The First Morsian-Sicc'orax War was a war fought between the Morsian Kingdom and its successor state the Morsian Military Dictatorship against the Sicc'orax Republic on the planet Mors. The war was notable for its increased length due in part to the First Morsian Civil War which broke out towards the beginning of it, as well as the collapse of the Morsian Kingdom into the dictatorship.
Prelude[]
The Morsians and the Sicc'orax had cold relations for many years since the Siege of Favarae, which resulted in a Sicc'orax defeat and formation of the Royal Morsian Army. As a result, tensions were easy to rise as both powers sought to begin an advantageous war against the other to conquer them. The spark came from the assassination of the Morsian King Caesar Tarqui'in, or Caesar I. The assailant was unknown, but blame instantly placed on the Sicc'orax. Pompinius Tarqui'in, also known as Pompinius IV, became his successor and declared war in revenge for the assassination.
Early setback[]
At the beginning of the war, the newly formed Royal Morsian Army consisted of three legions; the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd legion. Pompinius also founded the Royal Morsian Navy to begin attempted naval dominance over the local seas and coasts around the kingdom. The three legions were marched south, to where a relatively thin length of land marked the southern border between the kingdom and the Sicc'orax.
Shortly after this, however, Pompinius was poisoned and bed-ridden, unable to name an heir to the throne and having no direct successor to fill his place. This caused a succession crisis within the kingdom, where several powerful senators decided that it was their time to make a bid for the throne. Gathering mercenaries and militia forces of loyal followers, they plunged the kingdom into a civil war.
This occurred just as the legions had reached the southern border and taken several Sicc'orax settlements with relatively little resistance, beginning the longer First Siege of Traevilon. The siege was well underway before word of the civil war reached the front lines, which caused a problem for the army. After a discussion amongst the commanders, they agreed to split their forces. The 2nd and 3rd legion would finish the siege, sack the settlement and return to the border at the start of the war in order to provide additional help to the 1st legion, who would turn back immediately to restore order, should it be required.
The state of the war around three months in
| Sicc'oraxian Wars |
|---|
| Prelude |
| Malagus · Favarae |
| First |
| 1st Traevilon · (First Morsian Civil War · Sicc'oraxian conquest of east Virconis) · 2nd Traevilon · Colonae Caesarus |
| Second |
| 1st Acdubros · 2nd Acdubros · 1st Pedeticum · 2nd Pedeticum · Sicc'orandunum |
| Third |
| Sicc'orandunum |
Sicc'orax advancements[]
Noticing the retreat of the legions from the border, and eventually gaining word of the civil war, the Sicc'orax used this time not to push into the Morsian lands but rather conquer some of their tribal neighbors. They conquered all but the largest one, the Marra’karr Tribe, before turning their attention to the two small tribal nations on their northern border. These two nations, the Fakk’ar Tribe and Tenarr’brii Tribe, had been given an offer to either join the Sicc'orax in the war or be conquered themselves. The reason for this is that the Sicc'orax wanted another border to open a northern front against the Morsians. However, the tribal nations were friendly with the Morsians thanks to trade, so refused and were declared war on by the Sicc'orax.
Despite putting up a fight, the tribes were being pushed back when the civil war ended with the 1st legion taking over and its legate declaring himself as dictator. The tribes appealed for help and in response the new dictator, Gaius Rutil'iar, expanded the army and raised the 4th and 5th legion. These new legions were sent northwards to join the fight with the tribes, whilst the 1st legion, with a new commander, was returned southwards to begin pushing with the other two legions. They quickly reached Traevilon and fought the much swifter Second Siege of Traevilon against the already damaged village and what little garrison had been reformed.
A growing stalemate[]
The advance in the south was halted until the legions reconstructed Traevilon as a military supply depot to facilitate supply for further advances into the lands of the Sicc'orax. Using forced labor, slaves and Morsian settlers moved into the area, they rebuilt it with little hinderance outside of some probing attacks by small Sicc'orax forces that were likely to test the strength of the Morsian forces in the area. With Traevilon rebuild and fortified, as well as renamed to Vectum Traevilus, the three legions left behind a garrison at the depot and began advancing into the Sicc'orax lands.
Fighting on the sea had been relatively non-existent, with the renamed Morsian Navy being small and formed mainly of smaller coastal patrol ships which guarded the fishing grounds and coastal Morsian settlements. The Sicc'orax, despite their size, had not invested much into a navy, relying instead on their vassal state of the Xikk'lac Tribe for all naval forces. As a result, the Xikk'lac forces had a travel a long way to reach Morsian waters, and the first naval conflict didn't occur until well over a year into the war. A swift naval battle brushed aside the smaller Morsian naval forces and allowed the Xicc'lac fleet and embarked army to make their way towards the closest settlement of Colonae Caesarus. Gaius saw the threat and began ordering many new ships, but they would not be built anywhere close to being able to stop the fleet. In addition, no legions were close enough to be sent back to defend the settlement.
The Battle of Colonae Caesarus[]
The resulting Battle of Colonae Caesarus was to be the only major battle fought within the Morsian land during the war and the only major battle fought solely by the Xikk'lacs. The ships docked at the jetties of the settlement to little ranged resistance and started unloading troops to assault the settlement. Their arrival had been seen, however, and the garrison of a small force of newly formed Morsian Guard created defences at the ends of the jetties to limit the avenues where the pikemen and spearmen of the Xikk'lac could attack from whilst townspeople were armed with bows and ranged weapons and placed behind the Guard.
The ranged fire inflicted casualties on the lightly armored Xikk'lac infantry before they engaged the Morsian Guard, who rushed to meet them. Whilst the longer weapons of the Xikk'lacs would have outranged the short swords of the Guard, to minimize this potential the Guard ran at them to get within the swing range of the spears and pikes, where their short swords would have the advantage. The larger number of Xikk'lac troops did not aid them in their assault, either, as the width of the jetties meant they could not surround or get past their comrades or the Morsians.
Closer Morsian naval forces had been rushed to the siege and gave battle to the rest of the Xikk'lac navy in the area, but they were again outnumbered and outclassed, and the Morsian Navy was defeated again. The remaining Xikk'lac ships decided to beach and land their infantry on the beaches either side of the settlement, with a plan to encircle it and attack the defenders from all sides. Those townspeople willing to fight were armed with whatever weapons could be found and sent to meet them. However, thanks to the earlier fighting at the jetties, their ranged ammunition soon ran out and the unarmored Morsian militia was no match for the superior weapons and light armor of the Xikk'lacs, who could outrange their weapons and cut them down, leaving their avenue to the town open.
Relief for the Morsians, and a prevention of the town falling, came in the shape of reinforcements of other Guard units from nearby towns who were sent to the battle. These units caught the Xikk'lac forces by surprise from behind, and caused major casualties to them which broke their morale. When word of this reached the hard pressed units at the jetties, the Xikk'lac infantry broke and ran for their ships, casting off and retreating towards Sicc'orax waters and safety. The remaining Xikk'lac forces, cut off and surrounded with the roles reversed, either surrendered or fought until the end.
Further stalemate[]
The southern legions were suffering setback in the form of the main Sicc'orax army which had finally marched to reach them. Whilst the Morsian forces had greater cohesion and armor, the Sicc'orax were far more numerous and a series of battles in which little was achieved slowed down the advance in the south. It was during this time that the legates of the three legions first employed battle formations in a bid to break the stalemate. Whilst not military official formations, they managed to confuse the Sicc'orax forces and create a breakthrough, which allowed the Morsians to advance again.
On the northern front, the two legions managed to turn the tide and push the Sicc'orax back to their original border with the Fakk'ar Tribe. However, they were too few in number to advance across the whole of the northern front, which was far larger than the southern one. These legates also did not have the idea of creating battle formations, so instead opted to dig in and create fortifications to hold off the Sicc'orax and prevent them advancing. Despite several forays by the Sicc'orax, they were indeed unable to break through. Noticing this, as well as the unwillingness of the Morsians and their allies to advance beyond the border, the Sicc'orax instead pulled most of their troops away from the north and sent them southwards, where the three legions were still advancing.
These reinforcements turned the tide quickly back in favor of the Sicc'orax. With even more troops facing them and no allied forces of their own, the Morsian legions began to be pushed back with losses. To try and avoid too many more, as well as potential destruction of the legions and leaving the southern front open, the legions fell all the way back to the supply depot which by now was fully fortified. Using the depot and the thin front line afforded to them, they successfully prevented several assaults by the Sicc'orax from taking it, causing the advance to stall out.
Ultimate stalemate and peace[]
With both front lines ground to a halt, Gaius saw only one option open to him which was brokering peace. The Morsians were too few in number to wage a large war against the Sicc'orax, who had the number but not the equipment or training to easily defeat the Morsians and their allies. Approaching the Morsian Senate, Gaius asked for them to begin peace talks with the Sicc'orax parliament. It was a long and dangerous process, however a peace deal was eventually reached. The Xikk'lac Tribe, being a vassal state of the Sicc'orax, followed in the agreement. The deal eventually brokered would return all lands to their rightful owners, other than the newly built Morsian depot and the lands leading up to it which would go to the Morsians. A peace deal of 500 years was signed, as well as reparations to the Morsians for the war.
Legacy[]
The war was the first major conflict fought by the Morsian people and tested the mettle of the new legions as well as the navy. It proved that the legion structure worked as a fighting force, and that the armor of the legions was sufficiently better than the major power at the time which was the Sicc'orax. The legionary standard, which would become the "flag" of each legion, was established by Gaius and become important icons of the Morsian legions. However, it also highlighted that if the Morsians wished to have any hope of defeating the Sicc'orax and taking land off them in the future, they would need a much larger army and a better navy.
The war saw several innovations and institutions rise which would remain staples of the Morsians for many millennia following the war. The Morsian Guard was formed during the war and saw its first major action in the Battle of Colonae Caesarae, cementing it as a fighting force as well as later a valued elite infantry force and guard institution. The Morsian Navy, formed at the start of the war, was the first baby step to eventual Morsian dominance over their local seas as well as shipbuilding techniques gained by studying the beached Xikk'lac ships and torturing those captured during the battle.
It also resulted in far closer ties between the Morsians the two northern tribes, which would eventually see them peacefully being annexed into the Morsian state. However, the war only served to greatly widen the rift between the Morsians and the Sicc'orax. It did nothing to improve relations between the two powers and the taking of land by the Morsians in the peace deal only served to further increase Sicc'orax resentment of them. This resentment, and other factors, would eventually lead to the Second Morsian-Sicc'orax War.