Zoranian Civil War

The Zoranian Civil War was a conflict between the Zoran Union and the seperatists of the Kingdom of Kerzov and the Kingdom of Albassi who were combined as the Parten Alliance. During the 24th of July 1018 Zoranian Soldiers were engaged in multiple locations across the Union which marks the beginning of the conflict. It was one of the biggest internal military confrontations in history. The Kingdoms of Kerzov and Albassi were a part of the Zoran Union but disagreed with the policies of the Emperor who was leading the Union. Even though they had a lot of autonomy already they demanded full control of their internal policies, radically lower taxes and a say in foreign affairs. The demands were sent to the Zoran Union Government in a signed document. However at the time the document was written and sent both Kingdoms were already preparing for a military confrontation, aware that there is a very low chance that the Zoran Union would accept this demands without further redue. This is one of the reasons why it is believed that both Kingdoms never had the intention of gaining more autonomy but instead full independence.

On the 23rd of July 1018 the Zoranian Government answered the demands. While they denied to fulfill the demands they were willing to talk and negoiate and invited both leaders to travel to the capital of Karidge for further talk. But the next day first engagements across the Union started and it was clear that the conflict was now inevitable.

Important Battles throughout the war:

1018: Balsberg, 1st Battle of Inchburg, Katrala, 1st Battle of Restia, Gilles Plains.

1019: 2nd Battle of Restia, 1st Battle of Batroit, Lethsa Borders.

1020: 2nd Battle of Batroit, 3rd Battle of Restia, 2nd Battle of Inchburg.

1021: 3rd Battle of Batroit, Krelwood, Karstedt, Parten, Hampersfield.

Buildup and initial movements
On the 15th July 1018 the Kingdoms of Kerzov and Albassi were already preparing for a conflict as they expected the Zoranian Government to refuse to fulfill their demands. A large issue at the time was however that due to the Policy of the Zoran Union every Kingdom had to put 50 % of its military forces under the command of the Zoranian Military Forces. This meant that both Kingdoms were not in possession of their full military potential. To compensate they tried to recruit as many volunteers as they could in the months before the conflict. The Kingdom of Albassi put Major General Liam Harper a born Albassian in charge of its entire military forces. The Kingdom of Kerzov chose to give General Robert Asenov the command of its military forces.

Major General Liam Harper decided to split his forces up into two armies. They were named the Aratzek Army and the Redsburg Army just like two cities within Albassi. General Robert Asenov split his forces into three armies named the Kerzov Army, Parten Army and Ichmina Army named like the Kingdom itself and some of its cities as well. The two Kingdoms however did not appoint a supreme commander for their combined forces. Both Major General Liam Harper and General Robert Asenov had different opinions about what strategy to go with. The fact that the differences between the two highest commanding officers of the Parten Alliance would not be resolved until near the end of the war is considered one of the reasons for the defeat of the Parten Alliance.

On the 24th of July 1018 both the Aratzek Army and Redsburg Army started moving towards Balsberg. Balsberg was a part of Albassi but many Zoranian troops were stationed near it. The Kerzov and Ichmina Army were marching towards Inchburg while the Parten Army was marching to Katrala. Every army started to engage Zoranian units that were on their path which became the first small battles of the conflict.

On the Zoranian side it did not took long until the Emperor realised what was happening. He gave the supreme command of the Zoranian Military Forces to General Peter Steward. He quickly organized the Zoranian Forces into 5 armies named 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and Karidge Army. However he was lacking information about what exactly was going on and where the Parten Alliance would strike first. So he was forced to hold most of his forces back at the beginning of the conflict even against the protest of the commanders of his armies.

1018
In 1018 the Parten Alliance had a huge initial advantage. First of all the Zoran Union did not expect a civil war at the time despite the extreme demands made by the Parten Alliance before and its forces were split up and stationed across the Zoran Union. The Aratzek Army and Redsburg Army were marching towards Balsberg with almost 170 000 men while the Kerzov, Ichmina and Parten Army had 260 000 men with them. This meant the Parten Alliance initially had 430 000 men available. During the entire conflict 467 000 men served in the armed forces of the Parten Alliance meaning that the Parten Alliance had the vast majority of it´s military potential available right at the beginning of the conflict.

The Zoran Union on the other hand had 650 000 Soldiers available at the beginning of the conflict which is about three quarters of it´s military potential throughout the conflict. However the five armies formed by General Peter Steward only had 295 000 Soldiers available initially as many soldiers and much equipment was stationed across the Zoran Union and it would take a long time to transport and organize them all together. This fact forced General Peter Steward to be careful and led to him holding most of his forces back instead of attempting to stop the enemies advance.

On the 29th of July the Aratzek Army reached Balsberg starting their attacks immediately followed by the Redsburg Army on the 30th of July.