The Mountain War

Summary
The Mountain War was a nearly 3 year long war fought by the nations of Reston and Kralum. The war claimed nearly 100,000 human lives, and injured well over 125,000 soldiers from both sides combined.

The Mountain War was a territorial war fought on the Niadurn Mountain Range (Also known as the Niadurn Range), the vast mountain range dividing the continents of Croania, and Eroth. Up until this point, the land in the mountain range had been agreed neutral ground between all nations with the mountain as its border.

Prior to the war, Kralum had long been arguing that the land in-question should belong to Kralum, as it was positioned right next to Reston, a nation formed out of what was once the monster kingdom of Paral. Kralum, before the fall of the monarchies, had been active during the war, especially in its final days.

1983
Declaration of war came from Kralum in 1983 on October 31st, with ground forces moving in to occupy southern portions of the Niadurn Range. It would still be two months before Reston retaliated.

1984
Reston launches its first counter-attack, under the belief that Kralum's true intentions were to use the Niadurn Range as a staging ground to attack Reston close to home. Bombers take off from Slagos and begin to pummel the Kralum defenders, who dig in and prepare for assault.

Under the guidance of General Karsen Vaughn, a small force of 50,000 soldiers are shipped out to the range. Vaughn did not believe he would need more, not even bothering to bring tanks, or armored cars and trucks, believing he would not need them. He assumed the war would be swift, and over by the summer.

However, General Aaron McDonald met the Kralum defenders after the initial bombing raids. He staged a tactical retreat, pulling back where the mountains were much thicker. From here, fierce fighting engaged, often with the use of dozens of sniper nests in one battle.

1985
Desperate to bring the war to a swift end, newly elected Reston Prime Minister Kieran Hall authorizes a fierce carpet-bombing campaign, in an attempt to flush the enemy out from hiding. The campaign was an apparent success, forcing Kralum forces further back into the mountains. Back home, Reston initiated the first successful test of a nuclear bomb, with the intentions on using it against their opponents.

Unbeknownst to Hall, Kralum had also been developing nuclear technology, and had found success some years before the war. Still, Kralum leadership did not want to use the nuclear bomb, as they had never tested it in a mountain setting, and weren't willing to risk a chain reaction of events that had the potential of killing their own soldiers.

Instead, Kralum poured further resources into fighting back. A war for control of the skies ensured, with massive dogfights taking place day and night overhead. Jet technology advanced astronomically quickly during the war.

1986
On August 2nd, 1986, after another 6 months of bitter fighting, Reston launched the first ever nuclear bomb into an active battlefield. The bomb killed a combined 20,000 people estimated instantly. Some were vaporized, and their remains were never discovered. The explosion would injure thousands more, many of them would go on to suffer for the rest of their lives.

Just one week later, Kralum put forward a piece treaty that would see land in the mountains divided among them. Reston agreed to the terms, and remaining forces from both parties were withdrawn. The land settled upon between the two would never have any use to either side, and present-day societies has the area classified as a demilitarized zone. The war officially ended with the signing of the treaty on August 9th, 1986.

Aftermath
The nuclear bomb left a massive crater in the side of a mountain, a crater which will likely stay forever. All life within a 30 mile radius around the bomb has since been killed by the radiation left behind. It is predicted that it will not be suitable for life for well over 500 years, maybe even more. The order to use the bomb came straight from the office of the prime minister. After seeing the destructive capabilities, Reston Parliament was extremely hesitant to even make more, much less use them. However, Hall wanted to have an entire arsenal ready, to intimidate anybody that might want to threaten them.

His radical talk would go lead the Reston Parliament to vote Hall out of power. Hall would go on to be put on trial for crimes against humanity in deliberately launching such a weapon against human lives without any prior warning, seemingly without care for his own men, as thousands of his own soldiers were caught in the blast. He was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

A more aged, experienced man by the name of Mason Cooke took Hall's place after the war in 1988. He would be the one to put forward a motion to the Prime Summit banning the creation and use of nuclear arms, and that all existing weapons should be disposed of properly. Cooke put several projects into motion to research the effected areas from the bomb, and see if there would be anyway to reverse the effects, and turn the Niadurn Range back to the beauty it once had. Sadly before these projects could be completed, Cooke passed away at age 71 due to natural causes. One Mathias Hemmingway would go on to take his place.

= =