Rubicon War
Second Catonio War | |||||||||
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Part of the Catonio Wars | |||||||||
Arcadian soldiers during the advance of 1962. | |||||||||
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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 Creeperan 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 5,504 Creeperan soldiers and 4,074 Arcadians were killed in the war which ended without any territorial changes. Despite the Creeperan victory, the war unified the Arcadian public under the new regime, and served as a propaganda victory.
Contents
Background
Arcadia had lost the territory of modern day Territorio del Norte to the Kingdom of Atlántida in 1784 in the First Catonio War. 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."
Easter Offensive
Initial advance
At 0400 hours local time on 12 April 1962, Arcadian artillery began to fire on Creeperan 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 12 April, Arcadian forces had pushed inwards nearly 25 miles and routed Creeperan opposition, mostly border guards and local police. Opposition to Arcadian forces advancing remained.
The Creeperan Third Army under Raimundo Serrano Suñer began to mobilize on 14 April. Arcadian forces continued to drive deeper and deeper into the department. By mid-September, Arcadian forces had routed Creeperan forces from the eastern third of the department. Despite Serrano Suñer's best efforts, the Third Army remained disorganized. On 2 December, close to 500 Creeperans were killed to just 250 Arcadians in a battle over a small nameless hamlet roughly 20 miles from Guiraiso. Despite the relatively small casualties, the sight of an elite Creeperan regiment retreating led most of the disorganized army to fall back. Serrano Suñer and his forces decided the make a stand at Guiraiso.
Capture of Guiraiso
On 17 December, Arcadia's Third Army under General Dallolio reached the outskirts of Guiraiso and began bombarding the city. The Creeperan 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 Creeperan line, due to its strong defendable position and solid walls. On 20 December, 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, Creeperan 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 Creeperans were forced to abandon Guiraiso to the Arcadians on 25 December. Nearly 2,000 Creeperans were killed compared to just over 1,000 Arcadians over the course of the battle. With Guiraiso in Arcadian hands, the road lay open to the departmental capital of Puerto del Bahía de Salvador.
Siege of Puerto del Bahía de Salvador.
With the fall of Guiraiso, Arcadian forces were able to advance to within 20 miles of Puerto Bahía by 1 January. Outnumbered by the Creeperan forces, the Arcadians elected to surround the city on three sides and use air forces and artillery to cut the logistics of the Creeperan forces, while flanking them with river crossing. General Dallolio made the mistake of regrouping 20 miles away from the city outskirts, believing the Creeperans to be defeated. However, the Creeperans 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 Lempa River. What was meant to be a quick assault turned into a long siege.
Both sides stood at a stalemate, with Creeperan 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 1 May, this would be the status quo of the war.