World War 4 Begins

Day 753, 15:02 • Published in USA USA • by Lieutenant Scheisskopf

In a very eventful week, the Battle of Kyushu and eJapanese President Dokomo’s ultimatum to Phoenix may have been lost in the shuffle of more recent events. With so many articles expressing how http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/i-sure-am-upset-about-the-training-crap-1082295/1/20">everyone is upset with the new training module, the implications of eHungary’s recent decision to decline the ultimatum may have been overlooked. As a result, a new phase in eRepublik's world wars has begun. Even if WW3 never ended with a formal treaty, this war is different by its very nature. WW4 has officially started, considering that 1) the contestants have changed (Phoenix is not the same alliance that invaded North America), 2) the objectives have changed, and 3) EDEN is now on the attack instead of defending and fighting to recover its lands.

Phoenix’s Dilemma
The decision of whether or not to meet eJapan’s demands probably loomed heavy on the Phoenix alliance. On the one hand, they could decline to retreat from most of eChina and try to duke it out with the eUSA and the rest of EDEN; on the other hand, they would have to do extensive back-room dealing amongst themselves in order to make eIran and eIndonesia agree to relinquish their claims. I would love to have been a fly on the wall for those dealings. Especially for eIran, whose foothold of Liaoning holds over 2700 citizens and is their sole source of iron, letting go would not be easy.

Phoenix Declines the Ultimatum
Phoenix's leaders chose to decline the ultimatum. From their perspective, the cons of accepting the proposal (the loss of eIran and eIndonesia's claims in eChina) probably outweighed the pros of eJapan's continued defense of Kyushu from eAmerican invasion. So instead of accepting Dokomo's proposal, Phoenix leaders likely determined that they could fend off the eUSA and the rest of EDEN on their own, and continue to control eChina's resource-laden territories for themselves.

In the immediate short term, Phoenix will likely deploy most of their armed forces to eChina, probably to the fortress regions of Liaoning and Heilongjiang, and others to eIran to keep the advancing eGreek and eRomanian forces bogged down. Because Kyushu borders on eIndonesian Fujian and Zhejiang in eChina, as well as an eJapanese-held region in South Korea, it would be difficult to anticipate defending one of the regions since the eUSA would have the option of moving to any of those other regions after taking Kyushu. Defending Kyushu would be pointless for Phoenix since Dokomo would most likely retreat the region as soon as possible.

If and when the days come, the battles for Liaoning and Heilongjiang will be epic; their outcomes would have an impact on the game for months to come. Assuming Phoenix were to be removed from the whole region, it is possible that eRussia would open a war and counterattack eChina from the north. As I previously noted, Asia has become the theater for the next world war. Coupled with eGreek and eRomanian advances towards Asia from Eastern Europe, the final showdown will likely take place there.

So in an already consequential week comes another twist. WWIV is well underway, and is going to explode when all sides meet in Asia! See you on the battlefields.

God Bless America,

Lt. Scheisskopf