Battle of Portusburg

The Battle of Portusburg took place in and around the town of Portusburg, in the Kartek Diarchy, on 8 October 2021, between a Kartek Army under Khan Timmy, Tzar Ferro, and Yiex (who commanded a smaller force) and a rebel army under Wrog. The battle ended in a Kartek victory with Portusburg retaken by the Diarchy and all of the defenders killed.

Background
The Battle of Portusburg was the climax of the Kartek-Portusburg Conflict which began on October 6th when Wrog, then mayor of Portusburg, declared independence against Kartek, against the will of the people. Kartek peace-keepers occupied the city, but Wrog returned with loyal followers after the Kartek forced rallied in Buktenbyen. The Kartek forces then returned and declared war on Wrog who occupied the Portusburg castle.

Opposing Forces
The entire Kartek army numbered over 40, although due to poor communication, discipline, and pre-battle preparations, much of the army was scattered into smaller forces. Yiex led a smaller group within the Kartek army, although many were not aware that they were a separate group which led to much confusion. Meanwhile, Wrog had 3 others defending the castle and another 2 arrived as reinforcements.

Prelude to Battle
About an hour before the battle officially began, Kartek forces rallied at Buktenbyen, before moving on to Swaize Fort. The army then moved to a plateau overlooking Portusburg. However poor communication meant some soldiers didn't meet up with the main army. Meanwhile a small group of defenders stayed at Bukyenbyen in case Wrog attempted a counter attack. When the battle began, there was confusion over whether to attack immediately or hold back, however many eventually charged and took one of the bridges. At this point several conflicting messages went out. Some believed the war had not yet begun, Tzar Ferro ordered the army to regroup at Swaize so the rest of the army could arrive, while Yiex and his men ignored Ferro's order and attacked anyways.

Storming the Castle of Portusburg
Of the 40+ soldiers in the Kartek army, roughly a dozen, led by Yiex stormed the castle. They quickly made their way through the defenses and into the keep before they were engaged by Wrog and 3 other defenders who began using fire arrows against them. Two of the attackers were killed but all of the defenders were killed with Khan Timmy landing the final blow on Wrog who tried to escape. After this, the Yiex's attackers celebrated their victory and secured the castle.

Fighting in the swamps
While some of the soldiers were storming the castle, many others had not yet reached the main army or had regrouped back at Swaize. Due to this confusion, many soldiers did not know where to go and broke off into smaller groups. The defenses of Portusburg meant that getting in was very difficult and many were unable to reach the castle to assist the attackers. At this point, two soldiers who were fighting Wrog arrived and began fighting with the smaller and disorganized bands. The fighting led to the swamps outside of Portusburg where the Kartek forces took some casualties but eventually killed Wrog's reinforcements.

Aftermath
With all of the defenders killed, the attackers were able to regroup inside of the captured Portusburg castle and celebrate their victory. In total the defenders had 4 kills while the attackers had 20, although many of those killed by the attackers were civilians, including Fungus, who was killed many times over. Furthermore, there were reports of some Kartek soldiers looting the city, despite several calls against this behavior by the leaders of the battle. In addition to the 4 dead Kartek soldiers, 1 was temp banned for 3 days, and 1 was perma-banned after an attempted ban evasion. While the battle was a victory for Kartek, many felt that the battle was handled poorly and was extremely disorganized.