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| Ramon War | |
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| Years | 293 AC - 299 AC |
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The Ramon War (so named after the Rámon tree many soldiers ate from to supplement their rations) raged between 293 AC and 299 AC. The war itself was between five sides. Initially, it was triggered by invading Eronidas that conflicted with the Teledden who lived in this contested land. This, in turn, caused Regalian lumber camps to spread further north, assuming they could also encroach on Elven land, which triggered hostility from the Selvath Elves who lived hidden among the high tree canopies. Regalia sent in armies to assist the Tierravera locals, which triggered an outbreak of Evolist Kathar who tried to use the local chaos to create Void-worshiping cults. This five-way conflict between Regalia, the Teledden, the Selvath, the Eronidas, and the Kathar, exposed critical supply-line weaknesses in Regalia's capability to fight wars in tropical rainforests. Soldiers were under-equipped to fight Eronidas, under-supplied from constant raids on their transports by the Selvath, and some outright disappeared from Demon summonings in the dark forest. This war is remembered as one of the bloodiest wars the Regalian Empire fought due to the sheer amount of casualties from diseases alone. The tides turned in 298 AC, when Emperor Alexander I managed to create a treaty with the Eronidas, thus siding both Regalia and them against the others who still fought each other. Outnumbering the other singular parties together, this alliance managed to push the Teledden and Kathar out. Regalia claims a victory in this war but the Selvath was never truly defeated, and still engaged in skirmishes with the local Tierraveran settlers. The land continues to be marked as “Contested Land” because Regalia has been unable to formally establish control over the region. Many Knights and soldiers have mental breakdowns from their experiences in the Ramon War because of the terrible things they experienced and saw in those rainforests, induced either magically by the dark Kathar Magic or by the sheer amount of pathogens and dangerous animals that hunted them.
Prelude
Since the Cataclysm, the northern part of Westwynd was a patchwork of various states, each with competing interests. The Eronidas Polon of Matu Sabu carved out territory for itself from the remnants of the Allorn Empire, which itself broke up into several rump states, with the successor Northern Marches taking up much of this region. At the same time, the Tierravera of the Regalian Empire had established their territory around the eastern coast. Within the forested interior were the northern stretches of the West Selvarian Wald, fiercely guarded by the Selvath Elves. With all of these competing groups in the same area, a conflict over territorial ambitions was inevitable.
The first skirmishes in the area were between the Teledden of the Northern Marches and the invading Eronidas of Matu Sabu, who desired additional territory and resources. At the same time, logging companies of the Tierravera people saw the conflict between the Teledden and Eronidas as an opportunity to take territory of their own from the elves, who were unable to fight a two-front war. However, this encroachment led to conflict with the Selvath, who were hostile to all parties that trespassed into their jungles. As a result of invasions, encroachments, and hostile defenders, the area soon turned into a multi-front war, with each side fighting against the other for claims over the territory. These skirmishes also caught the attention of Kathar forces from Rokhanna Änkhor, who traveled to the region to hold Void rituals and summon various Demons from the chaos.
News eventually reached the Imperial Court of Emperor Alexander, who had recently ascended the throne as the first Kade Emperor. With a need to demonstrate the strength of the Kade Dynasty as a worthy successor of the Ivrae’s imperial legacy, Alexander gave the order to send troops to the front lines to assert Regalia’s land claims over the Contested Land. Soon the Regalian Navy began to transport soldiers to the regional capital of Daenshore before marching into the forests of Frontierra to meet the multiple forces fighting against the Tierravera locals.
Experience
Among Soldiers
Most soldiers had a negative experience during the Ramon War, and fewer are capable of recounting their times without experiencing a mental breakdown from the trauma they suffered. Unlike the jungles of Hadar, the interior of Westwynd featured far more hostile creatures that would stalk and ambush unsuspecting Regalian scouts. The heat and humidity of the jungle environment also led to diseases spreading quickly throughout the rank-and-file soldiers, with those suffering from such mundane afflictions being considered the fortunate ones. The Selvath Elves were constantly harassing the Regalian supply lines while also setting up booby traps on the jungle floor, hidden beneath the dense foliage. Even then, the torturous Selvath traps were considered merciful when compared to the Kathar. Many soldiers were taken from their camps in the middle of the night to become unwilling victims for various Void rituals, sometimes even triggering the appearances of lesser Demons for the mundane Regalian population to suffer against. It is said that of all the forces fighting against Regalia, the Kathar were the most terrifying, as while the Selvath acted to defend their territorial claims, the Kathar only existed for the sake of causing as much chaos as possible and could not be reasoned with.
The Ramon War was also the first conflict to feature the Tenpenny Model which favored professional soldiers over levied conscripts. While this professionalization did help with maintaining morale in a difficult situation, the Tenpennies were still freshly established, and so they lacked any real battlefield experience. The Eronidas proved to be the stronger foes in terms of raw martial prowess, with the Teledden coming in at a close second. No comparison could be made when fighting against the Selvath and Kathar, as both forces engaged in guerilla tactics and avoided direct engagements with the army, as a whole.
Among Officers
The officers of the Ramon War fared little better than the soldiers under their command, with their positions of leadership making them prime targets for Selvath and Kathar attacks. It was not uncommon for an army unit to go through a dozen officers over a month, with those that managed to survive growing more paranoid of their probable demise. While the Tenpenny Model allowed for officers to rotate between units without losing tactical cohesion, allowing those on the front lines to take a brief respite from the horrors of the jungle, eventually officers were being replaced by those who had already been traumatized, leading to hesitations in the campaign.
The Ramon War also saw the participation of knights in the conflict, though their experiences were even worse when compared to the Tenpenny officers. The hot and humid climate made fighting in armor difficult, and the armor worn by the knights made them obvious targets for enemy attacks. As the conflict raged on, fewer knights went to fight in the Contested Land, as the ones who made it back home were no longer capable of carrying out their knightly duties. The term Knight’s Sickness became widely used to describe the traumatic episodes experienced by both knights and soldiers in the conflict and remains in the medical lexicon to this day.
Among Command
At the beginning of the war, many of the commanders had gained their commissions via the nepotism of the Regalian Senate and were only placed in charge because their predecessors were killed by Slizzar assassins at the end of the Chrysant War. With competent leaders replaced by unqualified successors, Regalian forces suffered heavily during the start of the war as generals sent troops into the jungles, assuming that it would be just like Hadar with limited resistance. As word of incompetency reached the Imperial Court, Emperor Alexander made the drastic decision to sack over 90% of the command staff, replacing them with younger officers who had risen through the ranks by merit alone and were only blocked from promotion due to political machinations. With the corrupt appointments removed, the next generation of commanders set out to do damage control of the situation. Unfortunately, the guerrilla tactics employed by the Selvath and Kathar were unable to be planned against, and the few battles against the Eronidas and Teledden were too few to develop new strategies for. Ultimately, commanders realized that the current fighting was untenable unless one of the four enemy armies was removed from the picture.
End & Aftermath
As commanders delivered their field reports regarding the stagnation of the front lines, Emperor Alexander made the calculated decision to seek a separate peace with the Eronidas of Matu Sabu, sending Eronidas envoys from Anglia to the Polons as diplomats. These overtures eventually paid off, as Matu Sabu agreed to form an alliance with the Regalian Empire against the multiple elven opponents. With their combined power in numbers, the alliance was able to push the Teledden and Kathar out of the forests, eliminating two enemies from the conflict. With the Selvath hiding within the jungles and avoiding confrontation, it was accepted that there was little more that the alliance could do short of burning the entire forest, which would be contrary to the ambitions of both the Eronidas and Tierravera loggers. In the end, the alliance called the Ramon War to a close, and both sides withdrew to their respective territories. While the Regalian Empire claimed a victory in the conflict, there was no way to hold onto the territories fought over. As a result, the area known as the Contested Land is claimed by all parties, but none can defend their claims from the others.
Review
For the most part, the Ramon War was a conflict fought over a territory that the Regalian Empire never even controlled in the end, with many veterans wondering if the war was worth fighting to begin with. Hundreds of soldiers returned home traumatized from the horrors experienced in the jungles, leading to them picking up habits such as drinking and smoking to cope with the turmoil. Despite these major consequences to the mental health of soldiers, the war did see the removal of incompetent commanders who would’ve caused even more casualties had Alexander kept them in their positions, which ultimately led to a new generation of capable generals that now oversee the Regalian Military. Lastly, the treaty with Matu Sabu set the stage for modern geopolitics on the continent. With the Regalians favoring the Eronidas over the Elves, a growing sense of nationalism began to grow in the Teledden lands. Future conflicts would only further grow these sentiments, culminating in the restoration of the Allorn Empire.
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