The Strategy Behind the Korean Peninsula

Day 763, 19:23 • Published in USA USA • by Lieutenant Scheisskopf

The declaration of war by the eUSA on eNorth Korea created a slight stir, breaking the reduced activity in the days following the Battle of Liaoning. Some people may be disappointed that the eUSA has not yet made a move on Heilongjiang. Instead, the move on eNK adds to an already volatile Asian theater of this war, and is a preemptive effort by EDEN to take away eRussia's ability of region-swapping with eNK, which could later be used to strike eUSA positions in China.


The Korean Peninsula holds a strategic position between between China, Japan, and Russia

Background
eNorth Korea has had a tumultuous political history since being created by the admins 8 months ago. Once a friend of EDEN under former President Afanasiy Drago, eNK offered to block eRussia during the heat of World War 3 and was conquered shortly thereafter. Subsequent months saw Drago and EDEN-backed factions struggling for control of the country against PEACE (mainly eRussian) backed opponents. During EDEN’s most recent offensive, eRussia was poised to team up with the friendly eNK government to either region swap and border eUSA positions, or to use their small foothold of Hwangae, eNK to strike the eUSA directly. eNK would have been the perfect bridge for Phoenix to subvert EDEN's position in eChina without activating eChina's MPPs and risking war against it as well as war with the rest of EDEN. Things, of course, changed after the well-documented banning and failed impeachment of eRussia’s president left the country incapable of playing the role of Phoenix’s balancing trump card against EDEN.

Opportunity and Intent
Seeing another window of opportunity, the eUSA’s declaration of war against eNorth Korea gives EDEN a chance to topple the eRussian-backed government and erase eNK’s two MPPs in progress (with eRussia and eIran, whose two regions were recently taken in a resistance war (RW)). Although the Korean Peninsula is far from an end objective, its role as a pivot between Russia, China, and Japan makes its control by EDEN-- or at least an EDEN-friendly government-- important for the alliance to secure its position in eChina in the event that resistance wars were to remove the eUSA before EDEN was able to attack Heilongjiang. Control of the Korean Peninsula will prevent eRussia from region swapping behind eUSA positions. If eRussia wanted to engage EDEN, they would either need to attack eUSA positions, or Phoenix would need to initiate a series of resistance wars to distract two-clickers and uproot eUSA control of eChinese regions.

eNK in Phases
Militarily, the battle on paper does not look difficult, but to remove eRussia from Hwangae and to also overtake eNK’s remaining 5 regions will likely take 2-3 days. During that time, eNK could secure additional MPPs and bring familiar Phoenix forces fighting against EDEN; eNK’s one Q5 hospital, is in Hamgyong at the farthest point from the likely eUSA point of entry, and will most likely be the last region to overtake. As a result, Phoenix could aggressively defend eNK and make a last stand in Hamgyong, or come to eNK earlier and make the preceding battles more difficult for EDEN.


No one said this would be easy.

Conquest of eNK by force would not be enough for EDEN to secure the country, as its small population makes political takeover (PTO) possibilities likely and effective in the past. The eUSA’s absorption of the country would need to last at least beyond Presidential elections on 5 January in order to prevent an eRussian faction from winning and from reinitiating the country’s MPPs with Phoenix members. Ardent anti-imperialists would read this far and launch into an incoherent diatribe against the eUSA; however, the alternative would involve both Phoenix and EDEN shuffling voters into eNK to claim citizenship and elect friendly Congressmen, whose favorable outcome for EDEN would be far less guaranteed and would put EDEN’s objectives in Asia in jeopardy.

Final Words
The declaration of war against a small Phoenix-friendly state will serve EDEN by closing a door that eRussia could use to attack EDEN’s positions in eChina. The pro-eRussian government and its MPPs would need to be removed in order to prevent Phoenix’s entry into the Korean Peninsula, and to deny Phoenix the chance to strike at the eUSA without needing to go through eChinese territories. It is easy to call the eUSA imperialistic for holding the regions for a period of time, but looking at eNK reveals its scant material value and emphasizes the strategic motive behind declaring war on eNK. Securing eNK for a short time will facilitate EDEN's progress towards the long-term goal of removing eHungary and eIndonesia from their Asian fortresses. Although there is a considerable size difference between the eUSA and eNK, the outcome of the fight is not a foregone conclusion, especially if Phoenix sees the need or ability to defend a friendly state.

God Bless America,


Lt. Scheisskopf
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