Battle of Neukromore

The Battle of Neukromore, also known as the Siege of Neukromore, was the second confrontation of the Second Sand War. Following a failed Red League offensive into the city of Perria, Coalition forces responded by launching a counter-offensive against the city of Neukromore, to great success.

Aftermath of Perria
Seeking to aid the rebels of the city of Anatonia (also known as Vividstadt), Kanzler Wolfgang Godd-Fjell sought to gain an early victory against the Silver League by besieging and infiltrating the city of Perria. Perria, a stronghold in the northwest of the Pale, would have given the Volksrepublik Merkonis the upper hand in control over the surrounding region as well as allowing for the creation of a reliable supply chain to Vividstadt. With the offensive's failure at the Battle of Perria, Merkonis was left on the defensive.

The Coalition, meanwhile, had viewed the defense of Perria as a significant victory. While the Merkonisan army and its hired mercenary groups weakened, the general sentiment across the Coalition was one of confidence as most felt that an offensive into Merkonisan soil would be more than likely to succeed. As such, the armies would be re-mobilized to launch an attack into Neukromore, in the hopes of finally taking it after failing to capture the city during the previous battle.

Battle Plans
For the sake of national security, both sides have withheld information relevant to this section from being released to the public. Anticipating a Coalition attack on Neukromore, the Merkonisan government began preparing defenses on the southern end of the city to repel an attack coming from their southern border. A line of defense was established in the plains between Perria and Neukromore, in the form of a cobblestone wall. The Coalition, meanwhile, had mostly improved on restructuring their army into four groups:


 * Alpha Team: Also known as the A-Team, the Alpha Team would, once again, be responsible for spearheading the offensive. Led by Pale Councilor Seny, the goal of the Alpha Team was to siege and capture Neukromore.
 * A branch of elite Zamotz Union soldiers from the city of Historia, led by Commander Einar, would coordinate separately from the Alpha Team but work with them in their movements.
 * Blue Team: Composed of another section of the army that wished to defend or were not sufficiently prepared to join the Alpha Team, the Blue Team manned the northern walls of Perria. Their orders for the battle were primarily to shoot the enemy when able to and defend the city if it ever came under attack. This team would be led by Grand Knight DarkWolfD of Lutum.
 * Red Team: With a composition of soldiers similar to that of Blue Team, the Red Team manned the southern walls of Perria as well as rooftops across the city's buildings and walls. These were the primary defenders of the city, aiding where needed and also being the first to respond if the city is ever breached. This group would be led by the Former King of Lutum, Blue Arbiter, who had previously led Blue Team during the Battle of Perria.
 * Charlie Team: A new detachment, this group of soldiers would not see direct combat but rather provide logistical support to the Coalition forces, resupplying whenever and whereever it would be needed. This group would be led by Governor Innos of the Zamotz Union, who played a significant role in the Battle of Perria in resupplying the army but believed that the system was in dire need of improvement.

Methods
The Battle of Neukromore saw less direct combat than the Battle of Perria. Red League soldiers relied primarily on their defenses to gain an advantage over the Coalition forces, and thus were less willing to commit to a direct encounter unless if their odds of killing an enemy soldier were likely. However, hit and run attacks, or the act of one or multiple soldiers of one side chasing an enemy soldier behind frontlines in the hopes of killing the enemy soldier, still occurred. The Red League army employed a tactic of trapping the enemy in combat. By luring a Coalition soldier to engage in a hit and run attack, the Red League forces would proceed to cut off the soldier's means of escape and swarm them, killing the soldier.

Capturing territory worked similarly to the Battle of Perria. To capture territory in another city, the attacking party must place a capture block in the defending party's territory; then, they must secure the region for a sufficient period of time (depending on the number of soldiers on their side) without being repelled by the enemy. Should the attackers be repulsed from the capture block, their attack would be unsuccessful. Should the attackers maintain their position around the capture block long enough, part of the defending city's territory becomes unclaimed and susceptible to looting and breaking. While the Red League was not focused on capturing the city of Perria for this battle, the Coalition forces would rely on capturing land to make crucial breakthroughs and to ultimately capture the city of Neukromore entirely.

Both sides also employed flanking, to varying degrees of success. In this battle, it is a tactic where one side sends a detachment of soldiers to go around the frontlines and strike the enemy from the sides, in the hopes of either distracting the enemy forces, killing and weakening soldiers from the enemy army, or infiltrating the enemy city without directly confronting enemy forces.

First Advance (2:35-2:45 PM)
The battle would be marked by the Coalition's Alpha Team charging from Perria to the defensive line set by the Red League. The outskirts of the defensive line were quickly captured by the Coalition, meeting little resistance in the form of flanking attacks by the Red League's forces. However, upon reaching the walls, the Coalition's offensive quickly backfired. Not only did the Red League's defenses hold against the attack, but the Coalition also saw a surge in casualties. Soldiers from the Coalition were lured to cross the wall to attack soldiers, and upon being trapped, their chances of escape were virtually none. Eventually, Seny opted to withdraw from the attack temporarily and to re-maneuver the Alpha Team.

The Flank Attack (2:45-3:00 PM)
Seny decided to split Alpha Team into two groups. Group #1 would focus on capturing & infiltrating the southern wall. Having elite soldiers on this group, it was hoped that they would be able to infiltrate or at least distract the forces whilst Seny led a flank. The flanking force, known as Group #2, would capture territory north & west of the frontlines, leaving the entire western section of Neukromore, including the city itself, vulnerable to infiltration. The flank would prove to change the tides of the battle, as the Red League's forces struggled to hold the line against Group #1, with their defensive line being broken at roughly 2:55 PM. Group #2, meanwhile, would successfully breach the walls of Neukromore's castle and begin to seize control over the city at 3:00 PM, simultaneously flanking the main Red League forces from behind.

The Prince's Raid (2:50-2:55 PM)
The High Prince of Kaanyiu, May, singlehandedly flanked the Coalition forces in Perria by forming a makeshift bridge over the berry bush obstacles and scaling the walls. They proceeded to fight and kill two Coalition soldiers, attracting more attention to their breach. The Red Team was dispatched to handle the threat, but the High Prince would escape with their life after scaling the walls and returning in the direction they had come from. This attack, though a minor victory, would be the only successful Red League attack in the battle.

Collapse of Neukromore (3:00-3:34 PM)
After both groups of the Alpha Team had breached Neukromore, the Red League's forces were unable to handle the threat posed by both sides. With their defenses shattered, casualties for the Red League soared, including ErrorL being critically injured whilst fighting in combat, leaving only astapf as the only commander left as all other commanders had retreated, been killed, or got wounded. Those left fighting did not have the ability to stop the advancing forces and by the end of the battle, the city of Neukromore had been secured under Coalition forces.

Casualties
The casualties in this battle were lower due to an overall lower number of soldiers on each side. The Coalition suffered a modest 21 deaths, whilst the Red League suffered 45 deaths. The combined 66 deaths from the battle itself barely surpassed the Coalition's death count of 64 in the Battle of Perria, and did not come close to the Red League's death count in that battle.

Post-Battle Raid
Despite his severe injuries, ErrorL recovered fairly quickly and would go on to coordinate a raid against Pale civilians who were responsible for cleaning the battlefield. The raid was a success, with several Pale citizens being slaughtered by ErrorL's forces.

Strategic Impact
Although the city of Neukromore is low in population and is a relatively inconsequential loss for Merkonis as far as resources go, its strategic location gives the Coalition two advantages it had previously lacked. Firstly, the Merkonisan city of Kriegstadt is now surrounded by Coalition territory; it is vulnerable to an attack from any direction and its defense would be incredibly difficult for the Red League, especially in its current state, to maintain. Moreover, the capture of Neukromore gives the Coalition a clear line of sight to the Merkonisan capital city of Oblitus Oris. Should Merkonis not surrender beforehand, the Coalition must capture the city to secure a total victory in the war.

The defeat also raises additional problems for Merkonis. Should Neukromore not be recaptured, Merkonis will be unable to reliably launch any attacks on Coalition nations, let alone aid its allies in Vividstadt or Lafros. The loss of Neukromore also puts its entire south, not just Kriegstadt, under risk of Coalition attack. Most of the country outside of Oblitus Oris is now vulnerable or under direct Coalition control.

Political Impact
Internationally, the defeat only adds concern for the viability of Merkonis in its entirety. Already in dire financial straits revealed through a scandal regarding the Merkonis Cacti Exports company, which provides the majority of funds to Merkonis, the country has not shown any signs of financial recovery. Coalition officials have expressed a common belief that Merkonis is struggling to pay its mercenaries and is instead relying on future promises of payment to maintain support. Should this be the case, the loss of this battle puts Merkonis's ability to repay its mercenaries into further doubt. These effects also spread to Vividstadt and Lafros, both reliant on a Merkonisan victory to continue the war effort.