The Blood-Soaked Years

2The Blood-Soaked Years is the period of conflict which occurred between the Republic of Stein l, the Kingdom of Kushutnia and the Kingdom of Ofengenia. The conflict was brought about by the rapid expansion of the Republic of Stein, as well as the mining skirmishes which occurred between the two kingdoms throughout The Fractured Tops. The conflict resulted in the current boundaries of the nations, as well as finalizing the ascension of the Republic of Stein as a regional power, bringing it into direct conflict with the Myosian Empire. By 487BC the war escalated as both the Heptarchy of Kamizugo and the Myosian Empire joined in, each attempting to knock out what they saw as potential rivals to their powerbases.

Stein's Expansion
The Republic of Stein during the years prior to the conflict had begun a campaign of increasing it's influence throughout the city-states and towns which laid within the Stein watershed. Having overcome resistance in the towns of Wasburg and Keldinhonach, the republic turned it's eyes towards the port city of Strauter. During this time, the Strauter was seen as a nominal protectorate of the Kingdom of Ofengenia, and as such, overtures by Stein were met with hostility from the Kingdom. While this hostility initially forced Stein to back down in it's ambitions, the election of Dominus Wittigis in the year 543BC saw this completely change. Wittigis believed that the Kingdom of Ofengenia was too weak to enforce it's claims and protect the cities it had deemed it would, and began a ruthless campaign of influence within Strauter, eventuating in the election of a pro-Stein city premier, known as Premier Ansis in 539BC. This election saw much of the Ofengenian influence removed from the city, including the Ofengenian protectorate force which was garrisoned in the city at the time. These transgressions saw the Ofengenian ruler, King Leufred II declare an embargo against Stein traders, which greatly affected the ability of the Republic's merchants to trade throughout the Jade Gulf. Facing a mass downwards spiral in terms of approval, Wittigis positioned a host on the Chausian Longway, cutting the entire Kingdom of Ofengenia from land route trade with the rest of the continent.

At the same time, tensions over Keldinhonach began to spillover, as fishermen and traders from the Republic on the Stein began encroaching on areas which had been claimed by the Kingdom of Kushutnia. By 542BC, the tensions had reached a boiling point, and King of Kushutnia, King Toki Kiyohide, sent out the Kingdom's river navy to deal with the encroachers. While initially peaceful, skirmishes between the naval force and well armed merchant fleets began to stream out of control, and by 537BC the Kushutnia navy was on the doorsteep of Keldinhonach, demanding the town surrender. This forced Stein's hand, as the protector of Keldinhonach, and provoked the Republic into a response.

Mining Skirmishes
The northern end of the Fractured Tops is home to many copper, gold, and silver mines. These mines are incredibly profitable ventures for the nations which work them, and as such, war between the two Kingdoms which sat at the northern end of the tops was near inevitable. Skirmishes over mines and mining trails had been recorded since atleast 1034BC, with tribes and mining villages coming to blows over the resources which existed near the surface of the mountains. Beyond this, the two Kingdoms have seen much conflict over the region, with Ofengenia yearning to take over the profitable mining towns of Ichiamaka, Kawani, and Hejizunoku. Over the centuries, various attempts at influencing and outright controlling these towns have occurred due to Ofengenia's expansionist desires, but Kushutnia has been able to hold onto it's territory.

By the mid 500BCs the region had seen multiple conflicts between the two kingdoms, with the mining towns switching hands often. The last conflict, known as the Fourth Mining Conflict (662BC-623BC), was a decisive victory for the Kingdom of Kushutnia, and ended in a peace which saw the Kingdom take control of all three mining towns, leaving only the far less profitable town of Neuheierwol as Ofengenia's last mining town. These concessions saw King Odger IV overthrown during the Geslahlin coup, and his daughter Queen Oydela take power. Oydela's took a relatively inwards-facing stance during her reign, developing the town of Neuheierwol to become a profitable mining venture, while also increasing the quality of the Ofengenian military through reforms and the replacement of ineffectual military leaders. These reforms provided the next ruler of Ofengenia, Oydela's son King Leufred, the ability to start probing the Kushutnian defences throughout the Fractured Tops, and by the ascension of King Leufred II during the year 546BC, these probing incursions had turn back into outright skirmishes once more.

The opening phase (536BC-505BC)
The placement of the Steinian host on the Chausian Longway had forced Ofengenia's hand. King Leufred II brought forth a host of around 20,000 to force the Steinian host to back off the Longway. However, as the Ofengenian host led by Duke Theodrad of Kich moved to intercept the Steinian host, it became clear that there was no backing down on the side of Stein. Dominus Wittigis had commanded that Lord Videric not move the host from it's position on the Longway, and to wait for reinforcements from Stein. These orders meant that despite the significantly larger host bearing down on him (Lord Videric's host counted ~12,000 in its ranks), he was forced to wait without ability to retreat. The Steinian situation was made even more untenable as a Kushutnian host numbering 25,000 began to make it's way up the Longway from Ichiamaka.

In Mid-June of 535BC, Lord Videric wrote to Wittigis explaining the situation, and presenting a tactical withdrawal that would force the two opposing forces into combat with eachother. While the letter was initially rebuked by Wittigis and his military council, persuasive arguments made by Sur Vidimir managed to change the minds of several key officers, allowing Videric to begin the withdrawal despite Wittigis' objections. The withdrawal brought the Steinian Host back towards Strauter, and was done within days of both opposing host's arrival, leaving little time for a change in mission from either side. This therefore brought the Ofengenian and Kushutnian host's into conflict by the start of July, and the first battle of the war ensued.

The Battle of the Tri-Point (July 535BC)
The Battle of the Tri-Point started with the Kushutnian host's leader, Count Otagi Katatane, attempting to meet with Duke Theodrad in a parlay. While the parlay was accepted, and initial discussions were made in the way of peaceful negotiation, with even talks of combining forces to lay low the Republic of Stein, talks eventually broke down a few days in due to the influence of King Leufred's advisors promoting war against the Kushutnian's. As such, both sides left the parlay within a week, and set for battle the following morning.

Duke Theodrad's cavalry had been assailing the Kushutnian camp with minor raids as soon as the parlay had broken down, and as morning rose, the cavalry force only intensified their raids. These raids broke the discipline of around 1,500 troops led by Sanjou Sukekane, son of Count Sogo Sukekane, who moved to intercept and destroy the raiding forces. This breaking of ranks caught the majority of the Kushutnian force off-guard, and forced many to believe that a general assault had been ordered by Count Otagi. An additional 2,700 men streamed out of the camps, some barely dressed with their armour, and other missing weapons, and move to assault the Ofengenian camp.

Despite the abrupt arrival of this attacking force, the harassment by the Ofengenian cavalry allowed time force the Ofengenian troops to be prepared and set about organizing themselves. As such, once the unruly force of Kushutnian's reached the camp, they were meet with a well-prepared and setup force, who went about dismantling whatever stood infront of them. While more men streamed into the battle, Count Otagi was finally able to get peace in the camp, and re-organize the ranks. Though this came to late for around 2,000 Kushutnian men who lay dead infront of the Ofengenian camp, slaughtered in the ill-advised attack. Sanjou was one of these men, cut down by the sword of a cavalryman as he attempted to push towards Duke Theodrad's camp and kill the man.

With 2,000 of their forces dead, and a further 600 either wounded or routed, dissent began to spread throughout the Kushutnian camp, leading to a further 2,000 losses due to deserting or martial punishment. Within 3 days, the morale was so bad within the Kushutnian camp that Otagi was forced to act, as to save himself form being killed. The constant stream of harassment from the Ofegenian raiders had done little to help the morale, and infact had been able to disturb the Kushutnian supply train for a day, leaving many of the host's men undernourished.

These circumstances forced Otagi to order a withdrawal back towards Ichimaka, conceding the tri-point of the roads to the Ofengenian's. The battle left 4,000+ Kushutnian's dead or missing, with the Ofengenians suffering only 600 casualties. The perceived failure of Count Otagi to push back the Ofengenians, as well as bring Kushutnia into a second war was meet with great displeasure as news reached King Toki. This anger was only fueled further as Count Sogo pushed for Otagi's execution, believing him to be at fault for his son's death. The internal strife led to a restructuring of the military, with an additional 15,000 men brought up to replace losses, as well as Otagi being replaced with Duke Honma Kageyuki, son of war hero Duke Hudo Kageyuki.

As the Kushutnia's continued to repair their host, the Ofengenian host began to swell with an additional 16,000 troops and Duke Theodrad began to march his troops towards the city of Strauter, hoping to quickly envelope the city and avoid a protracted siege. Unfortunately for Theodrad, Stein had received word of the Kushutnian's defeat at the tri-point, and had moved an additional 8,000 men into Strauter as reinforce Lord Videric's host (now numbering ~24,000 including the Strauter garrison). As such, once Theodrad's host made it to Strauter, they found a city prepared for a siege, and whose unfettered access to the sea would mean there was no risk of running out of supplies. This forced Theodrad's hand, who ordered his host to set up camp and begin the creation of siege works and temporary shelter.

The siege forced a stalemate in the war, and for the next 7 months no progress was made by any side. Impatience had begun to set in amongst the court of King Leufred II by this point, and it was determined that a naval force was to be built up to blockade Strauter and force an end to the siege. The naval force of Ofengenia was meager when compared to that of Stein's and as such, the build-up was forced to be on a mass-scale as to provide a naval force on a proper timeframe.

At the same time this was happening, warfare on the river Stein had begun to ramp up. Trading and Fishing fleets under the protection of Stein had been under attack by the Kushutnian river navy since before the war had been declared, and as such had been forced to fight back without Steinian assistance. However, now the Stein Navy was able to assist their associated traders/fishers, and began a campaign to rid the river of Kushutnian influence. This was deemed of upmost danger to those in Kawa, whose city lay right on the rivers banks. Despite the Kushutnian navy's best attempts, it would eventually be shattered in The First Battle of the River Stein (BSY).

The First Battle of the River Stein
With the destruction of the Kushutnian navy, the city of Kawa now was unprotected from assaults from the river, and as such, the Stein navy began ferrying troops towards the capital of Kushutnia, as well as producing ships with siege mangonels attached on their aftdeck. The impending assault on Kawa forced the Kushutnian royal family to flee the city for Bardelba. This act of cowardice saw many of Kawa's aristocracy revolt against their king, and proclaim the city as independent from the Empire, creating The Free City of Kawa, led by a Princeps Nobilis. The first Princeps Nobilis was Princep Nobilis Satou Hikotomo, who set about drafting peace terms to be provided to Stein and Ofengenia as soon as possible. While