The Vasel Incident

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Lieutenant General Sir Ramsey Handel (left), Commander of the Third Zanarkian Imperial Force.
Field Marshall Georg von Damon (right), Commander of the Commonwealth Armies by 1915

The Vasel Incident was a controversy during the First Europan War which had some Commonwealth commanders and armies disobey Georg Von Damon's commands and removed all forms of communication with the Gallian Commander after the events of the Summer '15 Offensive which Von Damon had commanded incompetently that resulted into Allied bloodshed and retreat.

By the end of the Summer '15 Offensive in early October, Several Commonwealth Commanders had begun questioning and criticizing Field Marshal Georg von Damon's command of the whole Commonwealth Army. Von Damon had already been defeated during the early stages of the Barious Offensive of 1914 but under the advice of Governor-General Leopold van Hayek, Von Damon was to maintain his commandeering of the Commonwealth Army but little did Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII and Duke William of Randgriz knew that Von Damon had bribed Leopold.

Zanarkian Commander, Lt. General Sir Ramsey Handel was well aware about the bribe and soon, he had told it to his closest associates and the rumors soon began to spread like wildfire. The King and Duke William were at Africanna when they had found out of Von Damon's bribery. As early as the 9th September of 1915, Ramsey Handel, who Von Damon did not know was aware of his bribery had ordered Ramsey to defend Vasel until he could pull out his forces from the battle area. Handel, however, had been told by his source in Tenebrae that Rowan Percy Argentum, Governor-General and Commander of the Tenebraean Forces were preparing to intervene in the war. Handel decided to hold Vasel, which was near to a port which Argentum could land his troops much easily to which Von Damon (unaware of Argentum's intention) became furious with and threatened to execute the Zanarkian but was prevented to do so by the King and the Duke of Randgriz.

Background

Von Damon had been assigned by early 1915 to command the Commonwealth forces stationed in Gallia by the King under recommendation of Governor-General Leopold van Hayek, who was Von Damon's closest associate and a friend of his father. The King and the Duke became anxious of Von Damon because Von Damon had costed the Commonwealth the defense of the Barious Desert of 1914 to which Rubrumian Commander, Murakamo Susaya managed to replace him and fight back. This made the King to replace Von Damon with Susaya for the rest of the year until 1914, when Susaya became ill and was sent back to Rubrum to be treated. Zanarkian Commander, Lieutenant General Sir Ramsey Handel temporarily replaced him and the King even considered him to be promoted to Major General and to become the commander of the Commonwealth Army. Lucian-Nihonjin General Harry Tachibana was also considered but the King decided to take Tachibana to the Africanna Campaign for a visit.

Von Damon saw his opportunity to make a name for himself and be reinstated to the ranks of the Commonwealth Army by bribing his friend, Governor-General Leopold van Hayek into telling the King that Von Damon had been re-trained for effective command during his station at the Fouzen defences. The King had been convinced to give Von Damon the commander's title. Von Damon took his place by the 10th of February. Ramsey, however became anxious of the King's decision. Von Damon was not expected to take over and Ramsey knew the consequences if the Commonwealth Army would fail.

Unlike Ramsey, Von Damon looked down on the Gallian Militia and looked at them being incapable of winning battles. Allegedly, It has been said that Von Damon liked to use the Gallian Militia to do suicidal task for the benefit of the Central Gallian Army. A thing which Ramsey knew by early March and had to prove it.

Ramsey's Investigation

By the start of the Summer '15 Offensive, Von Damon was facing attacks on three flanks. He relied on defensive lines which were established by Lucian General Harry Tachibana. According to most of the troops which knew Von Damon, his command was too ineffective and described him as being "too defensively and a cowardly bastard hiding behind his nanny's legs". Ramsey had heard of the allegations that Von Damon did use the Militia for a suicidal task during the Fall of Randgriz and on the second time during the Battle of Naggiar. Meanwhile, in the south, Sir Handel was much more successful in preventing the Archadians and the Guadosalam troops to push through the defensive lines that Tachibana had established. But soon, Sir. Handel knew that the line could not take large amounts of punishment and decided to withdraw to Vasel.

On the 15th of July, Von Damon declared Randgriz to be an open city that allowed the Archadians and the Imperials to immediately take over the town. This was a fatal mistake that Von Damon had done. Randgriz had enough defenses but the latter refused to defend it. The troops described it as "The most traitorous move that had been done in the History of Gallia". Randgriz was then partitioned with the north occupied by the Imperials and the South occupied by the Archadians and the Guado. The city had been taken earlier during the Armato Offensive. Throughout June to September, Von Damon had repeatedly regrouped and attacked but had been mostly a disaster.

By late August, Commonwealth Commanders started to question the authority of Von Damon's Command. Many troops had lost their lives because of him and some almost had died. Allegedly, Gallian General, Brig. General Edward O'Hara refused to follow orders to send the Militia to clear the way for Von Damon's counterattack which Von Damon was confident with. O'Hara refused to have the order issued and instead, placed most of the Gallian Militia under the Third Zanarkian Imperial Force to which Sir Handel gratefully received O'Hara's support.

On the 2nd of September, Rumors started to spread among the Commonwealth chain of command that Von Damon had bribed van Hayek into persuading King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII and Duke William of Randgriz into reinstating him back into the Commonwealth command after Von Damon had successfully trained recruits and their success in the Naggiar Plains, which, by the 6th had been actually proven false by Sir Handel. He had found out when the Gallian troops in Naggiar were beaten back repeatedly and its captain had reported to him that they were ill-equipped and lacked training. He knew that von Damon and van Hayek tricked both the King and the Duke into reinstating him. Sir. Handel decided to prove that his accusations were right.

Immediately, Sir. Handel warned the other Commonwealth commanders who were not loyal to von Damon about the bribery. Rubrumian commander, Lt. General Jean-Guy Sugita, the aide to Maj. General Murakamo Susaya became aware of it and knew from the start that von Damon was not supposed to be commanding the Commonwealth Army and has ever since had prevented him to command the First Rubrumian Army, Which he had assumed command after Susaya had been sent home to recover. Sugita was the first Commonwealth Commander to break away from von Damon's chain of command even if Sir Handel's investigation and accusation had not yet been proven.

Sir. Handel had tried to persuade several Commonwealth commanders to break away from von Damon to which 60% of them answered that they would rather stick with the man who the King and the Duke had assigned. In fact, they had told von Damon about it and most of them persuaded him to have Sir. Handel be executed for treason to which von Damon dismissed until the 9th of October when he had found out of Sir. Handel's disobedience and permanent break away from his Chain of command.

By the 4th of September, All of the Zanarkian Commanders, armies and troops had broke away from von Damon and joined Handel and Sugita's combined Zanarkian and Rubrumian force and were much more successful in defending Vasel to which von Damon saw his chance to withdraw and leaving the rest to be captured. On the 6th of September, Edward O'Hara, who von Damon thought he still had O'Hara's loyalty despite his disobedience had ordered him to send a message to Sir. Handel to defend Vasel for 4 weeks until his armies could pull out of the battle sites. O'Hara was suspicious and guessed that this was to trick the Commonwealth commanders and troops into defending Vasel then letting them get captured by the Imperials and the Archadians as punishment for their disobedience.

Little did von Damon knew that O'Hara had been acting Sir. Handel's agent and at the same time, his own officer in battle. O'Hara soon found out that Von Damon had indeed bribed van Hayek after he had swapped an envelop for another one during his visit to his office. The envelop had contained von Damon's letter to van Hayek. The bribery totaled to 500,000 Ducats (250,000 Lucian Gils).

I must clear my name of these rumors and accusations. I know more than the other Commonwealth commanders and even had been a Lanseal graduate just like my father had been and as you had known him. I employ you to write a letter of persuasion to the King and the Duke to have me reinstated as the Overall commander of the Commonwealth forces in Gallia. In exchange, I shall be paying you back a full and total sum of 500,000 Ducats for your support and cooperation. Think wisely and may my father remind you.

—Georg von Damon's letter to Governor-General Leopold van Hayek, dated 13 April, X841

Immediately, O'Hara returned back to Sir. Handel and warned him about the letter and Sir. Handel's accusations were all correct.

The Break Away

By the 7th of September, All of O'Hara's troops, including Gallian militias Squad 1 to 500 (totaling to 9750 troops) as well as a Gallian armored battalion and himself slowly and quietly broke away from von Damon's command. Rubrumian General Jonathan Simmonds, whose Rubrumian IV Corps was still in von Damon's command had broken away by the 10th of September. Lucian General Frederick Horrocks's XXX Corps, who he had been providing von Damon with Armored Support broke away by the 12th of September (He had recently recovered from a bout of fever after hearing the incident.), resulting to von Damon losing his Armored support greatly.

From the 20th September to the 30th, There had been incidents of many troops abandoning von Damon's formation and linking up with Sir. Handel's Army in the south. However, these troops only counted up to 5,500 while the others remained loyal to von Damon and viewed that he was the proper overall commander and not Sir. Handel, who they thought was too incapable of winning battles. Despite these, There were a lot of officers that considered Sir. Handel as the proper overall commander.

After finding out that it was geniune, Lt. General Mark Alexander and his XX Corps broke away from von Damon on the 1st of October, in which his formation was the last to join with Sir. Handel's Formation of Zanarkians, Rubrumians, Lucians and Gallians. By the 15th of October, The Summer Offensive had ended and Sir. Handel's force had just grown to just 27,000 - 37,000.

The King along with Lucian General Harry Tachibana, Duke William and Gallian General Roald Kankukken heard of von Damon's bribery and did not acted on the incident until their return after the push to Messino in Archadian Arithea.

Aftermath

Von Damon and Van Hayek soon learn of the desertion of the troops to fight at Sir. Handel's Formation. This pressured them to release several parties of Gallian MP's to arrest Sir. Handel and bring him to Fouzen where he was to be questioned, interrogated, put on trial and have him executed for the charges of treason and desertion. However, The Gallian MP's also disobeyed him and instead, recognized Sir. Handel as the Overall Commander of the Commonwealth Forces. They had secretly bought supplies and food for the Vasel Defenders without von Damon's consent.

The news of that the Tenebraeans were going to intervene soon in the war arrived Sir. Handel which was indeed true. He immediately wrote back to Argentum that he will hold an area where he could be able to land and relieve the Commonwealth Forces in Gallia.

Sir. Handel's effective handling of the Commonwealth Forces had contributed to his success in the upcoming Siege of Vasel that lasted for 8 months until the Tenebraeans finally arrived and relieved the Commonwealth forces. The King and his staff personally congratulated Sir. Handel and was awarded the Georgius Cross for his leadership in defending Vasel until a relief force arrived and was promoted to Major General. Von Damon on the other had was dishonorably removed from his command and reduced to a commander of the home guard towards the end of the war.