Dwilight University/History/Astromancy at War!/Further Insights on the Treaty of Stratford

This is a detailed and factual letter on the Treaty of Stratford by Lord Polemarch Bustoarsenzio Peristaltico. It has been edited for the usual spelling checks and for any sensitive material.

Letter from Bustoarsenzio Peristaltico

Dean Bowie,

Libero decision comes after an interesting session of diplomatic talks. I won't speak however for the rulers that made it so, you will need to ask them about details.

Their move was rather unexpected for me, but it is very important. I could state that "we won" but even if I'm happy as if we had, that is not yet completely true. While for sure how the military situation evolved helped it, this turn of events is mainly influenced, from what I can understand, from the poor relations the "allies" had.

I can guess the three realms agreed on making this war mainly because each of them wanted to grab some land but, above all, wanted to weaken Xinhai, feeling it as an easy task being 3v1 and from different fronts. They were however poorly coordinated and more interested in personal gainings rather than overall victory, for instance they chosen their targets out of a single-realm planned strategy, or so it seemed me, rather than an overall and shared one. As soon as it became clear that Xinhai was not so easy to deprive of its land and, with the help of Astrum, that was more than able to retaliate, the allies started to think even more as three single identities rather than an unique one, and the whole alliance broke down.

In particular, given how Xinhai led the war, the Raivans needed help from the Liberonians, and that was not only clearly the kind of war the latter empire would have hoped not to do, but it appeared to me as if they were unable to agree on how to do it, since we spotted the Libero Army going around pointlessly more than once. From an easy pick of land it became a defensive war, and Libero risked to lose its own regions as when the treaty has been firstly proposed we were taking over Stratford. If you add to this the fact that Libero wasn't in need of land as direly as the Raivan empire was, the fact that relations between Xinhai and Libero have never been really hateful (we were together in Morek) and the fact that the twin empires armies appeared not to be coordinated at all, it's not surprising that Liberonians decided not to continue the war, confident that Xinhai would have taken the opportunity to leave them alone and continuing the war against their former allies.

Surely in Xinhai someone pointed out that it is a pity to let Libero go without a punishment for having attacked us, but our leadership believes that we have enough realms to retaliate upon, and that good relations with Libero are inevitable for a peaceful coexistence in the north eastern corner of Dwilight.

To be honest, I somewhat hoped the alliance would have broken down, and worked towards this goal, as it was the only real way to end this war in a reasonable amount of time without turning it into a wearing long term conflict. It was however an idealized objective, and I was not hoping such kind of treaty to be proposed so early. After all, the war has been ongoing for such little time. It appears someone understood the mistake they made, and I am proud of Xinhai believing we made them realize it through sheer military superiority, putting the alliance in a critical position that eventually broke. While some boasting might be in order, I am however convinced that this bitter end took place more because of bad planning and wrong assumptions from the Allies more than because of Xinhai ability, while it is however true that they would have never gone into a crisis without us defeating them.

To conclude, it's a complicated political/military matter. What I can safely state is that Xinhai is very angry with Aquilegia for what happened, especially because of their behavior during the war. (edited out). I am not yet sure what will happen but I hardly think Aquilegia will be forgiven.

(edited out)

With respect,

Sir Bustoarsenzio Peristaltico

Lord Polemarch of Xinhai, Marshal of the Order of the Maddening Star

Summer of 9 YD (or the 23rd of December, 2009)

Following this is a reply from Royal Marshal Sejieda Vita.

Reply from Sejieda Vita

Dean Bowie,

I would like to reply to a few sections of the Lord Polemarch's letter.

"I can guess the three realms agreed on making this war mainly because each of them wanted to grab some land but, above all, wanted to weaken Xinhai, feeling it as an easy task being 3v1 and from different fronts. They were however poorly coordinated and more interested in personal gainings rather than overall victory, for instance they chosen their targets out of a single-realm planned strategy, or so it seemed me, rather than an overall and shared one."

Land was a minor issue in the war. It was more a way to solidify protection against Xinhaian aggression than anything. The idea was that each of us had reason to believe Xinhai would threaten our realms and each of us was too weak to deal with them. Xinhai has more numbers than one of us singularly. But together, we could equal their power. Coordination was indeed poor, but that was not due to personal gainings, but unresponsiveness from fellow generals. Liberates only sought Bohai while we wished to help our allies grow stronger. We had even put off Bohai after the initial attempt in order to see them grow stronger. I tried to organize them into an overall goal, but they were unresponsiveness. Liberates sought to strengthen allies in order to protect themselves, above all.

"In particular, given how Xinhai led the war, the Raivans needed help from the Liberonians, and that was not only clearly the kind of war the latter empire would have hoped not to do, but it appeared to me as if they were unable to agree on how to do it, since we spotted the Libero Army going around pointlessly more than once."

Our goal was very much to assist the Raivan Empire, but we desired their assistance at times too. We also wished to actually assist them instead of marching around and going home. We moved pointlessly only once(not more than once as written) and that was due to War Leader Konstantinos declaring he did not wish our help stopping the takeover in Aegir's Deep.

"From an easy pick of land it became a defensive war, and Libero risked to lose its own regions as when the treaty has been firstly proposed we were taking over Stratford".

We never expected an easy pick of land and Stratford's population rejected the takeover twice.

Sir Sejieda Vita

Royal Marshal of Libero Empire

Autumn of 9 YD (or 2nd of January, 2010)

Commentary

Archon Anabellium West shared her perspective on Royal Marshal Sejieda's reply.

Letter from Anabellium West

After reading the latest article, with Seijida's reply, I had thought to send you my own conclusions. They may, at the least, interest you.

Although Marshal Vita states that land was a "minor issue", it was the central issue. If they feared a Xinhaiese attack, they would try to weaken us.

When we consider the maximum, "Land is Power", then it becomes obvious what the war revolves around. Of course, had Xinhai been on the losing end of the war, Dalian aims may have expanded beyond the stated Bohai. Of course, we'll never know.

He also states that he wished to help their ally grow stronger. Well how?

The answer is land.

I'm not entirely sure where the Libero Empire got the idea we would be invading them any time in the future, especially considering there was no communication between us before their declaration of war. Interestingly enough, Queen Alanya had actually begun the peace proposal with, loosely paraphrased, "You could destroy us or we can declare peace. It's your call"

"Hm, I don't really want to destroy Springdale. Peace sounds good."

Ah, irony.

As for the Ravians, I suppose they were justified, as they probably feared some sort of retaliation for usurping our claims on the Muspel regions. However, I don't see any other reason and the sole one I can think of was provoked on their part...

Somewhere in all of this, the stated reason for the war: "To Defend Aquilegia" was lost and completely ignored. Once again, not surprising as the war was never about Aquilegia in the first place. With this veneer of legitimacy stripped we will see that the northern front of the war was no less than an ambush by our neighbors...though they, I am sure, would still vehemently disagree.

Regarding the last bit of nitpicking by Royal Marshal Vita, I'd like to point out that our definitions of "moving around pointlessly" will vary, as obviously, Xinhai is far more (or should be, at least) aware of its own situation than Springdale is. We were surprised more than once when a momentary weakness wasn't taken advantage of by the Libero Empire. The Royal Marshal ought to consider that a compliment to his reputation.

Anabellium West

Archon of Xinhai, Duchess of Donghaiwei

Autumn of 9 YD (or 2nd of January, 2010)

In reply, Royal Marshal Sejieda.

Reply from Sejieda Vita

Dean,

A clarification regarding Student Anabellium's response to my own.

My comments about being land being a minor reason was regarding the cause of the war, not the prosecution. Obviously, land is a major part of the actual war. However, it was not a major reason for the cause. We did not attack because we desired land, we attacked because we feared Xinhaian aggression.

Regarding our fear of invasion, it was due to the aggression we witnessed as members of Morek(primarily Allison) towards surrounding realms and even Springdalians as part of Morek.

Sir Sejieda Vita

Royal Marshal of Libero Empire

Autumn of 9 YD (or 3rd of January, 2010)