Great Kesh War

The Great Kesh War was a war fought principally in modern Naseristan, Asharistan, and Kodeshia from 1949 until 1959. The belligerents on the western front were the coalition of Naseri Aravans and Khorasani Yazidis (supported principally by Tiperyn and Koryeo) against a united front including the Madaristan's People's Army (MPA) and the  Mihrani League (supported by Teutonenland, SiWallqanqa, and Kodeshia). Meanwhile, the eastern front was largely fought between Kodeshia and Guurdalai. The alliance of Tiperyn, Koryeo, Alvakalia, and Guurdalai would be colloquially known as the Crown Coalition by 1951, hearkening back to the similarly composed Crown Alliance of the Grand Campaigns.

Following the fall of the Caliphate in 1925 as a result of the Grand Campaigns, the power vacuum once commanded by a pan-Islamic state including what is now modern day Asharistan, Naseristan, and Qurac was quickly filled by several nationalist and leftist who vied for control over territory not occupied by the Tiperyn-backed Aravans of the Naser River Valley and the Yazidis of the Zagros Peninsula. During the interwar period, the Tiperyn government secretly colluded with the Yazidis and Aravans to defeat the Shia nationalist groups in the south and split control of the former caliphate. Yazidi and Aravan militant groups launched a surprise attack against the nationalists during the celebrations in 1949, beginning the Great Kesh War.

Although Tiperyn and its allies had hoped to leave the fighting to primarily to native Aravan and Yazidi troops, unexpected resistance and substantial support globally from nominally communist regimes forced the deployment of Artemian coalition forces in 1950. The early war was marked by ineffective campaigns on the part of coalition forces, as well as a stalemate along a frontline in the foothills that divided the coalition controlled Grand Naser Desert from the nationalist-controlled Sabzevar and Karatzhan mountain ranges. This stalemate was broken in 1952 by a massive combined arms offensive by Tiperyn and Koryeo forces, spearheaded by airborne, armored, and riverine forces through the Naser River Valley that bisected Naseristan. The offensive lead to the splitting of nationalist forces along the Naser River by 1954, continued advances eastward and westward into the heart of nationalist territory, and the eventual destruction of the MPA.

The war in the west came to an end in early 1958, when the conditional surrender of the remaining Mihrani League formations was delivered to coalition forces. The surrender came on 22 March 1958, the first day of, and further deliberation would lead to the integration of Aravan and Mihrani areas of what is now Naseristan and the creation of Asharistan under the Yazidis native to the Zagros Peninsula. Although the majority of soldiers who comprised the Mihrani League surrendered to coalition forces or deserted within months of the armistice, armed resistance continued among ethnic Mihranis throughout the mountainous regions of southern Naseristan and Asharistan that had not come under coalition occupation. Former Mihrani League and MPA fighters formed the backbone of several Mihrani secession and Islamist movements in this region, leading to continued conflict into the present between them against the governments of Naseristan, Asharistan, and the North-South Concordant.

Meanwhile, the eastern front fighting between Guurdalai and Kodeshia dragged on. With Alvakalia having negotiated a separate peace with Kodeshia in 1953 and Asharistan refusing to declare war on Kodeshia despite pressure from Tiperyn and Guurdalai, the Kodeshia-Guurdalai front remained the last active front of the Kesh War. With an expected end point deep into the 1960s and a potential Guurdalai defeat threatening the Crown Coalition's position in the west Tethys, two primitive nuclear bombs were dropped on Kodeshi cities by the Tiperyn Realm Air Service on 19 and 23 November 1959 in an attempt to force a peace settlement. A ceasefire was offered by Kodeshia on 27 November 1959, ending the Great Kesh War.

Tension between Guurdalai and Kodeshia
The end of the Grand Campaigns in 1925 led to a delicate armistice that was complicated by delays and ambiguity over control of border territories as the governments in Kodeshia and Guurdalai fell apart and the discovery of vast oil fields were left unresolved and would lead to simmering issues of national borders. The Beishan oil fields were opened after years of work financed by the Kodeshian governments. The oil fields were operated by an Kodeshian-chartered company; the area surrounding the oil fields remained sovereign Kodeshian territory. In 1926, as a result of debt and financial crisis following the end of the The Grand Campaigns, Kodeshia was forced to sell its shares in the oil operating company to the Guurdalai nationals. They were willing buyers and obtained a 44 percent share in the oil field's operations; this maintained the majority shareholdings of the mostly Kodeshia aristocratic private investors. With the 1927 civil war in Kodeshia, the Guurdalai nationals took de facto control of the whole oil field, and its finances and operations. The 1928 Convention of Jiankang declared the oil fields a neutral zone under Guurdalai protection. In ratifying it, the ailing Liang dynasty agreed to cede the territory for support in the civil war but anti-imperial forces prevailed. Kodeshia's post-war domestic politics were experiencing a radical change, prompted in no small part by economic instability, inflation, and unemployment. In 1930 the new Kodeshi government unilaterally abrogated the Convention of 1928, but scattered local Guurdalai forces refused to withdraw from area, relying upon its now defunct convention, as well as the presence of the garrison there. The price of such a course of action was a steady escalation in increasingly violent hostility towards Guurdalai and its troops in Kodeshia, which the Kodeshi authorities did little to curb. Throughout 1930s, the Ündserkheg government of Guurdalai pursued a number of policies that would frustrate the government of Kodeshia's aims throughout the region, and result in increasing hostility between the two nations. Kodeshia saw Guurdalai's expansionist claims on breakaway regions from the post-Grand Campaigns era, approaches to the newly independent Alvakalia and Imperialist powers such as Tiperyn as very real threats that attempted to contain Kodeshia. This played into the widespread suspicion of the new leadership in Kodeshia that any defence ties with Tiperyn or Alvakalia were merely veiled colonialism and that disunity and weakness among the nations of Kesh was a consequence of Tiperyn machinations.

SiWallqanqa
In an effort to further reduce the power of Tiperyn in the southern hemisphere, the SiWallqanqan government sold weapons and vehicles to the Mihrani League at greatly reduced prices in return for exclusive access to potential sites for oil wells following the end of the war. The majority of the support was materiel, mainly several large shipments of first-generation from the SiWallqanqa Fabrication Group and ammunition for said weapons smuggled across the Kodeshi-Ashari border.

They also provided 200 to 300 SWQ Kimsapataka triple-barrel mountable 20mm anti-aircraft cannons. The guns required three men to operate; one to aim, one to move the carriage, and one to continually reload. The guns had the unfortunate tendency to rapidly overheat, which in the hot climate of northwestern Kesh caused a myriad of problems. However, the Mihrani operators adapted to their shortcomings, developing crude water cooling systems.

The SiWallqanqans also contributed around 60, an armoured fighting vehicle with 7mm to 16mm of armour and a top speed of around 70 to 80 kph. Its rugged nature, light profile and weight made it highly useful in the hot sandy climate of Naseristan and Asharistan. It was armed with a 40mm anti-tank gun and one to two machine guns. Following the war, the surviving SWQ-1941's remained in service with the militaries of Naseristan and Asharistan, mainly as an.

Additionally, the "Famous Two-Thirty-Eight" or "Task Force 2-38" were a group of 86 SiWallqanqan military officers contracted to function as military advisers to the Mihrani League. They often acted as field commanders and drill instructors for the nationalists, training specialized regiments to fulfill specific tasks. Only 57 of the original 86 officers survived the war, with all receiving high military honours upon their return. They were distinguished by their uniform: desert camouflaged bucket hats, dark-red and brown shemagh face scarves, short-sleeve tan shirt and pants, and SiWallqanqan flag emblems in place of rank slides. The use of bucket-hats in the war led to the widespread adoption of the by the SiWallqanqan Protection Forces.

Eid al-Fitr offensive (July–December 1949)
On the evening of 27 July 1949, militiamen of the Realm Naseristan Rifle Corps, composed entirely of Aravan conscripts, and Yazidi militant groups attacked villages, towns, and major outposts under the control of the Madaristan's People's Army (MPA) in the west and the Mihrani League (ML) in the east. The attacks coincided with celebrations where it was assumed most of the would have been granted leave, assuming they were in organized units.

Naser River Valley offensive (1952–1954)
During the early years of the war on the western front, the front line had not moved substantially passed the foothills separating the Grand Naser Desert from Naseristan's southernly mountain ranges and river valleys. This was partly due to the ineffectiveness of local Naseri forces, nationalist and communist control of major population centers in Mihrani areas, and a half-hearted commitment of large formations to the front line by Tiperyn. While coalition forces invested in static light fortifications and dug in, opting to wear the enemy out via air raids launched from Tiperyn carriers and airfields, the Mihrani League solidified its control over the few agrarian areas of southern Naseristan, securing its food supply, while the MPA amassed over 40,000 soldiers east of the Naser River in preparations for a large scale offensive. Following the encirclement and destruction of two Naseri battalions and the bombing of the Tiperyn embassy in Naser in June 1951, Tiperyn called its ally Koryeo into the war. With the intent of breaking the stalemate, Tiperyn and Koryeo planned for a major offensive in mid-1952 through the Naser River Valley to separate the western Mihrani League nationalist groups from the MPA and the bulk of nationalist forces in Asharistan. The initial offensive was dubbed Operation Albion Bend.

Operation Albion Bend
Operation Albion Bend called for a combined arms attack through the relatively mild terrain of the Naser River Valley. The operation would be spearheaded by an airborne and gliderborne assault around where the Naser and Aqda Rivers meet. The initial assault would be carried out by six Tiperyn and Koryeo regiments inserted by parachute, who would then be supported by four gliderborne regiments supplying additional infantry, airmobile armored vehicles, and towed artillery once the paratroopers secured their objectives. Objectives of importance included the string of villages that lined both rivers, as well as trails and roads known to be traveled by nationalist forces and river crossings. In concert with the airborne landings, two Tiperyn armored regiments would assault nationalist forces in the vicinity of Isari with the objective of breaking through and relieving the airborne elements. Until relieved, the airborne's perimeter would continue to be reinforced via airlift, taking advantage of the near absence of enemy air power. Once relieved, the airborne forces would advance westward and eastward into the mountains, seeking out and destroying nationalist positions. Meanwhile, the armored regiments supported by riverine patrol boats and air power would continue their push southward along the Naser River all the way to the Naseri-Sindhustani border. During the offensive, Tiperyn infantry and armored regiments stationed on other parts of the front would engage in smaller assaults with the objective of tying down nationalist and communist forces. The ultimate goal of the offensive was to cut off nationalist forces in western Naseristan from their main support base in Asharistan and to isolate the communist MPA from the nationalists. Although the offensive would deplete the nationalists and lead to their ultimate downfall, the operation failed in its primary objective as nationalists were able to find a safe haven in northern Sindhustan.

In the year leading up to the offensive, Tiperyn committed its theater reserve to the operation. This included four parachute infantry regiments, two airlanding regiments, one marine battalion, and two armored regiments. In addition, Koryeo committed several airborne and airlanding regiments. Additionally, Tiperyn had taken assumed responsibility for approximately 60% of the frontline in Naseristan, replacing largely depleted Naseri militia units.

Eurybian Sea
The Eurybian Sea was among the most active waterways for military convoys and arms shipments. As the access point to the battlefront in north Kesh and as a short cut to those in southeast Kesh, confrontations between Crown Coalition naval forces and Kodeshian, Bakanese and non-belligerent warships and shipping occurred in the Eurybian throughout the war.

Battles off the coast of Beifang
During the war, Beifang's navy was spread out over a large area and consisted of 3 main battlegroups. The Iron Battlegroup was deployed to the Jade Sea and Eurybian Straits to aid Kodeshian naval assets against Tipslan forces and blockade Guurdalaian supply routes. The Steel battlegroup was responsible for patrolling Bakanese waters out west and later blockade Alvakalian waters as well. The Emerald battlegroup, the most elite of Beifang's navy, was responsible for protection of the Bakanese coastline and coastal cities. Early in the war, Bakanese ships often engaged in open-water combat against coalition ships in the Eurybian. Due to aerial and logistical limitations later on, Bakanese ships played a more defensive role in preventing coalition aid to Kesh. The central Eurybian was out of range, but wartime records have yet to record any enemy warships passing through the Straits when Beifang entered the war. Coalition ships later in the war did manage to reach as close as 700km off the coast of Tsih-Pa Ra, as Bakanese naval forces were stretched thin. One major battle, the Skirmish at Tay Song, saw a victorious Bakanese fleet of 2 heavy cruisers and 4 destroyers destroyed a coalition fleet of (insert *slightly larger* fleet size here). Another, the Battle of Mung Chi (Mang Tri) Island, saw the destruction of over 60% of a coalition fleet by submarines stationed at the Lan Cao Naval Base on the island. Due to the war drawing out into a 10-year conflict, logistical issues and overuse of naval assets led to decreased effectiveness against the coalition. The Battle of Tsih-Pa Ra Harbour would be the closest any enemy warship would reach to Bakanese shores. A pyrrhic victory, the battle ended all chance of further offensive operations by the Bakanese Navy as the 3rd Emerald fleet was outnumbered 4:1 and suffered 85% casualties.

Modrovian-Tiperyn confrontations
One confrontation occurred between Modrovia and Tiperyn during the month of August 1950 just over a year after the wars beginning, and in hindsight as been regarded as one of the most potentially volatile engagements of the war.

The incidents were precipitated by the Modrovian government selling arms to Kodeshia starting as early as two years before the war, though it remained uninvolved in the fighting officially. Although denouncing the shipments diplomatically, Tiperyn had not actively countered the shipments. However, on 4 August 1950, two Modrovian cargo ships loaded with a shipment of tanks bound for Kodeshia were sunk 100 kilometers north of Qurac by two Tiperyn submarines. The action caused outrage from the League of Free Nations, of which Modrovia was a member state, and threatened to expand the scope of what was hoped to be a quick regional war in Kesh to a truly global conflict. The incident escalated when on 10 August a Tiperyn troop ship was sunk by a Modrovian warship at the western mouth of the Eurybian Sea in retaliation, killing 340 soldiers and sailors. Following, Tiperyn gun boats and torpedo boats began actively harassing Modrovian vessels with gunfire, although no casualties were reported as a result of initial attacks. Tensions only increased when on 13 August the Tiperyn battlecruiser TNV Manjefyk was sunk off the coast of Alvakalia by a Modrovian submarine in what was referred to as an act of war by the head of the Tiperyn Admiralty Board.

Realizing the potential of expanding the Kesh War into Artemia and involving the rival League of Free Nations, Modrovian and Tiperyn leaders met in December 1950 to quell the tensions. The two powers came to an agreement, with Modrovia agreeing to halt its shipments of military arms to Kodeshia, excluding all other goods, and Tiperyn allowing free passage to Modrovian ships and limiting its use of submarine warfare against civilian vessels. Both nations would not completely honor the agreement, however, as Modrovia would continue covert arms sales to Kodeshia while Tiperyn warships engaged Modrovian warships at least 3 times before the war's end in 1959. However, none of these later confrontations would lead to deaths or sinkings, leaving the two powers in a tenuous state of peaceful suspicion.

Although the skirmishes between Modrovia and Tiperyn did not result in armed conflict, they did have an immeasurable impact on the outlook and goals of Tiperyn and Modrovia through the end of the war. It is likely that the incident played a hand in accelerating the development of nuclear weapons programs in Modrovia and Tiperyn, which would also influence the acceleration of Kodeshia's own program. Although the it had become Crown Coalition policy as of 1954 to develop nuclear weapons to quell small conflicts like those in Kesh from escalating and becoming prolonged wars, most historians agree that the early Modrovian-Tiperyn confrontations stoked anxieties in both the Crown Coalition (later the North-South Concordant) and the League of Free Nations regarding global conflict between the two blocs. The Tiperyn would later be the first to use nuclear weapons in 1959 against Kodeshia to force a peace settlement, as the war was not projected to end until well into the 1960s. Although the nature of the development of these weapons remains obscure, it has been confirmed that these bombs were developed as offshoots of joint Tiperyn-Koryeo nuclear weapons programs that had begun in the late 1940s but were accelerated as a result of the threat of the League of Free Nations' weapons programs and the mounting cost of the Kesh War.

Seizures of Mero-Curgov ships by Tiperyn
From October 1952 to February 1953, the Tiperyn Realm Armada confronted Mero-Curgov-produced warships in transit to Kodeshia in the center of the Eurybian Sea. Too far for sufficient air cover from either Mero-Curgovina or Beifang, Crown Coalition warships travelled with virtual impunity in this area of the Eurybian.

On 13 October 1952, the Tiperyn aircraft carrier TNV See Earn was informed at 6:04 a.m. by one of its scout flights of a vessel travelling under a Kodeshian ensign eastward. Although unknown to the See Earn at the time, this was a Mero-Curgov produced destroyer manned by a skeleton crew of Mero-Curgov sailors on a mission to deliver the ship to Kodeshia. It scrambled a flight of four first-generation jet fighter bombers armed with primitive anti-shipping missiles. Spotting the ship at 7:02 a.m., the flight launched a salvo of four missiles at the Mero-Curgov ship. One struck the bow of the ship, causing superficial damage, while the remaining three missed the ship entirely. By the time the flight had returned to the See Earn, the ship was estimated to have been within air cover of Beifang. As the ship was travelling alone and had not engaged the fighters, the captain of the See Earn opted to not launch a second wave of bombers. This incident prompted the Mahtsmarina to begin flying the Mero-Curgov ensign on its ships in transit in an attempt to appeal to its official neutrality. Further, Mero-Curgov ships would begin actively harassing Tiperyn vessels travelling close to its waters with land-based medium bombers performing low passes parallel to Tiperyn convoys with its bomb bays open to display its munitions. Confrontations between Mero-Curgov aircraft and Tiperyn ships became common, with it becoming common practice for Tiperyn vessels to fire its cannons as close as 100 meters in front of the warplanes to force their withdrawal.

The next month on 5 November 1952, a destroyer matching the class of Tiperyn air power engaged on 13 October was spotted by a Tiperyn flotilla travelling eastward through the Eurybian. The ship was intercepted by two Tiperyn battlecruisers and three destroyers at 12:14 p.m. The Mero-Curgov ship, serial number JAU 5202, was then boarded by a party of 30 Tiperyn Fleet Marines, after which the ship was seized without a shot being fired. The crews were returned to Mero-Curogovina on 10 November, although the destroyer was commandeered—to the outrage of the League of Free Nations—and pressed into the Tiperyn Realm Armada three months after as TNV Sterkhert.

The last incident occurred on 20 February 1953. At 9:10 a.m., Tiperyn scout planes spotted a Mero-Curgov frigate travelling eastward unaccompanied. Presumed to be a ship in transit to Kodeshia, elements of the same flotilla that had captured a Mero-Curgov ship in November 1952 moved to intercept. Upon attempting to board the ship, the Tiperyn boarding party was ambushed by a detachment of naval infantry. Following the November 1952 incident, Mero-Curgov had made it policy to man its ships in transit with naval infantry detachments as their sailors were not expected to resist boarding parties. Five of the 32 marines attempting to board were killed while another 12 were wounded. When fired upon, the Tiperyn battlecruiser TNV Ûnoerwinlik opened fire on the deck of the Mero-Curgov ship with its 15mm machine guns and 38mm autocannons, killing or wounding several naval infantrymen and sailors. The Mero-Curgov vessel returned fire with its machine guns, forcing Tiperyn sailors to take cover. A Tiperyn naval helicopter that had been launched to provide air cover for the flotilla was badly damaged and was forced to make a crash landing in the sea. The crew of the helicopter was unable to be recovered by either nations' vessels. Once the boarding party's boat returned and was recovered at 11:23 a.m., the Tiperyn warships withdrew. During the incident, the Commodore in command of the flotilla had refrained from turning the ships' main deck guns on the Mero-Curgov vessel. The incident resulted in heavy denunciations from both the Tiperyn and Mero-Curgov governments, although the action did not result in open hostilities. From then onward, the Realm Armada had made it policy to no longer attempt to board or intercept vessels sailing under a Mero-Curgov ensign.

Impact on geopolitics
The Kesh War is considered by some to be the second most impactful event on geopolitics and international affairs in the 20th century after the Grand Campaigns. It saw the beginning of the use of nuclear weapons as a deterrent and their proliferation among aligned and non-aligned powers in the decades following. Although no League of Free Nations state became actively involved in the fighting, confrontations between Crown Coalition powers and LFN member states further stoked a rivalry between the two blocs that had been forged during the Grand Campaigns. The Kesh War showed how costly even relatively limited regional conflicts could be in modern times. Especially with predicted proliferation of nuclear weapons—as it was known that several LFN nations, Kodeshia and non-aligned nations were developing their own programs—the core members of the ad hoc Crown Alliance of the Grand Campaigns and the Crown Coalition of the Kesh War would come to form a formal military alliance. Thus, the North-South Concordant was officially constituted on 18 November 1960 as a political pragmatic alliance of generally illiberal states with the goal of guarding the interests of its members and ensuring cordial relations between member states. The alliance formed basically along the lines of the Crown Coalition, with the founding members being Tiperyn, Koryeo and Agrana y Griegro. Naseristan and Asharistan, who were the Crown Coalition's native allies on the western front, joined the Concordant in 1963. Meanwhile, Alvakalia and Guurdalai would join later in the 1960s and early 1970s.