Difference between revisions of "Winter War"

Revision as of 18:36, 3 September 2016

The Winter War (Kuban: Зимова війна, tr. Zymova viyna) or the Great Collapse (Sniatyn: Великий Свернуть, tr. Velikiy Svernut) as it is called in Severyane, was a period of internal chaos and military conflict within the Union of People's Republics. It was instigated by a coup attempt in the Severyanian government from within the ruling Communist Party, throwing the government and country into mass confusion and chaos. The United Khorobri Forces of Kubaniza led by Commander Vasily Bukanko allied with Doran rebel forces led by Marshal Draco Romano and rebels in Angmar to fight for independence for their countries.

Etymology

In Kubaniza, Duran, and Angmar the war is called the Winter War. Reasons for this are varied, however a popular explanation is that, as the war dragged on, temperatures dropped to record numbers in Marzanna. Another is that the name shows the darkness and uncertainty of the times.

Background

Rise of Gregor Perov

Since the foundation of the USR, the Perov family had near direct involvement in the nation's political realm. Vladmir Perov was elected twice as Premier, and two times as the Councilman of National Defense. His son Issac Perov served as Director of the S.N.P., the Uniformed Police Force, four times. Because of this Vladmir's grandson Gregor Perov was raised surrounded by the politics of the Union. At the age of 18 he had become the "People's Representative of the Zlynkan Autonomous Socialist Republic" and had begun his rise to power. From his earlier years, Gregor had developed a hatred for the system of representation his grandfather had put in place. He thought that the equality the Kubanizans and Dorans had been granted was an affront to all "True Vostics", a title he considered only Severyans worthy of holding. He also thought his grandfather's ideology was flawed, and is quoted as have said once: "The only sentient beings that belong on this planet are the Severyan Vostics. I was always offended by my Grandfather's ideology, which called for equality between all ethnicities and races. Other ethnicities exist only to be crushed by the boot of a true Severyan."

During the 1519 Election for the title of Premier, Gregor was chosen and voted in with a 563 to 202 vote. His father Issac would later call it his "proudest moment as a father, but saddest moment as a Vostic." By this time, Gregor had been widely known for his blatantly racist and authoritarian attitude. In the month following his election, he issued a Executive Order that stripped Kubanizans, Durans, Biyrans and any sympathetic Severyans of nearly every right granted to them by his grandfather.

Government policy under Gregor Perov

Coup attempt and purges

Gregor Perov issued another decree, renaming the People's Red Army to the Joint Military of the Office of Dictator (Sniatyn: Объединенный военный Управления диктатора, tr. Ob'yedinennyy voyennyy Upravleniya diktatora). A group of Kubanizan, Duran, Moduran and Severyanian officers banded together in an attempt to use the soldiers under their command to arrest Gregor Perov and his cabinet. The attempt failed when an officer embedded in the mutineer's ranks exposed the plan to Perov. Infuriated, Perov made the decision to purge the military's ranks of anyone he deemed a threat, mostly non-Severyans. He also imprisoned and executed his father and many other Severyanian Representatives who spoke out against him.

Guerrilla warfare

The early phase of the war, beginning in Zechyr of 1520, was defined by sporadic fighting in Kubaniza, Duran, and Angmar. There were few pitched battles in the early years of the war, instead most conflicts between Union and rebel forces were short skirmishes. Raids against arsenals, supply depots, and other government positions were common as rebel forces tried to secure adequate equipment to combat the overwhelming firepower of the Joint Military. Perov's purges of the military left the officer corps inadequately staffed and government responses to rebel attacks were often slow and confused.

Guerrilla warfare in Kubaniza

After many years of underground activity, the United Khorobri Forces, an organization of various khorobri militias throughout Kubaniza led by Commander Vasily Bukanko, rose in open hostility in 1520. Pre-planned attacks against Union military targets, government buildings, and infrastructure in Kubaniza were carried out. In the first months of fighting, Bukanko ordered a strategy of "hit-and-run" against the Union government. The majority of strategic gains made by Kubanizan forces during this time were in the form of much-needed supplies being gathered or stolen from government depots.

Guerrilla warfare in Duran

Guerrilla warfare in Angmar

Angmar had long been a melting pot of Severyans, Kubanizans, and Dorans, while the majority of the population were Moduran, whom were also targeted by Perov. So-called "defense battalions" organized by local Moduran authorities consisted of fighters from all ethnic groups, including some Severyans. Guerrilla ambushes against Union patrols outside of urban areas were common, but rebel assaults against embedded Army positions were very limited because of the lack of heavy firepower possessed by the rebels. On Nueva 9, 1521, the major government arsenal in the town of Valinskaya was raided by Angmaran guerrillas, which gave the outgunned Angmaran "defense battalions" a significant strategic boost.

Rebel cells in Severyane

Many Severyanians believed Gregor Perov had betrayed them, and those they considered their ethnic cousins. Of this group only a few turned to open hostility against the government, as most were afraid of reprisal by the secret police and unsympathetic factions of the Army. Most Severyanians living in the Kubanizan and Doran territories joined various anti-Union militias. Several small, but efficient, guerrilla cells were founded in Severyane, indirectly helping the Kubanizan and Doran rebels by causing confusion within Severyane. The Vostic People's Front, a Communist militia which aided Vladmir Perov's rise to power, was offended by Gregor Perov's rejection of his grandfather's ideology and vowed to fight against him.

The Year of Blood

In early 1522, a notable shift in tactics had started to occur. Short hit-and-run assaults and ambushes, which had dominated the early years of the war, were now being replaced with pitched battles and large assaults against Union positions. The Joint Military became overwhelmed by the sheer number and range of the attacks. Garrisons across the Kubanizan, Duran and Angmar territories came under heavy attack from rebel forces who had captured military equipment from the poorly guarded armories in the area. Entire companies of Union soldiers were killed by rebel assaults. Successes by the government were few and Perov ordered the retreat from nearly every territorial garrison that weren't close to Severyanian border. Union casualties were so numerous that 1522 became known as the Year of Blood in Severyane.

In the chaotic retreat from rebel territories, Union forces left behind hundreds of thousands of tons of equipment, which rebel forces quickly converted to their own use. Government troops in the remaining Union-held territories on the Severyanian border were assaulted en masse by their own tanks and artillery turned against them. By the end of 1522, which is considered to be the worst year for Perov's government in terms of strategic and military losses, Union forces had been pushed almost entirely out of Kubaniza, Duran, and Angmar.

Fighting in eastern Severyane

Rebel advance

Rebel forces kept their momentum in early 1523 and began to penetrate into Severyane itself. The Vostic People's Front and other Severyanian groups opposed to Gregor Perov's government aided the advancing rebel troops as they entered Severyanian border regions. However, as the rebels pushed deeper into Severyane, resistance became more fierce and their advance slowed to a crawl. By the end of 1523, much of eastern Severyane had become a battleground.

Stalemate

One historian described the year of 1524 as "a game of tug-of-war" between the Union and the rebels. Union leadership, dismayed by the success of the rebels, ordered all Joint Military divisions to hold their ground at all costs and retreat was made a capital offense. This, combined with the growing experience of the Joint Military officer corps and a new wave of military hardware being shipped to the front lines from Severyanian and Saratovan factories, halted the rebel advance. Fighting throughout eastern Severyane had devolved into bloody "advance-and-retreat" as one side might capture a territory and then have it taken from them the next day.

The Battle for Nikopol

The heaviest fighting in eastern Severyane was centered around the Severyanian city of Nikopol. The city was of great strategic importance because of its industry and infrastructure. Nikopol was a transportation hub and the intersection of many roads that stretched across Severyane. The Battle for Nikopol began in Vintyr 1523 when the 1st Khapuz Volunteer Battalion, the most forward unit in the rebel forces, reached the outskirts of the city. This marked the first time there has been a rebel presence in or near the city, and for the next year the city would be the site of constant fighting.

Much of the city was destroyed in the battle; either through artillery barrage, airstrike, armor, hand-placed explosive devices, and even the sheer number of bullets fired into structures. Over half of the city's roads were destroyed or blocked by debris. Three-fourths of the industrial sector were destroyed, although factories continued to produce war materiel throughout the battle. The battle was defined by close-quarter fighting and snipers, and has become a national symbol in most of the post-Union states.

Ceasefire

In early Marth, it was agreed between the Union and the rebel forces to observe a temporary ceasefire beginning on Marth 11, 1525 while delegates met to discuss peace in the future Kubanizan capitol of Bukanya. There were numerous violations of the ceasefire along the extended front, and it was during this period that the Kristov Massacre took place. In general, however, the ceasefire was observed by the majority of the opposing armies, and commanders on both sides went to great care to keep their men in line.

Aerial warfare

In the early stages of the war, the Union held unchallenged aerial superiority, and the Joint Military air forces were put to extensive use against Kubanizan, Doran, and Angmaran guerrillas. As Union forces began taking massive casualties in 1522, however, the Union air force proved unable to turn the tide of the battle, and many Union airfields were overrun by rebel ground forces. When, by 1523, Union forces had been pushed out of most of Kubaniza, Duran, and Angmar, and rebel forces began to advance into eastern Severyane, Kubanizan, Doran, and Angmaran officers and soldiers that had survived Perov's purges of the military, as well as Union deserters, provided valuable skills, including skills in aerial combat.

Former pilots were limited, but those that were in supply were put to use training other pilots. From 1523 onward, rebel air forces began to establish a presence in the skies. Their numbers were often limited and their training dubious, but they made a notable imprint on the battlefield, while Union air forces continued to fly in support of Union ground forces.

Naval warfare

During the war, rebel naval activities were almost nonexistent outside of smuggling runs. The Union's use of naval forces against the rebels was mostly limited to blockading the Drakkenmorn and Byras Sea. Occasionally, Union naval infantry would attempt landings on the Doran coast as a part of various operations.

Signing of the Bukanya Accords

War crimes, abuses, and civilian casualties

Total casualties for the war, military and civilian, are varied because the exact numbers are unknown. Many deaths went unrecorded and there are thousands of unmarked graves. The Special Projects Division, under the direction of Gregor Perov, is suspected of committing war crimes and millions of civilians were displaced by the war.

After military failures to suppress the rebellion, Perov ordered the Special Projects Division (SPO) to begin fervently interrogating rebel suspects and prosecuting the government's efforts to repress rebellious activity. SPO operations in Severyane, Kubaniza, Duran, and Angmar were extensive and almost entirely without government oversight. Hundreds of suspected dissidents and rebels were disappeared. Some former SPO members came out many years after the war and spoke, on the condition of anonymity, about war crimes committed by the organization during those years. However, there is very little physical evidence as all documents of the SPO operations were destroyed.