First Johnston's Creek War
| First Johnston's Creek War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Johnston's Creek Wars | |||||||
 Badu Park | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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Coalition:  Badu Park Municipal Government Mugahan Rump State |
Rebels:
IPCP Members: Supported by:  7-Eleven Camperdown Military Operations Division | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Japitty Cumquat Dick Smith Field Admiral Testicle Garcia Hummus McDonnell Potty "the Salsa" John |
 Cheezit McDaniels Xabier Asensio Gerald Ballsniffer (former Sailor in the BPMPN) David Toolchest Captain Pregnant Nathan Jayadev Kiran 'Paul' | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 52 | ~150 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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12 killed 15 Injured |
24 killed 21 Injured | ||||||
| 14 civilians killed (estimated) | |||||||
The First Johnston's Creek War was a cultural conflict between a Badu Park lead coalition and the IPCP backed Johnston's Creek Liberation Army or JCLA, along with other Johnston's Creek rebels, consisting of a series of clashes in guerrilla warfare campaigns. The conflict began due to a dispute between Badu Park, and residents of the Johnston's Creek Cultural Region, after several Johnston's Creek residents began vying for independence from Badu Park, claiming the region had distinct cultural and national identity that was not subject to Badu Park rule.
Background
Johnston's Creek is a small creek utilised as an artificial waterway, in the Inner West, with a portion of the creek being in Annandale. The creek is claimed by the Johnston's Creek Republic, who claim the land has a distinct national identity, however the republic has received no recognition from any other micronation in the Inner West Park Annexation Movement. A portion of Johnston's Creek in between Badu Park and Douglas Grant Park was settled by David Toolchest and Arron Chair in 2014, and they have since claimed that portion of the creek as their own. The Badu Park Municipal Government has claimed a portion of the creek as the "Badu Park coastline" and have fortified it from attack by Douglas Grant Park. The military rivalry with Douglas Grant Park is long standing, with both states engaging in frequent conflict to gain control of each others park, most notably during the Sydney World War in early 2022, after Cheezit McDaniels threatened to develop nuclear weapons to attack Badu Park, both sides utilised the creek as a major front for the war. The tense relations between Badu Park and Douglas Grant Park have lead to conflict in Johnston's Creek between the two nations, which the members of the Johnston's Creek Republic despise. The creek has become an important region of contention and strategic military target for the two nations, and this has caused major disruptions to the lives of Johnston's Creek residents, who sided with Douglas Grant Park, as Badu Park decreased its regard and the recognition of land claims in Johnston's Creek, and thus, Douglas Grant Park has offered to protect the land claims made by the Johnston's Creek Republic, in return for military support during conflicts, and recognition of the Douglas Grant Park regime.
Badu Park did not officially claim Johnston's Creek, however the Badu Park military heavily monitored the region, as Japitty Cumquat, President General Colonel of Badu Park, felt the region was unstable and could lead to an attack by the Empire of Douglas Grant Park, which was partially correct. The Johnston's Creek nationalists formed a militant group, and received support from Douglas Grant Park, as Cheezit McDaniels believed supporting the group could lead to an opportunity to invade Badu Park, due to the empire's long history of militant opposition to Japitty's regime. As a result, Badu Park occupied the region under the guise of a peacekeeping and security mission, gaining support from their close ally, the Mugahan Rump State, forming a military coalition, entering into a joint occupation of the region with no intention of leaving. The JCLA initially confronted the occupation with attempts at a diplomatic resolution, however all requests for Badu Park to cease the occupation were denied, and on 18 January 2021, the JCLA ambushed a Badu Parkian patrol, marking the start of the war.
Initial Skirmishes
Badu Parkian military patrols were being ambushed by JCLA forces due to their increased aggression toward Johnston's Creek residents. Badu Park initially took few losses, as the JCLA was not intending to engage in warfare, instead attempting to encourage Badu Park to scale back the military presence in Johnston's Creek. In response, Badu Park increased military patrols, and issued orders to their forces to fire on anyone in Johnston's Creek carrying a weapon. This was the opposite of the JCLA's aim, forcing them to continue attacks. Douglas Grant Park supported the decision, giving more munitions to continue the attacks, and placing full diplomatic support behind the JCLA. The Mugahan Rump State attempted to convince Douglas Grant Park to reconsider their support for the JCLA, however this was met with the threat of a full invasion if Mugahan did not cease its involvement in the conflict. Mugahan used this as evidence that Douglas Grant Park had engineered the conflict as a proxy war to weaken Badu Park, and on 19 January, they declared war on Douglas Grant Park, a decision which was followed by Badu Park. Badu Park's first action during the war was to give immediate orders for all Johnston's Creek residents to evacuate, and anyone still present in the region would be considered a threat, and shot on site. Badu Park opened a corridor for the safe passage of fleeing refugees, which only saw two people pass through. Douglas Grant Park agreed to protect Johnston's Creek residents still living in the region, which is likely to have encouraged residents not to obey Badu Park's orders.
Douglas Grant Park Response
Douglas Grant Park responded by immediately dispatching two divisions of troops into the region, as well as the Maritime Defence Force, which is the unit specifically trained to operate in the "harsh climate of Johnston's Creek" according to Cheezit McDaniels. The unit set up a perimeter in the drained creek bed around half way to Badu Park, and intended to hold it, adopting a purely defensive strategy at first, not intending to provoke Badu Parkian military response, instead opting to allow the JCLA to engage in guerrilla warfare against Badu Park. Badu Park sent their Johnston's Creek Territorial Field Troops to counter this, as the JCTFT had specialised equipment for operating in the creek bed, including waterproof boots and a cardboard raft intended to be used during surges and floods. The Field Troops were instructed to advance up the creek bed until they met resistance, radio the location, and immediately retreat to avoid an extended firefight. The Field Troops were targeted with light gunfire from a JCLA encampment, but the Johnston's Creek forces were covering a retreat and were not intending to engage the Badu Parkian forces, so the Field Troops were ordered to continue their advance. Approximately 5 minutes after the first engagement, the Field Troops reached the Douglas Grant Park defensive position, and were immediately fired upon, providing little return fire, the MDF was able to kill 2 Field Troops before they were given permission to retreat.
Involvement of the People's Front
The People's Front is an anti-Japitty militant group that formed from the Badu Park Civil War, and have remained in opposition of Badu Park's current regime ever since, conducting operations from Johnston's Creek. The People's Front had allied with the JCLA during the occupation, and joined the conflict on 20 January 2022, one day after the declaration of war. The People's Front initially assisted in logistical roles, running weapons to the JCLA from Douglas Grant Park, and had a much closer alliance to Douglas Grant Park than the JCLA did, due to ideological similarities between the leadership of the People's Front, and Cheezit McDaniels. The People's Front soon began assisting the JCLA in a guerrilla warfare campaign that would span the length of the war until the fall of Fort Armrest. The Republic of Xahastan would side with the People's Front, citing the immoral occupation of Johnston's Creek legitimised the rebellion, and Xahastan would place diplomatic support behind the rebels, however they never became involved.
Increase of Military Presence
On 21 January, the IPCP forces fortified their defensive perimeter set up 3 days earlier, and transformed it into a forward operating base named Fort Armrest, that provided support for the guerrilla campaign that opened in the north of the region, particularly in the Battle of North Virginia City. Cheezit McDaniels issued a statement at a press conference in Lawyerville on 22 January to state-run media, claiming the rebels in Johnston's Creek were extremely successful, and were "going to capture Badu Park Chair in a matter of days" which received immediate criticism by Japitty Cumquat. This claim by McDaniels had immediately been disproven, as the rebels had been pushed back almost to Fort Armrest, and were not strongly performing, as the coalition had become more resistant to the weak and uncoordinated attacks by the JCLA and the People's Front, which was aided by Japitty Cumquat publishing images of troops safely occupying rebel camps in the creek. Cheezit McDaniels responded by deploying an extra 10 troops into the creek immediately, and launched a "missile attack" on Badu Park itself, which consisted of throwing rocks and bottles over the creek into Badu Park, causing no damage. Despite the minimal effects of the missile attack, Japitty Cumquat was outraged, and increased the attacks on the rebel camps, which caused major logistical issues for the rebel campaign.
Guerrilla Campaign
The JCLA and the People's Front set up several camps, supported by the Douglas Grant Park forward operating base, to conduct ambushes as part of a guerrilla warfare campaign in the north region of the river, which was controlled by Badu Park. The JCLA would frequently hold a defensive perimeter in the river bed to hit any patrols or advances moving upstream toward the Douglas Grant Park FOB, and attempt to route the Badu Park forces. Usually, the coalition forces would retreat with minimal casualties, and had no fatalities, although during the Battle of Camp Nuttingham, named after the Japittyist calendar month, the Badu Park forces engaged in a full assault of the camp, causing heavy casualties for both sides, particularly the rebels.
The initial stages of the guerrilla war saw the JCLA and the People's Front engage in attacks targeting patrolling personnel, instead of strategic targets such as bases or munitions stockpiles. The IPCP instructed the rebels to target the supply line, which would heavily limit the coalition's effective range, however the JCLA felt it was more important to attack the patrols that were killing civilians in the region, and initially refused to target the supply line. These attacks on personnel became significantly less effective after the coalition adopted superior defensive tactics when advancing, utilising perimeter security to neutralise rebel attacks, and these ambushes on patrols became less of a threat. Eventually, the JCLA agreed to adopt the strategy proposed by the IPCP, and prepared for an assault on the supply depot at the village of Rat Egg.
Assault on Rat Egg
The village of Rat Egg is a small village in the north of the Johnston's Creek Cultural Region which was occupied by coalition forces and used as a supply depot during the war. The citizens of Rat Egg have close ties to the JCLA, as the village is a hub of Johnston's Creek culture, which allowed the JCLA to stage an attack without detection. On the night of 25 January, rebel forces amassed roughly 15 metres from the village, and organised to launch the assault. Approximately fifteen minutes later, the rebels launched their attack, throwing two grenades into the village, causing several injuries, before committing to an assault. The JCLA forces hit the unprepared coalition force, causing many troops to route. The coalition put up a small amount of resistance, but failed and had to withdraw from the village. The rebels seized food and munitions and transported them back to Camp Nuttingham, before the coalition regrouped and initiated a counterattack. The rebels engaged and attempted to hold the village, although the regrouped coalition force provided too much resistance, and the JCLA withdrew back to Camp Nuttingham. The coalition was now forced to fortify Rat Egg, which allowed the rebels to attack and sever many supply routes.
The aftermath of the clash resulted in the coalition fortifying Rat Egg, and having to reestablish lost supply routes, although the front line could still be supplied via a route through neighbouring Taylor Street. The attack was successful for the rebels, however the damage was minimal, as the rebels could not maintain the pressure on the supply line. Instead, the rebels refocused their efforts on recapturing key cities, as part of their ideological goal, and began drafting plans to attack North Virginia City, the former capital of the Johnston's Creek Republic before occupation.
Battle of North Virginia City
North Virginia City was the capital of the Johnston's Creek Republic before Badu Park occupied the region, and the JCLA's main ideological goal from the beginning of the war was the liberation of the city. The JCLA recruited reinforcements and proceeded to advance on the city on 28 January at around 11:00 am, preparing for a full engagement with the defenders, utilising a unit of 23 rebel fighters, and a supporting division from Douglas Grant Park, who would aid in the capture of the city, but leave the rebels to complete the attack. The rebels utilised a JCLA built pathway through Kennards Self Storage to access the city. The rebels launched the attack from the north, which was undefended as the Badu Park forces were not expecting a flanking attack so deep in the occupation zone. The rebels managed to capture the city centre before the machine gun emplacement was able to respond, and the rebels pushed the coalition force out of the city, with the assistance of Douglas Grant Park machine gun support. The unprepared coalition force continued to be pushed back until they reached the Badu Park coastline, and the fortified coastal defences provided necessary support to force the rebels to retreat. The attackers suffered minimal casualties and were now using the momentum to attempt to invade Badu Park, and on 29 January, the JCLA would launch an attack on Cumquat Bay.
Attack on Cumquat Bay
On 29 January 2022, the rebels began an attack on Cumquat Bay, the main port of the Badu Park coastline. The IPCP support was no longer present, as after the rebels captured North Virginia City, the Douglas Grant Park division was withdrawn, as the machine gun support was no longer viewed as necessary, and ammunition could be spared and used in the event of an attack on Fort Armrest. The unsupported rebel forces landed at Cumquat Beach, and attempted to establish a beachhead, but were held off by heavy machine gun fire for 4 hours, suffering 7 casualties. The rebels were not prepared for a full scale beach landing, and were trapped on the beach without IPCP support, and had to withdraw from the beach. Badu Park forces pursued the rebels back to North Virginia, and the now exhausted and weakened rebels couldn't hold off the counterattack, resulting in North Virginia being taken back by Badu Park, with the rebels fleeing back to Camp Nuttingham. The attack on Cumquat Bay was a strategic disaster, leading to the collapse of their front line at North Virginia, and the loss of all progress made the previous day. Cheezit McDaniels was furious at the incompetence of the rebel forces, and reportedly punched David Toolchest for the "strategic blunder" although the cause the defeat at Cumquat Bay was the lack of IPCP support, which was entirely McDaniels' fault. The defeat at Cumquat Bay pushed the rebels back to their last few bases, and the rebels would never again have the advantage. The failure to capitalise on the weakened Badu Park border is widely considered to be the major turning point for the guerrilla campaign, giving the coalition the decisive advantage. The guerrilla war would continue into February, where the Battle of Camp Nuttingham would cause the downfall of rebel involvement in the guerrilla campaign.
Battle of Camp Nuttingham
Camp Nuttingham is a joint JCLA and People's Front guerrilla camp used as a logistics hub for ambushes in the region against Coalition patrols. Badu Park capitalised on the rebels' failure at Cumquat Bay, and devised an attack on one of the JCLA's last remaining bases. Badu Park dispatched a unit to monitor activities in the base and report when an opportunity to attack arose. On 12 February, a JCLA ambush force had deployed from the camp, and received heavy fire immediately upon exiting the camp from the Badu Park military unit that had set up in the area to monitor the camp. The JCLA force retreated into the camp, and a firefight began, with JCLA forces firing at the exposed coalition forces over the sandbag fortifications. The rebels caught inside the camp called for IPCP support, but Douglas Grant Park did not agree to send troops, believing that, while strategically valuable, the camp was not worth defending, as it would not have been practical to extend beyond the defences of Fort Armrest nor maintain and defend a functioning supply line, which forced the rebels to rely on support from a nearby JCLA munitions depot to relieve the pressure. Badu Park soon sent a platoon to bolster the already engaged force, which upon arrival, caused a section of weak People's Front forces to route. The newly reinforced Badu Park unit killed a further 2 rebels with a grenade, before launching their assault. The Badu Park troops performed an organised advance on the camp, with cover from a Nambu Type 11 machine gun placement. The JCLA reinforcements arrived during the assault, hitting the rear of the advancing Badu Park attacking force, causing one injury. The coalition force returned fire and the JCLA reinforcements had to fall back to a defensive position, where they were no longer able to provide support. Despite the arrival of reinforcements, the JCLA was unable to hold off the assault, and the coalition forces entered the camp through a gap in the rebels' security perimeter, engaging in short close quarter combat, before capturing five fighters of the rebels' rearguard, while the rest retreated to their nearby munitions depot, which was now protected by an IPCP force. With the fall of Camp Nuttingham, the guerrilla campaign was now significantly hindered, and the rebels found their attacks to be less effective without the support of the camp to fall back to. Badu Park utilised the remains of the camp as an outpost to base further operations from.
Decline of the Guerrilla Campaign
After the loss of Camp Nuttingham, the rebels no longer had any advantage in the war, and were now focusing on a defensive campaign to prevent the coalition from reaching Fort Armrest. Camp Nuttingham proved to be a decisive strategic point, turning the tide of the war, and analysts blame poor strategic handling by Cheezit McDaniels to have set up the conditions for the attack, and the decision not to respond to the attack proved detrimental. Camp Nuttingham was the last major defensive position beyond Fort Armrest, and the decision not to hold onto it would leave a direct route to Fort Armrest open for the coalition. The guerrilla campaign would continue through February and March, ending after the Second Battle of Fort Armrest.
Struggle for Fort Armrest
Fort Armrest was the major defensive position for the IPCP, and if lost, the coalition would have an unobstructed path to Douglas Grant Park. With the fall of Camp Nuttingham and the failure of guerrilla campaign in the north, the fort was now directly threatened by Badu Park. Douglas Grant Park sent an extra division to the fort, hoping it would deter an attack, however Japitty Cumquat fully intended to attack the fortification, hoping it would force Douglas Grant Park to sue for peace, ending the economically demanding war. Japitty Cumquat made plans to attack the fortification, and on 13 March, he sent a small joint Mugahan-Badu Parkian force to attack the fort.
First Battle of Fort Armrest
Japitty Cumquat ordered two divisions of his forces to attack Fort Armrest on 13 March, with a small detachment of mechanised infantry and Presidential Guard, along with Mugahan forces. The joint force hit the centre of the fort, targeting the main machine gun nest. In response, the defending force returned fire, hitting three coalition troops, wounding two, and killing the other. The first clash didn't see success, and the coalition forces regrouped at a defensive position, before engaging in a 7 hour firefight, leaving three more dead, and five seriously wounded. The IPCP forces shelled the defensive position, provoking an advance by the coalition, which was met with heavy resistance from the fortified position, causing more casualties, forcing Badu Park to withdraw.
The initial battle to take Fort Armrest was a failure, and the largest loss of life in a single event for the coalition. Badu Park had to regroup to strike again, this time at the weaker East flank, which was thought to be naturally impenetrable by Cheezit McDaniels, and thus, left under defended.
Operation Fridge Door Counterattack
Knowing Japitty would attempt a second attack, McDaniels ordered a counterattack on the operations base Badu Park were utilising to coordinate the attack. On 15 March, the counterattack was launched, and three Douglas Grant Park divisions attempted to route the coalition from Camp Nuttingham, hoping to give the rebels a foothold to reignite the guerrilla campaign. The IPCP force met very heavy resistance from the coalition and a 14 hour firefight ensued, with minimal advances made by Douglas Grant Park. Eventually, after reasonably heavy losses for little gain, Cheezit McDaniels decided to withdraw, and Operation Fridge Door came to an end. The Badu Park force was lightly damaged by the attack, and would wait until May to continue the attack.
Second Battle of Fort Armrest
On 11 May 2022, The coalition attacked Fort Armrest for a second time after the failure of the first attack. Badu Park had mustered a significantly larger force, and at approximately 13:00, the coalition launched the attack. The Badu Parkian force attacked the weak East flank, which was under defended as it was believed to be naturally impenetrable, due to a reasonably large bush being in the way of advancing forces. Badu Parkian forces met little resistance, and continued advancing on the fortification. The attack ended up transforming into a 75 hour firefight, with Badu Park eventually breaking through the East flank, engaging with the IPCP defenders causing heavy casualties, and eventually routing the defenders from Fort Armrest. The fleeing IPCP force attempted a counterattack, but the advancing coalition force was too strong, and the IPCP force was pushed back to Leantown, the Johnston's Creek Republic's second city, where Cheezit McDaniels sued for peace, and an armistice was signed, ending the war.
Fall of Armrest
The fall of Fort Armrest was impossible to recover from, and the retreating IPCP forces were pushed to Leantown, where Douglas Grant Park sued for peace to prevent an invasion of their own territory, leading to temporary peace between the Douglas Grant Park and Badu Park. The rebels, particularly the JCLA, were not convinced of Badu Park's victory, and continued small guerrilla campaigns in the region, causing the Johnston's Creek Conflict.
Aftermath
The First Johnston's Creek war was ended by a relatively unstable armistice between the coalition and IPCP, and was generally not recognised by rebels, who continued their attacks during the Johnston's Creek Conflict, which is still ongoing. Ultimately, the Johnston's Creek Conflict would go on to cause the Second Johnston's Creek War in September of 2021, which saw a significantly larger involvement from the IPCP, as it was the precursor to the Sydney World War, which would take place only months after. The First Johnston's Creek War also saw the beginning of a complex refugee crisis which is still ongoing, and has no foreseeable resolution. The IPCP was lightly damaged by war reparations, but continued their alliance with the JCLA and People's Front.
Badu Park
Badu Park was financially damaged, but quickly recovered after minor economic reforms. The Badu Parkian government sent in approximately fifteen workers to collect Badu Parkian bodies and demolish the remains of Fort Armrest and many rebel camps. Rebel and civilian bodies were left in the creek, rotting and further contaminating the creek. Badu Park refused to assist in the clean up effort and actively prohibited civilians from attempting to clear the creek of debris from the war. Badu Park held a march and mass funeral for the 12 soldiers who lost their lives, and their bodies were cremated en masse in a pit and their remains were dumbed in a compost bin in the park. A memorial was set up at Cumquat Bay to commemorate both the battle that took place there, and the other conflicts where Badu Parkians lost their lives. Japitty Cumquat released a statement in which he said "The war was a costly and unnecessary conflict that shows the immaturity and selfishness of the Douglas Grant Park regime to side with terrorists in a geopolitically unstable region." Later adding "The war made a great shift for the creek, stabilising it and preventing this militaristic group from regaining control and tormenting the poor residents of the creek, that can now be assured of their safety." This statement came under criticism as the Johnston's Creek Conflict began, maintaining a strong resistance to Badu Parkian Forces. This comment by Japitty was received particularly poorly as the North Virginia Massacre would take place just months after. The Badu Parkian military made a quick recovery from the war and achieved prewar levels by early June.
North Virginia Massacre
The North Virginia Massacre was a confrontation in North Virginia where Badu Parkian occupation forces began raiding homes to "weed out militarism" and were confronted by protestors. In response, the soldiers opened fire, killing three civilians. While not a part of the war, it was a direct result of it. This fuelled a large offensive in the Johnston's Creek Conflict and would begin a period of constant unrest in the region.
IPCP
The IPCP was heavily affected by war reparations, and were "banned" from interacting with the JCLA as part of the conditions of the armistice. Cheezit ignored this restriction. The IPCP also had restrictions on their access to the creek. This was enforced by the Johnston's Creek Territorial Field Troops. This restrictions included the prohibition of all military action in the creek, and a limit to the water usage from the creek, among other things. Both stipulations were ignored. The IPCP maintained a heavy alliance with the JCLA and maintains support for the rebels in the Johnston's Creek Conflict to this day. The Douglas Grant Park military suffered heavily, as the empire was not financially capable of reequipping it's military to full strength due to both the amount of losses during the war and the severe penalties applied by Badu Park. The recession caused by the conflict lasted several months, leaving little room for urban development, putting the empire significantly behind other major micronational cities in the region. Despite this, the empire maintained stable funding of their nuclear weapons program and pulled funding from other sectors in order to finance the missile program.
Rebels
The JCLA was crippled by the war, barely maintaining a force after the defeat. The JCLA had to regroup in the south of the creek, being almost inactive for about two months, resurfacing in mid June. The rebel forces suffered both heavy casualties and material losses, functionally eradicating the JCLA for several weeks. The JCLA had to refocus on funding after losing support from the international community, also having to restock munitions and accelerate recruiting efforts.