Battle of Gwryeng'-'an Palace

Battle of Gwrjing'-'an Palace
Part of Pan-Septentrion War
Date Nov. 10, 1942 Location Gwrjing'-'an Palace, Blim-tsi' Prefecture, Themiclesia Result Gentlemen-at-Arms victory
Belligerents
Themiclesia Dayashina	Themiclesia
Commanders and leaders
Nagami no Komaro (永海小万呂, みずみのこまろ)	Law Ljak-gwring (翱亦衡), Privy Councillor
Units involved
Themiclesian Marines under Dayashinese control	Themiclesian Marines not under Dayashinese control Gentlemen-at-Arms
Strength
45	57 Enclosure-Gentlemen 82 Corridor-Gentlemen 243 Gentlemen-at-Large
Casualties and losses
29 dead, 7 injured	181 dead, 152 injured

The Battle of Gwrjing'-'an Palace (永安宮之役, Gwrjing'-'an-kjung-tje-lik) was contested on Mar. 10, 1942 between the Gentlemen-at-Arms (郎, rang) and a small group of Themiclesian Marines (舫冗人, pjang-njung-njing) under Dayashinese control. The Dayashinese Imperial Special Operations Group (D/ISOG) infiltrated the Themiclesian Marine Corps starting in 1939 and, using it as a source of weapons and opportunity, made several attempts on the Emperor's life. The Gentlemen-at-Arms are the ceremonial guard of the Emperor. Engagement occurred near the Front Hall of the Gwrjing'-'an Palace and lasted slightly less than an hour, both belligerents nearly annihilated. While the Dayashinese infiltrators possessed rifles and pistols, the Gentlemen-at-Arms were armed only with jade-tipped spears, shields, and bronze swords and possessed limited mounts.

Background

On Jan. 11, 1936, conscription came into effect in Themiclesia to raise soldiers against the encroaching Menghean expedition army, which first engaged Themiclesia's forces in Dzhungestan in 1933 and had been successful in pushing the front westwards since. However, since 1935, the Themiclesian Army had requested permission to conscript, which the government rejected as diplomatically dangerous, thinking it may provoke Menghe to pursue a similar policy, which would only dwarf whatever Themiclesia could muster. To satisfy shortages in personnel, the Ministry of War resorted to conscripting various already-mustered groups, such as the Royal Engineers (who served the royal house and are not analogous to engineers in the military), the Royal Guards, the Capital Defence Force (then an autonomous part of the Army), and even parts of the Kien-k'ang Metropolitan Police. Two of the Navy's three regiments of marines were conscripted, for similar reasons, in mid-1935. In 1937, government policy placed the Navy in charge of coastal defence, having ruled out a naval engagement on the high seas.

The Army's haphazard pre-1936 conscription policy left various unplanned vacancies in Themiclesia's defences and other public services. Rather than returning the conscripted units to their original places, the Army decided these units were seasoned and could not be replaced with inexperienced conscripts in the short term. Hence, these positions were left vacant through the war, and some were outright abolished afterwards. The Themiclesian Marines however, were an exception; the Navy, to satisfy its task of coastal defence, required a certain amount of land forces, and in 1937 they decided to replace the two regiments of marines that had, in 1935, been conscripted. As the statutes preferentially conscripted only one man from each household (mainly to maintain family trades) and only those who have completed compulsory education in Themiclesia, most newly-immigrated Dayashinese and Menghean families were effectively exempt from conscription. Though the Army welcomed volunteers, many immigrants failed to demonstrate fluency in Shinasthana and were thus declined to serve. The Navy, which had dealt with multilingualism before, eagerly recruited these individuals; the Admiralty held that, as long as unit commanders were able to communicate with other commanders, it did not matter as much for the recruits to speak the official language fluently.

In 1938, the government printed a speech by the Prime Minister, in which the enlistment of Menghean immigrants was said to be "irrefutable proof that Menghe's people support Themiclesia's cause in the war, irrespective of nationality". The following year, when Dayashina declared war on Themiclesia, a virtually identical speech was printed, with the Prime Minister expressing deep regrets and calling on the Dayashinese government to "follow the will and free conscience of its natives that now serve in Themiclesia". To further the effects of the speech, the Themiclesian Air Force dropped pamphlets with photographs of the 4th and 5th Regiment of Marines—primarily Dayashinese-born—with large signs that poked fun at various faults of the Imperial Dayashinese Army, including corporeal punishment, poor ration variation, and garrison hygiene problems. The IDA leadership was incensed at these individuals, some believing their relatives should be punished for their "desertion". After the Dayashinese government has de-classified records relating to the D/ISOG in the 1950s, it emerged that D/ISOG had plans to target the Dayashinese population in the 4th and 5th Regiments as early as 1938, before war was even declared, though first infiltrators did not arrive until 1939. Early missions attempted to persuade Dayashinese-born marines to quit the force, but D/ISOG soon realized the potential of having its infiltrators as rear-line troops in Themiclesia.

Infiltrating the Themiclesian Marines was only possible peacemeal and easily detected. This is not because the Cabinet Office, which oversaw security and intelligence, monitored the force unusually closely, but because the subjects of subversion—Dayashinese-born marines—ardently disliked Dayashina and hardly hesitated to report them. Oomiya Minamitake (大宮南武) was the first member of the force to report infiltrators to the authorities; in rather broken Shinasthana, he submitted a paper to the Tribune of Invigilation. Reportedly, his paper was thrown into the rejection bin for poor handwriting, until the sortion clerk knocked over the bin and mixed its contents with those to be forwarded; Oomiya's paper was reread and realized for its significance. The person reported, Hamada Yoshinosuke (浜田吉之介), was arrested for questioning but never tried, leaving the service in 1944 with full honours; he has since maintained the report was perjurious, and that Oomiya was himself possibly a Dayashinese agent. Realizing that inciting large-scale defection was fundamentally impossible, D/ISOG turned to sabotage and assassination. After the start of the war, the residence and transport of government ministers was kept secret and arranged from the Cabinet Office, out of the infiltrators' reach. The only dignitary who enjoyed a public profile and had a fixed residence was Themiclesia's 24-year-old emperor, Shljaps-tsung.

Prior to the events at the Gwrjing'-'an Palace, Dayashinese infiltrators had attempted several assassination attempts, the one most nearly successful occurring in Rjem-hme' Palace in early 1941. Then, Yamabe Oshimaro managed to form a two-man team and forced 13 other marines to join them. At the last moment, the 13 defected from Yamabe but were unable to apprehend him. He subsequently invaded the Front Hall of the Rjem-hme' Palace and caused at least a dozen casualties before apprehension. The Palace, located in Blim-tsi City, which the Marine Corps controlled and patrolled, was adjudged too convenient for assassination attempts. As a result, the Emperor was moved to Gwrjing'-'an Palace in May 1942; it was several stops by express train away and remote enough that irregular traffic would be obvious. On the one hand, Gwrjing'-'an suffered from lack of security like Rjem-hme', since the palace's guard battalion was conscripted into the Themiclesian Army as part of the Emperor's drive to contribute to the war effort. On the other hand, it also had only one gate per layer of walls, since no roads approached it from the north, east, or west; the Cabinet Office believed this made it much easier to defend. For several months, the palace was subject to no attempts to break in.

Gwrjing'-'an Palace

Main article: Gwrjing'-'an Palace

Rough layout of the Gwrjing'-'an Palace in 1942

See also: List of palaces in Themiclesia

The Gwrjing'-'an Palace (永安宮, gwrjing'-'an-kjung) was built in the 13th century as a summer retreat for Emperor Mrjang of the Ngwjeih Dynasty (reigned 1223–47). In the 14th century, it was almost completely rebuilt as the seat of Retired Emperor Tjaw (reigned 1345–48, d. 1372); as the official residence of a former emperor, the layout of the palace was changed to allow for more office space, housing his household and court. Previously, the palace had much more green space. Since that point, it has often reverted to a summer resort for emperors and empress dowagers, since it had sufficient space for at least the senior parts of the government to follow.

The layout of the palace, after rebuilding in the 1300s, follows the classic three-layered citadel plan typical of Themiclesial royal palaces. Unlike most other palaces, Gwrjing'-'an was not further enclosed within a set of defensive city walls, since it was built in a rather remote area with little civilian presence. Until the 1800s, the palace stood in rather thick woods, though subsequent development has transformed the surrounded area into a village with some stores lining the exterior of the palace's walls. Within the outer walls, a second set of walls formed a nested square; in the medieval period, the office spaces within the second set of walls would have been populated by civil servants who followed the monarch to the retreat, but by the modern period these have largely been transformed into gardens. A third set of walls delimited the "Front Hall" of the Gwrjing'-'an Palace, raised off the ground by three meters. Upon the Front Hall sat the Gwrjing'-'an Hall (永安殿, gwrjing'-'an-dens, lit. "Hall of Perpetual Peace"), the mall hall of the palace. Two walls extended from the sides of the hall to split the Front Hall into the courtyard before the main hall and the rear court; the main hall was where the emperor held formal audiences, and the rear court, where he lived. In the rear court, a semi-formal venue called the Hall of Erecting Flowers (建華殿, kjans-gwra-dens) and the bedchamber the Hall of Cool (清涼殿, tsjing-rjang-dens) stood.

Aftermath and trials

For the Gentlemen-at-Arms

Shortly after the battle, the Themiclesian press popularized the theory that the battle "destroyed Themiclesia's future leadership". The Gentlemen-at-Arms are considered the premier source of the Civil Service's elite recruits. Seven-eighths of the Gentlemen-at-Arms perished in the battle, giving the impression that the Civil Service would experience difficulty recruiting its top members for years to come. However, the reality is not as drastic as printed. The turnover rate of the Gentlemen-at-Arms was very high, as a new cohort of 100 or so would be produced as a consequence of each general election. Theoretically, this meant the effects of the massacre would last no longer than three or four general elections; however, the willingness of recruits to become Gentlemen-at-Arms nosedived after the incident. Previously, it was considered a time-consuming but necessary step towards a high-flying career in the Service. The battle exposed the inherent risks in the position, which the system did not address.

For some months, the government adivsed news agencies to refrain publishing stories about the state of the Gentlemen-at-Arms, who were seen as a symbol of the social elite. Though silenced in Themiclesia, it generate discussion abroad over the future of the institution. A former ambassador to Themiclesia, Henry Carisle, wrote that if the Gentlemen-at-Arms could be trusted over the monarch's life, then there should be no pragmatic objection against giving them updated weapons; conversely, if they could not, then they should not be stationed around the monarch in that role. Themiclesian diplomat Tan Hlas replied defending the institution, noting that each Gentleman has invested in an openwork saddle, jade-inlay scabbard, and jade-tipped spear (worth more than $30,000 in 2019). The Gentlemen-at-Arms themselves expect a future career in the Civil Service and had parents and other relatives in its higher echelons. The first condition weeded out those begrudged to society, while the second ensured their loyalty towards the Crown. Carisle conceded to Tan's analysis but considered the practice "byzantine".

For the Marines

The 3rd Regiment (Star Chasers) appeared largely uninterested in the prevalence of infiltrators in the 4th and 5th Regiments; in typical Star Chaser suave, the Colonel of the 3rd Regiment said, "This is a problem but not our problem."

On a deeper level, the Government would not (or could not—according to some sources) to pursue any systematic measure against infiltrators. In 1937 and 1939, the Prime Minister had printed speeches that attacked the racism and xenophobia of Menghe and Dayashina, respectively; lacking a good way to tell infiltrator apart from ordinary members of the Marine Corps, the only way to remove all infiltrators would be to remove all Dayashinese-born marines, which would appear xenophobic and defeat the Government's propaganda campaign. Moreover, Dayashinese immigrants had become a key part of Themiclesian society, and the Prime Minister was concerned that fissures would result if all Dayashinese-born marines were under suspicion and that their distaste for Dayashina and affection for Themiclesia would be extinguished. The Secretary of State for the Navy concurred with him that a method for catching infiltrators would emerge sooner or later, and the loyalty of the majority should not be questioned.

The Government's position was received well initially, but between five separate attempts on the Emperor's life and twenty-nine acts of destruction of public facilities, MPs from Blim-tsi Prefecture began to express concerns for the allegiances of the 4th and 5th in the Council of Protonotaries. The Dayashinese Parliamentary Lobby was horrified by this development and asked the Clerk of the Council not to publish their speeches. The Navy Secretary summoned the DPL's Chairman and explained they could not prevent an MP's speeches, but there was no plan devised to find and remove infiltrators. The Chairman laid before on the Navy Secretary that if nothing was done soon, public opinion would swing against the Dayashinese community; the Navy Secretary candidly revealed that if anything was done, the Government flirted with humiliation. He said to the Chairman, "At some point, you must solve the problems even if you didn't cause them; just like we, and by that I mean all of us, naturalized and native, you and I, must fight Menghe and Dayashina, even if we never asked for it." The DPL wrote a mass letter to the 4th and 5th Regiments:

... though you are not at the front, you are currently engaged in another battle with your native countries or your parents' native countries. The Imperial Dayashinese Army is launching a direct attack against you and your families, not with bullets but with slander. They strive in the shadows to confuse you with their ilk and condemn you in the eyes of the innocent. So far, we have relied upon the Government, in a world of suspicion and prejudice, to receive fair treatment and all rights of native-born Themiclesians. Yet should the IDA be successful, Themiclesia, now stretched to her limits in man, resource, and spirit, may turn against both you and us, your parents, offspring, friends, and neighbours. As this letter is delivered before you, patience and goodwill is wearing dangerously thin. This Suzukian design is not any less pernicious than the most grueling battle. Therefore, let your spirits be high and nerves alert, and know whom you fight—the infiltrator in the shadows.

Your parents or you yourselves have made the choice to live in this country, and we are in Themiclesia with her natives together, each bearing the same responsibility to defend a future which we have chosen as ours. This is not a matter of loyalty to a distant liege but of the dignity of your choice and survival of your person. We shall make known to Suzuki and his like that we are free and not by him to be toyed. Without the walls of your garrisons, by us, and within them, by you, we shall teach him the weight of our choice and how we abide by them. You are not grasping at a vague, distant, formless enemy, but one that appears before your faces and is now at work imminently to destroy people you know and love. They may not point their barrels at you, but they seek to destroy you, those whom you care about, and your freedom; therefore, destroy them whenever and wherever you find them. A soldier on the front is not limited to using his rifle: fists and grenades are fair game. The same goes for you. Show no mercy, much less complacency. Seek them out.

See also

• Themiclesia