The Great Siege: Lunesian and Zetan Preparations

Overall Background

Both the Republic of Zeta and Kingdom of Deuxlunesia had similar reasons for the conflict, but their approach, mindset and overall preparations were vastly different. The point of conflict for both seemed to arise from the Syndeonian War around 1100 VTE, but truly arose with the increasing Imperial trade and political power that started to arise in full in the early 12th century. Relations between both states and the Empire had remained high however, until 1133 VTE, when the "Probus Affair".

Marcus Antonius Probus was a prominent, but corrupt Zetan Senator that had fled the Republic to escape charges of perjury. He was offered asylum in the Empire but was kidnapped in the middle of the night by VII and taken back to the Zetan Republic in chains. This greatly offended the Empire, who felt that the rights of asylum that they offered to Probus were violated by an outside power, and that if Probus needed to be handed back over, that it been done through the traditional legal and diplomatic ways. They demanded that the Zetans release Probus and that he be returned to them immediately, from whenceforth the proper legal way of doing things could be done.

The Zetans refused and the Empire took a drastic step by sending a large fleet to the Sea of Zeta, anchoring it off Portus Augusta where they once more made their demands clear. With the threat of force, the Zetans folded and Probus was taken back to the Empire and was never given any punishment for the crimes he committed.

This whole incident alarmed both the Zetans and Lunesians greatly, as it showed just how willing the Empire was to enforce its own demands on other nations. Shortly after the affair, both nations fully believed that the Imperial control of Bergazeet was a knife at their throat. They asked the Kanarucans for help, which resulted in the establishment of the Heavenly Seas Fleet in 1136. But it is from here that the paths of both diverged.

Zetan Preparations

In the aftermath of the "Probus Incident", the Zetan Republic's eternal neglect of their armed forces was shown naked for the whole Res Publica to see. But the gears of the state turned much slower than they should have, and corruption reared its ugly head once more...

It is estimated that a third of the budget assigned to the Navy from the years 1133 to 1143 was pocketed by prominent Senators. It didn't help that the budget itself wasn't nearly what it needed to be either. All of the build up, in many ways, was a mere facade. The Navy was only able to double in size thanks to the Kanarucans selling off old ships at a cheap price to them, and by laxing off the standards of recruitment for the Fleet. Yes, it was now larger, but it was arguably worse than it was when the "Probus Incident" occurred because the crews of existing vessels were siphoned off for the "new ships" and filled with men that were trained minimally for the tasks required of them. Unqualified officers were given commands they really shouldn't have, and even the logistics of the navy itself were stretched thin by this.

The only two things of benefit that seemed to come from all of this were:

The growing ties between the Republic and its allies in Kanaruca and Deuxlunesia.
The birth of the Marine Division.

The former was a natural result, but one of benefit to the Zetans, who really needed the help of their allies to have a hope of victory in any conflict, let alone one with the Tsukijin. The latter, could be called a happy accident.

Marine Division Aquila was formed in 1138 on the initiative on a Senator from Aquilonia by the name of Lucius Sergius Saturninus. He was a member of the growing faction within the Senate known as the Excubitors, a reform faction that had recently managed to pass a Bill that prohibited one family from owning too much property and putting a tax on those with property sizes greater than 50 acres. Saturninus himself was somewhat of a marverick even within his own faction, who believed that many of the problems of the Republic were only solvable through the influence of strongmen reformers. To bring about such strongmen, he strongly was in favor of a war of some sort to wake up the Republic to the many issues it had. Though he was on the VFA watchlist as a potential threat to the state, and perhaps someone with less noble intentions than he said: his formation of the Marine Division through the recruitment of volunteers was something that would pay dividends in the future.

The Marine Division, indeed, would distinguish itself in the coming conflict and Saturninus along with it. While the rest of the military would blunder repeatedly, the Marines would lead the way into the future...

Lunesian Preparations

The Kingdom of Deuxlunesia during the lead-up to the conflict had a very different outlook from the Zetan Republic. Their young ambitious King, the flamboyant Leo II (rule started in 1131), had ambitions for expansion overseas in some form and was a proponent of Pan-Medianism. He had grand ambitions to reform the long-gone Median Empire in some form. While it was true that he believed that Bergazeet was a knife to his throat, the ultimate reason he requested Kanarucan assistance was to further his own goals on expansion in the southern direction and potentially use the war as a means to unite the Medians under one cause once more. The Kingdom would undergo major reforms during his reign, and much can be discussed about it overall but that is another topic. Part of all of the changes was military expansion. For both branches, the standard of training was increased, higher quality weapons were adopted, and both grew in size. For the purposes of this document, the navy will be discussed.

The Royal Lunar Navy undertook an expansion programme in the mid-1130s that would see it build two first rates, HMS Royal Sovereign and HMS Moona, along with several other modern ships of the line for both its Eastern Seas Fleet and Western Seas Fleet. Several new frigates were constructed as well as part of this overall initiative. The navy also started to experiment with a new secret weapon: the Submarine (more information here). It took a while for the correct design, and engineering to emerge to even make it capable of it's task but by 1142 it was ready for commissioning into the fleet. It's intended role as a stealthy assault ship was to be fulfilled by the role of the Spar Torpedo, an explosive attached to the front of the ship that would ignite upon contact with the hull of the target vessel. The issue of them being limited in range given their hand cranking propulsion was also resolved by the development of mother ships that would carry two of the Subs its side, from where they would be lowered into the water. A dozen of these stealthy assassins were developed by 1144, with 6 being in the Heavenly Seas Fleet.

However, not all things were going smoothly and several flaws in the Navy would appear as time went along. Although Leo was an energetic monarch, one of his greater flaws was how he meddled in the affairs of the armed forces. He was an excellent politician, but knew little of naval strategy which would ultimately cause the Fleet problems during the upcoming conflict. It certainly did not help that the Navy did not have experience like the Kanarucans or Tsukijin did either.

Nonetheless, Leo's alliance held strong thanks to his ties with able diplomacy with the Kanarucans and the Zetans. This whole thing ultimately was his idea in the end, and it was an opportunity for unity to be found through shared blood.