Battle of The Rhein
| Battle of The Rhein | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Part of the Sutican Civil War | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Battle of The Rhein was the first large-scale battle between the Loyalist faction and the Southern Sutican Alliance during the Sutican Civil War. It began when the forces of the Southern Sutican Alliance, alongside mercenary allies, attempted to storm the Haeseni-occupied Barony of The Rhein, and were subsequently beaten back by the combined efforts of the Brotherhood of Saint Karl and the Loyalist Suticans.
Prelude
Just a Saint's Day prior to the battle, both the Barony of Trabzon and the Lordship of Keornhall renounced their oaths of allegiance to Johanna I, Queen of Sutica and declared themselves to be in open rebellion against the Sutican crown. Almost immediately, Johanna's regime received support from the Holy Orenian Empire and the Kingdom of Haense. Haense immediately seized the abandoned town of The Rhein due to its proximity to Trabzon, and began building defensive works around the Barony in order to use it as a forward base for Haeseni operations. The Southern Sutican Alliance took quick notice of this, and began reaching out to the mercenary bands of The Rustlers and The Silver Lubba for their assistance in their rebellion. After paying a hefty sum of mina to both organizations, they had secured their help and numbers to fight against the Sutican Loyalists and their allies.
The Battle
The Battle began late in the Saint's Evening, with the Southern Sutican Alliance trying to sneak up on the Rhein's Haeseni garrison while they were tired from the day's activities. Unbeknownst to them, the Haeseni garrison, co-led by Henry Bishop and Sergeant Flemius, had been reinforced just a saint's hour earlier by Lord Marshal Ailred var Ruthern and an additional contingent of 2,700 Haeseni soldiers, Sutican loyalists, and Reinmaren Militiamen. This reinforcements boosted the morale of the Garrison troops already present significantly and ensured the Settlement's security. Either way, as the Rebel host approached The Rhein's walls via the bridge connecting Trabzon and The Rhein, the Loyalist garrison sounded the alarm and began to fire upon the Rebels from the walls of the Town. Having had the entrance tunnel to the city closed, the Rebels were forced to scale up the mountainside which left them vulnerable to arrow fire. Down in the main town, Sergeant Flemius took command of a token force and engaged the rebels in fierce close-quarters combat while Henry Bishop, Ailred var Ruthern, and Prince Corwin Barclay took command of the major body of soldiers and fired down at the Rebels from within the walls of the elevated keep. Fierce melee fighting in the town and the firing of arrows from the walls significantly damaged the Rebel forces, and soon enough Ailred and Henry ordered the soldiers within the keep to sally forth and engage the Rebels within the town. Fierce melee fighting occurred which quickly saw the Loyalist forces gain the upper hand, and the Rebels were soon forced out of the town where a wild chase ensued. While Filippos Komnenos and Mika Uialben managed to escape to their respective keeps, Corbin Wick and Elsiimah'Ceru were captured and brought back to The Rhein while the rest of the rebel host was hunted down.
Aftermath
In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Prince Corwin Barclay ordered Corbin Wick and Elsiimah'Ceru executed within the Capital. After a brief gathering, both rebel commanders were executed with Corbin and Elsiimah'Ceru being executed simultaneously by Sergeant Flemius and Henry Bishop respectively. From there, the Haeseni garrison returned to The Rhein, and the first engagement of the Civil War was declared a loyalist victory. Meanwhile, the Southern Sutican Alliance survivors pulled back to their keep at Keornhall and began to lick their wounds in preparation for the next engagements of the war.
