Battle of Qanteng
Battle of Qanteng | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Qanteng War | |||||||
| |||||||
Combatants | |||||||
Reichskrieg | Elodia | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Roland von Scheifer | Gaius Publius Cornelianus | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Approx. 13,000 garrison troops 7 warships |
Approx. 15,000 Elodian troops 5 warships | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
12,981 dead or wounded 3 warships sunk 4 missing |
11,237 dead or wounded 4 warships sunk 67 missing |
The Battle of Qanteng, also known as the First Battle of Qanteng, was the opening battle of the larger Qanteng War. The siege was waged by Elodia against the Reichskrieger colonial garrison of Friedrichsburg. Rogue Elodian artillery brigades began shelling of Qanteng- also known as Friedrichsburg- at around 1:00AM on the morning of January 16th without official authorisation from their commanders, and the garrison of Friedrichsburg responded by returning fire. By 6:00AM, both Elodian and Reichskrieger forces were engaged in combat around the boundaries of the Port Friedrich colony. The battle would start the Qanteng War and provoke a declaration of war from the Empire of Reichskrieg against the Celestial Empire.
Causes of the Battle
The Valmerian power of Reichskrieg had long held an interest in carving out colonies wherever they could, as their colonial empire paled in comparison to that of Great Tarst and Morsain. Indeed, this colonial ambition had led the Celestial Squadron of the Reichskrieger Navy, commanded by Admiral Roland von Scheifer, to seize the port city of Falkenberg and integrate it into the Reichskrieger empire.
In late 1910, Reichskrieg also obtained the port settlement of Qanteng through a deal with the military junta that had taken power in the Celestial Empire. It was this port that sparked the war.
Following the Luhai Crisis of late 1910, the greatly-weakened Celestial Squadron of Reichskrieg returned to their berths in Port Friedrich.