Eukaminta War

The Eukaminta War (Kayan: Yukaminta Makanaku), sometimes called the Kayan-Tiperyn War, was an armed conflict between the Kayan Empire and Tiperyn from 1622 to 1658. Hosilities began when Tiperyn invaded the Yukaminta region on the southern tip of the Pavalonian Peninsula 12 years after their first contact with the Kayans. Although Tiperyn was able to quickly establish a foothold in the area — largely due to its remoteness and the political situation in Kaya at the time — the conflict was among the most prolonged in the two powers history.

Scholars mark the Eukaminta War to be the culmination of the fall of the Kayan Empire, ultimately sparking the Kayan Revolution and the rise of the Enlightened Society as the ruling power across the Pavalonian Peninsula. The Tiperyn invasion came towards the end of a period of decline within the Kayan Empire, beginning while Kaya was under the rule of Hatuchu, Kaya's last emperor. Hatuchu was publicly seen as being cruel and incompetent, and the Tiperyn invaders were able to take advantage of the situation to secure the extent of its holding by mid-1623. However, Tiperyn was never able to break out from the Yukaminta region due to stiff resistance further north and it experienced continuous harrassment both on land and at sea over the course of the conflict. The intensity of the conflict ebbed and flowed for several decades. Although Tiperyn was on the defensive for most of its occupation, with Kaya attempting several offensives to retake the area, the Tiperyn conquer of Yukaminta being seen by the Artemian colonizers as the new status quo in the region by the 1630s.

The war was ultimately brought to an end by the Kayan Revolution, which lasted from 1647 to 1658. The revolution saw the Enlightened Society, a marginalized revolutionary group centred in Kaya's south in opposition to the Kayan imperial class, revolt against the Kayan Empire with Tiperyn backing. The colonial power had grown tired of its seemingly never ending conflict with the Kayan Empire. The Enlightened Society, while marginalized under Kayan rule, had been elevated as a friendly power that Tiperyn delegated much of the local administration and bureaucracy to during its occupation of Yukaminta. It was thought that by taking advantage of this friendly power to defeat the Kayan Empire — which by the late 1630s had grown incredibly unpopular with the masses — from within would be the most preferable strategy outside of wholly abandoning the colony.

The Eukaminta War ended concurrently with the Kayan Revolution, which saw popular Kayan revolutionaries supported by Tiperyn soldiers overthrow the Kayan Empire. While Tiperyn was likewise unpopular with the northern Kayan peoples due to its imperialist occupation, the new governing Enlightened Society continued to be a close ally of Tiperyn following their rise to power. The revolution also saw the integration of the Kayan client settlement of Seotaejo (part of modern-day Jinhang) into the Tiperyn Realm. It was founded as the Realm Colony of Port Hope subordinate to the Viceroy of the Realm Viceroyalty of Pauwonia, which had been wrested from the technologically inferior Kingdom of Willkapampa in 1627.

Tiperyn colonialism
The Holy Tiperyn Realm was among the most prolific colonizers of Avalonia during the colonial period. By the time it had discovered Kaya in 1610, Tiperyn had already founded the Realm Viceroyalties of Anderin and Nyland in Northern Avalonia and was in the processing of surveying what would become Abeille. However, the state of indigenous civilizations in Southern Avalonia was different than in the north. While Tiperyn's holdings in Northern Avalonia were previously held by sparsely populated indigenous tribes with inferior technological development — and on the periphery of larger civilizations like Tavaluda and Tilenno — Southeastern Avalonia was dominated by the Empire of Zahava and Kayan Empire. The presence of the Cipertine Heirarchy and Tilenno also made colonization a more difficult prospect in Southwestern Avalonia. Thus, Tiperyn colonial efforts in Southern Avalonia largely targetted the weaker powers in the region and client states of the largest empires, including the Kingdom of Willkapampa in modern-day SiWallqanqa.

However, following the discovery of Kaya and Zahava, Empress Johana of Tiperyn gained grand ambitions of conquering one of the Southern Avalonian empires in battle. After the initial landing of the navigation carrack TNV Eureka in Northern Kaya, Tiperyn began trading, exchange and familiarization with Kaya and Zahava. It was determined that at that time, Kaya was in the most vulnerable position, wrought with social issues, weak governance, and civil unrest that could be taken advantage of. By 1618, Tiperyn began extensive preparations of an invasion of a region called Yukaminta — Tiperized as Eukaminta — with the ultimate goal being the subjugation of the Kayan Empire. However, following the death of Empress Johanna and the ascendance of Emperor Federik — Tiperyn's only male monarch — this ambition was reduced to conquering Yukaminta and reaching a negotiated settlement with a weakened Kayan Empire.

Relegation of Yukaminta
In the early 16th century, prior to Tiperyn contact, the Kayan Empire had undergone a state of civil unrest in its south regions centred on the region of Yukaminta. The province was home to a rival faction to the Kayan imperial class — which would later evolve into the Enlightened Society. Due to open defiance and a decade long insurgency against Kayan military rule, the region of Yukaminta was demoted in social standing within the empire. Yukaminta's streamer was removed from the Kayan Empire's banner and the area was largely relegated to a rather than an equal part of the empire as it once was. This created a significant amount of resentment in the Yukaminta region, despite both its inhabitants and the imperial class being ethnic Kayans.

When Tiperyn discovered the Kayan Empire in 1610 and began trading with and learning about it, the Artemian empire learned of this history and potential weaknesses in the Kayan political establishment. The resentment of the Kayans living in Yukaminta, combined with the relative remoteness of Yukaminta compared to Kaya's northern heartland, influenced Tiperyn's decision to invade there.

Zahavan realpolitik
At the time of the Eukaminta War, the Empire of Zahava was a peer of the Kayan Empire, with the two being the most powerful states in Southern Avalonia. Bordering Kaya directly to the north, Zahava had maintained a cordial relationship with their southern neighbor for centuries. However, during Kaya's decline immediately preceeding the Eukaminta War, relations had soured and the two states turned from amiable giants to cold rivals. Due to this change in the calculus, in 1620, Tiperyn was able to broker a deal with Zahava to ensure they didn't participate in the upcoming conflict. It also secured a temporary truce over Tiperyn's colonial holdings in Northern and Central Avalonia. The deal worked to Zahava's favor at the time, as they were keen to see the Kayan Empire weakened. The Zahavans did not believe that Tiperyn was actually able to categorically defeat and subjugate the entirety of the Kayan Empire, meaning the threat of an energized Tiperyn-controlled territory on its southern border was remote. Tiperyn's open rivalry with Agrana y Griegro was also to Zahava's benefit, as the Tiberians had expressed colonial ambitions over Zahava and its clients. Thus, Zahava was afforded a degree of security from Tiperyn, which was already harassing Tiberian shipping in the Iapetus and Tiberian settlements on disputed islands off Zahava's coast. Taking advantage of historic Artemian rivalries became a key aspect of the Tiperyn-Zahava relationship during the colonial period, as Zahava sought to weaken the Artemians by covertly stoking conflicts between them.

Initial confrontations, 1622-25
When Tiperyn forces, carried by an invasion fleet assembled near Nyland, landed on the Yukaminta coast, their advance and settlement was largely unopposed. The Kayan military was at a peacetime low, having been reduced significantly from its historical peak under Emperor Hatuchu. At the time of the invasion, only two standing Banner Armies existed at partial strength, with a professional cadre of officers manning companies that were to be filled out with conscripts in wartime. These were the Vermilion Eagle Banner Army — Emperor Hatuchu's home army — and the Azure Banner Army. Kayas small standing force combined with the remoteness of Yukaminta and the illusion of safety, being far from any land border with a foreign powers, meant it was sparsely defended by small local militias that more closely resembled a citizen police force. Tiperyn bargained with these militias, who were resentful of the Kayan imperials, and secured a truce. Word of the Tiperyn invasion reached the Kayan imperial court some 1,600 kilometers away after 77 days by way of loyalist sleuths and a foot messenger. Compounded with the lagtime afforded for travel, the imperial reaction was delayed further upon the message's delivery. This was because Kayan Emperor Hatuchu did not believe the message, thinking it impossible for Tiperyn to land a military force. He assumed his watchdogs to have misidentified and exagerrated the threat, instead believing the Tiperyn invasion force to be a Yukamintan insurrection, perhaps at best aided by Artemian mercenaries. Hatuchu's response was to send a small detachment of some 100 soldiers to quell what was thought to be an isolated rebellion, as the messenger only referenced the small village that Tiperyn soldiers initially landed near. It took 2 weeks to muster this force and another 85 days to march to the landing site. Although scholars today argue that this underreaction could have been prevented if Hatuchu used the Kayan Navy to scout the area and report back, the Kayan emperor was distrustful of the navy. Faced by a threat, seemingly within the capabilities of a small force, Hatuchu preferred to use troops from the Vermilion Eagle Banner Army exclusively as his trusted vanguard.

With a full 25 week delay between the initial Tiperyn landings and the arrival of the Kayan reaction, Tiperyn was able to land three additional waves of reinforcements to consolidate their holdings and expand into the orchardlands to sustain themselves. By 15 December 1622, with the winter setting in, Tiperyn had amassed a force of 28,000 troops in Yukaminta and were continuing to prepare an additional 12,000 troops and mercenaries in Anderin to deploy in the spring. Captain-General Avila Herema, commander of the Tiperyn force and first Vicereine of Kaya, was expecting a much larger response from the Kayan Empire, and thus tread cautiously. Tiperyn forces were relatively well consolidated, careful not to overexpose themselves by pushing deeper into Kayan lands beyond the relatively friendly borders of Yukaminta. When Tiperyn forces met the 100-man Kayan force on 15 December 1622, a regiment of 1,000 Tiperyn Realms Guardsmen took the Kayans by surprise and routed them. The battle left 63 of the Kayans dead or wounded, left on the field, while the remainder withdrew in a dash back to the imperial court. Among these were the commander of the detachment, who was a personal friend of the Kayan emperor. The retreat of the commander, leaving most of his men for dead on the battlefield, would go on to significantly impact the image of the emperor and sow more seeds of dissent within the Banner Armies. Captain-General Herema initially believed this to just be a probing attack ahead of a much larger force. But after 2 days of no further engagements, Tiperyn forces pressed their advantage and advanced further north, hitting the northern boundary of Yukaminta by January.

When the Kayan survivors returned to the imperial court in early February, aided by a fisherman who ferried them from near the region of Silla to the capital, the Emperor was shook. However, he still did not grasp the full scope of the Tiperyn threat. The Kayan detachment had not actually found the main camp of the Tiperyn Realm Guard. Rather, they engaged a picket regiment nearly a dozen kilometers ahead the boundary of Tiperyn's occupation. The commander of the detachment, thus, reported that the Tiperyn force was only about 3,000 men strong. While an estimate three times larger than the force they met on the battlefield, by March the Tiperyn and mercenary force in Yukaminta was 40,000 men strong not including local militias that Tiperyn had succeeding in raising. To meet this force, the Emperor ordered the Vermilion Eagle Banner Army be raised and deployed — still hesitant to make use of military forces under the control of other parts of his court. By mid-March, the army mustered 19,000 Bannermen from the Emperor's home province.

This force again marched on foot with the aid of pack animals, taking 80 days to reach Yukaminta. By May 1623 when the force arrived, the Tiperyn force had grown to 43,000 Guardsmen and mercenaries plus 10,000 Yukamintan militiamen formed into provisional regiments. The Vermilion Eagle Banner Army and Tiperyn forces first met on the battlefield on 6 May 1623 and would engage in a number of skirmishes punctuated by grand battles until, on 24 May 1623, the Vermilion Eagle was destroyed.

Key lessons were learned by the Tiperyn military at this time. First, while the Kayans were well-armed with matchlock firearms, cannons, and flaming rocket arrows, the training of the individual infantryman was inferior and its officers inexperienced. Additionally, the ergonomics of Kaya's firearms were inferior to Tiperyn's. The Kayan army also lacked horse cavalry, but did have a capable defense against enemy cavalry in the form of pikemen. The combination of these factors meant that Tiperyn forces were able to quickly out-maneuver the Kayans and gain fire superiority. Further, Kaya's reliance on foot scouts — who were often detected and routed by Tiperyn's cavalry and pickets — also meant that the Kayans rarely knew where the bulk of Tiperyn units were. This allowed the Tiperyns to mass a force of 30,000 men along the Kayans' weak flank, which quickly broke through Kayan lines, conducted a turning movement, and enveloped Kaya's centre with musket and cannon fire. Kaya lost as many as 10,000 Bannermen killed and another 5,600 captured on 24 May, with the rest routing. An additional 700 Kayans were killed during Tiperyn's cavalry pursuit, which marauded north with near impunity.

Meanwhile, few lessons were learned by the Kayans other than that the Tiperyn threat was much larger than previously thought. With the destruction of the Vermilion Eagle Banner Army, the Unified Armies had lost among its most capable and well-statused officers. The symbolism of the Emperor's banner army being destroyed hit hard in the imperial court. Under Kayan tradition, typically when the Emperor's own banner army was deployed, he would lead them in battle. Emperor Hatuchu elected to not do this, instead staying at the imperial court. This further harmed his credibility as a leader in the eyes of Kayans.

With the gravity of the situation realized, the Kayan Empire began a mass mobilization to counter the threat. The original force of two banner armies — reduced to one after the Vermilion Eagle's destruction — was rapidly increased to 5 banner armies with a total of 95,000 men. However, this mobilization took a significant amount of time. In addition to the time it took to train new officers and conscript across Kaya's cities and countryside, there was not a fair amount of defiance and unenthusiasm as a result of the Emperor's unpopularity. The force would not be fully ready until 1625, but even then only a part of it would be marched or shipped south. This was due to a growing fear from the Emperor of a betrayal from his court or a public revolt as a result of the war. Thus, he always kept one banner army from his home province in the capital throughout the entire war.

Over the two year lull, the Tiperyn Realm Guard had trained up and equipped several permanent territorial regiments to Realm Guard standards, staffed by Tiperyn officers and Kayan Guardsmen. These forces would later form part of the basis of the Red Fist Banner Army that was founded by the Enlightened Society during the Kayan Revolution. At sea, the Tiperyn Realm Armada had begun to engage the Kayan Navy. Military vessels being used to transport troops and materiel southward towards Chimchag were sunk throughout the rest of 1623 and 1624. By the end of 1624, the Realm Armada had managed to set up a porous blockade around Yukaminta to defend Tiperyn ports and settlements under construction. Further, the Realm Armada continually harassed northern Kayan ports, although they never became decisively engaged. On the ground, Tiperyn forces had advanced northward a short distance, stopping along a straight boundary parallel to the coastal city of Chimchag still under imperial control. While only meeting scattered resistance, the Tiperyn commander remained skittish over Kaya's strength. As they advanced further north, they grew more concerned with overextending and running into Kaya's core units. Given that it was known the Kayan Empire was larger than Tiperyn and they were on its soil, the Tiperyn force maintained a defensive posture just outside of Kaya's major urban areas.

It would be at Chimchag that Tiperyn forces met the new Kayan army in 1625, resulting in one of the single bloodiest months of the war.

Aftermath
In the Eukaminta War, Tiperyn had established the extent of its colonial holdings in Southern Avalonia. This including the Yukaminta region of the Kayan Empire, Seotaejo, and Chimchag. Additionally, during the war Tiperyn landed in what is now modern-day Southern SiWallqanqa and conquered much of the arid, sparsely populated coastal region. This action, combined with the capture of Seotaejo, cut off the Quechuan-speaking Kingdom of Willkapampa from the more populated region of Sinaya to Seotaejo's west.

The war also saw the establishment of the Harmonious Society of Kaya, which remains the governing body of Kaya to this day. Tiperyn's aid to the Enlightened Society against the unpopular Kayan Empire also solidified the two powers' relationship which endures today as part of the basis for the North-South Concordant and earlier Grand Campaigns-era Crown Alliance and Great Kesh War-era Crown Concordant.

War of a Thousand Banners
The Eukaminta War and concurrent Kayan Revolution was almost immediately followed up by the War of a Thousand Banners. The war was a civil conflict fought primarily in Northern Kaya that saw the consolidation of the Harmonious Society's control over the peninsula. It was the result of disparate Kayan Banners Armies turned territorial warlord factions still loyal to the Kayan imperial establishment revolting against the newly governing Enlightened Society. The conflict saw the unambiguous defeat of the unloyal Banners Armies and their disbandment. This was largely the result of the Harmonious Society's unity and foreign support from Tiperyn, as well as the disunity of the rebels. The War of a Thousand Banners was the last civil war to occur within Kaya.

Tiperyn decolonization of Avalonia
While Tiperyn ultimately emerged victorious in the Eukaminta War with new colonies in the Realm, the war was incredibly costly and lengthy with less gain than initially expected at the beginning of the war. Following the independence of Anderin and Nyland in th early 18th century, there was little appetite from the new generation of Tiperyn nobles to continue the colonization of Avalonia. Additionally, by the mid-18th century, Tiperyn's relationship with the nascent Harmonious Society of Kaya — strengthened by Tiperyn's support during the War of a Thousand Banners immediately after the Kayan Revolution — had grown to be one of its most advantageous partnerships. During a period where Tiperyn was rivalled by several large Artemian colonial empires — primarily Agrana y Griegro and Ovancia — Kaya was among Tiperyn's few strong allies and its only ally in Southern Avalonia. Thus, Kaya's developing anti-colonial policy in Avalonia greatly influenced Tiperyn's strategic thinking. Kayan policy — combined with other factors such as cost, colonial rivalries, the state of large indigenous powers in Avalonia, and a pivot in Tiperyn colonialism towards Kesh — influenced Tiperyn's peaceful decolonization effort through the 19th century.

The only Tiperyn overseas territory that remains in Avalonia today is Chimchag, which borders the Yukaminta region of Kaya. This metropolis was originally gifte to Tiperyn due to their role in enabling the Enlightened Society during the Kayan Revolution. The transfer of Chimchag, which had not been previously part of the Realm Viceroyalty, was symbolic, as Tiperyn Realm Armada sailors and Realm Guard soldiers played a significant part in its capture by landing at its port and battling imperial forces for control of the central palace. When Tiperyn decolonized Yukaminta, Kaya allowed Tiperyn to retain control over Chimchag due to its historical significance and the consistent opinion of the Enlightened Society that Chimchag was rightfully won by Tiperyn against an enemy of the people.

Tiperyn's tightening grip on Northern Avalonia
Waging the Eukaminta War was very costly, both monetarily and in human lives. During the war, the Holy Tiperyn Realm focused much of its military manpower on combating the Kayan Empire and holding Yukaminta. This meant that fewer troops were available to hold trouble colonies, such as Anderin (today part of Brigantica), which acted as a prison colony for Tiperyn's oppressed Goidel population. Further, because of it being inhabited mainly by Goidels, Anderin did not have its own territorial regiments, stretching Tiperyn's already taxed Realm Guard. To compensate, Tiperyn troops already stationed in Anderin began to adopt more brutal practices to maintain control. This was one of the inciting factors that led to Anderin declaring independence from Tiperyn in 1675. Having just ceased hostilities against the Kayan Empire 17 years prior, and having been recently involved in the War of a Thousand Banners, Tiperyn was in a relatively weak position. This likely contributed to Tiperyn's defeat in Anderin and Nyland, and their ultimate independence in 1701 and 1704 respectively.

Effects on Kayan military culture
The collaboration of Yukaminta militias and turncoat imperial Banner Armies with the Tiperyn Realm Guard and continued cooperation heavily impacted Kaya's military culture, practices, and capabilities. In the aftermath of the Kayan Empire's fall, Tiperyn aided the Kayans in reforming their military academy system and curriculum to the standards of Artemian militaries at the time. Following the War of a Thousand Banners and the purging of disloyal elements remaining in the Kayan military, Kaya adopted the regimental system in use by Tiperyn at the time. This entailed geographically-based regiments grouped within the Banner Army construct that had existed previously. Additionally, as Avalonia lacked horses before Artemian migration — and Kaya specifically lacked viable riding animals — Tiperyn introduced the concept of into the Kayan military tradition.