Great Gintem War
| Great Gintem War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
The Grand Coalition Tschintiessteiss Küüztschüüsches Kingdom of Gistetschö JatschüümürnsNon-Gintem participants  Dhimrai Soderon |
The Heavenly League Kingdom of Skiischüüschi Kingdom of GistetschöKingdom of Hinzgööss Kingdom of Üü Grand Principality of Wütschööss ??? Non-Gintem participants  Rirshei Vrishia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Hönwüsö IV Azürii Håbååschyy X Murnschjuschun Achseschriib |
Trötschüsz Vydysåchso Zevisasjat Gistahijas Murnschjuschun Wråwu | ||||||
The Great Gintem War (Tschintierst: jer-den-cýr-cin-de-den-e Jerden Hüür Hindedene) was a military and religious conflict that engulfed the modern day Gintem Confederation from 4327 CY to 4375 CY. The conflict was mainly centered around Kunwidya religious uprisings and reforms brought to the Gintem Confederation, and TSC efforts to control them.
Background
Kunwidya missionaries had been arriving on the shores of North Yazland since the Xth century, however their doctrine only began to grow in popularity near the Xth century. In particular, one state within the Gintem Confederation that emerged as the leading stronghold of Kunwidya thought was the Kingdom of Skiischüüschi. Having converted in the Xth century CY, King x of Skiischüüschi used Kunwidya doctrines to justify his strengthening hold over the traditional nobility of his kingdom, and used his newfound internal strength to posture himself as a new threat to the two rising powers of Tschintiessteiss and Küüztschüüsches. The success of x caused numerous other Gintem rulers to convert for the newfound political independence gained from the opposition to the old order, such as the Kingdom of Üü, the Kingdom of Hinzgööss, and the Grand Principality of Wütschööss. As more states began to convert, conflicts arose between the new Kunwidya states and the original X ones. Within the Gintem, the Heavenly League was formed as an informal alliance between Kunwidya states to protect their political interests, and began to push for reforms that would change or dissolve the systems of the Gintem Confederation. By 4324, numerous reforms had been passed through that lead to the weakening of traditionally TSC and KSC power structures, by which point the King x of TSC declared the Kunwidya religion to be a threat to Gintem culture as a whole, vowing to have it removed from the confederation as a whole. He was quickly joined by KSC and numerous other non-Kunwidya states in the Grand Coalition, an alliance of non-Kunwidya states intended to halt the spread of the Kunwidya religion within the Gintem. The Grand Coalition also obtained support from numerous other non-Kunwidya states who were struggling with the political effects of its spread, such as the kingdoms of Soderon and Dhimrai. By the eve of the war in 4327, nearly the entire confederation was split between the two factions, and internal politics had completely broken down.
The initial conflict
Gistetschö succession crisis
In 4326, the reigning King of Gistetschö, Murnschjuschun Vönön, died, and he was succeeded by his son Murnschjuschun Wråwu. In a surprising move, Wråwu announced his official conversion to Kunwidya following the strict traditionalist rule of his father, enraging the Grand Coalition and causing panic amongst the non-Kunwidya nobility. Fearing the potential fall of the south to Kunwidya influence, the kings of TSC and KSC had forged documents circulated within the confederation that revealed Wråwu to be illegitimate, and thus ineligible for the succession. Propping up his brother, Murnschjuschun Achseschriib, as the legitimate heir, KSC demanded that Wråwu yield his illegal authority, or be subject to a military intervention. He denied, and so KSC began its invasion of Gistetschö in 4327. Since Gistetschö was not part of the Heavenly League, no initial large scale war broke out between the two sides, and the war stayed localized mostly to KSC and Gistetschö. By 4328, the last of Wråwu’s forces had been retreated, and he was forced into exile in Skiischüüschi.
X incident
With Wråwu’s exile, and Achseschriib now crowned as King of Gistetschö, TSC and KSC demanded that Wråwu be overturned and imprisoned for illegally stealing the throne of Gistetschö. King Trötschüsz Vydysåchso of Skiischüüschi agreed to overturn Wråwu on the condition that the Grand Coalition be disbanded, and that TSC and KSC stop blocking Trötschüsz’s proposed reforms to the confederation. These terms were blatantly unacceptable to TSC and KSC, leading to a deadlock of negotiations throughout 4328 and 4329, time which Wråwu used to correspond with the King of Vrishia. Wråwu promised that if Vrishia intervened and restored him to the throne, he would secure them wealthy land on the east coast of the confederation. When these letters were intercepted by KSC soldiers, the member states of the Grand Coalition became outraged, and demanded that Wråwu be overturned immediately. When the Trötschüsz refused, the entire Grand Coalition formally declared war on Skiischüüschi for housing traitors within the confederation. The Heavenly League followed suit, and in 4330 declared war on the Grand Coalition.
Course of the war
4330 – 4334
The initial moves of the war were extremely chaotic, as both sides struggled to manage the logistics of individual forces. Both sides ended up delegating the conflict into various regional blocks to which one state was responsible, mercenaries also became highly prevalent in this period, as they were much easier to manage and deal with than the various coalition forces. One immediate problem that the Heavenly League faced was their position sandwiched between the forces of TSC and KSC. The Heavenly League had little foreign support or backing, and were more poorly supplied than their enemies, and had less financial capability for the usage of mercenaries. Under the command of the Azaldian mercenary Zevisasjat Gistahijas, the Heavenly League focused on a lightning offense designed to take out TSC before dealing with KSC in the south. While the coalition was still preparing, the League quickly blazed north, capturing important settlements and pushing out small TSC garrisons along the way. By the end of 4331 they had reached the border of TSC. TSC forces were quick to respond, and with the Battle of X, both sides were left in a stalemate situation. In the Northwest, more gains were made, forcing a coalition retreat from the areas of (STATE 13) and (STATE 24). Much to the dismay of Zevisasjat however, progress eventually slowed as TSC forces regained their organization, and began to push back in 4333. In mid 4333, a dual offensive by KSC and TSC was launched, sandwiching the main forces of the Heavenly League. The northern armies commanded by Zevisasjat were confronted in the Battle of X, leading to a close defeat at the hands of the coalition. In the South, the forces of KSC won a major victory at the Battle of X, crippling the offensive capabilities of the southern forces. By 4334, King Trötschüsz and Zevisasjats were on the backfoot having lost major ground in the south and north, and risked having the league cut in two.
Vrishtic involvement 4334 – 4340
Zevisasjat begged King Trötschüsz to find some sort of international ally, lest the entire front collapse. At the behest of the exiled Wråwu, Trötschüsz offered a deal to the King of Vrishia. Vrishia would support the Heavenly League in the war, and in exchange was offered free rein to take whatever land they saw fit within KSC and other Eastern Gintem states supporting the coalition. The King of Vrishia accepted, and in mid 4334, Vrishtic armies began their advance into KSC.
With the newfound involvement of Vrishia, the Heavenly League was able to focus mainly on the northern front with TSC, leaving the south to be relegated to a few minor skirmishes. In 4336, the league started their full frontal push through the northern front, with the intention of finishing off TSC. These efforts would be thwarted at the Battle of Tuustuscho in 4337, where Azürii Håbååschyy would score a major victory for the Coalition. Three more battles would be fought in (STATE 13), with two Heavenly League victories but a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Jatschüümark, forcing a retreat from (STATE 13) and the Coalition regaining a foothold in the north.
(Insert stuff about the front with Vrishia here)
By 4339, Zevisasjats and many other Heavenly League forces decided on a change of tactics, assaulting TSC via the northeast rather than the northwest. X