Kaonashian-Hagstonian War

The Kaonashian-Hagstonian War, or the First Laraniemian War (30 April – 20 August 2020), was a war of aggression between Kaonashia, Dogeanea and Indoinastan on one side and the Northern Ocean Alliance, including the Matthuvan Union, on the other.

First Stage (30 April - 17 May)
The period from the declaration of war by Kaonashia against Hagston to Dogeanea's takeover of Zov 7K on the 17 May is known as the First Stage of the war.

Kaonashian Destruction
Soon after the declaration of war, Kaonashian troops - made up mainly of supernaturals such as fairies, dragons, etc. - began a rampage through southern Hagston and eastern Koxor, killing thousands, threatening over a billion and at one point "turning the sky red". In response to this, on the 12 May, Koxor set up the National Anti-Supernatural Defence System, which involved spikes in the ground to fend off dragons, coating bridges with iron, distributing sunglasses to citizens to combat the Mesmers of fairies, spraying lemon and lime juice in the air to combat fairies, giving the military silver bullets (to combat fairies and demons), distributing lots of cockerels to combat basilisks, and "doing something about the octopuses".

After Kaonashian forces swept through and occupied southern Hagston, President Tim Galek was evacuated to Sichong, where he spent the rest of the war for fear of being captured.

Dogeanea and the Matthuvan Union
On the 14 May, Dogeanea announced that they would join the war on Kaonashia's side "for the price of one election vote", which tipped the war in Kaonashia's favour. The same day, Koxor launched an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile at northern Dogeanea, killing over 375,000 people. On the 16 May, the Matthuvan Union joined the war on the Alliance's side, also threatening to launch an Inter-Planetary Ballistic Missile at Kaonashia or Dogeanea.

Second Stage (17 May - 30 June)
The period after the first stage until the beginning of the stalemate on the 30 June is known as the Second Stage.

Occupation of the Solar System
In the morning of the 17 May, Dogeanea announced their occupation of both Zov 7K and Lleopra. Hagston quickly responded by taking back the planets and positioning Hagstonian and Koxori interplanetary battleships on them.

Phase III
On the 18 May, Koxor initiated Phase III of the Alliance's battle plan, in which the NOA's armed forces would push back at the supernaturals, which by then had been weakened. This push involved both Hagstonian robots and all of Koxor's remaining troops.

'The Incident'
On the same day as Phase III's announcement, an incident occurred in which Koxor, hoping to break down trust between Kaonashia and Dogeanea, announced that the latter had withdrawn from the war. In response to this, Dogeanea accused Kaonashia of fraud and announced their true withdrawal. However, this was false and Dogeanea, in fact, had been building up its interplanetary battle fleet.

Sinkholes
On the 19 May, it was announced that Dogeanea had dug several hundred sinkholes under Koxoriek cities and was willing to open them. However, Koxoriek spies, intercepting Dogeanea's plan, did the same under Dogean cities, leading to a situation reminiscent of a cold war, in which both countries threatened to take action but none was ever taken.

Koxoriek Battleships
Dogeanea's Cheems Express battlecruiser had long been feared in Laraniem, so after Koxor announced it had stolen the plans and recreated the ship, many politicians said that the war was beginning to tip in the Alliance's favour."'My loyal citizens, this terrible war may be coming to an end! But please, do not give up fighting, for in due course, we will beat the supernaturals and we will do it bravely!' - Tim Galek, Cleoles, 19 May 2020"

Nanobots and the Forcefield
On the 20 May, Dogean nanobots infused with nitroglycerine were found inside many Koxoriek troops. The same day, Dogeanea reactivated the forcefield that had been used in the Alien War and used it against Hagston.

Phase IV
On the 22 May, Koxor announced the initiation of Phase IV of the war, in which troops from all four countries in the NOA would surround and defeat the Dogean forces on Koprah, Zov 7K and Laraniem. This plan was ultimately successful and Dogean forces had been driven off of every planet by the 26 May.

The Koxoriek peace offer and the withdrawal of Dogeanea
On the 29 May, Koxor offered Kaonashia and Dogeanea a peace treaty, hoping to end the war and spare thousands more lives. Kaonashia was willing to accept only if Hagston remained in the war. However, Koxor refused, with the head of the Ministry of Defence saying "[Koxor] will refuse to go through with the peace treaty unless Hagston is also considered in said treaty". Thus, the peace offer was withdrawn.

On the 1 June, Dogeanea officially withdrew from the war, saying that "Dogeanea will seal it's [sic] gate to the world until the war passes... we will retreat to the safety of the planets beyond and prepare and fortify our position". It is not known whether this was directly related to the previous failed peace treaty. The same day, Koxor launched an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (similar to the one launched at Dogeanea on the 14 May) at Kaonashia, also saying that "we have plenty more, enough to completely flatten Kaonashia four times if necessary".

Phase V and the 'Chuck Norris plan'
On the same day as Phase V's announcement, the leader of the Matthuvan Union suggested an effective, if far-fetched, plan. A joint group of NOA scientists had discovered a way to sequence specific genes, allowing one to create a 'perfect person' and also to clone existing people quickly. Although all four countries had sworn not to use it for ethical reasons, it was decided that the war was a 'special circumstance'. Previously-discovered genes known to enhance a person's strength and agility were fed into the machine, along with basic human blueprints, to create a 'superperson' capable of almost anything. The cloning machines were then used to create around four thousand of these superpeople, which were soon dubbed 'Chuck Norrises'. Because of this, Phase V was nicknamed the 'Chuck Norris Plan'.

Phase VI
The Laraniem Gen2 elections began on the 14 June 2020. They did not have a significant effect on the war, but they did directly lead to Indoinastan joining it and also cause a temporary, if unofficial, ceasefire for most of the third week of June.

Koxor and Hagston had been working on their joint plan to use the Hagstonian Justice Station to destroy Kaonashia. The plan was announced on the 18 June in an official letter from the Koxoriek government that gave Kaonashia 24 hours to surrender, lest they be destroyed by the Superlaser. Kaonashia did not heed the warning and Imilur Jakhai, Koxor's Minister for Defence, authorised the firing of the Superlaser the following day. Due to technical issues, the laser failed to be ready to fire until the 20 June, by which time Kaonashia had requested a truce, saying that "the war is not over, we just have a truce currently".

The First Truce
The truce was received gladly by both sides as it gave the defenders time to reach and recover the wounded and the attackers time to reorganise. Both Tim Galek and Zemeti Olaj gave appreciatory speeches in their respective countries, welcoming the ceasefire with open arms.

On the 23 June, Marry Bakker, the Sidramyean Minister for Foreign Affairs, announced that while Sidramye would not be joining the war, they would begin shipping supplies to Hagston and Koxor. This funding was soon greatly increased as the devastation wreaked by Kaonashia became more apparent.

Koxor made its second peace offer on the 28 June, offering a white peace, but it was met with Kaonashia's disapproval on the 30 June. The rejection of the offer began a month-long period of stalemate in which fewer than 1000 lives were lost.

Third Stage (30 June - 20 August)
The Third Stage lasted from the beginning of the stalemate on the 30 June to the end of the war. it was mainly marked by stalemate and rejected peace offerings.

The Stalemate
The stalemate, also known as Phase VIII, contributed to fewer than 1000 of the 933,000 total casualties. The only major battle of the period, with the exception of the Battle of Phoenix, was an air battle over Huehall, in which 43 Kaonashian aircraft were victorious against a Hagstonian fleet of 32 aeroplanes. 20 people were injured in the skirmish, seven of whom died.

The Indoinastani government announced their wishes to join the war in Kaonashia's favour on the 25 July. This was met with pleas from most of the NOA for them to withdraw, a bribe offer by Sidramye and threats by Koxor to use their latest psychological weapon, the Great Reverse Card. Despite this, Indoinastan officially entered the war on the 31 July.

Indoinastan soon faced many threats from the NOA, including a large space battle over Phoenix (the planet Indoinastan was from) that cost over 2000 lives. On the 5 August, Indoinastan officially withdrew from the war after only six days, ending Phase VIII. They cited 'internal issues', though it is unknown what these were.

Phase IX
Phase IX was mainly characterised by peace negotiations between the two sides and no major fighting. A Sidramyean task force did encounter a small group of Kaonashian guerrillas in a village near Vlug, Sidramye, but the latter were almost immediately defeated and arrested. Hagston decreed that they would stop fighting on the 7 August, and instead supplied weapons to the remaining Koxoriek and Sidramyean armies.

On the 20 August, after weeks of negotiations, a peace offer was agreed upon. It involved the release of a Hagstonian vassal named Southern Hagston that would serve as a buffer state between the two rivals. The war had officially come to an end.

Casualties
The war had cost the lives of almost 1 million soldiers and countless civilians. Conditions in the army camps had been terrible, leading to possibly almost a tenth of the casualties.

Leadership
The previous Koxoriek Minister for Defence, Kalakhat Rokhin, had been replaced near the middle of the war by a more conservative candidate, Imilur Jakhai. Jakhai proved to be an unpopular and corrupt Minister, and was fired on the 8 August, to be replaced by Rokhin for a second time. Megelkur Oipelir, a proficient Koxoriek general, had also been suggested for the post, but he turned down the offer. Jakhai was tried after the war for corruption and using his position for his own gain, and was sentenced to an initial prison term of five years. Zemeti Olaj gave an official apology to Rokhin and King Torekh Ipelir III accepted him into the Order of the Falcon, a position reserved for those who had done a great service to the country. Olaj was also accepted into the Order a week later.

Brief timeline

 * First Stage: 30 April 2020 - 17 May 2020; beginning of war to takeover of Zov 7K
 * Phase I: 30 April - 6 May; beginning of war to Kaonashian landing in southern Hagston
 * Phase II: 6 May - 18 May; Kaonashian landing to initiation of Phase III
 * Second Stage: 17 May 2020 - 30 June 2020; invasion of Solar System to stalemate
 * Phase III ('the Push'): 18 May - 22 May; beginning of 'The First Push' to counter-invasion of Solar System
 * Phase IV ('the Battle in Space'): 22 May - 2 June; counter-invasion of Solar System to initiation of Phase V
 * Phase V ('Chuck Norris Plan'): 2 June - 14 June; beginning of 'The Second Push' to beginning of the Laraniem Gen2 elections
 * Phase VI ('the Superlaser'): 14 June - 20 June; Laraniem Gen2 elections to the first truce
 * Phase VII ('the First Truce'): 20 June - 30 June; first truce to beginning of stalemate
 * Third Stage: 30 June 2020 - 20 August 2020; beginning of stalemate to end of war
 * Phase VIII ('the Stalemate'): 30 June - 5 August; beginning of stalemate to Indoinastan's withdrawal
 * Phase IX ('the Negotiations'): 5 August - 20 August; Indoinastan's withdrawal to end of war