fought in early 486YBCW in magara it was a 4 day long battle in which regent [Stephan Hallsberg defended the city of netrza. it resulted in a victory for the northern isle but both sides lost massive amounts of men and the city was destroyed.
The Conflict
Prelude
as the winter of 487YBCW passed the magaran armies under Stephan Hallsberg(person:bef7dd02-7cf5-4d9d-8bfe-3798947b6366) the half brother of the emperor had been saved from the bloody winter battle of the west. however it had been forced to give up the attempt to retake charlesdht. Stephan decided to marched west and make camp in the northern city of netrza just north of the urshia forest. the city was guarded by walls and had a garrison of some 2000 millita which had been raised by the govoner. prince Markos Kazinczy had raised another millita force from the men on his lands making a force of some 700 men. these two forces joined stephan's main army of 30000. marched to catch up with him was baron Erich goodnerson and his army of 30000 men had been joined by 10000 recanik cavalry men who had defected from a force sent to stop him while Stephan withdrew. many minor prince of @[the regency of magara joined him adding another 3000 to his army. this was the largest force the baron had ever commanded. he had a lack of artillery and his food reserves were getting smaller and smaller everyday. Stephan made preparations to defend the city. he sent George Saxon-karvosti with 6000 troops to hamlet 20 miles away from to the town to hold the enemy. around the city he built trenches and anti cavalry trenches
the battle of huri- on the 4th of April the 6000 troops under George waited for the northern forces and held a strong position but they were hopelessly out numbered and with out artillery. the long grass on either side of the hamlet however George used to his advantage hiding his rifles in the grass. Erich sent 10000 troops down the road and marched them straight towards the hamlet of huri. George waited for the army to be well within the hamlet and then ordered his rifles to come up behind the enemy. the rear troops were cough off guard. however the rest of the army had engaged the bulk of the verainberg army. they had broken the left of the enemy and the trapped gunners dispersed and tried to link with the rest of the army. by night fall George took 4000 troops south to get back to regent Stephan.
when they arrived the found the city read for a siege and Stephan was unhappy. they had held up the enemy for less than a day.
Erichs total force came to 43000 men. this force included 10000 recanik light cavalry men. 3000 effectively millita troops had also joined his force. these magarans were not well equipped with weapons gathered from what stores they could find and some he farming tools. the army at the beginning of the battle was deployed on a small rise over looking the city. the force was split in three the center holding the hill the left wing was ready to lay siege to the town. the right wing was ready to hit the flank and the swing round the back with the recanik cavalry.
Stephan army consisted of 30000 men of his army which had left to take charlsdht but had marched south. the entire force minis 6000 men he sent north were within either trenches on in the city.
April 7th- Erichs army arrived on the night of the 6th and he decided that he would try and out flank the city and storm its walls. as the sun began to rise the northern army had begun its march. the first shots were fired at 5.40am from there trenches the magaran troops were safe and the northern forces were forced to attack head on. erich ordered each flank to devoted 7000 men to attack the center and flanks. the trenches which had grass covering them trapped men and many were impaled on the wooden spikes. the fighting got incredibly bloody and hundreds were killed in the hand to hand fighting. the first side to repulse and attack was the left and forced them from the trenches. the northern forces were cut down running from the re-organised musketmen. the center however struggled and the trenches fell. the artillery on the walls was forced to open fire to prevent and attack. the right flank was able to repulse an attempt to take the walls and then was able to send help to the center. the northern forces attacking the center were eventually thrown back by the close of the day. this set back forced to erich to rethink his plan. he decided that he would have to take the fight into the city in order to turn there defensible position into a weakness.
April 8th- consulting his commander erich decided that he would bombard the walls and force the center of the defenses. he would then storm instead the city and force the enemy from the walls. he ordered all his artillery to open fire and they bombarded the defenders. the regent in the citadel ordered that the troops make on the fly repairers in order to save the city. he ordered that the gun powder reserves be moved across the bridge in the rear safe from the enemy guns and the explosion. Stephan then ordered his cavalry to find as many men as they could on the other side of the bridge and gather what troops they could muster. when a section of the wall collapsed the defenders panicked they could see the enemy advance. Stephan ordered 5000 men under general Felix zorri to hold it until the northern isle troops retreated. the troops outside the walls were ordered to hold but in the face of over whelming northern isle attack the musket men ran back inside to what was left of the walls. the northern isle troops steamed into the city the 5000 troops held for 4 hours but were forced back and the gates were opened. Stephan ordered his army off the walls and ordered that the army was to redeploy both in an outside the city. the musket men guarded the crapped streets and the over Zealot northern troops were cut down. but night fall part of the city was under Erich control.
April 9th- with part of the city within his control removed his artillery into the city and moved most of his troops into it. the 9th saw little fighting in the city but in the outside battle raged between the converging northern lines and the fixed and out numbered troops of the magaran army. the imperials were able to hold.
April 10th- by the night of the 9th morning of the 10th the northern isle's forces were ready to push on through the city. the cavalry however were held back. within the city limits the northern forces charged down the streets. these attacks were proceeded by artillery down the streets. however the battle was alot harder than believed. every house was fought over and streets changed hands time and time and time again the city center fell to the northern isle forces only for it to fall back into imperial hands just under and hour later. the citadel was attacked and Stephan and his staff were forced to leave. he believed that the city would hold, however the northern forces had seized and were holding the city center by the 5pm. Stephan had received word that his cavalry was arriving with 5000 troops to help him but they were still a days march away. he ordered to hold there positions but then the recanik cavalry had swung round the back and held the bridge behind Stephan. when he found out he ordered the army to fight there way out. he ordered 10000 men to protect the rear and he commanded this force himself while George saxon pushed to take the bridge. this fighting lasted into the night.
April 11th- as the sun rose the smoke of the night time battle hadn't yet faded however by this time the magaran were out of shot and gun powder. the recanik cavalry however had be pushed back and a perimeter was made around the bridge and Stephan began to withdraw. 11am the reinforcements had arrived and they crossed the bridge in order to help there comrades. Stephan also pulled back and the city fell. the army however was not safe yet. the cavalry which had arrived fought off the recaniks while the infatry retreated. by this time the battle began to stop and fighting stopped across the battle field.
Stephan army despite taking big losses he was able to march his intact army to Telta. the army had suffered large casualties. the army had lost almost all of its shot for both muskets and cannons.
the same went for erichs army. it had suffered more losses than the imperial's. out of erichs original 43000 men he know had 28000 fighting men. his own army however was to tired to fight on and chase the enemy home.
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