[i]"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud. Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, my friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori." [/i] -Wilfred Owen

[center][h2]Winter of 1801[/h2][/center]

[img]https://i.ibb.co/pZLR96Q/Country-Labelled.png[/img]

[b][i][u]2nd of December[/u][/i][/b]

[b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] launches an extensive propaganda campaign, attempting to condemn [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] even further. In particular, they suggest that the case of Josua Hasselmann, the Ubren citizen supposedly beaten and falsely imprisoned by the Attolian Sentinels, is merely a hoax. The Attolian newspapers cry out that Ubren is a nation of warmongers, rejecting Attolia's peace proposal, earning the condemnation of the Pope himself, and that the peace-loving nations of Europe must rally to the just cause of the Empire of Attolia. As Attolia is beaten back by Ubren on nearly every front, this called for aid cannot come soon enough. 

[b][i][u]3rd of December[/u][/i][/b]

As their armies march to war, the vast war machine of [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] is stoked into life. The Military Arsenal, in the nation's capital, is a formidable logistical weapon, and it is pushed to it's full capacity. Army recruiters embark to every corner of the nation, fire and brimstone in their voices as they whip the people of Ubren into a nationalistic frenzy. This same frenzy spills over into [color=9e0b0f][b]The Hastel Dominions[/b][/color], a nation who's people are still disgusted that they do not march to the aid of their allies. Protests evolve into riots, the provinces of Westrich, Bruchval and even the capital province of Weidingen, all grind to a halt, as the people demand that the Dominions honour their word. 

[b][i][u]6th of December[/u][/i][/b] 

In the shattered ruins of [b]The Kingdom of Sescos[/b], there is at least a spark of hope. Following the truce, [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] offers a more substantial treaty. The agreement is certainly far-reaching, establishing open migration and trade between the two nations, free labour in the form of Attolian prisoners, the adoption of Attolian currency to stabilize the struggling economy, and a formalization of their alliance in the form of marriage between King Ciro Malas and the Emperor's younger sister, Princess Bela. There is three challenges that this treaty faces. The first, is that the Attolian army, the greatest symbol of the two nations bond as it stood in defence of Sescos on the border with Dashkatar, has abandoned it's post, and marched north. The second, is Attolia's war with [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b], for any alliance with Attolia now may draw the wrath of Ubren and their allies. And the third, is the fact that Ubren, and their half-ally [b]The Redcliff Empire[/b] form an impassable barrier between the two nations, preventing any serious migration, or any trade that avoids the tax of [b][color=007236]The Three City's Republic of Ianian[/color][/b]. King Malas is a weak and frightened man, and his blind fear of war with Ubren leads him to ignoring the treaty, preferring to hide behind his castle walls. Thankfully, it is not King Malas that truly holds the power in the Kingdom of Sescos. Dimos Zaros, the bastard son of King Bakos Mátyás, the half-brother of King Pieter Mátyás, is at least a shade of that great bloodline, and in his distant relatives name, he agrees to the treaty, signalling a new age of hope in the Kingdom of Sescos.

[b][i][u]7th of December[/u][/i][/b]

It is remarkable that [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] city of Nartoise has withstood the siege from the army of [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] for as long as it has. Outnumbered more than ten to one, the garrison has dug in, and gritted it's teeth, praying that aid arrives quickly. For Ubren, they continue to hammer the city walls, the cannons rarely falling silent.

[b][i][u]9th of December[/u][/i][/b]

All too aware that it's supply lines and trade routes are almost relics, [color=9e0b0f][b]The Hastel Dominions[/b][/color] launches a massive project, intended to rejuvenate their infrastructure. With the budget given to it, this should be a success, but due to the riots and protests still gripping the nation, it simply sputters out before it can ever gain any traction. The people of the Dominions are baying for blood, but if it not not the blood of [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] that they are allowed to spill, then they may start looking closer to home. While Emperor Erhard Hastel maintains his stony silence on the issue of their allies war, not marching to the aid of [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b], these riots will only continue to grow. 

[b][i][u]11th of December[/u][/i][/b]

Keen to fully secure their colonial hold in the region, a party of colonists hailing from [b][color=007236]The Three City's Republic of Ianian[/color][/b] colony of South Iberia, embarks to the north. South Iberia itself is only recently established, but there are still a brave group who readily take the opportunity to further extend the Republic's colonial holdings. It could also be that rumours of the colonial fleet of [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b], embarked from Antillia almost a month before, has reached the people of the Republic, and they are keen to secure their own claim on the land. The colony of North Iberia is born. 

[b][u][i]14th of December[/i][/u][/b]

Finally, [b][color=2e3192]The Kingdom of Aontas[/color][/b] acts. Their colony of Suveren has become a chaotic wasteland, and it is this scene that the fifteen thousand soldiers of Aontas see as they arrive. Led by General Iric Herjolfsson, and supported by a substantial portion of the Kingdom's fleet, the soldiers are quickly put to work to restore order on the island. The mercenary captains are seized and executed, but the mercenaries themselves, the men that had butchered and pillaged the Aontas people, are simply sent back to their homelands, and given their full pay. The land that the small army reclaim is a barren land, tens of thousands lie dead, the settlements are in ruins, and in truth, the colony will take years to recover. For now at least, a tentative peace is restored. 

[b][i][u]16th of December[/u][/i][/b]

General Janik Tillich makes his move. Even as the bitter winter weather makes the waterlogged conditions even worse, the almost legendary commander of [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] cannot sit idly by while a glimmer of resistance from [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] remains in the province of Belgae. Although he sends word to the force at the city of Houte to join him, the flooded ground makes the progress of the message slow and sluggish, so he endeavors to push on without their support. With forty thousand men at his back, the general begins the difficult journey to join the Ubren army already besieging the city of Nartoise. It is good fortune that he does not need to cross any of the major rivers that run through the province, their banks now burst and their bridges in ruins. 

[b][i][u]17th of December[/u][/i][/b]

The majority of the European Trading League, [b][color=007236]The Three City's Republic of Ianian[/color][/b],    [color=f26522][b]The Republic of Toubres[/b][/color], [b]The Echyan Empire[/b], [b]The Holy Territories of Edoniras[/b] and [b]The Republic of Oflua[/b] all condemn the nations of both [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] and [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] for warmongering. As a gesture to encourage the nations to come to the table for peace talks, they announce a trading embargo. Considering the fact that the group of nations include some of the strongest economies in Europe, this is a serious injury to the two nations affected. It is a saving grace for Ubren that [b]The Redcliff Empire[/b] did not join, and trade continues to flow between the two nations. 

[b][i][u]19th of December[/u][/i][/b]

The province officially handed over to [b]The Redcliff Empire[/b], the force of [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] under the command of General Fritz Hecker withdraws from Centrix. Only hours later, soldiers of Redcliff march in to take control, ensuring that it will not repeat it's grievous error of leaving it's territories undefended. The arriving soldiers are greeted on the streets like liberating heroes. The Redcliff Empire that the province voted to leave was a crumbling power beset on all sides by enemies and crippled by debt, but the Redcliff Empire that welcomes them back into the fold is once again a major European power, and one that only continues to grow in strength. The significance of this 'gift' from Ubren to Redcliff, will certainly come to be seen in the coming weeks and months.

[b][i][u]20th of December[/u][/i][/b] 

The time for sitting back and amassing it's armies is clearly over for [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b]. It is General Joel Keskitalo that is first given the orders to advance. With a force of more than fifty-five thousand men at his back, as well as several thousand mercenaries, Keskitalo marches for the city of Nartoise. The race to the city is well and truly on. One pressing problem presents itself, the extensive flooding that plagues the province of Belgae does not only act as an obstacle to [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b], and while the Ubren army does not need to cross a major river to reach the city, the Attolian army does. A decidedly flooded major river now. The land surrounding the river has been turned into a marsh, and the river itself, all but the most sturdily built bridges swept away, is a raging torrent. Crossing the river is slow, painfully slow. 

[b][i][u]22nd of December[/u][/i][/b]

Admiral Kai Kauppinen is finally granted the freedom of the seas. Sailing to join Admiral Antti Erkkilä, the two men, with the whole of the naval strength in Europe of [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] at their back, goes on the hunt for any supply convoys of [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b]. What they find is sorely disappointing. Any burgeoning naval ventures that Ubren had been making since establishing their own coastline for the first time have already been stifled by [b][color=2e3192]The Kingdom of Aontas[/color][/b], and the fleet of Attolia finds itself with little to do. Perhaps it is this boredom that leads them to eyeing up the city of Iversen itself. With no navy to oppose them, the fleet begins darting raids upon the city. In truth, the admirals do not have the tools for the jobs, their frigates and sloops poorly suited for attacks against the formidable coastal fortifications of the city, but they do what they can. 

[b][i][u]25th of December[/u][/i][/b]

It is clear that Admiral Topi Valtonen does not intend to linger within [b]The Tadahisa Shogunate[/b]. Offering whatever payment works, whether it is gold, trinkets or weapons, the fleet of [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] gains fresh crew, and rudimentary ships. Once satisfied, Valtonen sails south, vengeance burning in his heart, intending to catch the fleet of [b]The Shuren Dynasty[/b] off guard, and to attack the capital of the Dynasty itself. 

[b][i][u]27th of December[/u][/i][/b]

Winter has truly fallen, it's grip like a vice all across Europe. Leaving the mass of his army behind, General Janik Tillich of [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] has ridden hard through the flooded lands of Belgae and reached the army besieging the city of Nartoise, the garrison somehow continuing its defence. The relieving army of [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] can be seen, just a few miles away from the cities walls, still wading through the marshland, and Tillich realises that there is no time to lose. His strategic brilliance is so great that merely his presence makes an immediate difference. Focusing the heaviest guns of Ubren on one region of the city walls, Tillich successfully creates a breach, and once the most elite soldiers of Ubren are within the city, the day is won. Although the garrison fights almost to the last, praying that the Attolian army will arrive in time, by the time the Attolian army does reach the city, the Ubren force is within, and so the Second Siege of Nartoise begins just hours after the First Siege ends. 

[b][u][i]29th of December[/i][/u][/b]

In the midst of the war between [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] and [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b], an announcement is made that sends shock waves throughout Europe. The interrogations of the Tribunal in [b]The Holy Territories of Edoniras[/b] have been growing increasingly intense, bordering on torture at times, but finally, there is a breakthrough. One of the spies, a man who gives his name as Joel Börngen, finally breaks. The confession drawn from his lips is a simple one. The small fortune with which the spies were funded with, instructed to infiltrate the province of Belgae, came from a source. The Kingdom of Ubren. 

[b][i][u]30th of December[/u][/i][/b]

General Eerikki Klemetti uses his easy charm to rally several thousand mercenaries to his cause, and those soldiers of fortune, along with three thousand cavalry troopers of [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b], cross the border into [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] province of Obertal. Once there, they begin a string of hit and run raids, focusing their attacks on the numerous supply lines running into the newly conquered province of Belgae. They do what they can, but they can only do so much, forced to retreat from any sizable Ubren forces that are sent after them, and General Klemetti is really no great general, even in this he is out of his depth. Regardless, the raids continue. 

[b][i][u]31st of December[/u][/i][/b]

The main fleet of [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] descends upon the capital of [b]The Shuren Dynasty[/b]. Although Admiral Valtonen is correct that the Shuren fleet is celebrating their victory, the natural defences of the capital, the narrow channel that any approaching fleet has to pass before they reach the port itself, mean that the fleet receives ample warning. Once again, the two great fleets collide in a roar of cannons and spray of seawater and blood. The Attolian sailors fight with a burning determination, but they have sailed into the lion's den, coastal defences on all sides. They reap a bloody toll upon the Shuren fleet, but Admiral Valtonen quickly realises that if they prolong their attack, they could all too easily be caught within the large natural harbour and be utterly destroyed. So the Attolian's are forced to retreat and lick their wounds as they return to the relative safe harbour of [b]The Tadahisa Shogunate[/b], hoping that they are not hounded by pursuers.