Prairie War I

Left to Right: A Federation Navy Destroyer on Independence River, a Crimson Dusk Corvette, President Christopher Fallis, the Despan Navy Shipyard, and the USS Ainsley Wall

Prairie War I

Type: Major International Conflict

Began: March 27, 2019

Ended: April 8, 2019

Status: Ended

Belligerents:

Outcome:

Decisive Union Victory

Major Engagements:

1st Battle of Drive Island
Battle of the Switch
2nd Battle of Drive Island
Battle of E House
Exeter Engagement
Centralia Campaign
Meowtopia Campaign

Prairie War I, previously referred to as The First Great Prairie War, and earlier The March War or the Anti-Fed War was a major military conflict between the Union Forces, consisting of the United Federation of Paper Planes, the Republic of Despa and Crimson Dusk, with temporary support from the Republic of Connor, and later Dauntless and the Federal Wisconsinite Republic, against the Broalition Forces, an alliance consisting of the Democratic People's Republic of Garfea, the Republic of the Flynjnippines, the United Nations Supporting Communism, the Anti-Fed Forces, supported by Liam St. John, and later including the Republic of Connor.

The War was, at the time, the largest scale war between nations in the history of the SPN, with only the Despa wars coming close up to that point. It would later (among other factors) lead to the Prairie War II in October 2019.

Prelude

The first major possibilities seen by many as potentially dangerous was the Liam and Eiden war, a "sequel" to the John and Liam wars nearly 4 years earlier. This short conflict ended with the Firestar's unprecedented defeat at the hands of the new Whirlwind-class Light Frigate. The Whirlwind was soon pronounced as the new Queen of the Skies, ending for good the constant Firestar Dominance in the SPN.*

*(Firestar, Sparrow(temp), Firestar, Solar(temp),Phantom(temp), Firestar, Whirlwind (current)).

Immediately following this declaration, Eiden announced that he would take a drastically different approach to these new vessels than Liam, Noah, and Jon had previously - he would not have any non-proliferation treaties on the new aircraft. He taught Gateway Co. and Despan Engineering how to build the planes, thus assuring that other countries would be in envy, and that they would be far behind in tech than the other nations. It was considered by pundits to be similar to the HMS Dreadnought in how it immediately changed the face of warfare.

In addition, the Anti-Fed, which had previously been waiting for a moment to strike the previously stagnant Federation were now seemingly facing a more invigorated and capable foe. Liam St. John had initially been mute on his opinion on the Whirlwind, but it soon became apparent to many that he was taken aback by his defeat. North Garfean Chairman Luke Gainey soon sought the Whirlwind in order to gain an advantage against their foe, Nermal's Swedish Expanse, as did the UNSC and the Flynjnippines. This group became the Broalition, with North Garfea and the NSE becoming allies, which was once thought impossible.

War Opens

On the 27th of March, the 3 original Broalition members (DPRG, NSE, Flynjnippines) declared war on the Federation. The Federation responded by deploying Starfleet. Following this, Liam St. John destroyed a Despan Frigate, the AMO Endeavor and thus Despa and Liam joined the war, on opposing sides. The Anti-Fed saw an immediate opportunity for them to gain a larger foothold, and they thus joined the conflict. Crimson Dusk, the nation whose President had begun the war, eventually joined the conflict, and the Republic of Connor split from the Federation to do the same.

The United Federation, Despa, and Crimson Dusk formed the Union Forces, an alliance which eventually included the Republic of Connor as well. On the opposing side, the Broalition gained 6 total members.

Size and Scope

The March war is significant in that it was at the time the largest ever international conflict in terms of both nations involved and the combined fleet tonnage involved. with a total of 10 nations officially involved, and initially including all major powers except Valentino (who eventually joined the Union Forces), this marked the first time that a Federation-led alliance had been matched, not to mention the fact that at the start of the war the Union Alliance was desperately outmatched in the air. On the sea, however, the Federation and it's allies still possessed naval supremacy.

Overall, the Federation Fleet had been decreasing in size, and had far less major Destroyers and Battlecruisers; though, they still posessed more of both. Despite this, the Union Forces had a superior Frigate Force, whilst the Broalition had a higher numerical force of Cruisers.

First Battle of Drive Island

On the 28th of March Union Forces gathered at Drive Island, just on the edge of the District of Cardinal Heights. These consisted of the Despan Fleet, led by the AMO McDonald, the Valentinian Fleet, lead by the Intruder, the Crimson Dusk Fleet, led by the Victory, and the Republic of Connor Fleet with the captured Liam Kerl. The Federation's battlegroup would lead the assault, with a ship whose name had already become famous as the Federation's own embodiment - the U.S.S. Enterprise. As the Garfean Fleet approached, Grand Admiral Banks-George of the UFP took command of the fleet. He gave the order that has now become one of the most iconic phrases in the War. "I have visual Contact on the enemy. All hands to battle stations. Red alert, shields up!"

During the opening moments of the battle, it seemed as though the enemy might break through the lines with their Firestar Divisions, as the Enterprise and the Peacekeeper took heavy fire from these. As it stood, the Garfean Fleet was far larger and was using much larger capital ships than the Union. However, as the battle progressed the USS Victory, the USS Enterprise, and the AMO McDonald among other vessels proved to be a powerful force, as the ships of the enemy began to falter in their lines. In the end, though the Union Forces lost 13 ships, the enemy lost 26 vessels. The Battle of Drive Island was declared a tactical victory for the Union Forces.

Republic of Connor switches Sides

*aka the Battle of the Switch

On the 29th of March, the Republic of Connor, still angered at the loss of their ships during the Battle of Drive Island, opted to change their side, joining the Broalition. The nation took with them the aircraft designer Isaac Thomlinson, causing a loss of many vessels from the Republic of Despa, including the formidable Blackhawk design.

Starfleet Ship Developments

During the war, several new starships were designed for the United Federation Fleet. Many of these vessels took inspiration from the Old Federation and the new Whirlwind-type ships of Crimson Dusk design. In fact, none of these newly designed vessels (which does not include the Sovereign-class, a modified version of the whirlwind) were previously thought of.

Second Battle of Drive Island

Opening Assault

On April 1st, the Despan Airfeet amassed over Drive Island to face the Republic of Connor. In the battle, the Republic of Connor still possessed a larger combined tonnage in terms of their Battle Fleet, with their flagship being the Destroyer ROCS City of London. As the Despan Fleet prepared for battle, it recieved word that the Federation's USS Exeter and USS Farragut were on their way to Drive Island to assist.

The Despan fleet suffered heavy initial losses, whilst the Connor Fleet continued to push the line back. As though it could not have already been any worse for the Despan fleet, Isaac Thomlinson planted a so-called "milk bomb" aboard the Despan Frigate AMO Fry, D-011, which detonated as the Fry was moving through the fleet. In the end, the Despan fleet began to fall back, in order to regroup their forces. The Republic of Connor had taken minor losses, such as the ROCS Antioch, an old Manona-class Light Frigate. However, as the Despan Fleet began to fall back, the USS Exeter and USS Farragut arrived on scene, and immediately went to action stations.

Exeter's destruction

As the Exeter took point in the fleet, another "milk-bomb" detonated, this one far more powerful than the previous. The Exeter's port nacelle/wing was heavily damaged, as it was the site of the initial blast, but the Portside wing/nacelle was also hit hard. Efforts were made to repair the ship, but were unsuccessful, and eventually the order was given to abandon ship, after which the crew was transferred to the USS Farragut. In the end, the Exeter was scuttled to prevent her capture and reverse engineering by the Broalition.

Federation Attack

After the explosion, the Republic of Connor fleet moved in to attack the Farragut. The Farragut initially targeted the ROCS City of London, but changed it's fire to the ROCS Texas, an Ohio-class destroyer. After a short but intense Close-In-Combat sequence, the Texas was disabled, and boarded and captured by the Federation, and given to Despa as a war prize. Following this, the Republic of Connor Fleet disengaged, and retreating.

Overall, the 2nd Battle of Drive Island was costly and inconclusive. Both sides claimed victory, although neither truly achieved it. The Union Forces achieved there a strategic victory, by holding Drive Island and capturing the ROCS Texas, but the Broalition achieved a tactical victory, as they destroyed, captured, or damaged far more planes than the Union Forces.

The End of the War

With the Union Forces closing in on them, the UNSC leadership capitulated, along with the Republic of Connor, the Anti-Fed, Liam St. John, and the Flynnjnippines. Left alone, the Garfea-Nermal alliance gathered their forces for one final climactic battle.

The Battle of E-House

With the Federation suffering staggering losses, the First Fleet was assigned to be the last forward deployed Federation Fleet for a short time, as the remainder of the fleet recouped their losses. However, as the Garfean, Nermal, Connor, and Antifed Forces all began to gather in an attempt to push back the Union Forces at E House, The Federation, after much deliberation, committed all of it's forces remaining to the final battle, with the Republic of Despa sending over 75% of their battle fleet to assist, and Crimson Dusk, Dauntless,Valentino and the newly formed Federal Wisconsinite Republic all committed their remaining vessels. Still outnumbered, the Union Forces moved in for an assault. The Final battle would then, take place at E House.

The Battle of E House was the largest ever battle to ever take place in the History of the Sun Prairie Nations, with over 600 aircraft participating, and almost all nations having forces present. The battle initially started poorly for the Union, but Admiral John Banks-George and Despan Commander Alex Oherline used their ships to push through the Broalition's lines, and the Broalition sustained major losses. As the Union gained the advantage, the USS Enterprise was slammed with a hit from the Broalition Flagship, but was able to continue fighting. It was decommissioned later that month because of the damage. The Broalition finally fell back and gave in with a total capitulation of the remaining nations.

The Broalition officially surrendered with the Treaty of E-House and Burnuckle's Law. The Great Prairie War was over.

Great Prairie War Animation.mp4

The Treaty of E House was largely a failure - the UNSC felt that it had gotten nothing out of their dropping out, SPATO was dissolved, the Garfeas, while eventually becoming a prosperous West Mendota, were occupied for months. Valentino recieved no land annexations, which had been one of it's main points in joining the War.

The war had many other consequences. War Hero Jacob Eiden would go on to become President of the United Federation after the war. The war also created the balance of power that defined the remainder of 2019 - the Federation, Despa, Dauntless, and Crimson Dusk policing the SPN, but not without large resistance.

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