Ecoral Toll War

The Ecoral Toll War, also known as the First Ecoralian-Eduran War, was a war between the Eduran-Renesian alliance (also known as the Grand Alliance) against Ecoralia that started on May 18th 1871 with an official declaration of war after Ecoralia declined Eduran-Renesian demand until November 11th 1873 with the signing of Treaty of Roodham. The war was mainly caused by years of accumulated grievances that Edury and Renesia had against Ecoralia, with the final straw being the sudden increase of the Ecoral toll.

The Grand Alliance war plan was a three-way simultaneous attack from sea and land, one coming from Renesia, another coming from Edury, and a combined to occupy the canal and threaten Ecoralia's capital. At the start of the war, the Grand Alliance had a series of quick and swift battles overwhelming Ecoral forces, although the overconfidence of the Grand Alliance officers and generals gave Ecoralia forces a chance to recuperate and gather their armies which dragged the war until 1873. The war ended after a failed Ecoral counter-attack in Roodham as a final effort to break the Grand Alliance's hold on the canal but met with a devastating defeat after a series of ambushes and the arrival of Eduran reinforcement from the south, effectively cutting their supply lines and retreat routes.

The Treaty of Roodham gave Eduran and Renesian ships a toll-free passage through the canal and being paid to both Edury and Renesia, which is worth Ꝟ50 billion. Moreover, all are released from both sides, and a temporary commission called the Kanalinspektionskommission (abbreviated to KIK) is created with Ecoral, Eduran and Renesian representatives to oversee the canal and uphold the Treaty of Roodham.

Causes
The cause of the war was entrenched in the toll increase for the canal passage in 1970, which hampered the reliable trade between Edury and Renesia and suddenly increased the cost of living in both states. Although Edury and Renesia share the increase in the toll as a common cause, each nation also has its own additional reasons.

Edury
An extended period of tensions built up since the 1805 revolution strained the Ecoralian-Eduran relationship, and with Ecoralia heavily taxing Renesian steel and raw materials coming through the canal, which Edury needed to industrialize, forced Edury into taking action.

Renesia
The Ecoralian-Renesian relationship has also been strained recently, primarily because Renesia assumed that Ecoralia supported the rebel in the Velvet Revolution of 1842 by lending them weapons and funds. Ecoralia also embarrassed Renesia internationally by refusing to return Leudbald Dunkel as a criminal and suggesting that Ecoralia did support the rebels to some extent. Moreover, with the toll increase, Renesian merchants could not compete as required resources became much more expensive, forcing Renesia to subsidise them temporarily.

Grand Alliance
The Eduran forces were the most modern compared to Ecoralia and Renesia. The Eduran army officers are educated in modern tactics and recently devolved more power to officers in regiments and corps to help exploit enemy weakness and rapidly adapt to the battlefield. Furthermore, Eduran universal conscription system was by far the most effective out of the three nations giving it the ability to triple in size at a rapid pace which made the Eduran army cheap at peace but strong in war. With Eduran Expeditionary Company's support and experiences, Edury has arguably the best ships, sailors and navy officers out of the three nations, with 33 military vessels.

The Renesian army is the most professional and trained of the three nations, although they lack numbers. After the Velvet revolution of 1842, Renesia focused more on meritocracy, especially in the Renesian royal army, which helped it find great officers and generals and forced current ones to improve. The provincial armies also benefited and compliment the Renesia royal army as they were able to specialize and have their own resources and manpower to manage, which helped it expand its potential resources pool and help divide military expenses between the government, the provinces and the nobles. Although Renesia did not devolve more power to officers like Edury the provincial armies were able to act freely if they spotted a weakness or found their own methods for achieving the goals set by the Renesian royal army. However, the Renesian navy was the weakest out of the three nations, with a lack of experience and training compared to the other two nations.

Ecoralia
The Ecoralian army had the most resources out of the three nations, although the Ecoralian army and its resources were spread throughout Ecoralia, which led to an inadequate and slow response to invasions until they had gathered their dispersed armies. Ecoralia has access to a large population and has a similar but not as effective conscription system as the Eduran one. The Ecoralian navy was well-trained and patrolled the Onse Bay regularly and had a massive reserve of sailors compared to Edury and Renesia combined.

Course of the war
Ecoral Toll War saw nations of similar technological levels and influence in Alutra fight against each other and saw heavy use of railways and trains for military purposes and telegraphs. This helped all three nations to develop and improve their military theories and logistical management.

Campaign of 1871
The campaign of 1871 was the only co-planned campaign between Renesia and Edury before the war, and its aim was to cripple Ecoralia's army from responding to the war by attacking three places simultaneously with a shocking speed and forcing Ecoralia into a quick peace. The campaign was planned by the Renesian Marshal Gunther Manfred and his Eduran counterpart Alfrit Droham; the plan involved three fronts which are the Eduran front, Renesian front and the Roodhamian front. The Eduran front will involve two separate attacks; one follows the coastline and extensively use trains for transportation, and the other attempts to cut Ecoralia into northern and southern halves. Meanwhile, the Renesian front will do something similar to Edury, an attack will be made that goes alongside the coastline, and another attack will be made through the mountains and attack unprepared and surprised Ecoralian armies. The Roodhamian front would involve a combined naval invasion from Renesia and Edury on the canal to secure it and allow the Renesian and Eduran navies to combine their strengths and threaten Monstad in hopes of causing confusion and panic to both Ecoralia's government and military, the agreed upon flag for the naval invasion army was, what is known today as the Grand Alliance flag, a white and black stripe representing the two shared colors of Edury and Renesia's flag, the flag was created to stop any potential confusion that might be occurring during a speedy operation, the one who will lead the combined forces after they meet up will be the Eduran general Bordan Tiler.

Although the plan met with many hurdles, such as the unexpected strength of Ecoralian militia and the Ecoralian generals' tactics and preparedness, gave Ecoralia needed time to reorganize and plan for potential counterattacks, which prolonged the war beyond December of 1871, which the Grand Alliance expected to finish.

Roodhamian front
The Renesian and Eduran armies set out at the same time and arrived near the canal at almost the same time, thanks to the Ecoralian navy intercepting the invasion force, which delayed them. Renesia sent 50,000 men, while Edury sent 150,000 men. The combined army managed to meet up, secure the canal and siege down Roodham while defeating the local Ecoralian militia. The naval invasion deployment started a day and a half earlier compared to the ground invasions and was considered the first phase of the attack. The Ecoralian army and navy did not expect a naval attack nor an invasion aimed at the canal and their defences were much weaker compared to the other fronts.

However, during the siege of Roodham the Ecoralian navy manages to catch the Renesian navy off guard and sink 9 of their ships, crippling them in the process. All supplies that were coming from the sea were secured by the Eduran navy as the Renesian navy became a minute force.

The Eduran front managed to connect with the Roodhamian front before the arrival of December, which helped them secure their supply lines even further with the railway connection and help prepare for an attack on Ecoralia's capital.

Renesian front
The Renesian royal army led by Marshal Gunther Manfred had a total of 52,000 men and set out through the mountains on the 18th of May, capturing towns along the march toward Monstad and defeating the unprepared Ecoralian armies. General Conrad Haanraads managed to gather up the remnants of the Ecoralian armies in the area and harassed Marshal Gunther Manfred to slow down the Renesian advance; Marshal Gunther Manfred was never able to corner General Conrad Haanraads to defeat him decisively, but General Conrad Haanraads did not manage to inflict significant casualties on the Renesian army with his 25,000 troops. General Conrad Haanraads managed to cut the railway lines so the Renesian army would not use it.

The Combined provincial army led by General Luitger Ragner had a total of 95,000 men and set out from Erberg at the same time as Marshal Gunther Manfred. The Ecoralian General Veit Schoorl had anticipated an attack from Erberg and led an army of 100,000 men, which included 20,000 Militia, and set out to attempt a counter-invasion instead of defending. Initially, the Renesian army managed to win several battles and skirmishes against the Ecoralian army, but with Admiral Kolman Anker's naval bombardment of the Renesian army, they were pushed back toward Renesia. However, news of Marshal Gunther Manfred's unexpected attack through the mountains forced General Veit Schoorl to send reinforcement to General Conrad Haanraads via train. General Luitger Ragner picked up on General Veit Schoorl's movement and sent small parties behind enemy lines to destroy nearby train railways and train stations, which delayed the arrival of reinforcement to General Conrad Haanraads and forced the Ecoralian army to withdraw toward Snelhook. General Luitger Ragner was able to send a to Marshal Gunther Manfred, and thanks to the delay caused by General Luitger Ragner, was able to position his army to intercept the reinforcement and defeat them decisively, which forced General Conrad Haanraads to wait for the reinforcement of the much further away Ecoralian army stationed in Samsdal led by General Rudi Otten. This helped Marshal Gunther Manfred to push further towards Monstad, threatening it from the east. Meanwhile, General Luitger Ragner managed to occupy General Veit Schoorl's attention but could not make any significant progress due to the threat of Admiral Kolman Anker's naval bombardment.

General Conrad Haanraads managed to slow down Marshal Gunther Manfred significantly until the arrival of General Rudi Otten with his army of 56,000 men, the combined force of General Rudi Otten and General Conrad Haanraads would be a total of 81,000. Knowing this, Marshal Gunther Manfred managed to defeat General Rudi Otten separately though by pretending to attack multiple cities and paths, only to recombine his army and attack the separated Ecoralian armies.

As early November 1871 started to roll in, the Renesian armies halted their advance to hunker down and secure their supply lines for winter. Marshal Gunther Manfred managed to cross and occupy halfway through Tweestromen, while General Luitger Ragner only made little progress through the coastline of Westenkil. During the downtime, General Luitger Ragner transferred 25,000 men to Marshal Gunther Manfred to help him against General Rudi Otten and General Conrad Haanraads's combined army. Meanwhile, the Ecoralian army built defensive fortifications and attempted to raid the Renesian armies throughout winter.

Eduran front
The Eduran army attacked through Netjestrand and Oostendal on the 18th of May 1871 in coordination with the Renesian invasion. The attack on Netjestrand was led by General Ælfgar Prober with 150,000 men and supported by General Alberich Scriber with another 100,000 men and General Æthelbeorht Honter with an additional 100,000 men. Meanwhile, General [Aethan Paver] led the attack on Oostendal with 150,000 men.

The Netjestrand attack faced initial logistical problems for moving 350,000 men, mainly because the Ecoralian army anticipated the attack and destroyed connected railways and established a small raiding regiment to deny the Eduran military supply from home while enacting a strategy to deny them from procuring supplies locally. Eventually, the Eduran army managed to rebuild the railways and split off 50,000 under General [Name] to guard the supply route from Edury. The Ecoralian army managed to gather 250,000 under General Ambroos Jung and faced off General [Name] with 300,000 men multiple times, with the Eduran army winning the majority of battles and forcing the Ecoralian army back.

Meanwhile, the attack on Oostendal faced several defeats by Ecoralian General Whelieam Cuijper, who had 100,000 men, compared to General [Name], who had 150,000. General Whelieam Cuijper wanted to join up with General Ambroos Jung but managed to deny him the opportunity to do as such.

As early December arrived, the Eduran army slowed down their advance to prepare for winter. The Eduran army managed to connect with the combined Eduran-Renesian army that landed in Roodham and made supplying them easier throughout winter. However, the Eduran army faced heavy guerilla attacks from Ecoralian militia forces and slightly strained their supplies and resources.

Campaign of 1872
The Eduran and combined armies managed to lay siege to Monstad in May of 1872 but were attacked by Ecoralian armies in the Area. With Marshal Gunther Manfred's army's arrival, they pushed back the Ecoralian armies and continued the siege. The siege continued for another two months before the Ecoralian armies managed to reconverge and force the Grand Alliance army out of Monstad. However, The Ecoralian armies overextended their lines and were surrounded but managed to break through towards the south and reorganize, and this provided the opportunity for the Grand Alliance armies to lay siege to Monstad again in September alongside Eduran navy. Monstad surrendered on December 20th, giving the Grand Alliance armies a place to hunker down and recuperate during winter.

Campaign of 1873
General Luitger Ragner attempted to break through General Veit Schoorl but was ambushed and soundly defeated by the Ecoralians. Meanwhile, the Ecoralian army prepared for an attack on the canal to capture it and allow the Ecoralian navy to pass through the other side of the peninsula to recapture Monstad from the Grand Alliance. With the Initial success of breaking through the Grand Alliance lines gave the Ecoralians a morale boost to continue on. As the Ecoralian army got closer to Roodham, ambushes and surprise attacks by the Grand Alliance intensified, significantly weakening the Ecoralian army and leading them to be surrounded on all sides; this forced the Ecoralian army into surrendering after running out of supplies on the 7th of November 1873, which gave way to Ecoralia offering surrender in the 11th of November 1873.

Major battles
• 1st Seige of Roodham 1871

• Battle for Monstad 1872

• Battle of Schneefelder

Aftermath and consequences
The signing of the Treaty of Roodham forced Ecoralia to waver any toll and tariffs on Eduran and Renesian vessels and goods; the treaty also established KIK to oversee that Ecoralia upholds the treaty. Ecoralia was also forced to pay war reparations to both Edury and Renesia. However, both Edury and Renesia did not want to cripple Ecoralia entirely as it would change the geopolitical situation of east Alutra significantly; with Ecoralia still acting as a central power, it would ward off potential invasions from neighbouring countries such as Galvia.