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The War of the League of Arcachon, Mexic-Kalmar War, was a mainly naval conflict which pitched the Mexic Empire, at that point declining a trading power, against a coalition of European and Leifian nations. Primarily a war over trade, it would ultimately satisfy none of the actual combatants.
Causes[]
Throughout the 16th and 17th century Mexic shipping had become a familiar sight in the ports of the Mediterranean. Their huge colourful 'junk' style vessels were welcome visitors in Seville, Valencia, Genoa and even Constantinople. Whilst European and Leifian merchants carried the more mundane cargoes from Mexica the Mexic handled gold, jewels and expensive spices themselves. Compared to European vessels these junks were slow and plodding and coupled with their valuable cargoes this made them a lucrative and relatively easy target for pirates. Piracy, both private and those tacitly sponsored by nations, grew exponentially along the main trade routes between Leifia and Europe, especially during the Fifty Years War where most of Europe's attention was directed to land-based armies and little attention was given to navies. Complaints from Mexic merchants and ambassadors to European capitals did little. Attempts to rectify this were haphazard and poorly organised. In 1700 for instance an entire Mexic convoy was captured by Barbary pirates. In response to this a Mexic division invaded and captured the Berber town of Nouadhibou in 1704 which they held for 2 years before a Moroccan-Caliphate division could be spared to remove them.
Further battles with pirates only compounded the losses with much of their offensive fleet being wiped out as there was no concerted effort to build 'modern' warships nor align the naval policies of competing factions inside Mexica itself. By 1730 the majority of Mexic's exports were in the hands of European and Leifian traders.
In response to the erosion of their trade the Mexic built up a large 'new' navy in the Taino Sea, this time taking note of technological advances so that their ships were largely comparable to European ships and reorganising their military structures so that a single admiralty had control over the Taino-Atlantic coast.
The War[]
In April 1743 Mexica abruptly launched its fleet of state-of-the-art ships into the Taino Sea and loudly announced the aim to clear the sea of pirates and 'unwanted' foreign traders, targeting Portuguese and Vinlandic shipping especially. For several years the Mexic fleet engaged with the fleets of various nations across a broad swathe of the Atlantic, even making raids against the Portuguese mainland.
Affected nations slowly formulated a response, namely allowing fleets to travel in convoy together without charging each other 'navigation fees'. The naval war took on a low-level annoyance in most nations' day-to-day operations. Mexic exports shrivelled as first Iberia closed to their ships, then Italia, then Byzantium and the Caliphate. Gold exports from Tawantinland took up much of the slack, increasing trade from south Asia solved the rest.
Then in early 1746 the Mexic changed tactics and landed a large army on Quisqueyanos making quick work of the Álengsk and Portuguese garrisons there. Other countries who controlled Taino or Carib islands feared they would be next. A strong response was needed.
A conference was called in the Aquitanian city of Bordèu, gathering together Kalmar and Iberian nations. The actual articles of the league was signed in the small Aquitaine fishing village of Arcachon where the Vinlandic ship Jóný carrying its diplomats had accidentally run aground. The articles allied the Kalmar nations (Álengiamark, Vinland, Iceland, Denmark, Gothenland and Hordaland) to Portugal, Granada and Aquitaine for the express aim of restoring the 1740 control of the Taino-Carib islands and pushing Mexica back.
European fleets, working in concert, began to systematically hunt down their Mexic counterparts. This was too late however to stop the invasion and occupation of Xaymaca however. Disputes between the various admirals and captains over seniority, tactics and share of spoils regularly blunted the allies' attacks and the unified Mexic navy fared well, despite usually being outnumbered.
Meanwhile Vinland and Álengiamark began drawing-up plans to invade Mexica itself. In stark contrast to the arguments hampering the naval war any concerns over seniority or national pride were put to one side. The Álengsk army was undergoing reforms to modernise its command structure and its Althing had put aside 200 years of relgious disputes and voted to allow the army to ultimately be under Vinlandic command. Sourcing mercenaries from their neighbours to add to their small national armies they would have a joint force of 20,000 men under the command of the Vinlandic general Axel Thórirsson. By May 1747 they had installed themselves on the Chotilapacquen River having already secured much of the Táysha' hinterland. The Battle of Nautengi on 7th August 1747 was a Kalmar victory; the well-drilled Vinlandic and Álengsk regulars plus the hefty Vinlandic dragoon regiments recruited from the Leifian Plain states over-awed a Mexic army twice its size. The Mexic were held back by outdated firearms, unit formations and by unreliable cannon. The victors surveying the captured artillery found that about half the Mexic cannon had exploded whilst being fired, killing their own crews. It was evident that the best cannon had been reserved for the navy.
The siege of Ocēlōtlātōyātlapilkoyan
The battle exposed the weakness of the Norse position however and the army fell back to the security of 'Fuglsborg', a temporary supply fort established in Coahuiltec land, from which they made successful raids on the Mets'ichi Chena and tested the strength of various fortresses along the river. Eventually in early 1749 a proper siege of the large fortress of Ocēlōtlātōyātlapilkoyan on the northern bank of the river was begun. It would fall in June. The fortress was one of the finest in Leifia, a massive source of pride for the Mexic crown and its loss was deeply hurtful for the Emperor and army chiefs, many of whom were executed as punishment.
The Álengsk officers expressed their keenness to cross the river into Mexica proper to press their perceived advantage but the Vinlanders and mercenary captains were more cautious; they would in effect be entering unknown territory. Instead they secured the fort and supply lines, fending off considerable retaliatory attacks from Mexica. The fort would be held for the rest of the war though constant pressure from Mexica and supply-line issues meant the Kalmar force would not be able to break-out across the river.
Meanwhile in the Taino Sea, attrition was slowly wearing down the Mexic navy's grip on the water. A Portuguese army would liberate Quisqueyanos in 1750, Xaymaca was recovered in 1751 and a year later the Mexic Ayotl Islands were seized. The islands held a significant portion of the Mexic naval arsenal and with this blow they sued for peace. A treaty, signed in Cusabo in September 1752, ceded the Ayotl Islands to Portugal. This was the only territorial change. The Kalmar nations would have preferred to limit Mexica back to the Mets'ichi Chena, ceding Ocēlōtlātōyātlapilkoyan and the Táysha' hinterland to Vinland/Álengiamark but at this the Mexic dug their heels in. Unsure how to press any advantage further without a full-blown invasion of the mainland (which most members were not willing to fund), the League accepted the terms. The Mexic insisted that the League do more to tackle piracy and this was agreed too if not exactly rigorously enforced immediately.
Aftermath[]
Defeated, Mexica attempted to seize control of its trade in a different way; closing its ports to all but a select few preferred nations. Soon only Austria and Byzantium had the right to dock, in a single port. The severe restriction in trade would hurt Mexic industry but appeared to do far more economic damage to other nations like Granada, Vinland and Aquitaine. Portugal, already strained by the war effort would soon go into full meltdown when Lisbon was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1755.
Piracy would continue to plague the Taino and Carib seas for a further decade but the 'Golden Age' of piracy was over. Slowly pirates found fewer vunerable ships to target and fewer friendly ports to harbour in. This was mostly driven by Austria and Byzantium who had not been part of the League but were eager to keep their coveted trading spots and by the local governments on the islands seeking to crack down on smuggling.
Seeking to force Mexica to reopen itself, Vinland would threaten to shell the port of Tochpan in 1776 if it was not opened for general shipping. Mexica naturally refused and this act would start the Second Mexic-Leifian War, a 16 year-long conflict which saw a modernised Mexic army occupy a huge swathe of the continent.
The cultural artefacts stripped from occupied territory comprise one of the largest cache of Mexic items in foreign hands. The returning Vinlandic/Álengsk army stripped Ocēlōtlātōyātlapilkoyan, and other smaller forts in their possession, of virtually everything moveable including huge quantities of tapestries, statues, metalwork and religious texts. Equally the largely intact towns on the Ayotl Islands delivered a large trove of treasures for the Portuguese crown.
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