The Elysium Encounter
| Battle of Southbridge | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Part of the Tenth Norlandic War | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Operation Golden Field otherwise referred to as the Massacre of Elysium by the Kingdom of Norland was an Orenian offensive campaign focused on crippling Norlandic food supply in addition to humiliating the Kingdom. While the Operation ended up as a success for the Holy Orenian Empire, the nation received major backlash from select members of the Church of the Canon along with the Kingdom of Norland who dubbed their opponents "Baby Killers".
Prelude
On the 13th of the First Seed, 22 S.A., the Kingdom of Norland declared war on the Holy Orenian Empire, starting the Tenth Nordling War. Unlike during the Rubern War & the Sutican War, the Holy Orenian Empire chose to go on the offensive, starting Operation Golden Field. On the 23rd of Tobias's Bounty Oren rallied a force of 1,100 elite infantry units near Lake Providence. Upon the sunrise of the 24th, the Orenian's took to rowboats and sailed up the Augusta River all the way into Norlandic territory until they arrived at their destination; the Duchy of Elysium, a Norlandic farming village.
Docking at the westernmost side of the town, the Orenian quickly station a force of a hundred men near the belltower to prevent a rally before moving their main force up towards the Elysium Keep where the Duke was along with four hundred men. Imperial forces quickly surrounded the Duke and his party, demanding they laid down their arms. The Duke attempted to reason with the Orenians, explaining they aren't part of the Norlandic Warband however, the Orenians wanted blood and the arrival of a force of five hundred already armed Norlanders that arrived behind the Orenian raiding party helped further that desire.
Battle
The overall battle was short-lived, the Duke and Liluth Solros led approximately two hundred men into the Elysium Keep. The Imperials led by Iskander Basrid & Erik Othaman followed suit, storming the keep, slaughtering all but the Duke and Liluth before taking them as prisoners of war. The other two hundred of the Duke's party fled into cottages which were then ransacked by the Orenian vanguard. On the rear guard, Erik Ruthern & Anastasia O'Rourke led a change into the five-hundred strong Norlandic force which promptly forced them to retreat to manors on the eastern side of the Duchy. The Orenians trailed behind, breaking down the doors of the homes and killing those who still held blades.
Aftermath
Following Operation Golden Field, the Orenian force returned to Providence where they put both Liluth and the Duke Elysium into Imperial State Army cells. They were released from custody upon denouncing King Sven I [1] along with announcing a secession of Elysium from the Kingdom of Norland [2]. Upon the news of the secession of Elysium reaching Norland, the Duke was insulted by his own allies and citizens for his actions [3]. In response to this, the Duke along with Liluth retracted their surrender and reaffirmed their loyalty to the Kingdom of Norland [4].
The following month, Joaquin Nuñez of Osanora, a member of the Canonist clergy publishes a petition, calling for the Orenian leaders of Operation to answer for crimes against the Church of Cannon [5]. After a reply from Father Vinzent var Ruthern to Joaquin, nothing comes out of the petition. On the 15th of the Amber Cold, the Imperial's publish an official response to the occurrences during the raid [6].
