Battle Of Jorvick

The Battle of Jorvick took place on July 31st 2021, and was the largest, and final, battle of The War of Drakaen Succession. It was fought between the City-State of Jorvick, which had recently merged with the mysterious state of Mugen, and The Coalition of The Bay of Peace (later became The League of Vircon), which consisted of Saror Haven, Smegsland and Puerto Amarillo (later became The Republic of Amarillo). It saw a victory for Jorvick and Mugen after intense fighting within the city, resulting in an astonishingly high casualty rate. This was caused by many factors, but the most prominent one was the bandit raid that took place halfway through the battle.

Pre-Battle
Following the previous battles of The War of Drakaen Succession, the Coalition's army had been exhausted. It had repelled enemy attacks into Saror Haven, however at a high casualty rate, especially Saror Haven's own army, which was well known for having incompetent generals and commanders. Following Saror Haven's crippling defeat at the Battle of Treelords, the Coalition knew they had to inflict a heavy defeat on Jorvick and Mugen if they wanted any chance to win the war. As a result, Coalition leadership, including Hulmeswar, mcats, Garold Smegsint, Soronaca Trichech i and Salazar Van den Green (who acted as head of Amarillo's army in Lhytt Poliorcetes' absence), met at Port Haven to decide their course of action. Most of the discussions were Saror Haven's leaders acting impulsively and stating that the war was lost, and other Coalition leaders calming them down. Eventually, it was decided that what remained of Coalition forces would attack Jorvick under the cover of night, and take the city with minimal casualties. Most of the Coalition's standing army were to be committed to this attack, so it was ultimately a huge gamble.

Meanwhile, Jorvick and Mugen's leadership, Carthago Delenda, Bedaer and Arugo met in Jorvick to discuss their plan of action. They decided that they would consolidate their forces after the victory at Treelords, and plan an attack on the city of Gold Haven, capital of Saror Haven. Being the side currently winning the war, they felt that more time could be spent planning the attack, to ensure that it would succeed. Even so, a large garrison of mainly Jorvickian troops was stationed in the city of Jorvick, mainly to prepare for the eventual attack on Gold Haven. However, they had no way of anticipating the Coalition attack that was incoming.

Coalition forces rallied at Port Haven, or what remained of it, and prepared to march on Jorvick. The plan was relayed to the commanders and generals, and after several motivational speeches from Coalition leadership to the troops, the army set off to battle.

Opening Conflict
As Coalition troops marched, they were kept out of sight of Jorvickian watchtowers and patrols. Eventually, they made it to Jorvick itself, undetected. They used Siege to climb the walls. The plan was to capture all Jorvickian government buildings and barracks, and force the government to sign a peace deal. Thus far, the plan had been a success.

However, Saror Haven commander MrAnanas, known to be a poor military leader, made the decision to blow the Jorvickian gates to pieces, for reasons that, to this day, are a mystery. The explosion caused considerable damage to its surroundings and killed many soldiers, both Coalition and Jorvickian. This move completely blew the Coalition's cover, as all Jorvickian and Mugen troops for miles heard the explosion coming from the city. All quickly rushed to the city to defend it. MrAnanas and a group of Coalition troops were almost immediately attacked at the gates and were struck down. MrAnanas fled.

Now, suddenly, the Coalition was trapped in Jorvick, surrounded by enemy soldiers. Their only chance now was to either take the city and force a lenient armistice, or fight their way back to friendly lines...

Height of the Battle
What was supposed to be the ultimate victory for the Coalition became a struggle for survival, as Jorvickian and Mugen troops closed in on Jorvick, who saw this as an opportunity to win the war decisively. As enemy soldiers began pouring into Jorvick, the Coalition ordered their troops to take defensive positions in the nearby buildings. Amarillian and Smegan troops were well organised and trained, and managed to fall back quickly. Saror Haven, however, made up the majority of Coalition forces in the city, and their overall ineffectiveness was beginning to show. Jorvickian and Mugen forces began to pick holes in the Sarorian lines, and as a result, there were heavy casualties. With Sarorian troops dropping like flies, Salazar Van den Green and Soronaca Trichechi gave the order for the remainder of Coalition troops to fight their way to the gaping hole where the Jorvickian gate once was. This all out assault was no longer a plan to take the city, but to escape.

Coalition forces hit hard at Jorvickian lines near the Sarorian formation, inflicting many casualties and forcing them to fall back. Bedaer ordered his troops to take position near the ruined gate, anticipating the Coalition forces to make their way there. While fighting continued in the heart of the city, chaos erupted outside of it. A large amount of bandits began pouring into the city in what seemed to be a pre-meditated attack. Jorvickian troops took many casualties as the bandits looted and ransacked homes in the city. They also began attacking soldiers and picking armour off of them. By now, both sides were suffering heavy losses. However, the Coalition saw this raid as an opportunity to slip away, and launched an all out attack on Bedaer's formation at the ruined gate. Ultimately, while better equipped, the Jorvickian troops were heavily outnumbered, and were quickly overran. what remained of the Coalition's forces fled into the woods around the city, and made their way to Sarorian lines. Even in their absence, fighting continued in Jorvick, as bandits continued their assualt. However, without the Coalition to deal with, the bandits were quickly driven from the city.

The result was clear. Both sides has suffered many losses, but the Coalition's army was in ruins. The vast majority of Saror Haven's army was now gone, and Amarillo & Smegsland has suffered heavy losses too. Amarillo ordered their troops back across the Strait of Vircon in anticipation of a Jorvickian-Mugen counter-attack. Smegan forces also returned to their homeland in southern Drakaesland to resupply. Saror Haven's lines were now completely exposed. The Battle of Jorvick had ended in a Jorvickian-Mugen victory, and as a result, the War would end that way too.

Conclusion
Following the Battle, Jorvick and Mugen went on an all out offensive across Saror Haven, who's leader, mcats, had vanished, and been replaced by Awwmanboi. All major cities fell with almost no resistance, but there remained some fighting in the countryside. The remainder of the Coalition signed a separate peace with Jorvick & Mugen, agreeing to recognise their claims over Saror Haven and in return, they would have to make no concessions. Saror Haven claimed its allies had abandoned it, but there was no longer anything they could do. Awwmanboi announced the dismantling of Saror Haven, and he and the remaining leadership fled the region. This marked the conclusion of The War of Drakaen Succession.

Cultural legacy
The battle of Jorvick deeply marked the minds of all Drakaen people, especially of course those from Amarillo, Jorvick, New Haven, and the Smegslands. Because of this war, and especially this battle, Amarillians held a grudge against Jorvickans for a long time, until Catania, bringing Jorvick with her, became closer to Amarillo and the whole League of Vircon, eventually joining it. This war is also the main reasons for Amarillo's hatred towards Mugen, which, even though Mugen seems not to exist anymore, remains to this day. From the Jorvickan side, the battle is seen as a victory, even though a very costly one. It didn't have such an important impact on the Smegans, and since New Haven was completely dissolved after the battle, and their culture destroyed, it didn't leave a mark on it either.

Representation in literature
Two authors described the battle of Jorvick in their work.

The first one is Tiffany Canalopin, the last autarch, in two of her books : The Fall of Drakaes, part of the book talking about the battle itself, and After Drakaes part 1, talking about what happened to Tiffany right after the battle.

The second author is Soronaca Aulian, in his book The Walrus, part 1, where the battle is entirely related from his point of view, the precise description of the battle ending before its end since he was injured and passed out.