The Three Modern Aquatirian Wars

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The Three Modern Aquatirian Wars

In the past century, Aquatio, our Northern neighbour, has turned into our worse enemies. Despite being so much lesser than us, they have managed to cause enough grief to warrant wariness. As a new war is imminent, let us go back over our troubled history.  
 

The belligerents

Aquatio

Men: 400,000.
Types of battalions: Lowly skilled potion-enhanced infantry soldiers.
Strategy: Overwhelm the enemy with sheer number and outlast them with better endurance and healing.
Milara

Men: 160,000.
Types of battalions: Small battalions of highly skilled soldiers equipped with a different type of weapon per battalion.
Strategy: Quick movements to activate our titanic architecture defences or destroy enemies with a battalion chosen to carry a weapon corresponding to their weaknesses.
 
 

War 1

 

Causes
An "inheritance" dispute, with our king's wife being the sister of one of the three Aquatirian rulers of the time. After our king's death, the ruler tried to claim this gave him the right to inherit the kingdom in the name of our late king's son. Our Royal Council told him the throne was available to anyone strong enough to claim it. The Aquatirians obviously recognised they stood no chance in a fair fight and instead gathered an army.
 

Process
We let their army progress unopposed to our capital, right in the centre of our countrywide defensive design. It was then easy work for battalions spread throughout the country to activate its different elements and to wipe the Aquatirians out in an instant.
 

Consequences
A few of our battalions then marched to Aquatio and its capital, Aqualin, to make clear to them what had happened and to seize a fortune in raw device materials in compensation.
 
 

War 2

Causes
Aquatirians wanted revenge, and they revived their old false claim to our throne as a pretext to revoke all peace treaties between us and resume the war.
 

Process
The Aquatirians had used the intervening 2 decades since the previous war to send spies to Milara to learn more about our defences and our titanic architecture. Therefore, they did not declare war on us with an invasion but with the destruction of one of our border fortresses that was the node powering all local defensive walls and wards. They continued to advance in our land in this way, carefully destroying our titanic architecture through strength and treachery or avoiding it altogether when they could not.
 

This forced the first direct confrontation between our armies in modern times. The initial confrontation was not favourable to us at all, as our officers were shocked at the Aquatirians casual disregard for their lives over troops and their simple tactic of sending them wave after wave at our battalions to submerge us under sheer numbers. Their potions also ensured that it was not uncommon for an enemy left for dead to suddenly rise up and stab us in the back.
 

All of this made the war drag on for an entire decade before our army managed to develop the right tactics to deal with these barbarians: long-range weapons to keep them at a distance and render their enhanced and strength useless, as well as other weapons to carbonise their flesh like persisting weeds.
 

Consequences
We executed all of their soldiers and marched to Aquatio, where we pillaged all their major cities, destroyed all their so-called arts, and seized their wealth to trade with those of our neighbours with bad-enough tastes to appreciate it. Aquatio paid dearly for their aggressivity and would not think of starting another war anytime soon!
 
 

War 3

Causes
A generation later, Aquatio's politicians were locked in their own succession war, and the lead candidate wanted to establish their legitimacy by hitting us strongly.
 

Process
They sent spies in Milara, this time not to learn our military secrets but to gather blackmail against our queen's husband. They used it to make him murder her, thinking that we would then be too afraid of starting another decade of war to publicly implicate them and retaliate.
 

We let them think they were right and used the next year to perfect the development of a new revolutionary weapon: clippable devices. These new devices allowed for a better and cheaper customisation of weapons for each of our soldiers, with also quicker manufacturing times. Thanks to this, we were able to widen the range of weapons used by our battalions, and to similarly widen our tactics.
 

Councilman de Crancé was then a general and a member of the inventing team. He was also the officer who established the military tactics to best use them. Under his command, our troops hit Aquatio hard and fast. With the clippable devices, we annihilated Aquatio's defences in a mere month.
 

Consequences
We once again pillaged Aquatio, this time taking care to destroy all their major potion manufactures to durably cripple them.
 
 

Next war

 

Causes
Fifteen years later, the Aquatirians are still unable to admit their inferiority. They have managed to invent a new field of potion, and they are now wanting to test it on us.   A new war is imminent.
 
Warning to all citizens!
Do not engage with any Aquatirians! Be suspicious of any unknown substances and in no circumstances ingest them! Immediately report them to the authorities!



 

Comments

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Jul 28, 2025 13:21 by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull

It's silly, but I am kind of sad about the art destroyed after the second war. XD   I am curious what these read like from the other side.

Emy x
Explore Etrea | Summer Camp 2025
Aug 3, 2025 12:22 by Amélie I. S. Debruyne

Yes, all that art destroyed just because foreigners didn't appreciate it D: But after 2 wars, the Milarans were out of patience and respect...   I think I'm going to make the other side read similar to some of the French Italian wars, where we were the legitimate heir to some of the territories other there but they didn't want French people mucking about their business...   Thanks for your comment <3

To see what I am up to: my Summer Camp 2025.
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