The Dylarius Campaign broadly covers the events beginning with the nuclear attack against Dylaria and ending with the surrender of all Messian military forces. This was the final chapter of the Farminan-Messian War. Academics continue to debate the relevance of the Dylarius Campaign. It is often portayed as the Militia Enforced State dying with a whimper.

During the Verica talks, Snyder withdrew the bulk of his forces to the deep south or the Dylarius region as part of a new strategy to bleed the Farminans white rather than gain a decisive military victory. The deep south had numerous advantages. It was the heartland of pro-Snyder sentiment, allowing him to avoid expending forces fighting anti-Snyder rebels. Additionally, the terrain was naturally defendable. On the east was the neutral nation Zeresh, preventing Farmina attacking from the east. Along the south was a heavily fortified stretch of coastline. Along the north was the formidible Dylarius Mountains, a huge strategic hurdle. On the west side of the deep south pocket was MES' second largest city, Dylaria, the largest centre of Messian military production and home of the nation's largest ports. The other major city in the deep south pocket was Amelia. Although strategically less important, a great defensive line had been built north of the city.

Destruction of Dylaria

As Snyder tried desperately to gain some leverage over the Farminans, his hastily prepared new fleet sat ready for action in the docks of Dylaria. The fleet's role was simple, reak chaos amongst Farminan supply convoys to and from the MES, falling within the wider plan of making the war as expensive and bloody for Farmina as possible. Farminan intelligence services had already become aware of the threat and understood the problems that would be posed by light, fast Messian ships running amok amongst Farminan supply lines.

At the time Dylaria was the second largest city in the Militia Enforced State and had the nation's largest concentration of military personal. If the ships were not deployed quickly, their construction would have been wasted. The city was also one of the most loyal to Jason Snyder and formed the core of his powerbase.

Acting on the advice of his cabinet and Supreme Commander Aricar, it is believed Tobias Grey authorised the deployment of a nuclear weapon against Dylaria. Reasons for authorising the deployment could include: ensuring the new fleet never came into play, destroying a the largest remaining Messian military garrison, striking a large blow against Snyder's power base, as retaliation for the devastating attack against Verica and highlighting Farminan resolve. The destruction of Snyder's space fleet also meant Farmina WMD could be used without fear of retaliation.

At four o’clock in the afternoon, Messian time, an unidentified (presumably Farminan) submarine fired a torpedo carrying a hydrogen fusion warhead into the Dylarian shipyards. Detonating just underwater, below the docks, the massive explosion incinerated the entire shipyards and a massive chunk of Dylaria, creating a large crater that has now expanded the ocean. The destruction of Dylaria is the greatest number of casualties caused by any single Farminan action and is also the largest source of casualties during the war. Due to the Dylaria's large military garrison, military casualties were also very high. Although the casualties are above 20 million, the number of deaths is still unknown.

As the mushroom cloud rose in Dylaria, it could be seen for miles around, including the nearby Dylarius mountain range. The remaining Directors watched in horror, taking several minutes to realise what had happened. The plan had been to fight a final campaign with every weapon available; they had not anticipated the Farminans also fighting with their fullest possible fury.

The Directorate’s secret command centre, hidden amongst the Dylarius mountains, was supposed to allow the Directors to continue to fight the war from safety. The major military loses in the Dylaria strike meant there was very little war left to fight. The Directors quickly turned on each other, blaming each other for the failed war and the cascading disaster. It was at this point that Executive Director Reis and Director Norris, considered Snyder's best minds, fled the Dylarius complex and disappeared into the mountain range.

The nuclear detonation in Dylaria was only the beginning of a wider Farminan offensive that had been in the making since it became obvious Snyder was planning a south-based defensive strategy.

The Battle of Dylaria and The Battle of Amelia

The ground campaign was commenced with two simultaneous battles. These battles targeted the two largest cities under Snyder's control, Dylaria and Amelia. The objectives of the was multiple:

1) To prevent Snyder withdrawing forces from Dylaria and Amelia to protect his Dylarius Mountain Headquarters,

2) To hamper and prevent the resupply of Snyder's forces,

3) To divert attention from the major attack about to be launched against the Dylarius Mountain Range.

Battle of Dylaria

The Farminan 1st Army and 2nd Army marched towards the radioactive ruins of Dylaria from the north and north-west as part of the attempt to divert Messian attention from the Dylarius Mountains.

Faced with two strong thrusts, Messian commanders withdrew their forces into the city. Part of the 2nd Army circled west, in an attempt to attack the city from multiple directions. The Messians didn't bite and held firm.

Supreme Commander Varius Aricar ordered the attack to begin for real. Farminan artillery began pounding the northern part of the city, as large groups of Farminan infantry, supported by armour moved to secure the city, building by building. The Farminan navy began attacking coastal defences along Dylaria, as well as bombarding deep within the city, to open the way for marine landings. Farminan heavy bombers were used for the first time in the war on mass. The bombers targeted anything of industrial and economic value in an attempt to ensure that the parts of Dylaria that MES continued to hold, did not contribute to the Messian war effort.

The battle ended after Farminan forces further west secured Snyder's HQ and were in a position to split Dylaria from Amelia, at which point all Farminan offensive activity ceased.

Battle of Amelia

Amelia's defences were concentrated in the north. To the west was the Dylarius, to the east was the Zereshian border and south was the coast and the coastal defences. Each made a natural defence that forced the Farminans to attack from the north. The Farminan 4th Army did just that, with the intention of tying down a large number of defenders.

Unknown to the Messians, the Queen of Zeresh had agreed to enter the war against the MES hoping to fulfil a century old desire of revenge. Zereshian forces crossed the Messian border approaching the Messian city from the nearly undefended east. In panic, Messian forces withdrew from the fight against Farmina north of the city and moved into the eastern suburbs of the city. In the panicked planning movement, Messians endured higher than anticipated casualties.

Rather than driving into the eastern suburbs, Zereshian Generals swung south positioning their forces between Amelia and the coast. This cut Amelia's port access, except via ports further west such as Dylaria (although the ports were blockaded, occasionally a trading ship slipped through). It also meant the coastal cities were nearly undefended, with the main Messian force unable to rescue the city if attacked. In an attempt to draw Messian forces out of Amelia, the Zereshian forces sent several divisions south to secure MES's south eastern port cities. Farmina deployed a single marine division on the south eastern coast to emphasis their intention to cut waterborne supplies. The Messians did not waver and remained in the protection of Amelia or their fortfied positions north of it.

Within hours of the victories south and east of Amelia, Farminan troops broke the Messian line north of Amelia. The retreating Messians were pursued to Amelia. Farminan forces halted on the outskirts, allowing the Messians to reconsider attacking the Zereshian forces to the south. When the Directorate continued to show no intention of abandoning Amelia or attacking, a massive aerial and artillery bombardment of the city began to soften it up for occupation.

The battle ended shortly after Farminan forces further east secured Snyder's HQ and the main roads to Dylaria, causing Supreme Commander Aricar to order a halt to all offensive activity. Farmina took a final offensive action of circling around the eastern side of Amelia to completely encircle the city and leave south eastern MES crippled.

Zereshian forces siib discovered that Amelia had been targetted for nuclear destruction and withdrew their forces around the city. Eventually they withdrew from MES completely.

Battle of the Dylarius Mountains

The location of the Dylarius base was now in the hands of Farminan intelligence. The Directorate’s last bastion was the main target of the Farminan military offensive. While the diversionary battles occurred around Dylaria and Amelia, Field Marshal Salamander's main force moved south into the Dylarius Mountains.

Snyder and his HQ was not only defended by regular military units but also the fanatical Snyder Guard. Snyder’s forces had anticipated a move against the mountains and fortified the major routes heavily. This included mining the roads, building a large number of bunkers and the laying of tripwires. Automated defences were also established, although these spent more time attacking Messian wild life and Farminan decoys, than attacking actual Farminan targets.

Two small Farminan armies (the Third Army and the Sixth Army) opened the offensive north of the Dylarius Mountains. The attack followed a conventional format, artillery and aerial bombardment followed by tanks and infantry. This attack served two purposes; to mask the larger attacks that were to come, and to tie down as many Messian troops as possible.

Fifteen minutes later, two more armies (the Fourth and Fifth) drove on Snyder’s base from the west and north-east. These armies again opened with a massive bombardment followed by tanks and infantry. The Messian forces defending the Dylarius Mountains were outnumbered over 100 to 1. Messian traps that survived the bombardment took a large toll on the Farminan forces, but for every tank disabled another took its place. Part of Snyder’s personal security force was pulled from guarding his base to try and slow the Farminan advance, and maximise Farminan casualties at the chokepoints where the Messians were making their stands.

Three waves of Farminan fighter-bombers took to the air, targeting Snyder’s command centre itself. After the first pass on the base, left much of the above ground operations in ruins, the Farminan radiation super-weapon ‘Kettle’, released a wave of radiation against the base, enough to make someone very ill but not enough to normally be fatal.

In their second pass, the fighter-bombers that had not been shot down, released their payload against remaining surface resistance. Meanwhile, Farminan helicopter gunships descended, delivering more firepower, along with the elite 1st Parachute Division.

The elite 1st Paratroop Division began jumps as soon as the last bomb exploded. The paratroopers secured the surface and broke open the entrances to the real base, buried deep underground. Inside the HQ, Snyder’s inner circle was unable to put up little resistance, suffering from highly damaged equipment and the radiation weapon's sickness.

Upon hearing that the primary command centre itself was under attack, several of the surviving Messian units tried to withdraw from the front to Snyder’s HQ, but movement was hindered by severe enemy bombardment and the competing importance of holding Dylaria and Amelia. The thrusts towards Snyder’s HQ from both the west and the north east had crushed nearly all resistance and were threatening to reach Snyder’s headquarters.

Two hours after the initial landing, all of Snyder’s HQ was secured. Jason Snyder was captured in a near crippled state from the radiation at his desk. The other Directors, excluding the two Directors whom fled before the battle, were also secured.

The Farminan military thrusts from the north-east and west managed to secure paths through the mountains to Snyder’s all ready secured base. This also cut off the small group of Messians trying to delay the Farminan thrust from the north, the largest remaining group of Messian soldiers in the Dylarius Mountains. A large section of the Dylarius Mountains lay in Farminan hands and Messian defences in the mountains were significantly weakened. From their new position, Farminan forces easily marched south, capturing the major roads between Dylaria and Amelia. The south coast was an easily attainable target. The Directorate had been split in two.

With no more orders and the battle lost, Messian military units began to retreat in a hope to regroup and make a stand. Garnia a small city in the Dylarius Mountains south of Snyder's HQ was the center of these efforts. Although the Snyder Guard were practically exterminated in the battle, some joined the retreat to Garnia. Others continued to fight the advancing Farminans around Snyder's HQ, with fanatical and self sacrificing devotion.

During the battle, pro-Force Commander Messians tried to slip into the mountain base to capture Snyder first. The plan failed and the Messians, including Force Commander Amy Ackvick, were apprehended by Farmina.

The Messian Surrender

After the Battle for the Dylarius Mountains, the ruins of the Directorate had been cleaved in two. Farminan forces were able to move forward on all fronts, virtually unchecked by a disintegrating and leaderless Messian military. Both Amelia and the radioactive ruins of Dylaria looked set to fall. Despite the near absence of resistance, all Farminan military advances were halted.

One hour after it was confirmed that Jason Snyder was secured in a Trinity military prison, Supreme Commander Aricar and President Tobias Grey made a joint demand for the unconditional surrender of all remaining Messian military opposition, or face continued conventional and nuclear attacks. Most of the Messian Generals still in active in the field responded nearly immediately confirmed their intention to surrender. Over the next three hours all remaining Messian military units had surrendered.

Although a few of the surviving Snyder Guard recognised the surrender, most refused and vowed to fight to the death. Those that wanted to continue the fight also tried to use force against the Messian Generals to create allies by force. These most radical elements of the Snyder Guard were wiped out, killed by both Messian and Farminan soldiers. After this brief session of hostility, several of the Snyder Guard fled. Most were killed by Farminan special operatives.

It is unusual for Messian military officials to end the MES's participation in a war. Such a role was historically that of the military-political office of the Force Commanders. Left without a higher authority, a complete breakdown of the military situation, no source of reinforcements or resupply, and an inability to respond to the threat of the nuclear attacks against major cities; there is little dissent from the view that the Messian military leadership acted legitimately and sensibly.

The remaining Messian military units withdrew from the field, disarming themselves and handing their weaponry and supplies over to the Farminans as the spoils of war. Tobias Grey dissolved the Messian military until a permanent treaty and new Messian government was in place.

Recently leaked plans reveal that President Grey intended to follow through with his threat of more nuclear strikes if Messian military commanders did not surrender. Three more nuclear weapons had been prepared for simultaneous detonation over three targets: the north side of Dylaria, Amelia and Garnia.