Silver War (Like Glue)

Background and Causes
The Silver War is a military conflict between Cephasia and the Silver Republic lasting from 36 AD to 140 AD that also refers to the Silver Republic's conquest of numerous tribes living between their nation and the Panthalassan Empire. The war was one of the longest to date and was very important to the Silver Republic's history, considering it was still a young nation, yet had the ability to not only sustain a 104 year long war, but win it.

When Aedan II came to power in 32 AD, he began to manipulate his subjects. He fed them propoganda, saying that he two provinces of the republic needed to be united and that the Silver Republic was destined to encompass all of the Lakes of Silver. His propoganda campaign worked magnificently, and people scrambled to become soldiers, causing the military to grow astronomically to around 4 million. Cephasia was not very worried, considering the Silver Republic was very inexperienced and young, but it underestimated the power of inspired and passionate nationalism. In 36 AD, the Silver Republic invaded from both sides of Cephasia, in what became known as one of the most well coordinated military operations of all time.

Divide and Conquer (36 AD - 71 AD)
The first goal the Silver Republic had was to connect its two isolated sides to each other by creating a "bridge." The army amassed along the borders and charged across, hoping to make gains as quickly as possible, which ended up ultimately making the war last much longer. The Cephasians responded by sending forces to the rear of each invading army, and to the center where the invaders would meet. The surrounded armies fought the Cephasians off as long as they could, but they were defeated in the east, and the eastern Silver Republic fell. The armies in the west though, which had received reinforcements several times and were led by Aedan II himself, after nearly 25 years of combat in which little gains were made on either side, smashed the Cephasian armies to pieces against the Central Lakes in Cephasia and devastated them until the lakes were red with the blood of fallen soldiers. Within the next 10 years, the Silver Republic had regained its eastern half and established its bridge, in addition to destroying entire tribs between the republic and the Panthalassan Empire.

To My Demise (72 AD - 123 AD)
After demolishing the Cephasians at the Central Lakes, Aedan II's armies waited for reinforcements and then turned to the southm hoping to destroy the capital of the nation. Aedan II, who was 51 by now, when asked by one of his soldiers if he thought he was capable of pushing on, exclaimed "How foolish to think in such a way, I shall continue to fight to my demise!" "To My Demise" has since become the motto of the Silver Republic. Aedan did, however, appoint his son, Aedan III, who was 16, king of the Silver Republic in his absence. Meanwhile, the Cephasians began a mandatory conscription to rebuild their destroyed military.

In 73, the Aedan II's armies marched south through Cephasia, toward the capital. They met Cephasian forces at the southern lakes and began the 50 Year Campaign. This campaign claimed millions and millions of lives for little cause. The western armies under the command of Aedan II smashed army after army until they could pass through lakes finally in 92. Aedan II, 71, continued to fight. His troops began to see him as somewhat senile as he led raid after raid on the capital city of Cephasia, his armies perishing each time. Finally, in 96, he was beaten to death by a citizen of Cephasia who saw him near his home. This sent the western armies into disarray, and they were surrounded and killed in 102. Aedan III, with what experience he had militarily, took command of the remaining eastern armies in 103 and led them up north to their homes, winning several battles around the Southern Lakes on the way. In 120 the Cyruleans invaded southern Cephasia and annihilated the war weary nation's south, conquering it and flying the Cyrulean flag over the city of Cephasia by 123.

I'm Sorry, My King (124 AD - 140 AD)
Aedan III decided that he was content with the connected republics, and announced that the war was over in 124. A commander of the military, Jacob I, responded "Then I'm sorry, my king" and stabbed him through the heart, crowning himself king of the Silver Republic. He then ordered the armies to march north to the Silver Ocean. They reached it in 128, and engaged one of the final remaining Cephasion armies, and were defeated numerous times before finally surrounding and capturing that army in 135. Jacob then called for the total destruction of Cephasiam and ordered his weary men to continue to the Great Terranean Sea. When they reached it, the new Cephsian government was set up there, and a new military had been raised from the northern colonists. "Pitiful, these ones," Jacob remarked as he saw the ragged and untrained group of terrified soldiers he was to defeat. His armies engaged the band of fighters, which far outnumbered his, but were untrained. By December 139, only 128 Cephasian soldiers and 93 Silver Republic soldiers remained. Jacob led the final charge and was killed in the fighting, but not before he rallied his troops and inspired them to fight on. In early 140, the fighting came to a close when the last 33 Silver Republic fighters tied up the remaining 11 Cephasian soldiers and threw them into the Great Terranean Sea, and making makeshift graves for them that each read "May the waves wash away your failures." This was meant as a final insult in a long and devastating war. In late 140, the Silver Republic absorbed its conquered territories.