| By Admiral Kim So Sung PhD. Terran Alliance Navy (retired) Admiral Sung served first served as an ensign with the Terran cruiser TNS Australis, eventually working his way up over the next 15 years to become Captain of the TNS Victory. Later he was promoted to Admiral and responsible for the formation of the Alliance forces after the end of the Interplanetary War. Reprinted with permission. |
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Introduction
Since the atomic age on Earth, large-scale war had become too terrible to entertain. Arms control was relatively effective during much of this period, and it depended on technology of mass destruction (whether Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, or Nanotech)remaining in the hands of governments who at least could act with some responsibility.
Also as the nation-state declined and the Transnats moved in to fill the void, it was realised that big wars were not good for business. Brushfire wars were common, and were supported because the military-entertainment complex depended on them and often they were fought over control of dwindiling Earth resources. This situation continued right through the 21st century until the end of the 22nd century, when Mars provided the spark for the first Interplanetary War(IP1).
The Start of the Conflict
The Martian rebellion had been brewing for decades and the attack on Stanley in 2170 by the Transnats was the trigger for the rebellion to start.
The Phoney War
At first mostly a guerilla war, by 2172 both sides had significant forces mobilised on Mars.
Martians retake the South
In 2172 General Chang had assembled his Southern Army from the Southern Militia, volunteers and robots. His campaign used AI robots for the first time, integrated tightly with the excellant Martian Battlnet. He took the Terrans by storm, quickly forcing them almost entirely out of the occupied south and prompting an escalation of the Terran forces.
South Expeditionary Force
By the middle of 2173 the Terrans landed a full scale force on Mars that was equipped with the most upto date weapons.
The Northern Army
By 2176 the Martians had secretly put together a Northern Army, and given General Chang command. They were able to pressure the Terrans over the next few years but were unable to achieve significant gains because of the Terran control of the air and space.
Operation Longblade
Operation Longblade was born of the realization that Martian forces could never remove the Terrans as long as they contolled space. Longblade involved 3 mai XXXXXXX, Firstly the secret construction of a particle canon capable of destroying orbital facilities, secondly the development of spacecraft, the Firestars and some cruisers. The last element was beefing up General Chang's ground forces to take advantage of the new strategic situation. The est is , as they say, history.
The War Moves to Space
Speed, speed and more speed
The Final Attack
2186 saw the final
Retribution
Shortly after the destruction of Elyssium City, the Martian President announced that in response the Martians would destroy the ability of Earth to make war on Mars and demonstrate how vunerable ground based populations are. The Terrans had no match for the hyperkinetic Martian weaponary, striking so fast the defenses never even had time to respond at all. Within a few minutes the Terrans lost all their Luna and orbital military assets, including all their shipworks. The Martians followed this up with an attack on 4 selected targets on Earth, the headquarters of Xon and Orache, the main Earthforce base in Colorado and on the Terran President, himself. All attacks were completely successful.
The Planetary Accord
After the Martian retaliation and the destruction of the Terran space defences, Earth was in turmoil. The old government crumbled and a new government was formed, ostensibly with an 'Earth First' philosophy. They moved quickly to make peace arrangement with Mars. This resulted in The Planetary Accord being signed on January 9th, 2187, whereby both parties had agreed not to attack the planetary surface of the other party with WMD. This included hyperkinetic and nanotech weapons. After this the negotiations stalled and no comprehensive peace treaty was signed, setting the stage for further conflict.
Later in the year the Belt colonies declare independence from Earth, aided by the Martian military and recognised by Mars after signing the Ceres Treaty in June 2187.
The Uneasy Peace
In secret Earth began to rebuild her Navy. With Belt colonies gone and trouble brewing in the Jovian colonies, Earth needed a strong navy to enforce it's authority. Earth begins a secret warship building program.
The Battle of Jove
Early in 2190 the Jovian colonies declare independence and sign a mutual defence treaty with Mars . Earth sends a large fleet to enforce it's will on the Jovian colonies.
2191 - Terran forces attack the Jovian colonies, later Mars & Terran forces engage.
The Battle of the Belt
By 2192 the Terran Navy had built up sufficient strength to plan an attack on the belt. The first phase used 'pirates' to destroy infrastructure and ships in the belt. The second was to start a blockade, to weaken the 'Belters' even more. It took more than 2 years to build up sufficient forces to attack Asteroid Belt colonies directly.
Timeline
2160 - First uprising
2170 - Attack on Stanley, the Southern Rebellion
2171 - Destruction of Stanley
2172 - General Chang takes the south
2173 - Southern Expeditentary Force reaches pole and is destroyed
2174 - The Southern Rebellion
2175 - The Battle of Grissom
2177 - The siege of Ares Prime
2178 - Operation Longblade commenced
2180 - Operation Longblade, The destruction of Phobos & Deimos
2181 - Planetary Liberation
2182 - The Space War begins
2183 - The XXXX Attack
2184 - First Hyperkinetic Attack
2186 - Operation Retribution
2187 - The Planetary Accord
2188 - The Uneasy Peace
2189 - Political Pressures from XXXXXXXX
2190 - Jovian colonies declare independence, sign treaty with Mars
2191 - Terran forces attack the Jovian colonies, later Mars & Terran forces engage.
2193 - Terran forces attack Asteroid Belt colonies.
