The Imperial War

The The Imperial War was a military conflict, between the Holy Alliance of the Holy Roman Empire and the United Federation of Paper Planes, against the Anti-Imperial Alliance, of the Central Despan Republic, Pyrrhia, the F.W.R., and the Alpine Union. 

The war began after a fast but complex series of military buildups and major crises, culminating in the declaration of the Holy Roman Empire in Ft. Atkinson, and the immediate declaration of war against the Central Despan Republic, Kingdom of Pyrrhia, and Alpine Union thereafter. Alexander Knebel, president of the United Federation, then took immediate dictatorial powers, overruled the High Command, and joined the invasion.

The War ended officially at 11:52AM, November 16th, 2021, with the end of hostilities between the United Federation and the Federal Wisconsinite Republic, now again under the control of Caden Schwartz.

The Leadup to War

The leadup to a potential conflict began with the end of The Long Recess, after which the economies of the Sun Prairie Nations began to quickly rebound, and with it, militaristic and personal ambition. The first domino to fall would the Federal Wisconsinite Republic, which began to mobilize it's forces and reinforce them with additional new equipment in preparation for the inauguration of Alexander Knebel as President of the Federation. Knebel, a Federation Ally, was considered by Schwartz an easily manipulatable target.

In response, the United Manonan States, once a Federation puppet state and never truly having left the Federation's defensive bubble, began a major buildup of military forces itself, especially it's Navy. When President Knebel withdrew from the Valentino Treaty, and subsequently disbanded SPATO, the West Mendotan Republic seceded and began, with the United Manonan States, it's own military buildup. The Central Despan Republic finally got underway in military re-armament, but because of the vast time wasted, and the fact that it was now an autocracy and thus did not receive aid from any outside powers. 

The November Crisis displayed the level of disfunction and conflict in the Sun Prairie Nations - the Federal Wisconsinite Republic declared war on their ostensive allies, the United Federation, then immediately rescinded the declaration thereafter. This short crisis accelerated the West Mendotan and United Manonan building programs, with the first of their new generation of warships and aircraft being commissioned in the next two days. 

In the morning of the 4th of November, 2021, the United Federation under Alex Knebel sold the territorial city of Ft. Atkinson as well as parts of the Koshkonong Territory to Caden Schwartz, who then declared the formation of the Holy Roman Empire. This Empire, at 12:05, launched a surprise attack on the Central Despan Republic, Kingdom of Pyrrhia, and former FWR forces in the Alpine Union were instructed by Schwartz to topple the FWR's puppet government there.

The Northern Theatre

At the outbreak of war, the Central Despan Republic was almost entirely undefended. Having sold off most of their warships and letting them rot during the Recess, and their descent into autocracy having starved them of any allies save for the Kingdom of Pyrrhia, it's northern neighbor. However, despite being the first government to be officially invaded, it would not be the first to fall.

The Alpine Guard, a very small native military force that was the only permitted military for the small nation in the north, put up a valiant defense, pushing back the Imperial Troops in their bases and surrounding pockets, however, the overwhelming force and more advanced arms of the Imperial Army eventually overran these forces and by 1:30, the same day, the Battles of Eureka, Wautoma, Mt. Morris, Bannerman, and Appleton were very much still underway, but were clearly a losing fight for the Alpine Guard.

The Empire's landings in the F.W.R. went significantly worse. Making landfall outside of Milwaukee, the 23rd and 29th Imperial Marine Divisions were immediately stuck outside of the city after taking only three streets into the city. Dug in trenches around the city were hastily created by both sides, as air battles above the city occasionally resulted in aircraft being shot down. In the southern FWR state of Como, the Battles of Fontana-on-Geneva and Williams Bay ended in almost total wipeouts of the Wisconsinite Forces present. Como had never received the Stonewall main battle tank and thus was without anything to counter the Imperial Armor.

By 4:01, all Imperial Forces within the State and Capital District of Milwaukee had been defeated by Wisconsinite Troops, with the amphibious assault team utterly annihilated and pressed back into the sea.

Throughout the weekend, the Imperial forces regrouped in the Alpine Union, and with the aid of the Holy Imperial Navy, bombarding the shore targets along the coast of Appleton, launched a final assault on the city on the 8th of November. The Alpine Guard had also had time to regroup and had dug into positions on the outskirts of the city. 

During the Imperial Navy's bombardment, they had also encountered MNS Verona and Mt. Horeb, two destroyers of the United Manonan Navy. The ships were clearly observing the naval force, which had not been documented before this time, but due to their neutrality the H.R.E. did not engage them, despite holding a numerical advantage. 

UFP Joins the War

The United Federation, by this time, officially in the war, but not yet having deployed forces, began by deploying the entire Navy and Starfleet simultaneously, along with Federalizing the National Guard Regiments of all 46 states and the District of Cardinal Heights. With this mass of aircraft and ships, the United Federation launched major offensive strikes into Despa, Pyrrhia, and especially in the City of Appleton.

While the Alpine Guard had dug into it's positions, the Imperial Garrison advanced simultaneously with the cessation of shore bombardment from the supporting vessels. In the end, it was likely the addition of Federation Air Power which won the day, with the Constellation-class Exploratory Cruisers, retrofitted for pure wartime operations, being the most effective due to their highly advanced nature. 

At 12:12, the Alpine Guard, and all remaining government forces of the Alpine Union officially capitulated, and the Alpine Union became the Imperial Alpine Province. 

In addition to the Starfleet's deployments into active operations, the United Federation Navy deployed all six of it's active carrier Task Forces, with the USS Andrew Anderson, John Banks-George, and Kearsarge being deployed along with their formations of Destroyers, and the Missile cruiser detachment, consisting of the four Castle Rock-class Cruisers, were deployed in support of Imperial forces in and around Appleton, though they would arrive too late to actually assist in the battle. USS Christopher Fallis, Republic, Galactica, and Kitty Hawk, along with their destroyer detatchments and the large cruiser USS Port Freeland as well as the gunnery cruisers Exeter, Bonaventure, and Excelsior deployed off the coast of Despa and Pyrrhia. These were accompanied by every amphibious assault ship of the United Federation Fleet except USS Intrepid and USS Drive Island, in preparation for what would become the largest amphibious operation in the history of the Sun Prairie Nations.

Intrepid and Drive Island sailed south, where they met up with USS Arstotzka and USS Forward Unto Dawn, creating a task force that would sail south to patrol Lake Waubesa. This action forced the United Manonan States to recall their fleet to closer waters, ending the deployment of MNS Vengeance and it's two Destroyer escorts, leaving Enterprise and it's two destroyers alone in the North Milwaukee Sea.