Operation GOLDEN FORTRESS

Operation GOLDEN FORTRESS
Conflict details
Part of Dark Age Era
Start Date 3081
End Date 3085
Result Republic victory; Capellans lose over two dozen pre-war systems
Attacking Forces
Affiliation Capellan Confederation
Defending Forces
Affiliation Republic of the Sphere
Other Forces

The Capellan-Republic War was a conflict fought between the newly formed Republic of the Sphere and the Capellan Confederation shortly after the Word of Blake Jihad. Opening with a successful Capellan assault across the Republic's rimward border, the Republic Armed Forces recovered from its early defeats and later reclaimed the conquered worlds before seizing prewar Capellan territory. The war ended with a Republican victory and the cession of the captured worlds to the Republic, but also created lasting animosity between the two states that sparked an even greater conflict a generation later.[1] [2]

Background[edit]

The defeat of the Word of Blake in 3079 left Exarch Devlin Stone in control of their former Protectorate, which included a number of historically Capellan worlds. Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao, who had made it his life's mission to recover all Capellan worlds lost during the Fourth Succession War, refused to accept their loss to another realm. His demands for the return of Capellan systems lost to the Blakists were firmly rebuffed by their new owner, the Republic of the Sphere, as those worlds had chosen to join Stone's new government. With neither side willing to give ground during fruitless negotiations, and the nascent Republic defeating several ex–Free Worlds League states before forcing them to recognize Republic claims to former League worlds, Sun-Tzu feared a similar outcome and decided to strike first in hope of obtaining a stronger bargaining position.[1] [2]

The War[edit]

Operation GOLDEN FORTRESS[edit]

In the waning months of 3081 the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces attacked multiple worlds along the Republic's rimward territories. This operation (dubbed 'GOLDEN FORTRESS') caught the RAF at a vulnerable moment as many of its units were still redeploying from recent battlefields with the former League states. GOLDEN FORTRESS ended with the Capellans in firm control of a line of worlds stretching from Capolla through Woodstock and Algol to the key world of Tikonov. On the latter, an assault by five Warrior Houses destroyed Stone's Stalwarts during an unsuccessful defense of Tikograd.[1] [2]

Sun-Tzu followed up his victory with an attempt to reopen negotiations about the disputed worlds. Instead Stone demanded that the Confederation cede not only the captured planets but also other worlds which the Capellans had liberated from the Blakists during the Jihad.[1]

Republic Counterattack and Operation VINDOLANDA[edit]

By mid-3082 the RAF had recovered and replenished its losses, and undertook counterattacks against Capolla and Yangtze. These proved to be the first two of several worlds reclaimed by the RAF, with more victories in the following months and by early 3083 the Republic felt ready to mount Operation VINDOLANDA, its effort to retake Tikonov. In a costly battle which saw the three remaining Stone's Brigade forces, four Paladins and other RAF units pitted against five Warrior Houses, the Republic emerged victorious.[1]

After this victory Republic forces continued driving rimward further into Capellan territory. In slow advances against fierce Capellan resistance the RAF secured more formerly Blakist-held worlds, and broke enemy resistance in late 3084 with the capture of Liao. A few minor actions followed, and a ceasefire was established in mid-3085.[1]

Aftermath[edit]

A month after the fighting ended Chancellor Liao and Exarch Stone signed the Treaty of Tikonov, which recognized the Republic of the Sphere as a legitimate state and ceded all of the conquered worlds to it.[1]

In the short term the Confederation's crushing defeat cemented the Republic's control over the contested worlds and ensured peace along that border for a generation. However, neither Sun-Tzu nor his heir Daoshen accepted the loss of these worlds and never relented in planning to retake them one day. This resulted in an ever larger and bloodier conflict erupting in 3111, and while these Capellan Crusades were ultimately unsuccessful as well, Daoshen finally regained most of the worlds claimed by the Confederation in the years following the Blackout.[1] [2]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Field Manual: 3085, p. 18, "The Capellan Conflict"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Historical: Wars of the Republic Era, p. 67-68, "Casus Belli"

Bibliography[edit]