Chapter 7: Uniting Through Toil
After John took office as Consul, he immediately set out to build up the Army and Navy as well as overhaul the Saurian political system. Over the next twenty years, he had reformed the Army from a motley force of regional state levies and mercenaries with an elite corps of professional soldiers into a modern efficient fighting force keenly adept in the tactics and fighting styles of the era. The new army was largely professional, backed up by levies and mercenaries, for the first time since the early Medieval era. At the same time, he reformed the Navy, transforming it from a poorly-equipped coastal force to a fleet capable of fighting anywhere on the high seas.
He also implemented societal changes, greatly renovating the aging highway system that had crossed the various provinces and was used for speedy travel. He also repaired the Aqueduct system, which had been falling apart for years. Finally, he also put an emphasis on trade, taking a
laissez-faire approach to merchants and trade.
In 1617, fearing the recent rise of the new Consuls in the Republic, launched an all-out assault against the Republic and her allies. The newly-reformed Army eventually put a halt to the attack by 1619 and by 1620, was pressing the attack. The bolstered Navy engaged in countless battles against the combined fleets of the League states, trying to gain naval superiority. Despite having the initiative, the Republic's advance proved slow due to stiff resistance as they attack League territories.
In May, 1622, an army of 25,000 troops landed on the western tip of the continent of Cetacea. They pushed through the continent, struggling with the more poorly-equipped but highly-spirited native forces. Eventually, though, they managed to push all the way to the east and captured the capital, Cetacis. Cetacea was deemed fully-secured by mid-July.
In retaliation, the League launched an offensive against Republican holdings in Triassica on July 25th, threatening to cut the Republic state in two. At the last minute, however, they were pushed back at the Battle of Trodo Crossing on September 6th. They were pushed back slowly, before finally retreating offshore on November 3rd.
On November 20th, the Republic launched an attack against the continent of Mammalia, dominated by the League states of the Duchy of Canis, Pachys Matriarchy, and the Ungulate Union. The attack was meant to knock all three nations out of the war, though the attack was slow at first, especially getting through the snow-covered south as well as over the mountains in the center. However, with the aid of skilled engineers from the Kingdom of Khazad from the south (which had broke its neutrality and declared war against the League on October 30), they managed to push through the mountains. However, operations in the south stalled until the Spring, whereby the offensive was renewed against the Duchy of Canis. The pressure against the Duchy intensified with the arrival of a force from Khazad on the south coast on April 18th. With the Saurians pressing from the north and the Dwarves from the south, the Canisians were finally overwhelmed and by April 30th, resistance in Mammalia had finally collapsed.
Meanwhile, on April 24th, the Drakonians, Khalkians, and Squamats landed a force of 30,000 on Reptilia, just 30 miles to the north of Saurus. They pushed their way down to the coast, though they were slowed by the hostile wildlife as well as stiff resistance from locals who simply got out their matchlocks, swords, axes, crossbows, and pikes and ran into the jungle to repel the invaders. On May 1st, when they just 18 miles from the capital, they were confronted by a force of equal strength, consisting of both regulars and levies near the small town of Talonus. After a five-hour clash, the League forces were forced to retreat back north, shadowed by the Saurians all the way. At last, on May 5th, they left shore and boarded ships that took them back to Drakonia, ending their attempt to seize the Saurian capital.
With the League thrown back out of Reptilia, the Republic and her allies went one step further and launched a double attack against the continents of Pomeria and Khalkia in 1624. Both began almost simultaneously, with the attack against Pomeria beginning on May 21st, and the one against Khalkia on May 25th. Both involved a total of 58,000 Saurian and allied troops in all against the forces of Khalkia, the Serpen Confederation, and Clawchester. Both campaigns were hard fights, especially the one in Khalkia due to the incredibly thick jungles and swamps that permeated the continent as well as the Khalkans themselves, who were masters at guerrilla warfare. Clawchester, with the help of the allied Königreich of Pomeria, was finally overwhelmed on June 12th.
In the early Spring of 1625, with most of the League states either completely occupied or having had switched allegiances to save them the humiliation of being subjected to occupation, the Republic and her allies were preparing to launch the final assault against Drakonia. Consul Horridus himself was to take charge of the assault, confident in seeing the final stage of the war draw out and the old enemy of his beloved
Patria subdued.
In order to attack the Drakonian Kingdom, however, the Saurians needed to remove their navy from the question. So, a grand fleet of 250 ships was amassed and sailed around the continent in order to entice the Drakonian fleet to come out in full force. Taking the bait, the Drakonians sent out a similarly-sized force and the two engaged in battle at Cape Bluthris off the north coast of the continent. The battle raged for hours and resulted in grievous losses for both sides, but the Saurians emerged victorious. The Drakonian navy was shattered, clearing the way for the invasion of Drakonia itself.
Artist's depiction of the Battle of Cape Bluthris
On March 29th, 25,000 troops were landed on the southwestern tip of Drakonia while another force of 20,000 was landed on the northeast coast and 18,000 were landed on the northwest coast. All attacked near simultaneously, assaulting the Drakonian Army. The Drakonians, utilizing both modern (at least for the early 17th century) and Medieval weaponry. Pikedragons and musketeers fighting alongside swordsdragons, mages, and Paladins (the elite infantry of the Drakonian Army, equivalent to Saurians' knights). The Drakonians also employed heavy use of magic, which inflicted significant casualties to the Allied Army as well as bolstering their comrades. Their Regulus Dragon allies also inflicted some casualties as well, with their elemental and melee attacks. However, they didn't reckon with Horridus, who possessed great cunning. He ordered his musketdinos and crossbowdinos to concentrate fire on the battle mages. He also implemented modified cannons, usually fitted to the backs of Nodosaurs, Ptrotoceratopses, and other similarly-sized Dinosaurs, which were able to fire upwards. Firing grapeshot, they would be able to take the great beasts down. Battle Pterosaurs were also sent up to harass the Regulus Dragons and tear out their wing membrane and wound them enough to force them to withdraw.
Horridus' tactics worked, the Drakonians lost many battle mages and Regulus allies. Eventually, they were pushed back by the Allied force, which was bolstered with an additional 30,000 reinforcements, by April 19th. The Allies pressed the attack, though it was slow-going due to the sheer size of Drakonia compared to the other continents and the ferocious resistance given by the Drakonians. Over the course of four years, the three forces slowly slogged their way across the continent, while the remaining League nations were themselves invaded and defeated.
Finally, on April 10, 1629, after years of battling it out with the stubborn-as-Tertiarius Drakonians, the Allied Army had finally arrived before the gates of Drakonis, the capital of Drakonia. Laying siege to the city, the ancient walls proved no match for the modern cannons employed by the Allied forces, as they quickly punched a number of holes into the city's defenses. This allowed the Allies to storm the city, flooding within and battling the defenders. After four days' fighting, the city was at last taken.
However, Horridus, as he inspected the lavish hallways of the Drakonian Royal Palace, knew that the main Drakonian Army was still in the field. He realized he could set up a trap for the Drakonians, so he moved the bulk of his forces into the field outside the city. Dividing his forces up into smaller units, he positioned them at different points around a ford in a large river which the Triceratops had gambled would be the one the Drakonians would have to cross. He put most of his forces on the side of the river that faced the city, with one standing behind the ford, while the others flanked it on both sides, though one was behind the first as reserves. He had also positioned forces on the other side of the river, hidden in a nearby forest, so as to catch the Drakonians by surprise. Finally, he had one force, consisting entirely of Marine Reptiles further up the river. Stripping off all their armor and most of their gear and weapons, they were to cross the river at the right moment, hide behind the enemy, and attack them from the rear.
Eventually, the Drakonians arrived, and John immediately sprang his trap. The forces across the river fired on the enemy just as they were crossing the river. Then, they charged across the ford to engage the Drakonians, who were regrouping on the other side of the river. The fighting lasted for hours, before Horridus, seeing his troops starting to falter, led a charge across the river with his personal bodyguard unit as well as the Praetorian Guard, the elite of the Saurian Army.
At the same time, the aquatic troops, who had crossed the river during the intense fighting, sprang out and charged at the Drakonians while those troops hiding in the forest opened up on the Drakonians. Horridus and his forces slammed hard into the Drakonian front lines and engaged in fierce melee combat. Then, the Drakonian King Arkon III himself, who had been leading the Army, was wounded by a bullet that had hit him in the abdomen and slashed by a Saurian attack raptor. Terrified at seeing their King wounded, the Drakonians faltered and then routed, carrying their King with them. The Allied soldiers cheered at their victory while their leader was supremely confident that the end of the horrible war that had been dragging on for more than a decade was finally near its end.
His presumption proved correct when, on April 18, two days after the battle, the wounded King Arkon arrived at his temporary home in the Royal Palace and surrendered. Rather than take him captive, Horridus calmly assured the Monarch that he would still rule his people as a semi-autonomous state, though it would now be under the jurisdiction of Saurus. In addition, all Drakonian military forces would either be integrated with the Saurian Military or become regional levies or militias. Arkon agreed to these terms and a week later, Horridus and his Army returned home to Saurus as heroes.
On May 15th, the leaders of the various nations that had partaken in the war all met together in Saurus. There, they signed the Treaty of Saurus, thus ending the war at the expense of all of their nations becoming part of the Republic. Allied states were also annexed, though allowed to keep a degree of autonomy. All the nations in the land now were part of the Saurian Republic and the war was finally over. Now, Horridus had one thing left to do...
On June 23rd, over a month after the treaty had been signed, all the preparations were made and thus, Horridus gave the announcement that the Saurian Republic was no more. In its place was a new entity: The United Dinosaur States of Saurisia. A nation where all the peoples of the lands were now united under one banner and would now universally seek the goals of freedom, justice, and security for themselves. A new era had begun, but it would be filled with as many trials as the Republic had to face throughout its history in the road ahead.