the UASR. Turkmens were also convicted of committing many terrorist attacks and griefing land, resulting in CAU providing full support to the invading Arstotzkans.

Just a few days prior to the beginning of the war, Arstotzka initiated several bombings in response to Turkmen resistance. It is claimed that this likely prompted the Turkmens to construct the Great Kashgar Pyramid, one of the largest man-made structures at the time. The Turkmen had a population of around 16 people by this point, making them the third most populous nation after Arstotzka and America.

On February 23rd, 17:26 CET, the UASR and Italy formally declared war on the Turkmen.

## Course of the War

One hour after the war began, Arstotzkan airborne teams were deployed around the pyramid from the eastern, southern and northern mountains. Volunteers were placed along the east. After an initial stalemate, a bloody battle ensued, where lots of Turkmens and Arstotzkans both died. This resulted in another, even longer stalemate, which lasted over 3 hours. This gave both sides enough time to respawn and resume the conflict, both bringing significant reinforcements into the battlefield.

The Turkmen began camping the Europe spawn to prevent all enemy entries. This prompted Arstotzkans to move all the way to the Mediterranean spawn area, where they engaged the Turkmen. The attack was a success, so they then made their way back to the battlefield, mostly by foot.

By this point, the battle was becoming more in favor of Arstotzka. The Turkmen mostly remained stationed in tunnels inside the Great Pyramid.

The war witnessed the first tank deployment in the history of Nations combat, as a tank was brought in from Moscow in order to bombard the pyramid. It had little to no effect due to the sturdiness of the structure.

Eventually, in the rear of the pyramid, some unfinished entry was found, and several Arstotzkan soldiers moved in to try and breach the pyramid. That rendered Kashgar almost fully captured, however, some Turkmen members managed to return - sneaking in and killing most people stationed inside, and therefore resuming the battle. The only Arstotzkan inside, which is presumed to be FirstMarshal, managed to take out all the Turkmen that came back. The Turkmen leader, ErdoganPrincip, was hiding in a tunnel at this time in order to buy his men time and ensure a Turkmen victory.

Nearing the end of the war there was a third huge stalemate, and the remaining defenders were forced to leave their hideouts due to war rules. A last stand was made, where the Turkmen charged up the southern hills via tunnels. Seal was killed in this assault, although Arstotzkan leader Proto successfully killed the attackers with submachineguns. With the last Turkmen eliminated, the war was officially over. The UASR-led coalition ultimately came out as victorious.

## Aftermath

This war featured one of the longest single battles in the history of Nations, with the battle over Kashgar lasting for over five hours.

After the war, there were significant changes to international war rules, in order to mitigate camping and tackle issues with respawning. With Kashgar taken, it officially became Arstotzkan territory the next day.

The Turkmen eventually left Kashgar and moved to New Zealand, where the New Zealand War took place two months later.