Military history of the Republic of Lanos
The history of the Republic of Lanos Armed Forces and the military history of the Independent Nation of the Republic of Lanos spans from its inital creation under the Republican Army of Lanos to the modern times under its service for the Independent Nation. Throughout the years, the Armed Forces has served admirably in all of its various conflicts that it served in and continues to record its actions in the annals of Lanosian history for all those willing to serve in a military devoted to fighting for freedom over tyranny.
Formation and Pre-Revolution Era 1864-1961
- Under construction.
Lanosian Revolution 1961-1964
- Under construction.
When the Revolution did start in 1961, the RAL did not initially engage Imperial Army units and kept to its original goal of assisting in the transition and cooperating with the Provincial government. The reason was Imperial units were not as rampant in Lanos than in other revolting areas before and when the war started and Lanos was considered a quiet province because of the lack of rebel action there. But after the first month of the War elapsed, small units of RAL troops attacked a Imperial Marine regiment, inflicting light to moderate casualties on both sides. But this was the first victory for the RAL. Kostov, commander of the RAL, decided to do more against Imperial units. Before the end of the year, the RAL attacked over 931 Imperial targets, achieving a victory rate of over 54%, a better rate than many of the resistance organizations and rebel armies at the time in other parts of Onostov. But since Lanos was considered a quiet province, no major Imperial Army units came to put down the sporadic attacks because other serious revolts commanded the Imperial Army's attention. Despite the so-called quiet province status, Monstov Kostov, also in charge of a provisional Lanosian state, decided to break off RAL-held Lanos from Ostonov in April 1963. Before this could be done, Onostov Army units invaded Lanos in March 1963 to stop the RAL attacks. The differing tactics and equipment of the RAL and the Imperial Army units were decisive and considerable for the Lanosians later on in the war.
Despite the Imperial Army's best efforts, they could not sustain any effort in the rebellious province and retreated to a safe area in Lanos. At the same time, there was a provisional Lanosian state created. This, however, did not end the war. Because of plans to retake the province, the RAL prepared to counterattack and destroy the Imperial Army on the battlefield to take more lands once considered Lanosian lands, to secure Lanosian independence, and to help indirectly assist other rebellious movements by tying up Imperial Army units tasked with defending the homeland and not suppressing rebels. From January to April 1964, the RAL organized and executed a massive offensive called Operation Blue Eagle. Blue Eagle commenced with over 75% of the RAL's strength (about 1,500,000) and used equipment considered to have more of an advantage compared to Imperial equipment even though it was not 1960s technology. The offensive was largely successful by devastating enemy units meant to hold off and defend the homeland. Since the Imperials were held off by the rebels and the RAL's offensives, Onostov was starting to lose its homelands to the combined RAL/allied forces counterattacking to gain their freedom. Eventually international assistance entered into the conflict and helped secure victory on a much larger scale than previously thought. By April 10 the Operation was successful and the Empire's control of Lanos collapsed on that day.
Over 5,064,192 RAL/ROL military personnel served in the war with 252,439 killed in action and over 106,031 wounded in action.
Building Years 1964-1977
On November 2, 1964, the Independent Nation of The Republic of Lanos was created after the signing of the ROL Constitution and the Nation Creation Act by its first President, Monstov Kostov. When the Constitution was passed, the RAL was named the armed forces of Lanos, making it the ground force of the militia the ground force of Lanos. At the same time, the militia was nationalized and renamed to the Republic of Lanos Army. At the same time, the Republic of Lanos Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and the National Guard were nationalized from their RAL equivalents and placed under the Supreme Commander of the Military while the President was made the Commander-in-Chief of the Military.
During the Building Years, many changes were made to the military. Most were to modernize its equipment and also to do away with old Revolution tactics with more modern tactics to defend the new nation. Also the military was drawn down to a more manageable size. Much of the Revolution equipment was replaced with modern equipment but slowly and some was even used until 1982. Even so, the services took to more modern OG 107 uniforms and the steel M1 helmet (the Army, however, had limited combat service of the older Wehrmacht uniforms until 1982). The National Guard, created alongside the other services, stuck to the already-used OG 107 uniforms and took to using M14 rifles until they received M28 (Neu Corda GPR-76) rifles starting in 1981 but never relinquishing their use in main service until 1991. The other services took to adopting the M14 and M28 rifle as a means of replacing the Karabiner 98k, Strumgewehr 44, and the MP40 in most roles as main service weapons while the M1911-series pistol remained the main service pistol until 2003. M60 tanks, F-4 Phantom II fighters, and other modern tools of war were taken into the services and eventually the Lanosian military had become a potent modern fighting force to fight foreign threats. It would test itself in the Saludos War.
All throughout the period, the situation was peaceful. While the Government, both under President Monstov Kostov and Kevin Gorsom, handled domestic and foreign affairs smoothly despite the rough bumps in the economy and with great public support regardless, the Military still had to take a serious stance on potential domestic threats. Its most stressful task during this time was the 1976 national elections. While the Congressional and state elections went without any hitch, the presidential elections were about deadlocked with the Republicans, Democrats, and the National Socialists tying up the elections and preventing a clear result from emerging. While Kevin Gorsom, incumbent Democratic President, had a pluarity, the other two candidates were legally preventing a win. The Republicans had achieved their results legally while the National Socialists had obtained its votes by fraud. Before Congress convened to decide the results before January 20, 1977, Gorsom was elected President by the Electoral College in late December 1976 when several National judges in several states had constitutionally voided the National Socialist results on the basis of voter fraud. One state, the Hotrod Islands, finally had its election results posted when its results were challenged by the Democrats and Republicans when the National Socialists suddenly managed to win that state; it was not until early January 1977 that the state could post its results showing Gorsom winning the election. Gorsom would carry 11 states, the Republicans 9, and the National Socialists down to one (Freiland); this ruling would be eventually backed up by the Supreme Court. Despite an urgent amendment ratification process of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to fix the Electoral College to fix the system from "one state, one vote" to a system based on population, the entire incident would later prove to be the origins of the Lanos Civil War.
Saludos War 1970-1973
- Coming soon/under construction.
Lanos Civil War 1977-1981
The prelude to the Lanos Civil War, or under its official name of The Lanosian National Struggle against the National Socialist Menace, had its origins directly during and after the 1976 elections were concluded and Gorsom was sworn in for his second term. During the period of January-June 1977, the Lanos National Socialist Party led by Robert Higmans planned and armed themselves in secret for the plan to overthrow the democratic government of Lanos and to institute National Socialist rule. That the buildup was done in secret and with foreign support was monumental since not even the CIA could detect the illegal arming of the Fascists. The support even included armor and aircraft to facilitate the eventual overthrow of Lanos. The issue was that, despite all this, they would have to fight hard to overcome the Lanosian Armed Forces and the population that did not want to be controlled by the Fascists. The Fascists kept up the buildup until they chose to strike.
On June 19, 1977, the National Socialists overthrew a shadow government in the capital at the time, but left the main Government, at the time situated in Nostrom under a seminar, unharmed. The Government and military units in and near Keinsteinem immediately retook the capital and managed to prevent recurring attacks on the capital from gaining fruition. The Military was well prepared for such an event and its preparedness prevented a large-scale disaster during the coup at least in the capital area. However, the general situation happened to deteriorate in the northern part of the nation. Other such coups were more successful against Lanosian units and they were either destroyed or hastily evacuated. By the end of the day, most of the northern 10 states were under Fascist control, about 50% of the mainland, while leaving the southern 50% of the mainland intact with the Southern Lanosian Territorial Bloc being safe from attacks. The Military kept the enemy army back from destroying the Government and from overruning the rest of the nation but lost 10% of its equipment and 5% of its weapons in the counter-attacks and retreats though it would affect evacuated and near-destroyed units trying to rearm after the initial attacks.
The day after the coup and the creation of the People's Republic of Lanos, President Gorsom declared a defensive war on the new rebel nation, thus asking the burden of handling of the war on the Military. Initially, most military equipment captured by the Fascists were re-captured or destroyed but it became clear that the Fascists would not give up as the Fascists had limited foreign support to prolong and attempt to win the Civil War. Despite the nation losing over 50% of its lands and 35% of its population, the 65% of the population that remained in Lanos were loyal to the Government and were determined to end the War at all costs. This allowed the Military to maintain a steady stream of recruits during the crucial years of 1977-1981.
It became clear how determined Lanos was to winning this war when the Fascists tried in the autumn and winter of 1977 to break the initial deeply-held lines around Keinsteinem and those in the states of Kastein and New Onostov in an attempt to cut off a large part of the country and to sweep in to take the nation. The 1977 Counteroffensives prevented this from happening and 1978-1980 were marked by the Lanos Army and Marines mounting offensives to secure the southern part of the nation by establishing positions close to along the state borders of the northern and southern states. However, both nations survived this critical phase and the Civil War degenerated into a bloody war of attrition largely by August of 1980. By January of 1981, both sides considered a ceasefire to settle this conflict and/or to rebuild and reattempt to reunify the country again. Things turned to prevent this from occurring.
Before the war started, the military was at 10 million personnel as mandated by a 1965 legislative proposal enacted that, at the time, would help defend the country from threats and allowed for the size of the military to increase if so required. The divisions of the military were kept at 10,000 men per division as per Revolution doctrines and would remain as such even after the 1970 Revolt (later this plan would remain in place after the Civil War until 2014). When the war began, a crash program to increase the military to 25 million began almost immediately after the shooting war began by increasing the number of monthly call-ups of men for conscription as well as a mass influx of men for enlistment. This initial step alone was able to provide enough men (~17 million at the time) for the Lanosians to stop the fascist offensives south and launch the 1977 Counteroffensives. Also, the evacuated equipment from the north as well as National Guard and other stockpiles of modern equipment maintained in preparation for a mass build up of the armed forces was ordered to be opened and used against the fascist attackers. The nation benefited from a mass arming campaign and would have the men and the arms to help fight the war and stalemate it by the end of 1978.
The fascists were aided by foreign military aid from nations sympathetic to their cause but not Onostov since it regarded the division of the Lanosian state as a grave sin to Emperor Alexander's 1944 plan to create a unified, democratic, Lanosian state. As Alexander refused to declare recognition and aid the People's Republic, its foreign reputation faltered and would not recover from the near-fatal blow dealt early in the war and would suffer the fatal blow in 1983 when Alexander was assassinated by a People's Republic Schutzstaffel assassin by orders of the Reichsführer-SS, Mikhail Himmstler. (Higmans would not know of this as by 1978, he was sidelined into being a figurehead ruler while the Lanos SS would command the nation behind the scenes.) The SS would also fight alongside the now-uncontrollable-by Higmans National People's Army led by a fiercely fascist Army general, General Fritz Fegelein, and controlled the People's Republic despite Higmans' vision and worthless demands to retake control. The powerful alliance of the two forces led by the Reichsführer-SS and the Army Commander would ensure the People's Republic would become the genocidal state that it was known for (Higmans had no intention of such plans). Eventually, Higmans was removed from his figurehead post and exiled to the suburbs of Georgetown under house arrest and Himmstler would take control of the People's Republic.
In contrast, the Lanosians did not request foreign aid and even rebuffed foreign offers of assistance (while seriously considering Onostov assistance even up to the end of the war; such a request, as evidenced by the Onostov Imperial Archives and the Lanos National Archives, would have been instantly granted and Imperial forces would march side-by-side Lanosian forces to liberate the country and not occupy it as promised in 1944 and ratified in the Lanos-Onostov Treaty in 1964). The Lanosians believed that this was their war and insisted that they would be the ones to liberate the country from fascism no matter how long it took to do so. The Lanosians also received the valuable recognition by Onostov as the sole legitimate rulers of the Lanosian state created in 1964.
- Under construction.
Lanos Civil War 1981-1987
This critical six-year period in the war helped set up the later 1987-1991 period that successfully ended the war. During this period, the fascists, determined to win the war by any means necessary, began a broad campaign of terrorism in the southern part of the country in order to win the war on the Lanosian domestic front as well as the military front. This campaign was launched in January 1981 by starting off with a truck bomb in the Keinsteinem National Capital District during a busy traditional tourist post-inauguration event on January 22, 1981, killing hundreds and wounding thousands. The attack caught the Lanosians off-guard but there were other attacks conducted that day that would claim more lives across the country. Almost immediately, the National Police and the military embarked on means to preventing domestic terrorism by the fascists with mixed results. While they did prevent truck bombs for a while, the fascists resorted to mass shootings in public places and other venues as well as suicide bombings and returned to vehicle bombs after the lull. The National Police began to resort to aggressive anti-terrorist methods in late 1982 with more success but the attacks continued to resume. All the while, sales of automatic weapons and other firearms, ballistic protection, and other related items skyrocketed in the country due to the terrorist campaign. This had some intended effect as fascist SS terrorists going out to conduct shootings were met with armed Lanosians and more heavily armed National Police officers and suicide bombers couldn't claim as many lives due to the increase in civilian-owned ballistic protection. Regardless, the fascists kept up their campaign of terrorism right until the end of the war, eventually killing over a million Lanosians as a result.
The campaign of terrorism did not have limits against political officials. Quite the contrary; the SS ordered its terrorists to target political opponents as well as civilian targets and infrastructure (the infrastructure attempts failed early on and were never attempted again). In 1981, 61 local, state, and national government officials were assassinated and scores more survived attempts on their lives with some having crippling injuries for the rest of their lives. Among them was the 3rd President of Lanos, Michael Alexander. He was assassinated by a SS assassin at close range with a AKM in March 1981 while an attempt on his Vice President, the defected former leader of the fascist Lanos Robert Higmans, failed miserably like the other two attempts on his life later and he was sworn in an hour later after the murder of President Alexander. Higmans becoming President of Lanos resulted in nightmare fuel for the People's Republic. They excused Higmans' defected to the south as treason and cowardice but now they couldn't excuse their former betrayed leader becoming President of the country they sought to destroy. Two more attempts to kill Higmans would fail but his becoming President would galvanize the Lanosians into winning the war no matter the length and cost. Among his first policies would be instituting the 1982 military reforms that would help turn the tide against the fascists in the interim and after 1982. His aggressive policy to prosecute the war would also pay off.
Among these was an aggressive air campaign to destroy most of the power of the People's Air Force and the implementation of a naval blockade against the People's Republic, destroy its navy, and stop supplies from reaching the enemy. The first campaign focused on setting up an air corridor along the western border of the country and covering the states of Marina and Honorev. The corridor would provide for a safe place for bombers, tankers, and ground-attack aircraft a safe place to refuel while large amounts of F-4s (and later F-15s and F-16s but the F-4 would remain the Air Force's mainstay until 2001) would protect the corridor from People's Air Force intrusions. Starting in 1981, the Air Force began its campaign to establish the air corridor with due haste while attacking critical fascist airbases and establishing temporary air superiority while working to achieve air superiority in the air corridor. The corridor was successfully establish in October 1981 but was immediately challenged by the People's Air Force. The MiG-21 and the F-4 were matched but the Lanos Air Force won out and repelled all successive attempts after January 1982. The corridor's establishment also assisted in a land blockade against smuggling arms into the fascist state and would contribute to choking the fascist state of foreign aid and force it to turn to domestic production which could be easily targeted by the Air Force.
The naval blockade had mixed success in the beginning. While having some gains starting in 1977 and heading into 1981, the naval blockade in the beginning years of the war still had issues with trying to stop fascist and foreign ships from shipping aid into the People's Republic. Navy attacks on enemy shipping yards had successful results but the aid continued to come into the country. 1981 would signal the beginning of a mini-war called the Blockade War against the fascists and their foreign supplies on the high seas and in the People's Republic. The Blockade War commenced in April 1981 with the Navy moving to interdict cargo ships headed to the fascists and to fight the People's Navy and destroy it and end any fascist challenge on the high seas. The Lanos Navy has its work cut out for them. While being classified as a green-water navy, the People's Navy sought to challenge the Lanos Navy as a blue-water navy. Both sides engaged in heavy naval warfare and resulted in heavy losses for both sides, especially the Lanos Navy. The Blockade War was the bloodiest conflict for the Navy during the entire war with losses exceeding into the tens of thousands and the loss of scores of ships. Among the losses was the Kostov-class Iesus Christros battleship and the aircraft carrier Prince Wilhelm. In retaliation, the Navy had ordered its fleets to engage in an all-out effort to destroy the People's Navy. This was accomplished in the Battle of the Navies with the 10 Kostov-class battleships exacting revenge on the People's Navy's Himmstler-class battleships that sunk the Iesus Christros and sank all three of the enemy's battleships in an unfair fight with their 16" cannons and Tomahawk missiles and wreck the enemy's escorting destroyers and cruisers. In a short while, the battleships sank the People's Navy's only aircraft carrier, Himmstler, under heavy Navy F-14 support. Eventually the People's Navy was reduced to brown-water status and was never a threat to Lanosian naval dominance again.
The remaining part of the Blockade War, stopping aid to the enemy from foreign providers, proved to be a more difficult task. Even with the successful elimination of the People's Navy as a threat by mid-1982, foreign suppliers to the People's Republic had navies that could challenge the blockade and even break it if they wanted to. Adding on to this, the People's Navy could still harass the Navy even despite its serious disadvantage.
- Under construction.
Lanos Civil War 1987-1991
Officially, the Kastat War ended, but the Civil War did not. Both nations kept skirmishes up during the years of 1987-1989, leading to the 2 nations declaring a truce in 1989. The truce gave Lanos a respite, as it needed to recover from fighting 12 years of a civil war and 6 years of a minor involvement in a major war that killed millions. After the truce was made, the nation rebuilt its military into even more of a modern fighting force and prepared to retake the north at any and all costs. The Army, Marines, Air Force, and the National Guard rearmed themselves with more modern equipment and gear (such as M1 Abrams tanks, F-16 Fighting Falcons, and adoption of the Personnel Armor Systems for Ground Troops body armor equipment and Battle Dress Uniforms), while the Navy gained more battleships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and aircraft carriers. The reason for the mass buildups was that the military was planning a grand offensive against the Fascists. If executed, it would have thrown the enemy nation into chaos and decimated and conquered the Fascist nation by late 1991.
This secret operation, codenamed White Sun, would have done the following:
- Commence in late 1989-early 1990 with massive bombing missions and missile strikes.
- Gain air supremacy over all of Lanos.
- Use the ground forces to overwhelm the decimated People's Army and recapture seized land.
- If needed, use nuclear force to defeat the enemy.
White Sun's initial commencement was delayed when the Fascists decided to slow and halt their efforts to invade the rest of the mainland, especially with previous Lanosian offensives proving to be devastating against the People's Army. This was seen by the failure of the February Offensives taking off in 1990. Previously, the offensives were shown as a means of the Fascists harassing Lanosian units. The lack of a 1990 February Offensive meant that the Fascists were too hurt by the previous years of war and wanted to recoup and rearm to hold off Lanosian attacks and to preserve their nation. White Sun later commenced in May 1990 when the Army's general land offensives began alongside the Navy and Marine Corps commencing a seaborne invasion of the northern shores of enemy-held lands. The seaborne invasion coincided with a mass Army offensive near the general front. Both offensives were meant to link up and liberate the city of Marina and to secure the northwestern part of the country. This would provide a crippling blow to the enemy and provide a means of having a secure airspace in the northern part of Lanos to provide more aerial attacks against Fascist targets. With the joint effort of these offensives, Fascist units caught in the crossfire and pincers were utterly destroyed and hundreds of thousands of prisoners were taken. The offensives were generally wrapped up in late August of 1990 after the two offensive forces linked up at the city of Marina without any combat fighting.
However, there was still fight left in the Lanos People's Armed Forces. Despite losing its entire navy and having a major disadvantage when it came to its air force, the People's Army and the Lanos SS had been largely untouched to an extent and had cohesion and equipment to provide a serious resistance against the Lanos military coming to liberate its lands. September 1990 started with the People's Army and the SS beginning attempts to break the control of Lanosian forces in the north. Failing that, the month of October saw the bloodiest battles in the history of the Civil War and Lanos with the 1990 Battle of Marina becoming the bloodiest when several Fascist field armies came upon Marina with the intent on breaking control. The offensive failed when Lanosian field armies and field marine forces in the area counterattacked with heavy Air Force support. After the end of the battle, only the 1st People's Army and 1st SS Army survived largely intact with their men and equipment while the other units committed were mostly destroyed. November and December of 1990 were basically more months of stalemates but the Lanosians were gaining the upper hand more and more while the Fascists were having equipment and manpower shortages and were on the verge of collapse. This played to the advantage of the Lanosians starting in January of 1991.
1991 started out with a bang with 3 offensives starting off against the western and southern part of untaken Fascist Lanos. These were successful but eventually by March, the Lanosian military stopped to take a break to rest and rearm to attack the Fascists batison, the Georgetown metropolitan area. The offensives earlier that year had placed Lanosian forces within 200 miles of that area. Regardless, there would be a hard fight ahead for both sides since the People's Army had enough forces to resist but no one knew how long the resistance could last. The final offensive to retake Georgetown, Operation Freedom over Tyranny, started in late March with the general situation for the Fascists becoming worse and worse by the day. This offensive capped off successful destruction of Fascist units and taking of key enemy military bases which would severely limit the Fascist fighting machine in its desperate attempts to hold onto its territories. By the beginning of June of 1991, the Lanosian forces were within 25 miles of Georgetown's government area and city center. The Battle of Georgetown was fought with blood on the streets as both sides engaged in heavy urban and suburban fighting involving heavy artillery, naval, and aerial support from the Lanosians. The best the Fascists could do was to hunker down and to fight hard and take as many Lanosians as possible. This kind of fighting would devastate most of Georgetown as the Lanosians destroyed pockets of resistance. Even despite mass defections, POW captures, and losses, the Fascists kept fighting until Himmstler and Fegelein were captured. After this event, mass surrender events began to take place and enemy positions and morale collapsed. Eventually, the war ended on July 20, 1991 when the Army captured the final pockets of resistance in Georgetown and when the final cease-fire took effect on noon that day. The end of the 14 year long war, however, wasn't the end of the troubles of the now-reunified country.
Over the course of the Civil War, over 50,991,812 ROL military personnel served in the War with 2,120,728 killed in action and over 5,143,029 wounded in action. On the Fascist side, 25,743,102 served in the war with 2,542,960 being killed in action and 5,381,990 wounded in action. Over 5,182,006 civilians were killed during the war and 12,918,716 were wounded. This conflict is, by far, the bloodiest conflict the nation has ever fought in.
Fascist Remnant 1991-1993
The Fascist Remnant refers to the post-Civil War breakouts of violence by remnants of Lanos People's Army units and armed National Socialist militias wishing to attempt to re-create the People's Republic of Lanos. Such an insurgency was started in June of 1991 when the War was almost about won but Army units began defending themselves from Remnant units in recently-liberated areas. This was made worse by units of the Lanos SS going underground and continuing the fight. After the War ended on July 20, 1991, the Military instituted military rule over the northern part of the mainland until civilian rule could be fully restored in January 1993. This simply made the Remnant's presence more profound as they began attacking Military bases and civilian targets. While the Military began to reinstall civilian rule and take their places in pre-War and newly-established bases, the National Guard began to take the main task of combating the Remnant. The Guard took this job seriously and took heavy losses during counter-insurgency fighting. In 1992, before elections could be held, the Army, Air Force, Marines, and the National Guard conducted Operation Democratic Sweep. The operation cleared out almost all of the Remnant units that remained active in the north. Despite desperate attacks, the Remnant failed to reinstitute Fascist rule and the 1992 elections were carried out without incident. On January 31, 1993, the Fascist Remnant was declared to have been completely wiped out and this date officially marked the end of all Civil War-related combat operations. Personnel that didn't serve in the War but served during the Remnant were eligible of receiving the Civil War Victory Medal because the Remnant was related to the Civil War.
Occasionally, especially in the mid and late 1990s, some Fascist Remnant-related groups pop up and start trouble in the north. This leads to the National Guard combating these groups and even involve the Army to prevent another Civil War. The last of these post-Remnant conflicts occurred in 2001. Because of such conflicts and their relation to the Civil War, the Civil War Victory Medal is awarded to personnel that took part in such operations.
Over 10,341,183 ROL military personnel served during the Remnant with 32,182 killed in action and 45,281 wounded in action.
Rebuilding Years 1991-2009
The Rebuilding Years was the period between the Civil War and the Hobbes City War that focused much on rebuilding the country as well as other initiatives. During the war, the Armed Forces were at the all-time high of 25 million. With their technological and numerical superiority, the war was won in a shorter time than expected in July 1991. Nonetheless, it was decided in mid-1991 to return the Armed Forces back to the pre-war levels that the active duty forces were at (5 million) as well as the National Guard and the Reserve Forces. The draw down began in August 1991 and was completed with the military being cut to 12.5 million in March 1994. Despite the mass demobilization, the modern equipment that was procured in the 1980s and early 1990s was kept, upgraded, and supplemented with newer equipment to provide for a more modern and well-armed fighting force that was smaller than its previous size. It also saved the National Government money in the long run as it barely managed to maintain a budget surplus/neutral budget after the 1993 Recession (despite managing to have huge surpluses during fiscal year 1989-1993 due to the favorable economic situation). In the end, the smaller military saved money and proved itself to be as effective as its Civil War-era predecessor. Lanos was able to recover from the 1993 Recession with the freeing up of veterans into the expanding labor force and industries devoted to post-war recovery and the expansion of the Lanosian economy in international sectors. The Military was able to cut down on conscription totals and assist with the recovery with humanitarian and recovery missions to rebuild the country.
Unfortunately, much of the Rebuilding Years was also spent on investigating, prosecuting, and enforcing the Lanos War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Statutes on those on the Fascist side that committed such crimes during the war. After the war and during the Rebuilding Years, the national government arrested tens of thousands of ex-Fascist servicemen and commanders, Lanos SS men, government officials of the People's Republic of Lanos, and those that assisted in committing the war crimes, particularly the fascist People's Militias that dogged the Armed Forces during the Fascist Remnant. The Army Field Military Police, the Air Force Security Police, the Marine Corps Military Police Regiment, the Naval Criminal Investigation Service, and other Defense Department police agencies assisted the National Police, other national law enforcement agencies, and the various state police agencies to track down and prosecute those responsible for the war crimes committed during the war. One of these events that was suspected at the beginning of the war and later confirmed during and after was the Lanosian Holocaust. The Holocaust began shortly after June 1977 when the Fascists had cemented control of northern Lanos during the Civil War. Its targets were the Jewish, indigenous, and other undesirable populations of the country that the Fascists blamed for the failure of the fascist revolution in 1970 as well as the general failure to secure a separate northern state when the nation was created in 1964 (despite vigorous discussions during the 1930s, attempts to secure two Lanosian states after 1944 never succeeded after the Emperor of Onostov decreed that Lanos would be free and unified as one state). The Holocaust was so widespread in northern Lanos that attempts to make it a secret failed almost immediately and that the Independent Nation and the international community completely knew about it by 1981 (or even earlier when temporary concentration camps were discovered in liberated areas starting in 1978). National Resistance and the Special Forces undertook operations to liberate those trapped behind enemy lines to save them from impending death. Years later, those responsible would face justice for the Holocaust and the other major war crimes that took place during the war.
Over on the military's side of things after the war was a reorganization of its fighting strength. The reorganization focused on the ground forces and it would help make them more effective when engaging in combat. The Marine efforts make them more mobile and combat-effective in 50,000-sized Field Marine Forces, thus making the forces more able to hold their own against enemy forces. The Army and the National Guard focuses on division size and consolidation of the Army from 10,000 man divisions to 20,000 (Marine divisions in the ground combat force of that service were 20,000-strong before the Army changes). The consolidation focused on strengthening the divisions and thus strengthening the field armies and the National Guard doing likewise. However, this required the elimination of the 26th-50th Armies that existed under the era of 100,000-sized Field Armies. The Army underwent the reorganization and left with 20,000-strong divisions without any morale issues. The National Guard, however, underwent a different reorganization. While keeping its National Guard Divisions largely untouched after consolidation, the Guard underwent a renumbering of its Field Armies to match Army standards. This would result in the 25 National Guard Armies being numbered 26-50 (an example being the 41st Army (National Guard)). Some men in the old numbered Field Armies were shuffled to the National Guard to assist in building up the Guard Armies during this time. However, the military expanded back to its Civil War-era numbers due to external and foreign threats rising up and the need to have a larger military. It was found that the larger force could be comfortably funded with existing funds without equipment issues. The increase was done, for example in the Army and the Army Guard, by keeping the same number of field armies but increasing the number men in each division. Similar increases were done across the board in the other services as well. The military stayed the same size but the consolidations proved to be effective.
- Under construction.
Kingsley Bedford
The history of Lanos and Kingsley Bedford were intertwined in what was originally meant to be a peacekeeping effort around Harani City by a single Lanos Army infantry division. Over time, the peacekeeping effort expanded in mission and size as several Army divisions were deployed to the country to prevent a full-scale war from breaking out. By 2008, the war ended as Mikhail Arthuryan unified the two warring sides into today's Kingsley Bedford. While the newly-elected president was heralded for bringing the conflict to an end and unifying the country, there would be some results leftover from the civil war that would have serious implications for both countries in the later years that would prove to be both tragic and controversial.
Kingfordian Civil War 1988-2008
The origins of the war can be traced to 1947 when the Republic of Kingfordistan, a communist state, arose in the area. Regardless of the formation of what was seen as a stable government, there were several democratic movements that sought to overthrow the communist government and would later succeed after a two-year war from 1958-1960. After the conflict ended, two democratic states, Kingsley and Bedford, were created in the wake of Kingfordistan. The two nations had seen themselves co-exist more or less peacefully until the 1980s when several disputes popped up regarding the borders of the two nations. These disputes, while once considered minor, would escalate into full-scale conflict between the two nations and would be termed the Kingfordian Civil War. The final border dispute that would start the war would center around the area of Harani City. Bedford had claimed Harani even though Kingsley had control of the area since the two nations were created. Both nations were unable to come to an agreement on the exact borders in the area and Bedford decided to try to seize the city and the area by force. The civil war would start in 1988 with Bedford forces invading Kingsley territory.
However, Harani City was a popular area of Kingsley where Lanosians would settle while the Lanos Civil War was raging back home. Both Lanosian sides had allowed travel to Kingsley and Bedford but most, if not all, of the Lanosians living there chose to settle in Harani because of the relative calm in the area with the other border disputes occurring elsewhere. When the war began, the Lanosian population was at risk of being harmed by being caught between the two sides fighting each other thus the Kingsley government asked their home nation to send some forces to help protect the Lanosian diaspora in Harani. The Kingsley request was received and understood by the Lanosian National Government but raised an issue of how many could be possibly sent to Kingsley since Lanos had its own civil war to fight against the fascist People's Republic of Lanos (and that would not end until 1991). Ultimately, President Wilhelm Kostov ordered the 21st Infantry Division of the 21st Army to Harani to protect the Lanosian dispora. The first brigades of the division entered the Harani area around September 1988 and began to set up camp and an airfield, later to become Thale Air Force Base, to begin its peacekeeping duties around the Harani City area. Operation Protect The City, the official name of the Lanosian peacekeeping operation in the area, began with just the 21st and would remain at that for the first several years of the civil war.
During the period of 1988-1993, the peacekeeping operation around Harani would see limited engagements and was mostly devoted to protecting the city while protecting its Lanosian population. These missions were usually supported with limited Air Force assets from newly-built Thale Air Force Base, built with a long-term mission in mind. When the Lanos Civil War ended in July 1991 and the final conflicts of the Fascist Remnant ended in January 1993, the Republic of Lanos Peacekeeping Mission in Kingsley Bedford and the Supreme Command agreed to expand its operations from Harani to the rest of the country. With the consent of Kingsley and Bedford, the peacekeeping mission was expanded in mid-1993 to the entire country with a significant force increase to 250,000 servicemen to enforce, or attempt to enforce, a peaceful situation during the conflict. The remainder of the 1990s though would prove to be more bloody for the peacekeepers than the original mission in and around Harani. Given that the peacekeepers were now across the country than instead of just being deployed in between the two warring nations gave an advantage to the mission to enforce peace though a sizable force of the mission was in between the two nations. This often led the peacekeepers being caught in the crossfire of the battles at times, requiring the Lanosians to fight back against both sides if it had to in order to stop the fighting, often resulting in heavy casualties. By the end of the decade, over 100,000 Lanosians were killed during the first 10 years of the peacekeeping mission. Efforts to end the war during this time proved difficult and many clamored for more forces to be sent to enforce peace more forcefully. These calls weren't heeded until 2001.
The remaining eight years of the war starting in 2000 proved to be less bloody and different for the Lanosians. By 2000, things had tapered off in major fighting though skirmishes had now replaced major field battles as the means to gain territory. Lanosians now had adapted to this sort of fighting and often were able to use these skirmishes to more effectively stop them and enforce peace. Eventually, more Lanosians would come to stop the fighting. In 2001, Richard Bush, himself a veteran of the early peacekeeping efforts from 1991-1996, had ordered that over 500,000 would be stationed in Kingsley Bedford in order to staunch the fighting. By 2002, the reinforcements arrived and there was a major drop in fighting when the reinforcements took their hold in the peacekeeping mission.
- Under construction.
Over 5,618,591 ROL military personnel served in the war with 152,439 killed in action and over 306,035 wounded in action.
Post-Civil War Kingsley Bedford
- Coming soon.
Underium Conflict/Occupation of Underium 2011-2012
- Main Article: Underium Conflict
The Underium Conflict was a short war over the issue of slavery originally between Underium and Aquitayne. During the course of the war, a total of 14 nations came to the side of Aquitayne creating the Allied force to defend Aquitayne from Underium's pro-slavery aggression. While the conflict was known for only one major naval battle and preparations for an Underium invasion, sadly the conflict became known for Underium's usage of chemical and biological weapons against the civilian populations of Norvenia and Aquitayne resulting in over a million civilian casulties. The conflict abruptly ended when Underium was facing the combined military strength of the 14 Allied nations and the threat of nuclear retaliation against Underium after the chemical attack on Zion City, as Norvenia launched its nuclear warheads in response but only 4 hit the enemy lands. The conflict was resolved by Underium's unconditional surrender and 8 Allied nations occupying Underium in order to prevent such conflicts in the future. During that conflict, only 16 Navy pilots were lost after their jets were shot down and died of radiation poisoning during the Battle of the Tyras Strait. No Lanosians died from any WMD attack as none were in the targeted areas and no WMDs were directed against Lanos.
The same could not be said during the initial stages of the occupation. When international forces entered Underium and the capital area, the remaining Underian armed forces and several militas took arms against the occupation forces. During the Battle of Alizia, about 14,182 Lanosians were killed and 48,960 were wounded while moving in to control the capital. After the combat phase ended, the occupation then transitioned to feeding the population and beginning to set up civil administration in the center island of Underium. Later insurgent attacks would take its toll on the occupation forces but the mission didn't end because of them. Sadly, Lanosian forces left after disputes between Libertarian Governance and the other nations got too bothersome.
Overall, 1,193,093 ROL Military personnel served with 20,191 killed and 51,928 wounded.
Izarian Civil War (retconned)
The Izarian Civil War started when opposition protests broke out in Izarius City in the west of that country. When the main socialist government ordered the Izarian military to crack down on the protests, Supreme Commander Gorky and his forces then defected from socialist control and took Izarius City and the surrounding area and proclaimed it to be the Republic of Izarius. Democratic forces later took the Socialist Council into custody. Peng Tao, then-Interior Minister, would take control of the socialist forces and maintained control of the socialists. Despite the sudden loss of leadership, the socialists rallied and took out many opposition leaders. They also had the upper hand with the armed forces and ordered an assault on Izarius City and a general crackdown on democratic supporters. Without international intervention and recognition, the democratic movement would have been suppressed and crushed in a matter of weeks, if not days. Lanos responded by recognizing the democratic transitional government and by sending in the Lanosian military to back up the rebels in the Izarius City area.
OOC: This conflict has been retconned due to OP inactivity and Izarius ceasing to exist.
Post-Underium 2012-present
The Underium Conflict would give the Armed Forces plenty of lessons to learn from. After the end of the war, the Armed Forces took to another major reform period, undergoing more rearming and re-equipping to new technology across the board. The final demilitarization of older weapons like the M1911A2 service pistol, the M60 and older model M240 machine guns and other older weapons met their fate of being phased out and replaced or relegated to secondary service. Replacements like the M21 H&K USP and more modern weapons came in to provide the Armed Forces more modern weapons and tools to fight conflicts and to defend Lanos and its allies across the NS world. Regardless of the new weapons, the old but venerable M28 (GPR-76) in .280 British remained in service with multiple modernizations and additions despite a alternative bullpup rifle in a lighter cartridge. Also, more modern body armor was provided to increase the survivability of servicemen in combat. The new equipment went along with the reorganization of the ground forces into the brigade combat team-style formations. Recognizing the old system had rigid deployment issues, the ground forces were reorganized into the brigade combat teams in order to increase mobility while retaining pre-reorganization fighting strength.
