Siege of Asjaer
The Siege of Asjaer was an event occurring during the Doric-Aijian War wherein the Doric forces led by Grand Duke Arttu I laid siege to the city of Asjaer, the capital of the Noble Republic of Aijia. The siege continued for nearly eight months before eventually being broken, during the course of the siege the Doric forces had split into two separate groups, one army led by the Grand Duke who sieged the city south of the Jaer River and the other led by Surcount Hannu of Sjolund who laid siege north of the river. Due to Asjaer being a major trade hub on the merchant routes that pass through the Bryn and Tora rivers, a naval effort was pursued wherein the rivers leading into and out of the city were patrolled to ensure no supplies could reach the defenders. The land siege consisted of the besieging parties setting camps surrounding the city and digging large defensive trenches around these positions, from where they bombarded the city with trebuchets. The siege would be broken due to a combination of sally efforts by the defenders and widespread disease within the besieging camps, this led the attacking forces to be weak if attacked and left them no choice but to eventually break the siege.
The Conflict
Deployment
The Seige of Asjaer began on the 21st of Saati 7662, when the forces of Grand Duke Arttu I and Surcount Hannu of Sjolund simultaneously began a siege of the city from both the south and north respectively. Surcount Hannu had the lesser force however had a smaller stretch of land from which to siege the city, the general strategy being to cut off all supply to the city while entrenching around the siege camp and constructing bombardment equipment to weaken the cities defences and lower morale amongst its populace. On the southern front, Grand Duke Arttu would take a similar approach but due to the greater distance required, his forces would split into two to cover two sections of gates leading into the city. The entrenchment occurred both to protect the besieging camp from sallying forces from the city and from forces approaching elsewhere from within Aijia. The entrenchment also helped to protect the besieging force from bombardment by the cities defences, however these works took a great number of manpower to achieve, by the siege's conclusion only half of the intended works had been completed.
Battlefield
The land outside of the city of Asjaer is ideal farmland, much of the subtle grassland being used to grow grain, orchards or for pasture land. When the siege was put in place by Grand Duke Arttu, much of his army's position would overlap with the farmland leading to a great area of farmland being turned up, crops cut for use by his army, orchards chopped down to make way for entrenched positions. Eventually, the area surrounding the city was largely trampled by the besieging army and large scars place in the land by the trenches dug as defensive positions.
Conditions
The siege began just as summer approached, ideals conditions for the attackers to dig in and to cut off supplies. Much of the land was well irrigated and soft due to proximity to the river Bryn, as such the Doric sappers had little difficulty building the trenches and the mines. Despite the initial conditions being favourable, as the months passed on without the city conceding defeat, not only the supplies dwindled, but also the weather changed for the worst. Many of those involved in the war attribute the low food supplies of the Doric camp directly to Surcount Eerikki of Rydant who had been an opponent of the war and had refused to provide grain to the war effort. The winter of 7662 brought heavy flooding and caused much of the earthworks built in the Doric camp to become flooded, diseases spreading quickly amongst the men who had been station in such trenchworks. The cold of the winter showed mercy neither, with much of the ground becoming hard underfoot, leaving much of the Doric forces both cold and hungry, if not deathly ill.
Included under Conflict
Conflict Type
Siege
Battlefield Type
Urban
Start Date
21st Saati 7662
Ending Date
8th Tammi 7663
Conflict Result
Siege Broken, Doric Forces in retreat
Location
Comments