War of South American Liberation

The War of South American Liberation is an ongoing conflict (as of 2068) started on January 2nd of 2063 with the uprising of rebel factions in Mendoza oposing the Imperial Government of the Franks led by Emperor Ardaric I (under a regency by Duke Sigebert I of Santa Fe and Rosario), followed that very day by the landing and control of territory of several armed groups belonging to the ULSA on the shores of the Frankish Empire and allied territories.

The war has taken place throughout the entire South American Territory excluding Bolivia, Perú, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. It has involved the usage of advanced land forces, armoured vehicles, advanced and massive tactics, usage of chemical weapons, slave armies, biological weapons, naval forces and air forces, the later two recently by the rebels. Since the very beginning, violations of human rights have been present and carried out by both sides in conflict, although more openly and frequently by the Frankish Empire, having previously legalized the treatment of humans as disposable property.

In the five years of ongoing conflict, more than 211.000 people have been reported killed or missing, including civilian population. However figures may, according to different parties, climb as much as 750.000 if accounting the missing population in the movement of massive forces, and even a million if considering the usage of humans for genetic modification as military assets, according to some, erasing the human nature and will from their bodies and effectivly killing them.

Throughout the conflict parties have exchanged territory several times, mostly due to the inhability of the rebels to hold it for long periods of time, and the instability provided by the local population, put to work by the government forces after retaking such areas in order to feed the Frankish Military. Exceptions are the core territories around Buenos Aires and Novostrasia in the Pampas, Río Gallegos, Río Grande, Ushuaia, Santa Fe, Rosario and Mendoza, as well for Arica and Iquique and Antofagasta, firmly under control of local militias.

Development
(Timeline of events of the South American Liberation)

January the 2nd Uprisings
On January 2nd a series of power cuts had already affected the city of Mendoza through the last hours. At 5 am of that day armed groups take over key crossings and avenues of the city, engaging into combat with security forces, and quickly escalating into a firefight. Thirty two among both sides were accounted killed at mid-day. By the nightfall the city is controlled in an 80% by the rebels, clearly in possesion of advanced weaponry and gear. An improvised state is declared as independent from the Imperial Government.

That very day war breaks on the Patagonian Canals aroound Tierra del Fuego, and quickly seize key locations on the mountains and valleys, expelling the few patrols int he area, and liberating four small slave camps, their inhabitants either taking arms or being evacuated south to safe beaches where they are provided food and shelter. Engagements also take place in the north, where rockets are from the southern shore of the Amazon River towards the Free Republic of Brazil. Knowing the operation around the continent is already under place, the Free Republic declares war on the Brazilean Principality and the Frankish Empires that sponsors it. Troops quickly cross the river and engage Imperial troops on the landing points. The brazilean forces manage to pull their enemy south of the Madeiras River in twelve hours.

In Santiago, the local Republic, tightly controlled by the Frankish Empire, has kept power since the occupation, and is under heavy stress due to economic difficulties suffered by the population and political persecution. With news arriving from Mendoza of the full blown rebellion, the local disidence raises up in arms and storms the Palace of La Moneda, taking the President and seizing the government in a rather peacefull coup. The Government Forces regroup out of the city and lay siege to it.

In the north of Chile, a force of two thousand fighters, on vehicles and armed with advanced equipment, attack the border patrols of Arica and Iquique along the border with Perú. In Iquique the fleet is crippled after a series of explosions damage the flagships and technical equipment. At nightfall they lay siege to Arica, unable to reinforce from the south. The Crown Prince, Falgrund, is evacuated to Iquique.

At dwan of the next day, a sunday, the rebels of the south declare this is a joint operation under the Union for the Liberation of South America, along with allied factions, and led by Chairman Tomás Almeida, former president of the Santiago Confederation. The message is transmitted and manages to get, by nightfall of the 3rd, into several labour camps and slave camps in Patagonia, many of them rising in revolt, making the defense against the original invasion virtually impossible unless by air. The Frankish Imperial Navy is movilized south.

January.
Engagements throughout the month are unable to fully configurate the fronts. Mendoza is contested by rebels, who didn´t managed to control the city, but spread guerrilla forces around the region, controlling the passes to Santiago and threatening the government-loyal forces laying siege to the capital. Attempts to rebel against the military of Santiago in other cities fail, but add stress to the local situation. In Elqui a local guerrilla group is formed and pressures the capital from reinforcing Santiago or Arica and Iquique. The Antofagasta Fleet manages to reach Arica and opens fire on the troops around it. In the Patagonian canals elements of the Frankish Fleet are ambushed by rebels on the shores and several ships are damaged, forcing the fleet to spread and retreat to the Pacific and the Atlantic. On January 20th Patagonian forces capture Punta Arenas and nearby settlements. By then the rebels forces in the south reach up to 80.000 among rising slaves and arriving forces. Rio Gallegos and Rio Grande are captured.

However, the Frankish retalliations doesn´t delay. On January 16th elements of the Socialist Union of South America, trained in Cuba and led by Rodrigo Cruz that had landed on the Amazon lower shores on the 15th discover a mass grave filled with up to 1.500 corpses of men, women and children, on the shores of lake Uaicurapa. Number brands on their skin and close piles of clothes near the grave reveal these are slaves working in the plantations nearby. Advancements on the north are halted as armed groups carry out an investigation. Similar retalliations take place against slave population, serf population and civilians who dare question the authority. No nobles rise against their government and they provide levies to the central army without hesitation.

February
The Amazon front is drawn by early in the month. SUSA and FRB forces manage to link their lines and hold a band of 60kms wide in avarage south of the Amazons up to the border with Perú. They are reinforced by the National Army of Brasil entering from Iquitos, Perú, on the 27th.

Arica and Iquique are surrounded, with rebel forces arriving from Bolivia quickly taking the outskirts of the capital. The Prince-heir is killed in the engagements on the 5th, the same day a small naval force engages the Royal Fleet near the border with Antofagasta, and retreats to the open seas, chased by both the Antofagasta Fleet and the Iquique Fleet. On the 10th remnants of the Iquique fleet return, heavily damaged after an engagement with submarine forces belonging to the Karasev Republic and the Easter Island Republic. A day later a force lands south of Antofagasta, made by volunteers of both nations and exiles of Antofagasta, led by former-king Eduardo V. They quickly form sepparate forces and advance on Antofagasta.

Patagonia is divided between rebels and frankish forces. Most of the slave population north of the front line has either migrated south or been exterminated. The very front fluctuates between the Chalía River and the Santa Cruz River, roughly 60 kms south. The exchange of fire is rather sporadical, and rarely involves heavy caliber. The air raids carried out by the Franks are unable to be effective as the rebels hold advance Anti-Air technology.

March-July
Main events furing the late 1st semester of 2063 include the release of a report by the FRB on the mass grave of the Uaicurapa. The FRB points at military elements of the Brazilean Principality, presumably with the direction of HFEA officers. The report also includes data on tortures carried out on some of the victimes found in the grave. After the release of the report, on May 6th, the bodies are buried on the northern side of the Amazon River, with Catholic rites leading the ceremony. Rodrigo Cruz made a statement, declaring that to him "it is specially telling that people with military duties turned their weapons towards the extermination of innocents," and that he known "by personal experience what goes through the mind of the criminals who commit such atrocities."

On July 20th the siege of Santiago becomes desperate, as both the citizens trapped inside start to feel the grim consequences of starvation and lack of medical services, and the besieging forces are harassed without rest by rebel units outside of the perimeter. On the 21th a firefight breaks out in the vicinity of the Chena Mount, leading to the death of General Rodrigo Hilfuare, commander of the besieging forces, and an inmediate break-down of the chain of command. The Santiago Army starts fighting itself, and several sections change side in favor of the rebels. However by the month´s end the city still is unable to restore its supply lines, and people begin to die in the very streets. Images of the carnage arrive to the rebels at the same time events change in Argentina.

On July 19th Mendoza declared it had officially cleased its territory, and expelled the war off to San Luis, contesting the town with the HFEA. 5.000 troops are formed in Uspallata, and in July 30th they cross the Andes towards San Fernando.

August-December 2063
The Patagonian Front tilts in favor of the rebels, who manage to capture San Julián, 80 kms north of the Chalía River. The islands on the chilean side are contested between Araucanian-Frankish mixtures of troops and Aberolian-West Patagonian allied forces. The Veterans of the White Guard lead a campaign that liberates the vicinity of the Southern Ice Fields, a sacred territory to the Aberolians, and manage to push north to the Cochrane Lake, just 70 kms south of the ruins of Puerto Carrera, the old capital of Patagonia. Diego Kuvic, commander of those forces, is wounded on November, but still leads the expedition from behind the lines.

On October 5th Antofagasta is taken by Eduardo V, who re-crowns himself and reorganizes the State. With aid from Bolivian volunteers, Karasev and Rapa Nui contingents and both exile and local Antofagastans, he pushes north against Iquique, wiping out the remnants of its military south of 21° Parallel.

Santiago had, possibly, the largest change. The city was secured for the rebels on August 20th. About 50.000 had died among fighters and civilians, and 24.000 among the military. The remnants of those still Frankish-Allies retreat to San Antonio, only to be surrounded by local rebels that take the city, taking the chance between the breaking of the siege and their arrival. 15.000 are either captured or killed, and 10.000 escape south and then east, crossing the Andes towards Argentina on August 15th

Elqui, in the meantime, squashed its own rebellion, and with the now constitued Antofagasta government worried about its northern border, it pushes against the most immediate and weak threat, the rebels in Santiago, reinforced by Mendoza, but still unorganized. 65.000 troops, made by loyalists, trans-mitated slaves and bred mutant soldiers engage the meagre rebel defences in La Laguna on early September, and rout them easily. El Melón is contested with the rebels for some time, but eventually Elqui forces break through into the territory. By December they make advances towards Valparaíso, intending to capture the main port the rebels hold, and push the lines to the Marga-Marga ravine, in a no quarter battle through the streets.

January-July 2064
The first semestre sees the unleashing of the Frankish most powerful weaponry. Advanced long-range artillery is used on Manaus, the capital of the FRB, destroying it after a month of blasting between March and April. The FRB collapses, and is overtaken by the SUSA. Rodrigo Cruz resigns and gives command to Alejandro Farinhao. Cruz retreats to Caracas and then flies to Rapa Nui, to join the efforts of King Eduardo after a small sea trip.

In Western Patagonia, the ruins of Puerto Carrera are taken by the rebels, led by Diego Kuvic and most notably Carlos Zamora, leader of the Aberolian Alliance. The battle, however, resumes the day after, on July 12th, with the Chimera units unleashing a chemical attack and then a full assault. The rebels are forced back to the southern shore of Lake General Carrera with heavy loses. A short-lived moral victory turned into a defeat for the rebels of the ULSA.

Eastern Patagonia suffers the most. Bio Weapons are used on the eastern shores, causing thousands of casualties, followed by an invasion led by Duke Carle II of Neuquén. Several thousands are captured and submitted to genetic-altering processes, turning them into either breeding tools for new soldiers or directly into fighting slaves. Rebel forces are pushed back to the Santa Cruz river and Santa Cruz itself.

In Central Chile, the Elqui forces manage to take Valparaiso and secure it from February 24th to March 20th, when a fresh force of Rapa Nui forces lands on the city itself, taking the northerners by surprise. Carrying close-combat weapons and led by religious-initiated warriors, themselves led by the Tangata-Manu himself, they restore rebel control to the city in May 4th. By that time, Mendoza and Santiago forces, a combined mass of 35.000 women and men, armed with advanced weapons, artillery and armoured vehicles, and assisted by a small air force, are able to re-capture San Felipe. Although the retreating Elqui 4th Army tries to reach safe territory before fast, they are cut off their rear by this army, and resist in La Laguna itself, the very border, a battle that devastates the region.

August-December 2064
The battle of La Laguna rages from May 8th to November 15th. By the time its over 5.200 Elqui troops are either killed or captured and 31.000 more are trapped in Maitencillo, just south of La Laguna. The Republic of Elqui is forced to sign a ceasefire for the release of its army, now much-needed in the north. The ceasefire is accepted and by November 17th all Elqui troops have been expelled from Confederal territory, as the Santiago Confederation was declared early that year.

In the north, Arica fully falls after several months, and Iquique is abandoned by the remaining Frankish-aligned troops. The King, Galeno I, flees to Bolivia, but is assassinated by his own troops on November 30th, four days after the fall of Arica and his retreat from the city.

January-July 2064
With the port secured and no threat from the north, the Santiago Confederation secures the passages in the Andes to Mendoza, and both states cooperate with resources to keep their war on foot. Mendoza has been losing terrain on the San Luis province, after the intervention of the Imperial Guard. Duke Sigebert I leads an attack that liberates the town and pushes back the rebels.

In Western Patagonia, therebels once more take Puerto Carrera only to be, once more, beaten back by the Imperial Chimeras. Diego Kuvic is captured and the command of the front fully falls on Carlos Zamora.

In the east, Tomás Almeida withdraws from the war after suffering headaches. After returning to Germany, he is diagnosed with brain cancer, and he dies on April at his 77 years. Emilio Beckdorf takes full command of the operations, and organizes a retreat after suffering a blow and being forced back to Río Gallegos, the same line they held last before losing the War of Independence. On July 1st, however, he is able to reclaim the upper hand and launches a campaign from the west, with Aberolian allies striking from the Paine range, and pushing the Franks back.

August 2064 - December 2065
International pressure urges the rebels to seek a ceasefire, given the massive lost of human lives. Though a definite ceasefire is never reached, the rebels not wishing to forsake their intention of fully liberating the continent, and some national groups preferring to keep what they already hold in Chile, the lines barely change in this period of time, and liberated areas are able to create some sort of government.

2065-2066
Starting from March, rebel forces started several pushes from many angles. On April 27th the Frankish Warship ESS Carenthia was sunk by an Exocet missile near Trelew, evidencing the permeability of the Frankish lines to rebel parties into their territory. Air control was contested in Patagonia and Córdoba.

By May 7th, Patagonian forces managed to control large areas. Enrique Oyarce, a commander of the Patagonian Rebels, launches an attack from the west, and surrounds Bahía Blanca, in the proximity of Buenos Aires itself. The former capital of Argentina is in a state of panic, and many simpathizers of the rebels go out to the streets, disrupting the local government. Bahía Blanca is besieged and its naval detachment destroyed. About 35.000 frankish soldiers are stranded south of the city, and their supply lines are cut. In Buenos Aires, the Imperial Guard suppresses the demonstrations and restore order by July 4th. About 600 people are killed and over 240.000 people are arrested and processed under the Security of the Imperial State Act, many of them being executed, most being sent to forced labour camps and biologically-reconditioned.

On July 16th the 7th Imperial Army begins pushing against Oyarce's army, mostly thanks to human-waves tactics nurtured by the recent flow of slaves. The rebels are reluctanct to shoot at their connationals, and slowly cede terrain. However, it takes two months to breach the siege, and on October 1st Oyarce surrunders. About 13.000 people are captured. Their fate remains unknown.

In Brazil, the Socialist Union secures the Acre region, and pushes south with an impressive speed. In September 24th they reach the outskirts of Salvador de Bahía. A second force starts pushing against Brasilia.

By September, news of rebellions sparkling in Arauco spread wide. Mapuche rebels supported by Karasev volunteers took the island of Chiloé and surrounding areas. Meanwhile, Santiago's Armies marched south and captured several cities.

2068
The Former Patagonian Capital, Puerto Carrera, is loosely under rebel control, while the town of Bahía Blanca is taken by the Patagonians, with the Imperial 4th Army retreating to the Trelew Peninsula. The region between Puerto Carrera and Esquel, the Headquarters of the Imperial 1st Army, is now contested between the Frankish Empire, the Patagonian Rebels and some Arauco Restorers who have pushed into the outskirts of Bariloche.

The gains made by the Republic of Santiago against the Kingdom of Arauco halted by mid-March, a ceasefire that has been interpreted as a complete withdrawal from the war. The latter is formally true for the Kingdom of Arica and Iquique, which pulled out of the conflict entirely, signing a peace with Antofagasta on April.

The North Andes Confederation, however, has just recently pushed against the western flank of the Mendoza rebels, endangering their struggle against the Empire for Cordoba. The Confederation has also moved against the Archbishophric of Brazil, and in two days made gains against its former allies, loosing terrain against the Socialist Free Brazilean Republic. Asuncion has been taken and is now under North Andean control, while it seems the attack on the former ally was sanctioned by the Emperor, as the Archbishopric has refrained from any counter attacks. Thus, the advance of rebels from Bolivia is outflanked.

Northern Brazil, meanwhile, is a whole different story, as the socialist rebels managed to advance through the shore all the way to Salvador de Bahía. From there, the forces lead by former war criminal Rodrigo Cruz have forced the remainders of the Sangue de Getsêmani Order, which holds control the area between the Sao Francisco and Parnaiba rivers, to hold out as they are surrounded.

As a result of the movement in Brazil, a coup-d’ etat took place on Sao Paulo on March 7th. Officers of the Archbishop’s Army took to the streets, called the population and surrounded the Palace of Archbishop Hlodowig. An attempt to mediate from the Genji Government failed, and the siege of the Palace, which lasted for three months, claimed sixty-eight lives amongst the population from both sides. After Archbishop Hlodowig escaped sometime in June the Palace guard surrendered to the conformed Free officers of Brazil. By then, the rebels had taken over large swathes of the territory in south Brazil.

In April 5th 2068 the Imperial Navy bombards Comodoro Rivadavia. The bombardment is carried out with newly-fabricated warships, and is widely informed in Buenos Aires. It lasts for three days. In April 10th Patagonian command issues the casualty numbers: 438 combatants are killed or badly injured, 5 still missing. Between 700 and 898 civilians are killed or missing, and injuries are counted in the thousands. Patagonian forces, incapable of avoiding a direct landing attack, retreat to the mountains around Rivadavia, evacuating the town and filling it with traps and explosives.

In Brazil, the city of Sao Paulo becomes de de-facto capital of the O.L.B., as the Archbishopric resettles in Brasilia, promptly encroached by the Officers. In Paraguay a three-sided war is fought between loyalists to Hlodowig, the North Andes Confederation- both claiming loyalty to the Frankish Empire- and the free Officers of Brazil. The Rebels in the North conform a wide socialist block with a capital in Manaus and consolidate their control of Northern Brazil.

In North Eastern Argentina, a local leader named Arturo Kirchner carries out an uprising against the Frankish Government. On June 22nd armed groups occupy the accesses to the towns near Posadas, Santa Fé and Paraná. The main cities make a joint declaration later that day to restore the full Argentine Republic, adopting the colours of the old Federal Union. The next day the town of Curuzú joins the declaration.

After the so-called Battle of Cochamó, the Mapuche Confederation crosses into Neuquén, and occupy the western highs of San Carlos de Bariloche. As an apparent response, on July 4th the Patagonian Rebels move their de-facto capital to the now-secured Puerto Carrera. Trenches around Trelew are established and the lifeline of the Frankish garrison remains the naval support. The same applies to Comodoro Rivadavia.

Rapa Nui leader, Bernardo Kapua-Haa Montes, issues a declaration of intervention, and along with Karasevite troops, commands the First Division to occupy the town of Perales, on the Arauco shore north of the capital, Concepción. From there, a force of eight thousand troops secure a mountain territory between Concepción (Lirquén) and the border with the occupied Maule Republic (Coelemu). Engagements span from the landing on March 29th and April 8th, then reduced only to the area of Lirqupén. It is reported by April 4th that King Antupirén of Arauco is killed in the engagement, and the Kingdom of Arauco falls to his son, Aywiñ, who is only three-years old. The government is given to a regency council and engagements with the Mapuche Confederation cease from April 12th to April 20th as a sign of respect.

Aereal bombardment is reported on the Patagonian front by July 5th between Bahía Blanca and the Negro River. As a retaliation, the Patagonian Air Force scrambles its jets on the area by July 8th, with mixed results, later focusing the efforts to the West around Neuquén, attempting to extend the zone of control closer to Bariloche.

As a result of the situation in Brazil, tensions spark between the O.L.B. and the Rio de Janeiro Azerothian forces. The  League has confirmed that EuroCorps and African Task Force is planned to reinforce the current garrison that includes a Contingent of Applejack's Rangers and their airship. The O.L.B. vocally declares its intention to reintegrate Rio into the new Brazilean State. Genji forces fortify the area as well.

Azerothian involvement in the conflict increases, a spokesperson announcing on July 15th that 1st SALA is present in central Patagonia, with three battlecruisers spotted two days before in the area. This is confirmed by Patagonian sources later that month. League naval elements are sent to protect the trade routes between the Falklands and Greenland, blockading the Las Grutas pocket that defends the northern flank of the larger Trelew Peninsula. After three Frankish convoys heading to Trelew go missing between July 25th and August 4th, Azerothian agents declare an ultimatum on the Franks, ensuring that any further violation of Patagonian territorial waters will be met with full force. Frankish regent Sigibert replies that Patagonia is not a country or a state for that matter, and implies the League of protecting terrorists.

Brazil Split-off
By August 2068 the war in Brazil has largely become it's own conflict. O.L.B. forces capture in a Blitzkrieg large swaps of territory, while the Archiphophric holds on to Brasilia, the surrounding region and passage to eastern Paraguay. Sangue de Getsemani (S.O.G.) chapters reorganize around the town of Marcolandia and reassure their loyalty to Archbishop Hlodowig. O.L.B. expeditions land on the city of Fortaleza and in a quick movement envelop the Socialist forces. As a result, a part of the Socialist Union splits off, mainly far-communist factions, which consolidate their control of the areas of Recife, Maceió and Aracaju.

In general, the Brazilean theatre has turned into a three (or four)-way conflict between Socialists (and Communists), Conservatives (under the O.L.B.) and Ultra-Conservatives (under Archbishop Hlodowig). the Frankish Empire hasn't made any claim of support after the Saltan offensive in Paraguay, and it seems as though Brazil is no longer under Frankish control in any way. Out of the Saltan conflict with both Arrians and Socialists in Paraguay, no other faction involved in the rest of the war is taking part.

Combatants
See Combatants of the South American War of Liberation.