The Pacification of Great Hull

The Conflict

Prelude

The death of the First Princeps in early 649 was the first major test of the Principality of Etoile as a state. Although the Princeps and Lady Solitus had established instructions and a legal framework for a succession, all eyes were on the Etoile Capital City as the nineteen year old Principality attempted to transition rule to a new leader.
Sensing a moment of weakness (and believing the chosen successor a weak ruler), the District Commander of Great Hull, one Lady Avila Caeris, withheld her district's revenue caravan from the Capital and expelled all Principality officers in the city not under her direct control. Great Hull had suffered immensely during The War of Unification, and Lady Caeris saw an opportunity to crown herself Queen, using the newly-built fleet of local armored Power-Wagons to repel any potential attack. Records indicated that Lady Caeris believed that the Principality could not afford the losses it would require to reconquer Great Hull, and would instead attempt to negotiate some sort of peer agreement to preserve the peace.
When news of the rebellion reached the Capital City, the Princeps of 650 had yet to be crowned, and confusion reigned over what the official response would be. After a heated argument in the Hall of the Princeps, General Natalia Turaide was given a single divison of the Principality Ground Forces and ordered to deploy to Great Hull, in a test of the defender's resolve, but without compromising the security of the Capital City. General Turaide arrived on the outskirts of Great Hull reinforced, as several districts along the route volunteered additional forces to the suppression effort, sufficient to compose a second combined arms division.

Deployment

Knowing that the attack was coming, Lady Caeris established a battle plan involving a lightning strike on the Siege Launchers of the Principality, reasoning that by destroying the costly and rare launchers she could prevent Great Hull from simply being bombarded at a distance and could immediately raise the cost of intervention to untenable levels. She organized her own infantry into a diversionary force, meant to entrench themselves and impede the Principality infantry attack, while her Power-Wagons would be hidden in the forests ready to strike at the rear guard and destroy the Principality siege units before they could be brought to bear.
General Turaide, for her part, had no desire to simply destroy the city as the First Princeps would have done, and instead organized her infantry into small-unit screens, to establish the nature of the opposition. Critically, she held all of her cavalry wagons in reserve, reasoning that they would be minimally useful if the fighting entered the streets of Great Hull.

Battlefield

The road to Great Hull is forested on one side and partitioned into rolling pastures on the other, separated by hedges. The wood is sparse, allowing experienced Power-Wagon drivers the ability to negotiate the wood at low speed, while the pastures were fortified with trenches by the defenders of Great Hull. The battle was joined ten miles east from the city center of Great Hull before the front moved into Great Hull proper.

The Engagement

After several of her skirmishers engaged the garrison of Great Hull in their trenches, General Turaide ordered her siege launchers forward over the road to line up for bombardment of the trench network. This was Lady Caeris' cue to attack the launchers, with several camoflaged assault prows taking the launcher crews by surprise and smashing through their infantry escort. The attempted retreat by the siege teams resulted in a massive entanglement on the road, as units under attack at the front were running into other siege teams attempting to move into position.
Turaide had anticipated some sort of attack from the wood, however, and had sent a small number of handpicked assault prow crews to reconnoiter the wood. Those cavalry prows swung left to join the battle, catching many of the Great Hull wagons by surprise and smashing through their vulnerable rear armor with their own war rams. Though the carnage left the road littered with destroyed power wagons and Turaide lost thirty six siege launchers, most of the Great Hull cavalry were lost on this attack, leaving only the infantry to defend the city. Realizing their position on the field was untenable, Lady Caeris withdrew the infantry into Great Hull proper to defend the city in urban fighting.
With no desire to commit her infantry to the bloody business of block-by-block conquest, General Turaide instead organized her remaining cavalry prams into a patrol blockade of the city, preferring to starve the city into submission by running down any attempts to forage or scavenge food for the defenders. Although there was enough food stored to last for the duration of the season, Lady Caeris had counted on a conspiracy of other Districts to rebel simultaneously, to provide the opportunity for relief. When no other rebellions occurred, Caeris found herself on a limited timeline under siege, and attempted a breakout to the west at night to provide an opportunity for her loyal troops to scatter.
Defectors had already betrayed this plan to the Principality, however, and the breakout column was encircled and destroyed in pitched fighting, putting an end to the rebellion at Great Hull. In the night there was carnage, and only during the day was it revealed that most of the column were civilians attempting to escape the city as well. General Turaide had not intended such an act and attempted to resign her commission upon returning to the Capital.

Outcome

Lady Caeris was slain in the attempted breakout. Though her remaining troops were all imprisoned and marked for death, the Princeps of 650 intervened and offered clemency, provided that all surviving citizens of Great Hull submit and be compelled to leave, reassigned peacemeal to other Districts across Saibh to prevent another conspiracy. Great Hull was then repopulated by selected volunteers from the Capital City, who were happy to take over the productive farmlands and new manufactories.
General Turaide had her resignation refused, but was permitted to retire to a newly granted landstead given to her by the new Princeps, in gratitude for her decisive victory.

Historical Significance

Legacy

A statue of Lady Caeris, bound at the wrists and ankles and made to kneel, was sculpted on the orders of the Princeps of 650 and placed on a plinth in the town square of Great Hull. As none of the new residents had any particular link to Lady Caeris, the statue was quietly placed in a storehouse not long afterwards, as 'being in bad public taste'.

Start Date

Fourth Season, 12th Day, 649

Ending Date

Fourth Season, 29th Day, 649

Conflict Result

Principality Victory

Belligerents

Rebels of Great Hull

Principality of Etoile

• Principality of Etoile

Strength

The rebel garrison of Great Hull, comprising:

60 Armored Power-Wagons
2600 infantry

Two combined arms divisions of the Principality, each consisting of:

800 infantry
60 Cavalry Armored Power-Wagons
20 Siege Launcher Wagons

Casualties

1500 military casualties
7000 civilian casualties

230 casualties

Objectives

To repel the Principality attack and establish the independence of Great Hull

The reconquest of Great Hull and the suppression of the rebellion