Warfare

Introduction:
Warfare in A Dove Takes Flight is varied. There are many different theatres, special planetary quirks, and space travel all complicating the matter of warfare. This wiki entry will be split amongst four different time frames. Those time frames are 1864-1980, 1981-2058, 2059-2164, and from 2165 to the present (2306).

These groups will be further divided into 4. These 4 subgroups are the navy, rocketry navy, infantry, and armoured battalions.

1864-1980:
Infantry:

Infantry warfare during this time period mimicked the late WW2 era of our timeline, with grand strategic movements supported by artillery playing large roles. On the Moon, combat was centred around small patrol groups clashing in the wilderness, with the occasional village being burned. These patrol parties were often centred around single large rovers, which carried supplies and sometimes mounted a small rotary cannon. Supporting this rover were ragtag teams of men, often in the groups of 10-30 men on horses or 50 men on foot, although mixes of the two were common as well.

Armoured Battalions: Similarly to infantry, armoured tactics also mimicked those of the late WW2 era in our timeline. Speed and piercing were of great importance, alongside the protection of infantry divisions. The situation on the Moon was different, as pure armoured parties were difficult to come by. These parties were usually made up of between five and ten large all-terrain rovers, predominantly equipped with one or two side-mounted rotary canons and a top-mounted machine gun rather than single, larger-calibre armaments. These strike groups usually relied on hit-and-run tactics, being sent out to sow chaos in foreign territories and to harass small gatherings of enemy troops.

These armoured parties were also used for scorched-earth strategies, relying on their speed to perform quick strikes, burning villages, outposts, and farmland far behind enemy lines. A notable example of this was the genocide of Shaoyi, where armoured rover parties played a decisive role. Shaoyi, a small Chinese colony on the island of Victoria, was seen as a nuisance to the colony of Victoria due to its proximity. In 1967, the Shaoyi government lost support with all Terran governments as the Chinese civil war intensified. Victoria took advantage of the situation and, over the course of the following 11 years, had waged three wars and had had five major border disputes with Shaoyi. During the final war in 1987 Victorian troops, radicalised by years of war and pervasive racist ideas, enacted the first lunar genocide during the siege of the capital of Shaoyi. 80% of the Shaoyi population was killed, with most of the remaining survivors who hadn't fled into the mountains becoming victims to mass rapes.

Navy:

The navies on Earth mimicked the WW1-era focus on large battleships. Heavily armed and armoured ships with high-calibre guns were the primary tools of naval warfare alongside subramines. On the Moon, the restricted industrial output led to the lack of any significant navies, with smaller boats armed with heavy guns being used instead, primarily for the interdiction of trade.

Rocketry Navy:

The rocketry navies on earth were centred around the proliferation of technology. In this era, old rockets were frequently side-lined by newer, more advanced rockets, with the older rockets often being given away to minor nations as diplomatic gifts. Warfare did not yet occur in space.

Treaties were made to keep warfare within planetary bounds. Space stations and rocket programs were often shared and thus seen as diplomatic zones. Other reasons for keeping war inside planetary bounds were the extreme costs involved and the additional risk of space debris.

1981-2058:
Infantry:

During this era, infantry tactics mimicked those of the modern day in our timeline. Main battle tanks protected infantry groups and convoys, with long-range artillery bombardment being used to weaken targets. The rising lunar population led to an increase in the size of the patrol parties, now usually comprising of 80-100 men or 50 horsemen, with between one and four rovers carrying supplies and providing protection depending on the wealth of the parties. The prowess of a party was usually decided by their wealth. These parties were used less as armed forces, taking on the roles of policing border regions and keeping the wild-states in check during intermittent skirmishes. In general, lunar warfare was very chaotic and disunited during this period.

Armoured Battalions:

On Earth, the production of armed vehicles focused mostly on heavy tanks. These "heavy tanks", integrating large cannons and armoured against missiles and bombs, were often used to support infantry pushes. On the Moon, armoured parties increased in size as population and industrial capacities increased. In this era, a distinction was made between so-called "Tribute Packs" and "Wolfpacks".

Tribute Packs were groups of 5-6 small rovers equipped with two rotary canons. These units were sent out to small villages and wild-states far from colonial capitals to extract taxes and tribute. The Tribute Packs were held in disdain by the populace, and frequently had run-ins with the larger Wolfpacks. Wolfpacks, comprising 20-25 rovers, were usually more disciplined and better integrated into a standard army than the Tribut Packs. The larger wolfpacks were used against large wild states and federations of wild states, although they were also often sent out far from their colonies in order to plunder and destroy nearby upcoming colonies. Famously, the American Mandate of the Moon destroyed a nearby Indian-British colony with one of their wolfpacks, allowing them to dominate the peninsula they were on.

In major conflicts, wolfpacks were often combined to form larger rover parties of 60-75 rovers, dubbed "Dire Packs". These so-called "Dire Packs" were used in large scale front manoeuvres. This marked the first time that rovers were used to support and defend infantry pushes rather than being used in rapid offensives.

Navy:

In this era, carriers started becoming the main focus of navies. Similar to OTL navies, navies in this time were generally built around the carrier, supported by destroyers, cruisers, and submarines.

The fist Lunar “navies” began appearing as large purpose-built vessels were made. Although these ships stayed small, the better, more streamlined organisation of these small navies allowed for more tactical manoeuvres. Small landing parties increased in quantity, and trade interdiction became more effective.

Rocketry Navies:

While the development of rocketry warfare was highly limited due to the treaties on the matter, some instances did still occur. During this period, lend-leases were commonplace and were brought to planets by rockets. It is important to note that this was technically trade and not warfare.

In this era certain states, such as Bei Zhongguo, claimed that anything within the atmospheric limits of a planet should be considered to be within planetary bounds. This resulted in numerous rockets and satellites being shot down, angering the international community. As a result of this, future treaties defined planetary bounds as anything within or below the mesosphere and granted rockets entering and leaving the mesosphere a grace period.

2059-2164:
Infantry:

In this era, infantry revolved around protective measures of key points. Wars are fought by means of long-range target seeking missiles. On larger offensives, infantry develops large stable lines which are supported by long-range missiles and artillery. On the moon, war can be broken into two styles; Ordered warfare, mimicking that of earth, and wildlands warfare, which more closely resemble older variants of warfare on the moon. Though on the moon, front lines are less stable, their volatile nature being a product of population sparsely, a lack of streamlined arms production, and a great lack of infrastructure.

The development of large stable frontlines breaks down around the "red marsh" landscape types. These are areas which, are highly unsuitable for prolonged human habitation without protective gear, are caused through extreme oxalic acid over-saturated in the ground and airborne particals. Properly manning these areas becomes expensive and vehicular warfare becomes highly important here. For this reason, these lands are often left, in order to establish a defensive line in more favourable conditions.

Armoured Battalions:

Armoured battalions on earth, are focused on super heavy mobile forts. This is due to the greater focus on key point retainment. Though for larger offensives, mobile hasty tanks shine bright. On the moon, conventional Terran war tactics take over in popularity, though rovers did not lose their position as the main armed vehicle of Lunar armies. Stronger more weight-bearing legs allowed for heavier guns to be put on rovers which increased their popularity on the front lines. these highly effective and fast armed vehicles played major roles in pushing and pulling front lines. Smaller rovers too remained in widespread use. Their ability to quickly move over rouged terrain and carry quite a punch made it a beloved tool in the hands of states to control borderlands, frontiers, and rioters.

Armoured battalions are also deployed to strike through "Red Marsh" Landscapes. Here defensive lines are weak and bogged down, allowing quick advancing armoured battalions to easily penetrate and wreak havoc in enemy lands.

Navy:

Navies on earth continue their focus on aircraft carriers, but introduce more and more missiles. For this reason, long-range large ships are vital in direct wars, though smaller ships still play a large role in controlling waters and smaller or proxy wars. On the moon, Navies start to heavily resemble smaller versions of Terran fleets. The main difference is that Lunar states tend to focus on mass-produced small ships with integrated missile launchers.

Rocketry Navy:

Particularly of note is that during this time frame, anti-rocketry, or the act of shooting down transit rockets, grows in popularity among warring states. Though highly frowned upon, most states tend to ignore these cases when they're kept to the warring states. When Southern China shot down a Mongolian rocket entering the atmosphere, International backlash was quite strong. Many nations put heavy sanctions on Southern China for a few years.

During this era, so-called "Trojan Incidents" start to occur as well. Trojan Incidents are when a rocket is hijacked or made to mimic a regular rocket. These rockets are then send to a rocket launch site. When landed one of three things could occur; Firstly a small team of circa 20 men with machine-gun may suddenly exist the craft and shoot at everyone and everything, destroying as much expensive essential equipment and killing as many educated personal as possible in a suicide mission. Secondly, the craft itself, or a detachable pod that had been altered to carry heavy guns starts shooting at nearby rockets and buildings, again trying to kill and destroy as many people as possible. Thirdly, a small group of roughly 12 men exit the craft and do as much harm as possible in a short amount of time, before attempting to leave. As one can imagine, but a select few of these Trojan rockets ever even land on the bases they wish to infiltrate. After landing roughly 28% of Trojan attacks fail. The small success rate is made up for the sheer cost a nation sees from a successful Trojan attack.