Battle of Yamar
Where the trees came alight and brought a clan to its knees
The Battle of Yamar was both a battle, on the Shajin's side, and an ambush, on the Spanish's side. It is a battle that was fought on the plains of Yamar to decide the fate of Jushel's independence from the Shajin, but the Shajin came prepared as the nearby mountain forests to the west of the battlefield on the Shajin's side was enough to hide the newly aligned Spanish musketeers, crossbowmen and even cannons in the trees to wait for the perfect moment. This was the first true battle the Spanish fought on the continent of Ocrea and have proven themselves as useful, in terms of their technology, in the war.
The Conflict
Prelude
Cortés' expedition arrived at Leylas, the Shajin Clan's capital on June 1st, 1519, taking up residence in a specially designated compound in the nobility part of the city on the upmost leisure of Takeda, the heir apparent, as the Lord was busy seizing the castle from the rebellious Ashus. Months after, the Shajin have received word that the Jushel clan has claimed independence, following news of the wavering power of the Shajin. Not wanting to wait for reinforcements, Takeda then decided to take the battle to the Jushel with what she had at the capital.
The Spanish, namely Cortés and his officers, took it upon themselves to volunteer their musketeers, crossbowmen and even cannons to fight in the battle, as they heard that the battlefield they wanted to meet held a massive forest on high ground to hide their troops within. Though Takeda was urged by her advisors not to accept the Spanish's help, suspicious this could be a jumpstart to Cortés' plans to get in the favor of her father, but nonetheless accepted the Spanish into her army to meet the Jushel in open plain with the Spanish providing cover with their "magic."
The Spanish were in position over a large forest mountain that overlooked the battlefield below them, giving them a clear shot at volleys from their muskets, crossbows, and cannons, which would immediately turn the tide of the battle since the guns themselves were believed to be mage's staffs. The Shajin and the Jushel met each other in the open plain of Yamar, intending, on the Jushel's side, to fight a traditional battle against each other, despite the Jushel clan outnumbering the Shajin with a lot of peasants and hired mercenaries.
The plains of Yamar sits at the very border between the Jushel and the Shajin Clans, located in between a mountain and a forest located on high ground.
As expected, the Jushel charged the majority of their peasants in the first wave to act as fodder for the Shajin's arrows. Overexerting itself to rush to the battle, the Jushel, in a gambit, charged all its forces into the already withering line to overwhelm the Shajin and gain their independence through absolute force. This was a tactical move for both the Shajin and the Jushel, as the Shajin had fewer men than the Jushel and the Shajin had few lines retreat behind the mountain and the forest to avoid the Jushel cavalry, giving the illusion of a retreat.
But suddenly, everything turned into a panic when the Spanish musketeers and cannons then started to fire into the Jushel lines, where men were sent flying into each other and went down by solid lead balls. The Jushel generals looked through their telescopes and saw foreign-looking men in armor-clad shooting down at their forces with "staffs of power," and mistook them for powerful mages as their men started to break and flee in a panic at the notion that the Shajin now have mages on their side. This was a crucial part in the battle, as the guns have brought the morale of the Jushel to an absolute low.
The Jushel lord then ordered the archers to shoot into the trees to take down the "mages," but unfortunately this left them open to a massive charge of the Shajin cavalry that rode down their entire archer unit, with no infantry support relieving them due to Spanish fire. Seeing their main defense lost, the Jushel then started to break and flee from the battlefield, with no way to get them back. In a last ditch of honor, the Jushel Lord and his generals led the rest of the cavalry in a suicide charge to break through the line but proved fruitless as the combined rain of arrows and gunfire took out the entire cavalry, with the Jushel Lord joining the body count, making way for the Shajin cavalry to ride down anyone left on the battlefield.
Jushel remains a Shajin vassal, under the leadership of their previous Lord's heir, but are stripped of numerous lands to reduce them back to barons.
The Battle of Yamar would go down as the battle the Spanish and the Shajin fought side-by-side and won the day despite the odds, cementing the alliance completely. It would also bring the once mighty vassal of Jushel barely above a magistrate.
Following the battle, the Lord of Shajin later returned with intends of resupplying the siege of Ashus Castle and heard the massive battle between his clan and the Jushel. He later met with Cortés and his officers in his castle, where he wasn't convinced at all of their magic abilities as he got his naga assistant to identify the "staffs" as tools that only the Spanish can create, but decided to let the public believe that they have mages on their side to raise support. Many days later, he decided to offer Cortés land to help his expedition in exchange that he join his army to take back Ashus Castle before he moves against the Haser clan to the north. Cortés grudgingly accepted this offer and marched his army alongside the Shajin Lord to join the siege, where they proved to have a massive impact during the siege.
Cortés also realized that it was his gunpowder weapons that truly give the Spanish a part to play in the conflict and that without it they would rather off being pirates, so decided to neglect the trading of their guns to the Shajin and refused the knowledge of how to make gunpowder, only selling it to them in small quantities for unfairly high prices. This was only redacted when the French landed almost a decade later, followed by the English years after.
Historical Significance
This helped create a trust between the Shajin and the Spanish forces, which led to many lands being given to the Spanish in act of this newfound alliance, as well as a monument being built of Cortés placed directly in the center of Leylas square.
Spanish conquistadors firing on Jushel forces.
Start Date
September 8th 1519 9:15AM
Ending Date
September 8th 1519 3:21PM
Conflict Result
Glorious Victory for the Shajin and the Spanish
Shajin Clan and the Spanish Empire
Led by
Jushel Clan
12,000 Shajin soldiers
~ 7,200 infantry
~ 2,800 cavalry
~ 2,000 archers
300 Spanish conquistadors
~ 280 musketeers and crossbowmen
~ 20 cannoneers
25,000 Jushel soldiers
~ 20,000 infantry
~ 4,000 archers
~ 1,000 cavalry
2,500 Shajin
34 Spanish
15,000 Jushel
Subdue the rebellious Jushal forces
Gain independence from the Shajin
A well done article on military conflict. The best I’ve seen so far.