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The
wars of Ruthopheax I in detail
2. The War against State "E"
A. 630 - 631
The war between Ruthopheax and Crechonni
- the conquest of the states of Atlantis by Ruthopheax,
630 - 631
The assassination of General Treckol in 629 by agents of Crechonni's led immediately to Louron taking control of State "C"
and declaring war on State "E". All this time there had been
hatred between the two States, on State "E"'s side, caused
partly by Crechonni's fury at Louron's seizure of Atlantis city ahead of him,
and partly by Treckol and Louron's assumption that they should now rule
the whole of the Provinces of Tuainn- and Nundatlantis. On Treckol's side,
he wanted to see the armies of Crechonni withdrawn from the Atlantis states
and was willing to grant him territory in Atlantidieh in exchange. Crechonni
refused any compromise and hoped that by killing Treckol, State
"C" would fall to pieces. But he reckoned without Louron, who
immediately seized power, declared war on Crechonni shortly after and then by
his strategic genius would conquer the whole of "E"'s
territories within four years.
There was an unofficial line separating Louron's armies to the south from Crechonni's to the north, which ran all the way from Cennatlantis (in
Louron's hands) westwards via Failrunn (also Louron's), across the Rollepp
south of Gentes, north of the Lillerunix and into Tuainnatlantis north of
Yeldis and on to Atlantis (also Louron's). In the far east, the two blocs
were also adjacent: "C" held Meistayieh, while to its north lay
Dravidieh II, in "E"'s hands. In April of 630 Louron
struck without any warning from several different directions against Crechonni's armies. Two armies from Cennatlantis and Yeldis
(each about 25000) marched in a
pincer movement on "E" forces (35000) around Failrun, where they were
observing Atlantis. In the First Battle of Failrun, Crechonni's army
was defeated and it retreated north-east on Fourtis, where another army
was positioned. A third army of about 30000 moved up the Cresslepp from Helvris aiming
for Cennatlantis. The reason for this was that Cennatlantis was very
isolated and soon after the war began, "E" forces crossed the
Dodolla, surrounded the city and began to besiege it. (Second Siege of
Cennatlantis, 630/633). A little later Crechonni tried to completely clear Louron's forces from Atlantidieh by
seizing their outpost on the hills at Failrunn. Forces from Rundes in one
direction and Gentes in the other, a total of 40000, converged on Failrunn and in the Second
Battle of Failrunn defeated "C", which only had 20000 men.
Its remnants retreated off
to the south. To take advantage of Crechonni's denuding of his army at
Gentes, a third "C" force of about 25000 marched north from Runnouth on Gentes,
but was unable to take the city.
In the west, Louron marched with his victorious armies on the heels of Crechonni's army to Fourtis
(Crechonni himself never came near the fighting, but
Louron led his main army throughout these wars). The army from Fourtis
marched west to meet it but was defeated by Louron's superior numbers and
forced back on Fourtis again. It now seemed that "E"'s two
armies (40000) stationed north of the Bore, where they were observing the
frontier, might be cut off. They were ordered south to join the main
armies. The eastern one moved to Angahuth on the Rollepp, while the
western one marched south on Buatslepre, to join the main force at
Fourtis. However it came up against a flanking force of Louron's, and after an initial success, was chased away by reinforcements. It retired to
Angahuth as well. For a month or two now, Louron halted and worked out his
next plan. In August he struck. He crossed the river Bore well south of
Fourtis with 45000 men, while at the same time a force of 30000 from Tuellouth and Lillouth moved
north-east towards the Rollepp. The main "E" army from Fourtis
hastily retired towards Tilrase, leaving a garrison in the city which was
soon forced to surrender. There now began the decisive series of
operations and battles in the area west of Tilrase during September 630.
Firstly the main "E" army from Fourtis was joined by the
considerable forces from Angahuth and the combined force of some 55000 struck Louron a
serious blow. He was forced to retreat some way. Independently of this, a
force of 27000 of Crechonni's men from Tilrase, learning of the approach of Louron's armies
from the Lillerunix, marched through the Failfembe woods to attack it from
the north. It was outnumbered, and after initial success, it was defeated and forced back on
Tilrase. Meanwhile Louron collected his army, hit back at "E"
and in the decisive Third Battle of Tilrase completely defeated the
enemy. Much of "E"'s force was nevertheless able to escape east
over the Rollepp and then make its way back to the strong defences at
Tilrase. The war now ground to a halt on this front. To the east, Louron's
Helvris army had approached Cennatlantis from the south, trying to relieve
it, but could not force its way through Crechonni's blockaders. Further
east still, there was skirmishing across the border of the Provinces of
Meistayieh and Dravidieh II, and Crechonni's armies gained some territory.
Hostilities
trickled on until the beginning of 631, then both sides agreed to a
ceasefire. However two years of discussion could not bring about peace. Crechonni
eventually agreed to giving the two Atlantis Provinces to Louron if
he could have Atlantidieh - but that would have to include Cennatlantis -
and Louron steadfastly refused to give this up. So the scene was
eventually set for further fighting in 633.
B. 633
Ruthopheax I's war against State E,
part 1: 633
2. Ruthopheax's conquest of Atlantidieh, 633
Once again Ruthopheax gained the initiative over Crechonni and struck
first. Over the couple of years of peace, he built up his armies by
conscripting the middle and upper classes of Atlantis - everyone who had
supported the Republicans, all the lower classes and all inhabitants of
the larger towns were kept out of the armies and were indeed suffering
ever-increasing persecution. He had a force of 40000 on the western bank
of the river Rollepp, opposite Tilrase, another 40000 further south
opposite Gentes, about 30000 in north Helvrieh, 20000 within Cennatlantis
and an army of 35000 south of the Cresslepp. Small forces faced
"E" in Meistayieh while a growing internal force of military
police kept guard within Atlantis and Helvrieh.
20000 of the force facing Gentes was moved surreptitiously and before
the war had started, south and east to join the 30000 already in north
Helvrieh. This army then began, in March, by moving into Failbloua,
cutting the communications between "E"'s army at Gentes and
their forces further east around Failrunn and Cennatlantis. As Ruthopheax
anticipated, part of the army defending Gentes was quickly marched east to
confront the intruders at Failbloua, while another 20000 men moved on them
from Failrunn, the opposite direction. Ruthopheax's next step to force his
way over the Rollepp was to move 25000 men of the army opposite Tilrase
about 60 miles south. At the same time the remainder of the army opposite
Gentes moved north, also to cross the river. The defenders along this part
of the river first moved south and countered this threat, but this of
course allowed the northern force from west of Tilrase to get over the
river. The defenders were then defeated and forced to retreat east on
Yalgor. It was followed by Ruthopheax's Tilrase army and defeated again,
when it made a stand at Ancahouth.
Meanwhile to the south, the army which had crossed the Rollepp north of
Gentes, accompanied by Louron himself, forced back the army in that town,
which had already been depleted when half of it had gone to face the
attack at Failbloua. Louron's armies there had already managed to throw
back the attackers from Failrunn and then those from Gentes. Louron's
Gentes force now turned up and completed the rout of the enemy (Battle
of Failbloua). The next three months, until July, saw Louron's armies
occupy the rest of Atlantidieh. In the north, his forces moved on to face
and then besiege Gasirotto. In the centre, the same happened to Rundes. To
the south, where another attempt to relieve the Siege of Cennatlantis from
the south had failed, Louron's armies moved on via Failrunn and in a final
fight outside Cennatlantis, forced Crechonni's armies back across the
Dodolla.
For the next stage of Ruthopheax's wars against State E,
go to: Ruthopheax I's wars against State E, 2- 634
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