THE CHUDOKUREN CIVIL WAR
"The situation, as of now, is a bit messy."
-Kirai Tsunoi, head of the army
The Chudokuren Civil War is perhaps the most momentous event to occur to Kyoki Chudoku in modern history. Beginning in earnest around the time of 2012, the war is as convoluted as it is brutal. Best described as a four-way internal conflict, the war has had hundreds of thousands of casualties with each side struggling to gain ground and momentum.
HISTORY
The Chudokuren Civil War has its roots back in the beginning of a democratic movement starting under the reign of Empress Ayuka Matsui. Although a proficient wartime ruler, her policies began to cause issues in the general population, who felt oppressed and under tyranny. Foreign ideals of democracy were able to permeate the nation as information access become more open. Eventually, a group led by a man known as Toichi Nishida began a democratic revolution.
It was crushed by the royal army, and for some time faded into the background. But this resentment continued to grow, to spread. When Ayuka Matsui died, Emperor Sotaro Azuma took charge, and was less restrictive. This appeased some citizens, but also allowed there to be a larger amount of growth for a democratic movement. The ideal had been spread. But not enough to begin another revolt.
It would not be until the reign of Emperor Masakodo Azuma that the revolution began. This ruler was a fiercely paranoid one, who saw threats in every direction, and who wished to crack down on crime and disorder. More restrictions were placed on free speech, public protest was banned entirely, and thus revolution began. Democratic forces gained lightning victories against their enemies, and an assassination was successfully performed on Masakodo, shattering unity as the monarchists were forced out.
A democratic regime, the Republic of Kyoki Chudoku, was formed. Revolutionary leader Kunisada Amemori took control as the first Consul, and served his four year term well. But there was a problem. Many weren't content with this new regime. It struggled to supply many- the monarchists controlled much of the west, including the massive agricultural city of Idaina Nojo and most of the nation's mines.
By the time of the leadership of Kiyoko Uozumi- first and only female Consul of Kyoki Chudoku- it was grim. The monarchists hadn't been idle, outright war breaking out between them and the democratic forces. The conflict was brutal, and conscription enforced. But many weren't weren't happy being pressed into service to fight for a cause they disliked. The democracy wasn't helping them, it was sowing discord and division.
In the course of the war, both sides deployed chlorine attacks and brutal tactics of murdering prisoners of war. The soldiers now often saw their cause as wrong, and had only one thing to comfort them- their fellow comrades in the field. They were fighting for order, but democracy and monarchy weren't going to bring it. A few ambitious commanders began plotting. There was a way to restore order, without supporting a side they begun to despise.
One of these commanders was named Aozora Chiyumi. She was exceptional at sparking rhetoric, and soon their plan formed. The military would march on the democratic government, with the people supporting them, and established an iron-fisted rule to restore order. On the 3rd of March, 2012, Kiyoko Uozumi would be found carved apart, and Aozora Chiyumi was proclaimed "Supreme Overlady of Kyoki Chudoku".
Both the monarchists and the democratic forces now she to face yet another threat, one popular in the east and the south. The military government pushed back the democratic supporters to Nogyo District, and their displacement further forced the beleaguered monarchists back. But the military had miscalculated. They didn't have enough forces to secure quick victory against the insurgents. This war would be a long one, and a brutal one. The military authorised the use of mustard gas in hopes of demoralising the enemy, in hopes of pushing through. They tried every weapon they had access to.
It didn't work. The war became a protracted slaughter, no one side able to gain an advantage. To add insult to injury, in late 2013, a group from Nakusika- which maintained large cultural differences from Kyoki Chudoku- also rebelled. Led by am ambitious and aggressive woman named Esumi Yana, the Nakusikans swept across their ancestral homelands and added yet another side to the conflict.
Thus, the Chudokuren Civil War was born, a war of chaos, division, pandemonium and death. The monarchists, democrats and military all saw themselves not as rebels, but as defending the rightful regime, considering their opposition to be the revolutionaries. The Nakusikans were freedom fighters in their own eyes, and terrorists in the eyes of others. Partisan groups of local militia formed in certain areas in hopes of keeping the chaos away, often failing.
This would be a war to shape a nation- or destroy it.
MAJOR BATTLES
Perhaps the most deadly battle of the war has been the constantly ongoing Battle of Idaina Nojo.. In the ancient reign of Rii Matsui, the town earned the foreboding title "City of Blood" for the carnage inflicted there. This moniker is exemplified even further today.
Initially, monarchists controlled the city, led mainly by the Matsui Clan who had made this city their centre of power for some time. Many of the personal guard of Aeko Matsui herself (the current head of the clan) were present. These
kuroyurei troops were the legacy of ancient warriors who poisoned themselves before the onset of battle to ensure they had no fear in the face of death.
The democratic forces had swept in, at first simply trying to take the city. Incursions were pushed back, the countryside was pillaged for supplies and chemical attacks were launched by both sides. Reinforcements had arrived for the democrats, but so had desperation. The military forces now pushed them west. If they could not take this city, they would be surrounded by monarchists on all sides.
After bombardment, bribery, and the desperate use of bombing runs from what limited aircraft the democratic forces had obtained, the city was taken. But shortly afterwards, the military arrived. The battle was back and forth, neither side able to hold the city for long. In the meantime, incendiary weapons ate away at the farmland, toxic gas was deployed the in city itself. Ancient walls crumbled, many civilians caught in the crossfire. Many tried to run, only to die in the process.
The Battle of Idaina Nojo is ongoing to this day, the city the major point of contention between military and democratic forces.
Other major battles exist. For the Nakusikans, the greatest fight was against the monarchists in Son'nani, the capital of Sangaku District and once capital of the Nakusikan Kingdom. The battle was fought fiercely, with combined monarchists forces loyal to the Tsudzuri Clan and the Kazehaya Clan defending. These force were however very divided- the deeply religious Tsudzuri and the mainly atheist Kazehaya differed not just in spirituality, but in the fact that the Kazehaya clan leader (Toin Kazehaya) wished to ultimately help the democratic forces.
This infighting gave the far more unified Nakusikans an advantage in coordination, and the use of rapid strike tactics and sabotage left the monarchists struggling. The battle took three nights to be won by the Nakusikans, with the local population largely on their side.
