Blood War

The Blood War was a conflict between the City-State of Uthan and the Coalition of Nations following The Blood Mages attempt to poison the entirety of the First Continent. The numbers of troops raised by Uthan was much less than the Coalition, the number of troops going up to a high of 50,000, while the total amount of soldiers raised by the Coalition numbered about 750,000. This number of troops, however, was spread out across the north and south of the continent, separated by the city of Uthan itself.

Before the first battle, the Blood Mages, and by proxy Uthan itself was undergoing another kind of war. The operatives of the Blood Mages had been exposed trying to infiltrate The Holy Imperium of Moneeri, causing Aurland to send The Cult of Zelial to wage a secret war on Uthan, wrecking trade, outing spies, and putting a sizeable dent in Uthani logistics, something that persisted and was a constant thorn in the side of the city-state throughout the war.

In the Blood War, Uthan struck first, sending troops north into the Kingdom of Ravenna, decimating Inquisition and impoverished Ravennan military forces. Before the Blood War even started, Uthan bought the loyalty of numerous Ravennan warlords, who pledged to bend the knee to Uthani occupiers. Most of the time, these warlords didn't mean it, betraying Uthan the moment their back was turned, meaning Uthan's occupation of Ravenna was more troublesome than tacticians planned, especially since the Ravennan royal family fled just before their capture. Down south, the different mercenary companies and military regiments were unable to make any headway against the combined strength of the troops of The Yunnaiteddo Federation clans, and the military of the Kingdom of Falglor, and were eventually pushed back. Soldiers were constantly reassigned from Ravenna to the southern front.

Before Uthan could stabilize Ravenna, troops from the Republic of Valdar flooded in from the east, decimating Uthani troops with their superior technology and modern tactics. Before they knew it, Uthan was fighting a two front war against two superior hosts. Valdarian soldiers broke through the Uthani frontlines and through the ill-prepared fortifications of occupied Ravenna, quickly liberating it and reinstating the royal family. Due to this breakthrough in the northern front, the southern lines of Uthan crumbled as well, leaving both divisions of the Uthani army fleeing back to the city.

The Battle of Uthan was barely a battle. After Coalition forces broke through the last of the opposition in the countryside, they rolled into the Efil Pass and started besieging the two cities of Uthan and Teckitan. However, the defenders didn't want to surrender, and the city had plenty of supplies stored within. The Coalition generals, worried about possible Uthani ambushes and growing anti-war sentiment back home from those who were missing Uthani trading, decided to take a drastic measure, utilizing cannons to knock down the walls of Uthan, and Meteors to bombard the city, Uthan was reduced to a wreck in a day. After destroying the city, the Coalition turned to a fearful Teckitan and demanded their immediate and unconditional surrender. They complied, ending the Blood War.

Uthan lost the Blood War moment their plan to poison the world was discovered. Their entire war-plan hinged around that one crucial step, and the moment it was discovered, and the Coalition retaliated, they were going to lose. Sure, their wealth and economic power was unparalleled, but the Coalition simply had more. More logistics, more supplies, more land, more troops, and more motivation. Most Uthani troops didn't really understand why they were fighting in the first place, and the Blood Mages that did know were few and far between. Mercenaries that simply fought for money quickly fled when the tides of battle started turning against them.

Another fatal flaw in the Uthan was the fundamental divide between the Blood Mages and the regular armed forces of Uthan. Generals and soldiers thought of them as snotty uptight warmongers, while the Blood Mages saw the conventional military as a bunch of stupid peasant filth. This made it nigh impossible to coordinate attacks or plan battles, as any collaboration would inevitably descend into a heated argument.

If this defeat was so inevitable, one would wonder why it took so long for them to be defeated. The answer lies in the unwillingness of Uthani high command to accept defeat. Soldiers resorted to scorched earth tactics, setting fire to fields and towns in Ravenna when Valdarian troops came knocking. Uthan also didn't have the same restrictions as the Coalition did, having to play by their own rules, not committing any war crimes. Uthan committed as many war crimes as they wanted, slaughtering civilians wholesale as if they were soldiers themselves. Another reason was that Uthani troops were much better equipped than most Coalition forces, able to spend exorbitant prices on the newest and best equipment, such as the newly produced muskets from Valdar.

The new Uthani war goal was to simply survive, as taking over basically the entire world with only 50,000 soldiers was impossible. This plan relied on the attrition afflicted on Coalition armies, and that anti-war sentiment would grow due to the sudden cutoff of international trade. This idea that the economy of the Coalition would suddenly come crashing down due to the limiting of over land trade was naive, due to the slightly more costly alternative of trading over the sea. Sure, it was slightly more expensive, causing the different economies to take a slight hit, but it was nowhere near the knockout blow Uthani needed it to be.

Once Uthan was backed up against the wall, the strategy was to wait out the attacking troops, and hope that they would offer a conditional surrender from which they would be able to minimize the damage done. This would prove a childish belief with the outcome of the Battle of Uthan, and the Treaty of Teckitan.

Post-War Analysis