IEF Civil War: Oct 2000 - Feb 2001
A Tale of Ice and Sorrow
The IEF Civil War
October 2000 – February 2001
The IEF Civil War
October 2000 – February 2001
Conservative cataphracts preparing for action
After a lull in the fighting due to heavy autumn rains and the corresponding quagmires, the belligerents quickly increased offensive operations with the advent of freezing temperatures. With the spectacular failure of the Novgorod campaign earlier that year, the Conservatives led by Prime Minister Mitya Kuznetsov and Emperor Alexander IV diverted their attention to recapturing the Crimean peninsula. Advancing from the west, the Conservatives used armored task forces to punch through the Reformer defenses and successfully cut of the peninsula. However, an abundance of antitank missiles and tenacious resistance by the local Crimean Tartars stalled attempts to clear Sevastopol and the interior. Instead, of counterattacking into the Donbas, the Reformers launched their own offensive against a pocket of Conservative forces based in southern Bessarabia. The Reformers managed to contract the Conservatives’ perimeter but ultimately failed to force them to capitulate after the Conservative Black Sea Fleet landed much needed reinforcements.
Over the course of the winter, fighting raged off and on along the long and twisting frontlines. In Byelorussia, a series of vicious attacks and counterattacks failed to alter the balance of power. Throughout the IEF, food and fuel shortages furthered the humanitarian crisis which was already reaching historic levels. In both Conservative and Reformer held territory, any suspected disloyalty was often enough to have one’s ration cards curtailed or suspended. Summary executions and forced labor were often imposed for even minor infractions as the opposing governments struggled to meet the needs of their population. Since the start of the conflict this all occurred under the dangling threat of nuclear war. The Conservatives possessed nearly 80% of the IEF’s arsenal due to their control of the Siberian based ICBMs, and the majority of the Baltic and Pacific Fleets. The Reformers managed to secure only a few nuclear-armed submarines in the Baltic Fleet, and a hand full of small tactical nuclear bombs for their air force. Neither side wanted to risk the utter destruction that a nuclear exchange could entail.
In a Christmas morning address, Lidka Gorski declared that for the better part of a year her Warsaw based government had “exercised effective control over most of the territory of Poland and provided for her citizens as best as wartime conditions would allow. As such, the Polish Free State should be recognized by the nations of the world as the legitimate government of an independent Poland.” The ruling council of the self-styled Grand Duchy of Finland made a similar announcement by the end of the year. While no nation officially recognized either government, German Chancellor Ernst Osterloh moved quietly but decidedly towards backing these new countries separatist efforts. Indeed, Finland and Poland would be warmer and better fed than most parts of the IEF during the winter due to an influx of German assistance. In the Baltic, pro-independence factions were gathering strength, often aided by covert AES agents and a steady supply of deutschmarks. Pasternak and his Reformer government in St. Petersburg were too preoccupied with the Conservatives to intervene effectively.
Pasternak however would score one significant victory that winter. In the abysmally cold temperatures of February, the Reformers stunned the Conservatives by launching a second attempt to capture the port city of Arkhangelsk. To the dismay of the leadership in Moscow, the Conservative garrison was caught off guard as the Reformers launched a ferocious cataphract and mechanized infantry assault against city’s defenses. This time, the Conservatives buckled. Over 44,000 Conservative soldiers were taken prisoner and the Conservatives lost their last remaining port on the White Sea. This loss, along with the near complete collapse of government control in Central Asia, the Caucuses, and Manchuria helped by Turkish, Persian, and Chinese assistance, prompted Kuznetsov to call for a meeting of all prominent Conservative leaders. Set for the first week of March, the Conservatives would reassess their strategy for winning the war.
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