The Second Albion War
The Second Albion Wars took place directly after the First Republican Civil War and The Fields of Solden. Albion watched the conflict play out and the moment Those of Gaulren attacked the legions of Vernica and Solden they took the opportunity to attack Vernica. The armies had been preparing along the borders of Vernica and Luclana for some time and were able to march into their lands within a few days thanks to their ability to communicate quickly with members of the Lunsine College.
King Taliesin marched his armies in unopposed for some time before Peresov and his legions managed to reform and put up resistance.
The Conflict
Prelude
The situation with Albion was fairly dire. Polipsis had sent the vast majority of Vernica’s fighting force to deal with Solden leaving even the heartland relatively poorly defended. Albion managed to push all the way to Miana before Nereus was able to arrive with reinforcements. King Taliesin was able to march to Miana virtually unopposed, the forts' garrisons had been greatly diminished due to Polipsis using them to further bolster the reinforcing legions he sent to Solden. After the attack of the king of the First on Vernica and the reports of his son Evander dying Polipsis took his own life fearing the consequences of the actions he took. Peresov was picked as acting consul as he was commanding the vast majority of the remaining Vernican forces. Peresov took his legions after repelling the assault from Those of Gaulren back across the straits and marched to meet Albion's army outnumbered as they were. King Taliesin had besieged Miana and was beginning to press into the city. The denizens of Miana had established a network of tunnels and were beginning to evacuate their population when the legions of the Republic arrived. They ushered the troops into the city so they could help with the defense and begin to push out.
Deployment
The forces of Miana were not very numerical, but they had a number of technological advantages and natural chokepoints in their mountainside city. They were able to use their experimental artillery they had been developing and used their cannons that the Republic had yet to adopt.
King Taliesin had mostly standard infantry, but was supplemented by battle trained wizards and sorcerers from the Lunsine College, something that the Republic had not put much effort into training. They had besieged the city and set up lines surrounding the area. They were numerically superior to the forces in Miana as well as the reinforcing legions brought by Peresov.
The legions lead by Peresov were ushered into the city using the tunnel systems created. They quickly ran to bolster the lines and prepared to prolong the siege.
Battlefield
The city of Miana is a sprawling metropolis of factories bellowing soot and ash. the cramped pathways and being built at the base of the mountain range leads to an uphill fight for any attacking enemy. On top of that Miana had been producing cannons for quite some time in preparation to sell them to the republic or use them to defend their city. they were able to put out an impressive amount of counter artillery forcing King Taliesin to abandon the siege and simply storm the city.
The Engagement
Albion arrived at Miana and was totally shocked by the technological creations of the industrial capital of the Republic. Artillery bombardments the likes Albion had never witnessed before as well as massive mechanical contraptions capable of taking enormous amounts of damage while scything down enemy troops. Even with these advantages Miana was not prepared for a siege of this size and managed to only hold out for a month before showing signs of cracking. During this time the rifleman layed down withering fire upon the enemy troops, but the attackers numbers proved too great and began pushing back the defenders. King Taliesin's forces crossed the bridge that lead over the ravine protecting the city and his troops began pouring throughout the city.
As the forces of Albion began taking sections of the cities legionnaires from Peresov's legion began to emerge from the tunnels and engage their troops. The Mianans used the knowledge of their city and began to flank the attacking armies forces from behind with withering volleys of gunfire. King Taliesin did not want to lose too many troops taking this city and retreated outside into the surrounding fields. As Peresov Nereus began to set out to engage their forces Magistrate Petruzzo of Miana asked Nereus to hold off for a moment and allow him to make his assault easier. Nereus sat back and watched what this eccentric inventor had in mind. Petruzzo ordered his men to bring out various contraptions and machinery. He gave to order to fire and Nereus watched as a terrible cacophony of sound, explosions and what could only be described as howling as projectiles flew through the air tearing through the lines of Albion and creating explosions. Impressed with the display Nereus thanked Petruzzo and informed him he would return to learn more about these creations of his.
Nereus marched off with his legion after Petruzzo informed him all their munitions had been spent and advanced towards King Taliesin’s army. Nereus surveyed the battlefield and watched as Albion’s army fell into disarray. King Taliesin rallied his troops and continued to fall back towards the province of Albion to reinforce and refortify. Nereus took his legion and applied pressure to King Taliesin’s forces while reforming more legions in the heartlands.
King Taliesin continued to raid around the province of Vernica, but Nereus managed to provoke small skirmishes diminishing King Taliesin's army slowly while Nereus continued to reinforce his armies from soldiers in the heartland as well as some men from the province of Luclana. King Taliesin didn't want to be caught in the enemy heartland so decided to retreat back into Albion. Nereus continued reinforcing his legions and eventually spotted a large portion of Taliesin's army separated from the rest and attacked with his local forces. Nereus managed to kill or capture a significant number of troops at the Battle of Harran's Bend forcing King Taliesin to sue for peace.
Outcome
Nereus managed to push Albion out of Vernica and took out a significant portion of Albion's army at the Battle of Harran's Bend forcing Albion to sue for peace
Aftermath
The terms Nereus managed to get caused Albion to pay a large amount of gold allowing the Republic to purchase the naval ships they planned on using invading Hadasht. It also caused Albion's army to falter and begin to lose influence in the area
Start Date
1498 C.E
Ending Date
1495 C.E
Conflict Result
The Republic pushed Albion out of Miana and eventually out of the province of Vernica
Belligerents
Albion
Strength
Six depleted legions hardened from fighting in Solden totaling around 20,000 legionnaires
A handful of Mianan Rifle battalions and four Mianan artillery batteries totaling around 12,000 Mianan militia
Taliesin's army was estimated at around 50,000 footsoldiers and a compliment of around 200 Lunsine Mages
Casualties
Two legions reduced below combat strength and the other four losing around 4,000 men
Lost around 4,000 of their militia during the siege and another 1,000 after the legions arrived.
In the battle of Miana Albion lost around 14,000 soldiers and another 6,000 during the raiding around the province of Miana
Objectives
Push the armies of Albion out of Miana and eventually the Province of Vernica itself
Take the city of Miana and force the Republic to sue for peace giving Albion the time to establish their dominance in the area
Comments