Prelude: Nefarious Efferian Affairs

Winter had brought a ceasefire at Karanglau. Winter had brought an end to hostilities as the year 867 came to a close. Winter had allowed both sides to regroup and reevaluate. But winter did not bring peace, or prosperity. By all accounts, though this winter was warmer than any other previous, it was certainly more bitter.

Glimmer’s navies were pirates. Efferia’s were enraged and embarrassed. Skirmishes broke out across both Perdita Nova and Tarango alike, as pirates and deserters clashed while the admirals waited.

Spring did come, true. And with spring came ironclads, and rifles, and revitalization. And now, both Efferia and Glimmer were ready to visit the horrors of industrialized war on each other once more.

The Siege of Sisibukit

The first battle of the year 868 was in fact a siege. Basheer van de Golven had taken his forces to the waters between Hutangula and Sisibukit, leaving Sisibukit cut off, and her forces with no food.

Red Rantham Haarkes, for all his flaws, was a patient man. His ships were new, clad in iron, and could not move quickly. So, he simply waited.

He didn’t have to attack Sisibukit, just make sure they couldn’t get any food.

The banana isle was occupied, and his soldiers ate well. He had ships near the fisheries north and south of Sisibukit. Every night, he’d send forces into the Sisibukit jungle, to hunt for any hunters.

True, the siege took from Spring till midsummer, but Sisibukit did fall without Red Rantham Haarkes ever having to rise from his chair.

The Battle of Hutang Atoll

While Sisibukit was a slow burn, Hutangula was an inferno.

Basheer van der Golven took to his profession well, and bathed the island with blood on his first wave. He never truly landed to take it, but his first pass was to instill fear.

The second wave crashed upon Hutangula like a tsunami.

The Efferians had sent ships into the nearby atoll, to lie in wait for Basheer van der Golven’s fleet. But somehow, the Glimmerite captain Baron Jean Andreszoon found out, and drove the Efferians from their atoll, straight into van der Golven’s fleet.

It was a fierce battle that lasted through the night. It is said that the natives of Hutangula could see the blazing ships and hear the cracks of gunfire from their homes.

In the morning, it was Glimmer’s fleet that sailed into Hutangula. Basheer van der Golven had lived, but Jean Andreszoon had not. The city of Hutangula surrendered.

Miracle at Pertengahan!

Pertengahan was a city on a small island in the neck between New Malacca and Tarango. It was where Efferia was once at its narrowest.

Now, it is a monument to Efferian Determination and Freedom.

The Glimmerites were surging from the battle of Hutangula, one that was hard-fought but was laughably in favor of Glimmer. They set upon Pertengahan with piratical frenzy. Bombarding the city with new rifled guns, it looked like another intimidating victory for the Glimmerites.

But the Efferian fleet took them by surprise.

Basheer van der Golven made the same mistake he made fighting the Glacian War. Caught between the city and the fleet, there was little his new technology could do besides allow his escape. Glimmer was driven back from Pertengahan, but it was not through yet. It had one daring final move.

The Battle at Koashiung Pass

The Glimmerites were unable to break past Pertengahan. Should they restrict themselves to the city, they’d never be able to breach into Perdita Nova. So, while Red Rantham Haarkes occupied the Efferian fleet, Basheer van der Golven swung around into the ocean. To the north, where he would attack New Malacca, end the war, and become a hero.

The only problem was Koashiung, the last obstacle on the way to New Malacca.

The pass had been filled with the very same sea mines that had menaced at Duri. Passing had been slow going, as Basheer van der Golven was not about to repeat the brazenness that lost him at Pertengahan. A pity, since that very brazenness would have allowed him to take New Malacca. The delay let word get to the Efferian fleet. They rushed back to defend the last pass.

In the end, the Admiral-Burgher had no choice but to retreat.

Peace

The war had dragged on two years, but the Treaty of New Malacca was finally signed in Winter of the year 868.

Efferia would be broken in half. Tarango would be made a free nation (though would have a Gildemeister inserted in their government), while Northern Efferia would remain free of Glimmerite interference. Northern Efferia would be free.

Broken, but free.