The war of Western expansion

The war of Western expansion was a war spanning 25 years between The Principality of Clifia and at the time Kingdom of Dercia over the control of the strategic location of both the city Arborses and the access this would give the Principality to the region of Dercia.
In the years leading up to the war, the Principality of Clifia had begun an aggressive foreign politic and had raged war, and won several of them against their neighbouring countries. The only nation left to face was the Kingdom of Dercia who granted was the strongest of the neighbouring countries but Clifia with their long list of victories and veteran army believed that they by striking fast could quickly take Arborses a city known as "The gate to the west" and by doing this force Dercia onto the negotiation table.
Because the war was fought mostly on Dercian soil the Kingdom suffered hard in those 25 years with a large part of the western part of the nation burned and destroyed with hundreds of villages abandoned.

The Conflict

Prelude

The Principality of Clifia believed themself to be the masters of the continent and prepared for an invasion of the Dercian hearthland, the Dercian region is a fertile one with good farmland and good pastures for animals, and with the major tradehub Arborses located strategically near the border it was vital for the Principality to expand west. 
The war began with raids over the border that had the purpose of drawing Dercian troops away from the fortresses and out in the open where they could be ambushed, this tactic went on for some time until the armies of the Principality were in position to move.
Meanwhile the Dercian Empire or kingdom as it was at this time, was trying to contain the raids and was initially slow to react because the locals lords didn't report the raids to the Palace as they believed it to be simple bandits, a factor that later scholars have used to explain why so much territory were lost in the first few months of the war.

Deployment

After the raids had grown to a full-scale invasion the Principality of Clifia invaded with two armies of 60.000 of their most elite soldiers intending to break into the west finally. One army would march towards Arborses to besiege the city, while others would be told to raid the countryside and cause mayhem.
The Dercians would send armies out to meet them but at this point, the Dercians had been at peace for close to 150 years while still being able to draw on the experience from the Second unification war mainly from the elves and Crienia the majority of the population had only known peace so the Dercian armies were compared to the Clifians, inexperienced, so several Dercian armies were lost in the opening years of the conflict.

Battlefield

Each major battlefield of the war is to this day marked with a statue with a plate honouring the fallen on both sides, after the war when the negotians for peace were underway, the Dercian diplomats would insist that as part of the war reparations paid to Dercia, the Clifians also paid to have a statue of marble placed on each of the battlefields.

The Engagement

The most famous battle fought during the war was a battle in the last month of the war in 1125, the battle known as the Battle of the lone Castle where the current queen of Dercia was being besieged by a huge Clifian army and was saved by the 14th Legion and the 9th Legion.

Outcome

The casualties were devastating for the Clifian army, it lost most of its veteran soldiers and several bands of deserters were running around and causing problems on both sides. for a couple of years after the defeat, the Principality also suffered several rebellions.
Geralt's wall was also built by Dercia as a result of this war.
The borders also returned to the status queue and the Principality was forced to pay 50 tons of gold to Dercia besides the payments required to pay for the release of thousands of prisoners.

Aftermath

Effects for Principality of Clifia: Clifia gives up on their goal to expand to the rich and fertile region of Dercia.
Effects for Empire of Dercia: A kingdom becomes an empire with Empress Elenora Astalles  as the first ruler. Further, the death toll and destruction after the war is by some said to have been one of the reasons for the civil war that would start 20 years later.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The war marked the beginning of the bloodiest half a century in dercian history, with more than a million soldiers dead and an unknown number of civilians that the nation barely managed to get back on its feet from when the The Decade of 5 Emperors hit and launched the nation out into a 10-year long civil war.

Technological Advancement

At the beginning of the war, the armies of Dercia were equipped with the soldier's armour, giving the armies a very inconsistent look, and while this system, for the most part, lasted until The Decade of 5 Emperors were the armour were standardised and provided by the state, later in the war, the armour had become more uniform as more soldiers opted to spend money on better armour so that by the late stages of the war, the majority of the soldiers had some form for chainmail armour, helmets were still almost unique to each soldier.
Likewise, many of the tactics and teachings that the Dercian army would use forward were developed and tested during the war.

Included Conflicts

• Battle of Sama'la
• Battle of the lone Castle
• Darkness of 24th of Fira
• The great wolf hunt.

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

1100

Ending Date

1125

Conflict Result

Devastating defeat for Principality of Clifia

Belligerents

• Empire of Dercia
• Principality of Clifia

Led by

• Empress Elenora Astalles
• Grand Prince Rainan

Strength

Empire of Dercia: 350.000
Principality of Clifia: 560.000

Casualties

Empire of Dercia: Est. to 950.000

• Soldiers: 200.000-350.000
• Civilians: 650.000-600.000

Principality of Clifia: Est. to 760.850

• Soldiers: 550.000-600.000
• civilians: 100.000-150.000

Objectives

Empire of Dercia

• Defend the current borders
• Maintaining political control over its territory

Principality of Clifia

• Western expansion into the fertile land of Dercia
• Take control over Arborses 
• Expansion of political influence over the continent

Maps

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  Mirateia