[center][b]Fall, 1836[/b][/center]

[b]Dalatrum Strengthens it's Position[/b] ([i]September 5th, 1936[/i])

The summer was warm, but short. Temperatures dipped as early as August, the winds of the western whipping across the plains as far as eastern Boletaria. The lightning quick fall of Dalatrum from it's Great Power status meant that many had lost respect for them, though the new regime didn't tally. At the end of July, the the Dalatrian's held the [i]Kesa Conference[/i], calling to order the leaders of the Republic of Zukovia. A client state, the moderate Dalatrians had long held the Zukovians desire for autonomy close to their hearts. This wasn't to last, however.

The autonomous respect of Zukovian was removed and instead it's territories folded into Dalatrum, it's industry and population as well. The Dalatrian High Command saw this move as a preemptive defense against the current [b]Sanguine War of Aggression[/b]. The Sanguine, if victorious (the most likely outcome) would now be peering west to Muthandria and Dalatrum. Strengthening its own position and removing Zukovia as another potential target was the next best move.

[The [b]United Kingdoms of Dalatrum[/b] annex the client state [b]Republic of Zukovia[/b].]

[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/yUiFBkA.png[/img]
[i]Map of the Old World September, 1836[/i][/center]

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[b]The Sanguine War of Aggression[/b] ([i]1836[/i])

[b]The Battle of Vulgas[/b] ([i]September 21st, 1836[/i])

Though the Kapitans had lost every battle of the war, and surrendered only four months after the Sanguine came sweeping across the borders, it was the near defeat at the Vulgas river that revealed not only to the Sanguine High Command, but to the rest of the world how inept the swollen Sanguine military was. Led by General Iletsky, the Sanguine relentlessly pursued the Kapitan Army retreating further into it's hinterlands in an attempt to quickly end the war. It was at the Vulgas river that the Kapitans set their trap.

Historians would later argue it was Iletsky's penchant for court life that made him soft, while others stated that Iletsky was as competent as they come and it was bad weather and Kapitan tenacity that cost the Sanguine so much. The Sanguine had set a short perimeter at the river and started to cross under cover of darkness. Sanguine scouts reported signs that the Kapitan Army had already retreated beyond the river, but this was an elaborate ruse by General Wvosesroz of Kapitas. Instaed, Wvosesroz had placed several regiments on the near side of the river, as well as all 10,000 of the Kapitan Cossacks, the fiercest horseman in the world. When they struck, the remainder of the Kapitan Army would deny the Sanguine any victory at all. A smashing success here might force the Sanguine to sue for mere territorial gains.

The battle began more as an ambush, and much of the Sanguine's problems stemmed from the early death of General Iletsky. The Cossacks emerged from the steppes and charged the still forming lines of Sanguine infantry (those men attempting to give battle to the Kapitans across the battle). The Cossacks charged, sabers out, and did not seek to fall back. The Sanguine learned first hand the ruthlessness and tenacity of the Cossacks, who in many circumstances seemed to fight without any regard for their own life. Three of the five Sanguine regiments formed at the lip of the river had shattered, and it looked as if the Kapitans would carry the day.

[center][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Myrbach-Cossacks.jpg[/img]
[i]Kapitan Cossacks in action[/i][/center]

A young lieutenant named Khurnov, rallied the 5th, 12th and 17th regiments further inland, establishing a long and thin line that began picking off stray Cossacks. The Cossacks turned and charged, falling upon them in a frantic scream that saw many of the green Sanguine regulars abandon their position. Khurnov had positioned several more regiments behind this first line, and began systematically falling back, whittling the Cossacks down over and over. After 8 hours of fighting, all but 700 of the Cossacks were dead.

The Kapitans, still numerically superior with their forces across the river, were ill equipped and had run out of ammunition. They fell back, and by morning the battered remnants of the Sanguine Army held both sides of the river. Over 9,000 Cossacks had been killed, 5,000 Kapitan regulars, and over 15,000 Sanguine lay dead.

Thirteen days later, Sanguine diplomats were finalizing paperwork for Kapitan annexation into the Greater Sanguine Empire. The Sanguine War of Aggression was over. Over 50,000 Sanguine had been killed, and questions within the administrative circles of the Empire seriously began to linger about the competency of its military. Half a hundred thousand men had been killed for a nation without any industry at all.

[[b]The Sanguine Empire[/b] loses 50,000 men.]
[[b]The Sanguine Empire[/b] wins the [b]Sanguine War of Aggression[/b].]
[[b]The Sanguine Empire[/b] annexes the [b]Kingdom of Kapitas[/b].]