Asiapelago War

The Asiapelago War was the part of the Great Snowzerland War VI that occurred in the Asiapelago. The war was mainly fought between Shops Island, Zhou and there respective co-belligerents. It featured some of the largest land, air and sea battles in Antarctic history.

The war started not long after Snowzerland had launched its land offensive against mainland Antarctica. Shops Island, which originally intended to stay neutral in the unfolding conflict, was drawn in after the Zhouese attacked a strategic naval base in Dancing Penguin City. The Shoppers and their allies originally suffered numerous defeats as Zhou conquered much of the southern Asiapelago. North Joseon invaded South Joseon and started a bloody war of attrition. Zhou eventually struck directly at Shops Island, occupying Moon Island and conquering almost half of the Shopper mainland before Shopper forces began to repel Zhou's advances. As the Shopper war machine went into overdrive for the first time, Shops Island and its allies regained the initiative against Zhou. Zhouese forces were repelled from Shops Island and Moon Island. Subsequently, the forces of the USA, Castilla and Francterre came in to help the Shoppers as they were on the cusp of victory. Similarly, Snowzerland sent its forces in to assist Zhou. It all culminated in the Battle of the Asiapelago Sea, in which the Snoss and Zhouese surrendered to a Castillan delegation.

The Asiapelago War has become a thing of pride for Shoppers, although it has been largely overlooked in other Allied countries. The details of the war have largely been whitewashed by the Zhouese government domestically.

Background
Most agree that the Asiapelago War was started by the initiation of the Black Octopus Alliance, in the same fashion that started the rest of the GSWVI. Zhouese president Wu Jiao met with various other leaders including Swiss Ninja and Kim Il-Sunguin shortly before the war had started to discuss the conquest and eventual partition of Antarctica. For the time being, it was agreed that the Asiapelago region would be split between Zhouese and North Joseonean forces. Invasion plans were drawn up for a swift and crushing blitzkrieg across the Asiapelago, backed by supplementary Snoss forces. The main targets that were identified were South Joseon, North Joseon's arch-nemesis, and Shops Island, a country which had just began sprawling and creating an empire of its own; it risked undermining Zhou's complete control of the region and monopoly of trade. To make things worse, only weeks earlier Shops Island had annexed the Frosian Islands, creating a trade bottleneck that the Zhouese and North Joseoneans could not pass through. On July 28th, 2013, only days after Snowzerland had invaded Regiao Lisboaguesa, Zhouese and North Joseonean forces launched their attacks against the Asiapelago region.

Capture of Muçao
The first act taken in the Asiapelago War was the bombardment and subsequent invasion of the Lisboaguese colony of Muçao. This attack followed hot on the heels of Snowzerland's invasion of Regiao Lisboaguesa, but also was a strategic port connected to the Zhouese mainland that could easily have been exploited by the Allies.

In the early hours of July 28th, a small Zhouese naval fleet based out of Nampai assembled outside of Muçao and opened fire. At the same time, artillery took up positions and fired from the mainland. After less than two hours of bombardment, Zhouese troops garrisoned in Quandon were sent in to mop up. The Lisboaguese troops in Muçao surrendered after only one day of fighting; Zhou had made clear to the Asiapelago that their war would be swift and brutal.

Originally, the Zhouese had also planned to capture Honk Gong as well, but president Wu Jiao received a personal message from Kaiser Swiss Ninja, who also happened to be king of Puffle'and, saying that an attack on Honk Gong would not be tolerated so as not to offend Puffish nationals.

The Battle of Panjumom and the invasion of South Joseon
It became obvious as soon as the war began that North Joseon, the fanatical dictatorship under the rule of Kim Il-Sunguin, would want some action. North Joseon was officially supported by Zhou, which gave the North Joseoneans a free hand to do as they wished during the war.

Everyone knew that the first shot would be aimed at South Joseon, North Joseon's arch-nemesis. The South had a larger population with a great technological advantage, but had less troops and were ill-prepared for an invasion. Garrisoned on the border with North Joseon were 2500 Shopper troops and 10,000 troops from the USA. It was also clear that the South Joseonean capital of Soul would bear the brunt of the North's attacks. On the same day that Zhou invaded Muçao, July 28th, the South Joseonean government ordered conscription of all fit males into military service. Air-raid and siege preparations were being made in the cities of Soul and Inchong, both of which were in the range of North Joseonean artillery.

The inevitable came on July 31st; artillery from just north of the border began the remote bombardment of Soul. A fleet of North Joseonean submarines and warships entered South Joseonean waters and engaged in a brief naval battle before turning to shell Inchong. At the same time, the North sent in captured USA minesweeping tanks from the Joseonean War of 2010 to clear the millions of mines along the Militarized Zone of the border. As soon as the mines were cleared, North Joseonean troops pushed the frontier-barriers aside and entered into South Joseon. They entered the border town of Panjumom, and were confronted with a large force of South Joseonean troops. Fighting raged here for two weeks as North Joseonean forces pushed on, created a pocket of South Joseonean soldiers in Panjumom.

The South Joseonean response was quick, yet ineffective. South Joseonean troops were vastly outnumbered. Most battalions chose to retreat after only hours of fighting, leaving the North Joseoneans to mop up the mess. Shopper and Antarctic troops garrisoned in the area also mobilized to fight the North Joseoneans, but there were not enough of them to make any discernible difference. After one week of fighting, the North Joseoneans had made their way almost to Soul, but resistance caught up, and a stalemate began. The USA sent over 100,000 reserve troops stationed in Japaland into South Joseon to stop the advance. For now, South Joseon would live to fight another day.

Invasion of Malesia
After the easy capture of Muçao, the Zhouese set their sights on the small country of Malesia. It had close ties with Shops Island and the USA; it also has many oil reserves. Malesia proved a threat to Zhou's hegemony in the Asiapelago and thus it was to be eliminated.

On August 3, Zhouese aircraft roared over the oil fields of Abodei, the city of Triangapore and the capital, Koala LOLpour. After two days of aerial bombardment, paratroops were parachuted into the Malesian jungle to capture vital bridgeheads; they were also sent into Abodei to capture the oil fields. Soon afterwards, Zhouese troops started landing on the northern coast of the Malé island. One day after that, more Zhouese battalions landed on the northern coast of the Broneo island. It took only two days to capture Abodei and one more week to subdue most of the country. The Malesian government fled from Koala LOLpour on August 9 and set up base in Triangapore, which was still holding out.

Triangapore had tried to defend itself for less than a week before finally surrendering on August 12. By this time, the Zhouese had already moved on to other territorial endeavors. The Malesian government went into exile in Shops Island after Triangapore fell. Malesia would stay firmly under Zhouese control for the next month before its eventual liberation.

Provocation of Shops Island
Shops Island had originally tried to stay out of the war that was spreading across Antarctica. But, it was hard to do so after the Zhouese made it clear that they wanted to be the sole rulers of the Asiapelago, Shops Island was in their way. In response to Zhou's capture of Malesia, all Shopper warships were sent to sea to defend the coasts of Shops Island and its colonies.

When their war started, the Zhouese had agreed that they would not target Shopper commercial shipping. This changed after the Shoppers discreetly began supplying weapons and aid to the Malesians and South Joseoneans. Starting in mid-August, the Zhouese said that they would sink any ship that they thought might be carrying weapons to hinder Zhou's war efforts. In less than one week, the Zhouese had sunk almost one million tons of Shopper supplies. In response, Shopper president Lavender ordered a massive expansion of the navy, which had largely been ignored in favor of the army and air force during the Great Yowien War. Shops Island started building its first battleships and dreadnoughts while expanding its small fleet of warships and aircraft carriers.

Siege of Dancing Penguin City
After Shops Island had begun to expand its navy and after they had given refuge to the Malesian government, the Zhouese knew that Shops Island was not going to sit idle forever. President Wu Jiao met with his most prized commanders to outline one strategic blow that would keep Shops Island out of the war. They settled on Dancing Penguin City; it was one of Shops' largest metropolitan hubs. Most importantly, it was the closest port to Zhou. The Shoppers had a large collection of warships, battleships and aircraft carriers holed up in the port of Dancing Penguin City. It was a tempting target.

On the morning of August the 8th, a Zhouese fleet of battleships and aircraft carriers made their way from an improvised base outside of Koala LOLpour, which was just captured. They made their way directly into the port, meeting only patchy resistance. They opened fire on the sitting fleet of Shopper vessels, sinking all but five, of which the rest were damaged. The Zhouese ships then shelled the city itself, killing over 1000 Shoppers. They then left before the Shopper military could retaliate.

It was a tragedy. News of the attack spread like wildfire. A joint session of the Shops Island Council was convened in which president Lavender proclaimed to his country that this meant war. Shopper troops were to be mobilized and the Air Force and Navy were to be put on the offensive. Later in the evening on August 8, the Shops Island Council voted unanimously to declare war on Zhou.

The Capture of Soul
"Despite the denial of even the most irrational people, we must finally admit that the leaders of North Joseon finally and definitively have a Soul."

- A Shopper newscaster after the fall of Soul

After a brief stalemate on the northern frontier of South Joseon, the North Joseoneans were ready to go on the offensive again. North Joseon's whole standing army of approximately seven million soldiers was assembled behind the battle lines for a major assault. The South Joseoneans, on the other hand, had only one and a half million troops on the front lines, with another 300,000 protecting the capital, Soul. The North Joseoneans planned their assault on the South's defenses and the capture of Soul for August 10th.

On that day, in the wee hours of the morning, South Joseonean and Antarctic troops were awakened by a heavy artillery barrage. As was Soul; the North Joseoneans fired heavy artillery into the city center. North Joseonean and Zhouese bombers also flew overhead to bombard the city from the air. North Joseonean warships and submarines assembled off of Inchong, which had been captured already, to shell Soul from the sea. After an hour of fierce bombardment, North Joseonean troops and tanks overran the South's defensive lines with ease and made a dash to Soul, arriving in the city by the evening of August 10th; they had reached the capital in a matter of hours.

The North Joseoneans fought savagely in Soul. Some of the city's tallest and most expensive buildings were blown up so as not to become holdouts. Fighting raged on from street to street. Buildings that refused to surrender were shelled at point-blank range. The North Joseoneans rounded up civilians who were expected to be Southern collaborators and executed them en-masse. There would be a week of brutal house-to-house fighting in Soul until the South Joseonean commander in the city surrendered with over 150,000 troops on August 17th; it was the largest mass surrender of the Asiapelago War. A few thousand North Joseonean troops were kept in Soul to mop up the mess, while the rest pushed on.

A significant portion of the South Joseonean military had just been lost in the Battle of Soul. They were rattled and disorganized after fleeing the city; the North Joseoneans, on the other hand, knew exactly what they wanted. The North Joseoneans began a blitzkrieg campaign against their enemy, causing a rout throughout most of South Joseon, until all of South Joseon's troops were cornered around the city of Blusan in the far southeast of the country. In only two weeks, the North Joseoneans had managed to overrun the South's defensive lines, capture the capital, and blitz their enemy into a corner.

It seemed strategically impossible to save the South Joseoneans now, but luckily Shops Island had just joined the war days before. Tucked into a small corner with a brutal and much stronger army coming, the South Joseoneans realized that the only viable plan was a total evacuation. On August 27th, "Operation Atlas" was put into plan by Shops Island and South Joseon. Almost the entirety of both Shops' and South Joseon's navies were put toward the effort of evacuating the South Joseonean military and government from the Joseonean peninsula to be relocated in Shops Island. Occurring over the span of three days, 75% of the South Joseonean troops were able to be saved before the Blusan gap was closed by the North Joseoneans on August 30th. Most of the South Joseonean troops and diplomats landed successfully in Shops Island, where the remaining troops would be trained and a South Joseonean Government in-exile would be established.

The impossible had been achieved; North Joseon, the Rogue Kingdom and laughing stock of Antarctica had managed to conquer its arguably stronger adversary to the south in under a month. The North Joseoneans would treat their southern captives with unimaginable savagery, brutality and barbarism to "repay" the grievances of the past. Now, North Joseon, with its mortal enemy defeated, could finally help Zhou in its imperial ambitions.

Outer Countries Offensive
To fuel their growing war effort, the Zhouese needed to secure resources which they did not have, such as petroleum or the materials to make rubber. To secure these reserves and to stamp out possible opposition, Zhou turned to the Finipines and Hindonesië. Both of these countries were colonial backwater lands which were lightly defended; the Finipines was technically an independent country but was in reality a slave to the USA. Hindonesië was a colony of Batavia, which was concurrently fighting the Seal Islands. Both of them were archipelagos filled with jungles; the success that Zhou had enjoyed in Malesia could not be repeated in the Finipines or Hindonesië.

On August 6th, Zhouese troops landed on the Hindonesian island of Sumatre. Sumatre was a difficult place to fight; to the east was a thick and undeveloped jungle which ran all the way down the coast. The west coast was flanked by a massive mountain range. The Zhouese were wholly unprepared to fight in either of these places. The Zhouese were quickly bogged down in the jungle by Hindonesian and Batavian colonial troops. It would take the Zhouese almost a month to capture all of Sumatre.

The Zhouese assault on the Finipines fared a bit better. Multiple Zhouese divisions bombarded and then landed on many of the Finipines' southern islands on August 9th. They brushed aside the weak defense forces of the Finipino military and made a quick advance, hopping from one island to another, looting and pillaging as they went along. Within one week they had occupied the entire southern half of the Finipines and the capital of Mabila was in serious danger of being overrun. The Finipino government appealed to the USA and the rest of Antarctica for help in stopping the Zhouese advance.

Reluctantly, the USA sent ten divisions to the Finipines to turn the tide. Shops Island, which had just gotten involved in the war, sent 20,000 troops to the Finipines to help. The Shopper troops withdrew soon after to defend their homeland. Shops Island sent troops from Margate in to fill the gap. Margatian troops would prove their worth fighting in both the Finipines and Hindonesië; their heroism would win them a seat at the Dellaroma peace conference after the war. The arrival of Antarctic and other Allied troops was able to stop the Zhouese advance just outside of Mabila. By September, the Zhouese forces had been isolated to the far southwest of the Finipines.

The Sea Battles
Hostilities between Zhou and Shops Island began immediately after Shops' declaration of war. However, the two enemies did not first come into contact on land, but rather at sea. Zhou had the Asiapelago's largest navy and the fourth largest overall. Shops Island's navy was not quite as large, but still a formidable force. Lavender knew that whoever won the Sea Battles, as the came to be called, would win the war. Much of Shops' wartime production was focused on the building of warships, battleships, aircraft carriers and other special-purpose equipment for the navy. As South Joseon had been captured by North Joseon, the Shoppers could not rely on South Joseonean shipbuilders to aid the war effort as had become routine. Shopper domestic shipbuilding reached its highest levels ever until the Frosian War of 2014.

Shops Island had declared war on Zhou on August 8th. The first Shopper flotillas were sent out that night into the seas on the southern coast of Malesia, where Zhou's navy was amassing for what seemed to be a massive assault on the Shopper home islands. The first clash of fleets came at 11:00 PM on August 8th, halfway between Moon Island and Malesia. A fleet of just over 100 Shopper ships met a fleet of almost 150 Zhouese ships. The Shopper flotilla was wrecked; they had less firepower and had far fewer aircraft carriers than the Zhouese, which proved to be a fatal flaw. The first battle of the Asiapelago sea would set the course for both Shopper and Zhouese tactics for the rest of the war; from now on the Shoppers would try to rush in immense firepower and many aircraft carriers to try and overwhelm their enemy.

The Sea Battles would continue for the rest of the Asiapelago War. They became renowned for their fierce brutality; often battleships would fire upon each other from point-blank range. Almost all of the naval engagements that happened during the Great Snowzerland War VI occurred between Shops Island and Zhou.

Invasion of Shops Island
Shops Island had been expecting a direct attack on its homeland ever since Zhou set out on its territorial ambitions. Originally, the Shopper military thought that the most likely landing site would be in Moon Island, which was the closest culturally (and physically) to Zhou. After the Zhouese captured Malesia, the Shoppers thought they would now land in Freezestonia, which was closest to Malesia. The Zhouese wrong-footed their enemy; in complete radio silence, the Zhouese high command prepared for a large-scale landing on the northern coast of the Shopper mainland.

After war was declared by Shops Island, Shopper naval forces were dispersed mainly to Moon Island and Freezestonia, where a Zhouese attack was most likely to occur. Instead of sending their forces from Malesia, as would be more conventional, the Zhouese launched their invasion fleet from the Zhouese mainland which transited south as to avoid Shopper naval presence. Zhou's sneaky maneuvering had given them the advantage of almost complete surprise.

Granted, there was still some patchy Shopper defense along the north coast. About 5000 troops had been placed along the coastline in the event of a Zhouese invasion. The whole of northern Shops Island was very sparsely populated. North of the Mario Mountains, the terrain was a foggy and misty tundra which was barren of trees or vegetation. Along the northern coast, only some derelict warships were available for patrol. These forces proved inadequate when the Zhouese invasion force came.

In the wee hours of the morning on August 15th, Shops Island's independence day, Shopper sentries garrisoned in makeshift bunkers along the northern coast spotted a vast armada of enemy warships in the distance. They had received no warning and were woefully unprepared for any sort of assault. Distress calls were sent to the Shopper command in Shops City, but it was too late. Zhouese warships began to bombard the coastline as landing craft made their way ashore. A landing force of over 100,000 made quick work of their Shopper opponents, slaying all but 750 of them and taking the rest prisoner. As the morning turned to daytime, the Zhouese had established a beachhead along most of the Shopper northern coast. They waited for tanks, transport and other supplies to come in before advancing further. Meanwhile, Shopper forces were rushed out of Freezestonia, where the invasion was expected to take place, and sent to the northern coast to stop the Zhouese advance.

Joint invasion of Japaland
The swift invasion of Shops Island had been very effective and it looked like it would be a complete rout of all Shopper troops in the region. North Joseon had successfully subdued its mortal enemy, South Joseon. The next target for both Zhou and North Joseon would be the Japalandese Islands. Japaland was a figure of great animosity in the Asiapelago; Japaland had supported South Joseon in the Joseonean War of 2010 and was one of the USA's closest allies. The Zhouese and Japalandese had been bitter enemies for over two thousand years.

The Zhouese, impressed with the progress being made in Shops Island, had the full belief that an invasion of Japaland would be a total rout; Japaland had no official military as a result of their crushing loss during the Khanzem War. Similarly, the North Joseoneans believed that the invasion would be quick, citing their takeover of South Joseon as evidence. The Zhouese and North Joseoneans both prepared for separate invasions of Japaland, both focused on the Japalandese island of Kishu, Japaland's southernmost main island. The two countries planned for their forces to land at the same time, on August 23rd.

Just as had happened in Shops Island, the Zhouese and North Joseonean forces sailed towards Japaland under the cover of darkness. They reached the Japalandese coastline within the early hours of the morning and both countries' navies began shelling the coastline. Hours later, troops were landed on the coasts. Beachheads were established before large and concentrated invasion forces thrust deep into Kishu. On August 24th, North Joseonean forces captured the city of Otto on the northern coast of Kishu. The day afterwards, the Zhouese captured Fukoda, the largest city on the island. The forces temporarily stopped to catch their breath and refresh their supply lines before continuing.

But, the Japalandese weren't going to make it easy. Even though Japaland had no official military, the Japalandese people, especially the redneck population, took up arms to defend themselves against their enemy invaders. The Zhouese and North Joseoneans were taken aback by savage guerrilla attacks in the occupied territories. As a result, brutal reprisals of the Zhouese and North Joseonean occupying forces became routine. The government of Japaland, still safe in Jokio, called on the USA and its allies to help the defenseless nation. The USA mustered the last of its strategic reserves to help on the Japalandese front, but promised no more help to the Asiapelago after that. Shops Island sent all its available forces, of where there were around 30,000, to Japaland to help. The Free Malesian Army, which was based in Shops Island, went to fight as well. The Free South Joseonean army refused to fight in Japaland due to animosity between the two countries from many years before.

The Zhouese Advance through Shops Island


The initial Zhouese strike at the Shopper northern coast had caught Shops Island's vast army off-guard. Shopper surplus troops from Freezestonia were not enough to shore up the defenses of Zhou's oriental blitzkrieg. The barren, rocky plains of northern Shops Island were not an ideal location for battle, especially for the outnumbered Shoppers. Multiple tank battles resulted in humiliating Shopper losses which pushed their forces further into the frontier.

As soon as word of the invasion got out, Lavender recalled General Broseph from his expedition in the Finipines to personally oversee the defense of the Shopper homelands. In a joint meeting behind closed doors, the president and the general agreed that the best method to defend against the Zhouese would be for Shopper forces to fall back to the Mario Mountains. The Mario Mountains were Shops Island's largest mountain range and was an area that was almost impassable to tanks and transport vehicles. It also provided many perfect venues for surprise sniper and espionage attacks. So, on August 17th, only two days after the invasion, president Lavender personally ordered the fall-back of all Shopper troops to the Mario Mountains.

Lavender's gamble initially seemed to work. For a few days the Zhouese were halted at the foot of the mountain range as Shopper forces regrouped and prepared for a counteroffensive. However, on August 21st, a Zhouese battalion found a section of the Mario Mountains in the east that was just barely passable to tanks and other equipment. Immediately afterwards the Zhouese flooded equipment through the area before Shopper troops arrived to close off the corridor. A sizable Zhouese force was on the other side of the mountain range. They made their way towards the closest city, Penguin City, and its smaller neighbor San Vancelton. Penguin City was heavily defended by both Shopper troops and vigilante fighters. As the Zhouese set up artillery in preparation for a siege of the city, San Vancelton was more easily overrun and put under harsh occupation.

Meanwhile, on August 18th, a second fleet of Zhouese ships landed on the southeastern coast of Moon Island, in the Freezestonian Autonomous Region. This secondary attack spread the already struggling Shopper forces even thinner. To combat this Zhouese attack, Lavender and Moon Island governor Dps04 called upon Zhouese citizens and partisans to take up arms against the Zhouese threat. But this vigilante opposition would prove to be ultimately feeble. Within a week, Moon Island had been overrun and mostly silenced, with one little exception: Wizzint.

Battle of Penguin City
The Battle of Penguin City would become the second largest battle of the entire Great Snowzerland War VI, after the Battle of South Pole City. Penguin City was Shops Island's third largest city and was thus a prime target for the Zhouese. Penguin City rested just south of the Mario Mountain Corridor which the Zhouese had found. The Zhouese were able to occupy the Penguin City's neighbor, San Vancelton, with ease, but had greater trouble penetrating Penguin City's outer defenses. The Zhouese were originally stopped outside the city, so they decided to lay siege.

Artillery sets, fortifications and pillboxes were set up around Penguin City on land, and the Zhouese established a naval blockade by sea of Penguin City. Being one of Shops Island's largest cities, many Shopper troops were already stationed there as backup and as protection in the event of such an invasion. However, these troops were nowhere near enough to reasonably hold back the enormous might of the Zhouese. Within the city's limits, citizens and troops alike built fortifications to hold back any chance of invasion. Seeing this impressive amount of resistance, the Zhouese decided that a total invasion would be unreasonable at the time, and thus declared that they would besiege Penguin City until it fell.

After seeing these events unfold and take a turn for the worse, president Lavender ordered many more thousands of soldiers to be airdropped into Penguin City, as well as a steady stream of supplies. From then on, Shopper forces from the outside would play a crucial part in the survival of Penguin City.

On August 24th, only a week after laying siege to the city, the Zhouese decided to change tactics. They amassed a force of over one million soldiers, many of which were drawn from more successful campaigns being laid against Bro Town and Yuri102212 City. This massive force was intended to simply overwhelm the Shopper defenses and its growing resistance.

Soon afterwards, on the 26th, the Zhouese forces staged an all-out assault on the defensive lines protecting Penguin City. Remarkably, they held in place despite the onslaught, making it clear that this would be a costly battle for both sides. The Shoppers had managed to build up a substantial defensive perimeter surrounding the city during the siege, and thus were able to easily hold back the advance. After much consideration, president Wu Jiao decided that the best method would be to siege and starve Penguin City into submission for the rest of the war.

The Wizzintian Resistance
By this point in time, the entirety of Moon Island had been invaded and occupied. Even though Moon Island had a significant Zhouese population, this invasion was still quite unwelcome. Resistance forces had been gathered up in all of the major Moonian cities, but all had been quashed, except for one.

In the city of Wizzint, the resistance was very well-organized and was able to inflict great pain upon the Zhouese occupiers. The mayor of Wizzint, Penstubal, called to Shops Island's allies for help in their time of need. The only country to respond was Penstubal's home country, Snowiny. The Snowinians pledged to provide reinforcement to the Wizzintian Resistance in their time of need, and as such, were able to draw many Zhouese troops away from the front lines to deal with this annoyance. President Lavender praised the resistance fighters, calling them "a shining example of Shopper willpower in the fight against communism".

A Turning Point; The Battle of Brookelas Town
On August 29th, the Zhouese decided to launch their next major offensive on the Shopper mainland. They had successfully occupied Bro Town and Yuri100212 City, although there was still fighting going on in the Mario Mountains which severely limited Zhou's supply chain. It was decided that the next target should be Goberna and the greater Industrial Division, which were the backbones of Shops Island's economy. Thanks to the heroic efforts of EPF and SIA spies, Lavender found out about these plans in advance and ensured that they would fail.

There was little sitting between Zhouese forces and Goberna; the only significant town on the invasion path was Brookelas Town, a backwards redneck outpost which was generally neglected by Shopper society. The SIA enlisted many citizens of Brookelas Town to help fend off the invasion. Unlike the previous battles in and north of the Mario Mountains, there was now a significant amount of Shopper infrastructure connecting Brookelas Town to Goberna. Lavender ordered the destruction of all bridges, tunnels, and rail lines in an attempt to halt the Zhouese advance. It worked; their forces were stopped near Brookelas Town and they set up for a major battle.

Shopper forces garrisoned in Goberna came face-to-face with the enemy on August 30th, and a fierce battle ensued. Artillery was set up on both sides of Brookelas Town, and firing was incessant. Shopper and Zhouese fighters engaged in multiple duels overhead, and Shopper bombers laid waste to the Zhouese encampments. Stiff resistance in the Mario Mountains had severely restricted Zhou's supply lines, and as such their soldiers were becoming malnourished and disheartened.

After almost a week of fighting, on September 3rd, General Broseph lead an advance through Brookelas Town to directly attack the Zhouese lines. The enemy forces fell back, and were now on the retreat back towards the Mario Mountains. The Shoppers stayed on their tail all the way, until they were able to successfully recapture Yuri100212 City on the 5th and Bro Town on the 8th. The Battle of Brookelas Town had stretched Zhou's army too far, and now they were the ones on the defensive as Shopper might began to amass and win more and more battles against their foe.

Arrival of Allied Reinforcements
On September 5th, the Battle of South Pole City had concluded with a decisive Allied victory, ensuring that all hostilities on the Antarctic mainland would cease. Snoss forces were heavily damaged and depleted, but nonetheless Kaiser Swiss Ninja pledged that he would send all available forces to assist their ally Zhou in their "epic struggle". Similarly, Castilla, Frankterre and Margate pledged their assistance to Shops Island in its fight to contain Zhou's expansion. President Lavender was very happy to have so much backup available. It was agreed upon by the Allied leaders that Shops Island would command the movement of all troops to provide maximum effectiveness.

In an effort to distract Zhouese forces and to drive them away from the Shopper mainland, Lavender sent some Frankterran troops and the bulk of Margate's forces to the Finipines and Hindonesie to take back these countries once and for all. The Frankterrans and Margatians made quick work of their Zhouese enemy, and were able to easily drive Zhou's forces out of the Finipines and Hindonesie within a matter of days. Unfortunately, these Zhouese forces amassed in Malesia, making it clear that a fierce battle was coming soon in that area. To make matters worse, Snoss forces also arrived on the scene, and were split between the mainland Shopper front and the Malesian front.

The remainder of Frankterran forces, as well as the bulk of Castilla's forces would be stationed on the Shopper mainland so that the whole of Shops Island could be liberated.

Liberation of Penguin City and the Zhouese Retreat from Shops Island
By September 12th, the Zhouese invasion forces had been pushed back to the Mario Mountains, where analysts on both sides expected yet another fierce fight, just as there had been during the Zhouese advance. At this point in time, Penguin City was still surrounded on all sides by Zhouese forces and was being starved of resupply from the sea. A large convoy of enemy warships was permanently stationed off the coast of Penguin City to ensure that no aid or supplies could penetrate the Zhouese lines. Nonetheless, Shopper bombers routinely flew risky and ill-fated voyages into enemy territory to air-drop supplies into Penguin City, and as such the Shopper were able to hold onto their third largest city by little more than a thread.

Aside from Penguin City, Bro Town became the last major Shopper settlement to be liberated on September 12th, as Zhouese forces were being continually forced north. As allied reinforcements continued to rush in from the Antarctic mainland, Zhou's generals stationed in Peking decided to hedge their bets on defending the Zhouese homeland and made that a priority over the assault on the Shopper mainland.

Recognizing that Zhouese forces were being sapped from the Shopper Mainland Offensive, General Broseph issued an order for a simultaneous airborne and seaborne invasion of Penguin City, slated for September 20th. On that day, thousands of paratroopers were dropped into Penguin City to start an offensive from the inside, forcing their way out. That same morning, a large fleet of Shopper and Castillan ships engaged in a naval battle against the Zhouese blockade, winning a decisive victory against a weakening navy which was running low on supplies and morale.

With help from Frankterran and Castillan forces, the Allies started a land campaign to retake Penguin City and the remainder of the Shopper mainland. The battle to retake Penguin City would be one of the most costly in the entire war, and would rage on all the way until the Axis' final surrender. At this same time, smaller Shopper battalions kept up a prolonged and consistent campaign to slowly drive Zhouese forces from the rest of Shops Island. By the time the armistice was signed, there were only a few small, concentrated pockets of Zhouese soldiers left on the Shopper mainland.

Liberation of Japaland and South Joseon
Although the United States of Antarctica was reluctant to commit much of their arsenal to the Asiapelago War, they did agree to send a respectable force to both Japaland and South Joseon to help the USA's two closest allies in the Asiapelago in their time of need.

The southern portion of Japaland and the entirety of South Joseon had been occupied for almost the entire war, and even though their occupations received little coverage across Antarctica, these two captured territories still proved to be major thorns in the side of Zhou and North Joseon. A strong Redneck resistance movement sapped up thousands of Zhouese and Joseonean troops who could have been pivotal in defeating Shops Island on their home turf. Joseonean nationalists in the south also kept up a consistent guerilla campaign to distract the Zhouese and North Joseonean occupiers. When USA, Castillan and Margatian reinforcements finally arrived, the occupying forces had already grown weary of the consistent pushback in both Japaland and South Joseon. Although the Allies were unable to fully liberate South Joseon or Japaland before the Armistice was signed, they had succeeded in liberating most of the occupied territory, only to discover the horrors which had been committed in the Allies' absence.

For centuries, the Zhouese, Japalandese and Joseonean penguins had been at each others' throats due to cultural and historical clashes. These tensions sparked up once again once these rival races were given the opportunity to occupy each others' traditional lands. The North Joseoneans and Zhouese treated the occupied Japalandese with exceptional cruelty, as did the Zhouese to the occupied South Joseoneans. Extrajudicial killings became par for the course, and anyone who was even suspected of having ties to the resistance was deleted on the spot. It would take years for these wounds to stop bleeding after Japaland and South Joseon were liberated, although they have never fully healed.

Initially, there were plans for the Allies to push into North Joseon after liberating the south and to take it as revenge, and to prevent the pariah state from causing any more trouble in the future. This idea was quickly scrapped by the USA's army command, however, when the North Joseoneans decided to set off a salvo of nuclear tests during the war, signalling that they were both willing and able to commence a first-strike nuclear attack to defend their homeland.

Battle of the Asiapelago Sea
As the tide started turning towards the Shoppers at home and towards the Allies across the Asiapelago, everything was beginning to funnel into the center-point of the region: Malesia. Malesia was a strategically important country and close Shopper ally which had fallen under Zhouese occupation early in the war. Castillan and Frankterran forces had made a few clandestine efforts earlier on to retake Malesia for the Allies, although these attempts all failed. Swiss Ninja had committed the majority of his ground troops to Malesia, as he recognized the country's strategic significance. Indeed, as the Zhouese got booted out of surrounding countries, more and more of them began to amass in Malesia.

The Allies were quick to notice this pattern, and as such they too were making plans for an all-out assault on Malesia. It was agreed that the Castillans would lead a naval assault on existing Zhouese and Snoss naval forces, while the Shoppers would lead a ground offensive through the Malesian jungle to recapture the two home islands. On September 16th, the first coordinated Allied assault on Malesia began, which was led by General Broseph and Jock Hochstadt. At sea, Fisch and Clovis Hochstadt commanded the Allied fleet against the Zhouese, whose navy had been decimated at this point, and the Snoss, whom had poured most of their naval forces in the area into the pivotal battle. During the Battle of the Asiapelago Sea, as it came to be known, the Snoss tried to gain an initial upper-hand by releasing their newest wonder weapon: the TIE Fighter - A STOL/VTOL aircraft powered by revolutionary "Twin-Ion" engines, the TIE Fighter seriously outclassed most of the firepower that the Allies could muster up. During the early days of the battle, Allied forces were continually harried by squadrons of TIE Fighters, leading to mass casualties and a large loss of fleet power.

However, the Allies' resolve never faltered, and they began to gain the upper hand as Zhouese and Snoss forces on the mainland were defeated time after time. To replenish these defeated forces on the mainland, the Axis had to keep withdrawing personnel from their naval battalions to keep the land campaign afloat. The most damaging of all these withdrawals occurred on September 30th, when the Swiss Ninja pulled his TIE Fighters from the Battle of the Asiapelago Sea in a last-ditch effort to keep the Snoss land campaign afloat. Using this strategic blunder to their advantage, the Allies immediately began a final offensive against all remaining Snoss and Zhouese warships. After two days of fighting with the TIE Fighters absent, the vastly-outnumbered Axis warship fleet was decisively defeated in what would later be recognized as one of the fiercest battles of the war.

Having lost most of their naval power, Zhouese president Wu Jiao saw this his jig was up; he had no choice but to surrender. Swiss Ninja, also having failed in his war aims, reluncantly decided to surrender to his brothers aboard a Castillan aircraft carrier on October 1st, 2013, thus bringing an end to the most brutal war the Asiapelago had ever seen.