Rubicon War
| Second Catonio War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Catonio Wars | |||||||||
 Arcadian soldiers during the advance of 1962. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Creeperopolis |
 Arcadia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Romero II Alfonso Cabañeras Moreno Gustavo Estrada Cabrera Raimundo Serrano Suñer † |
Cristoforo Libero Raffaele Corroni Julio Moronetta Benito Dallolio † Luciano Gentile Giuliano Locchi | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
 3rd Army |
2nd Army 3rd Army Home Guards | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 100,000 | 45,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
5,504 dead 7,183 wounded 472 missing |
4,074 killed 5,329 wounded 341 missing | ||||||||
The Second Catonio War (Arcadian: Guerra Pasqua, translated as "Easter War," Creeperian Spanish: Guerra del Territorio del Norte, translated as "War of the Northern Territory") was a war that occurred from 1962 to 1966 in the Creeperian department of Territorio del Norte, a former department of the Kingdom of Atlántida that was taken from Arcadia during the First Catonio War in the 1780s.
Overall, about 5504 Creeperian soliders and 4074 Arcadians were killed in the war which ended without any territorial changes. Despite the Creeperian victory, the war unified the Arcadian public under the new regime, and served as a propaganda victory.
Contents
Background
Arcadia had lost the territory, which was referred to as Territorio del Norte by the Creeperians, in 1784. With the new Arcadian government needing to prove legitimacy and promote unity among a nation divided by the recent revolution, a relatively nondivisive and patriotic call to reclaim the territory. Arcadia began to mass 43,000 soldiers on the border under the guise of "military training". While condemned by Creeperopolis, it was considered to be a minor threat, and many Creeperian government officials disregarded intelligence reports.
Arcadian Easter Offensive
Initial Advance
At 0400 hours local time on April 12, 1962, Arcadian artillery began to fire on Creeperian border patrol positions. The bombardment lasted just under two hours, and at 0600 hours, the Second Army under Julio Moronetta and the Third Army under Benito Dallolio crossed over the border into Territorio del Norte. By sunset on April 12th, Arcadian forces had pushed inwards nearly 25 miles and routed Creeperian opposition, mostly border guards and local police. Opposition to Arcadian forces advancing remained
The Creeperian Third Army under Raimundo Serrano Suñer began to mobilize on April 14th. Arcadian forces continued to drive deeper and deeper into the department. By mid-September, Arcadian forces had routed Creeperian forces from the eastern third of the department. Despite Suñer's best efforts, the Third Army remained disorganized. On December 2nd, close to 500 Creeperians were killed to just 250 Arcadians in a battle over a small nameless hamlet roughly 20 miles from Libbirapaisi. Despite the relatively small casualties, the sight of an elite Creeperian regiment retreating led most of the disorganized army to fall back. Suñer and his forces decided the make a stand at Libbirapaisi.
Capture of Libbirapaisi
On December 17th, Arcadia's Third Army under General Dallolio reached the outskirts of Libbirapaisi and began bombarding the city. The Creeperian forces, with low morale and less equipped than the Arcadian forces, attempted to make a stand in the city. Heavy fighting ensued in the city center. The town hall formed a linchpin of the Creeperian line, due to its strong defendable position and solid walls. On December 2oth, white phosphorus caught the town hall on fire. At the same time, an Arcadian shock troops division captured the water treatment plant and cut off the water supply to the city. Unable to put out the fire, the town hall began to burn out of control. With the linchpin of their defense burning, Creeperian forces retreated and attempted to form another defensive line centered on the local chamber of commerce building. Without a solid point in their line, the Creeperians were forced to abandon Libbirapaisi to the Arcadians on December 25th. Nearly 2,000 Creeperians were killed compared to just over 1,000 Arcadians over the course of the battle. With Libbirapaisi in Arcadian hands, the road lay open to the departamental capital of Puerto del Bahía de Salvador.
Siege of Puerto del Bahía de Salvador.
With the fall of Libbirapaisi, Arcadian forces were able to advance to within 20 miles of Puerto Bahía by January 1st. Outnumbered by the Creeperian forces, the Arcadians elected to surround the city on three sides and use air forces and artillery to cut the logistics of the Creeperian forces, while flanking them with river crossing. General Dallolio made the mistake of regrouping 20 miles away from the city outskirts, believing the Creeperians to be defeated. However, the Creeperians used the time to regroup and set up defenses. When the Third the Arcadians were unable to put troops on the western bank of the Limón River. What was meant to be a quick assault turned into a long siege.
Both sides stood at a stalemate, with Creeperian forces controlling the western bank while the Arcadians controlled the eastern bank, which mostly consisted of unimportant residential areas and the outskirts of the city. The lines remained relatively unchanged, with small skirmishes breaking out. From February until May 1, this would be the status quo of the war.
