Battle of the Burning Bay

Battle of the Burning Bay
Part of the Hamlet-Vythan Subjugation war
Date 13 October 1211 Location Rëvdalmir Bay, Vythe Result Decisive Vythan victory
Belligerents
Template:Country data Vythe	Neuewland
Commanders and leaders
Template:Country data Vythe Flr. Duslir den Luäsi Template:Country data Vythe Vlr. Gövhen den Vythe	Rz. Ghoor Zudabitiin  † Jtl Kiirn Ghazatiin  (POW)
Strength
110 Junks 220 smaller vessels 17,000 soldiers	50 Xighiits 150 Xataans 250 Ghonts 15000 mercenaries
Casualties and losses
16 Junks destroyed 170 smaller vessels destroyed 6,600 killed/wounded	15 Xighiits destroyed, 15 captured 83 Xataans destroyed, 17 captured 200 Ghonts destroyed 50 captured 10,000 mercenaries killed/captured, 15,000 Neuew killed/captured

The Battle of the Burning Bay was a major naval and land engagement in the Hamlet-Vythan Subjugation war, fought on 13 October 1211. It was the only major battle of the war, as it drove the Neuew from Velutaria without any preceding battles. After a Neuew forward contingent had hired 15,000 mercenaries from the city-state of Ygrahn, the host had set out to ravage the Vythan realm and draw their army into pitched battle. Meanwhile, a Neuew fleet composed of 450 ships, including 50 Xighiits, the sturdiest vessels in the world at the time, was set to rendezvous with the lightly armored mercenaries and bolster them with a large force of Neuew heavy infantry, arbalesters, and cavalry.

The Vythans, hearing of the Neuew fleet inbound, set out to try and attack the fleet, while at the same time, deployed a large force to fight the Neuew host. The host and the army met in a pitched battle, with the Vythans inflicting massive casualties on the Neuew host, while the Neuew fleet was crippled in an ambush. The total dead later stacked up to a 3.8:1 casualty ratio between the Neuew and the Vythans, despite the Neuew fleet largely outnumbering the Vythan fleet and the land combatants being evenly matched.

Background

In August of 1211, a forward Neuew force arrived at the city-state of Ygrahn, a major trading port with large contingents of mercenaries. After some bargaining, the Neuew hired a large host of mercenaries numbering in the 15,000s and set them out with Neuew nobles to ravage the lands. Assigned to this host was Jaatlist Kiirn Ghazatiin, a young Neuew noble who had set out on the expedition in the hopes of carving out a viceroyalty for himself to rule as an independent tributary to the Hamlet empire. The Neuew goal of the host was to ravage the Vythan landscape and draw the Vythans into a pitched battle, where it was hoped that the Neuew could overwhelm the Vythans. After this, the Neuew would force the Vythan realm into becoming a tributary to the Hamlets, providing gold and resources to fund further imperial expeditions.

Meanwhile, the Neuew vanguard fleet regrouped with the main fleet, forming a force of over 450 warships, including some of the most expensive vessels in the entire Empire. Known as Xighiits, these massive, 40-50 meter long vessels were designed to shrug off enemy crossbow fire, while causing massive amounts of damage with a multitude of siege equipment. Equipped with arbalests and scorpions as armament to deter smaller vessels, each vessel carried a large piece of siege equipment, usually a deck-mounted mangonel or bow-mounted springald, although some vessels carried ballistae, catapults, and even one vessel is known to have carried a torsion-powered battering ram. The fleet was expected to be more than a match for the Vythan fleet, and this belief is what caused the head of the entire expedition, Riirz Ghoor Zudabitiin, to engage in the actions that led to his demise and the collapse of the expedition.

The Battle

At 4:00 in the morning, a small picket unit detected a vanguard force of 4,000 Vythan swordsmen, spearmen, and archers converging on the camp. Quickly, battle lines began to form among the drowsy mercenary force, with the lines finished forming at around 4:20 in the morning. Only around half of the mercenary cavalry were able to mount in the short span of time the battle lines were formed, with the other half forming an ad-hoc unit of light swordsmen and skirmishers. This later would prove crucial. At around 4:25, the Vythan line unexpectedly retreated, drawing out a majority of the Neuew troops. A reserve line of around 4,000 men remained at camp, leaving the other 11,000 soldiers chasing down the Vythan line. 5 minutes later, a screening force of 20 skirmishers reported that a force of 7,000 Vythan knights was flanking the Neuew force and heading to the camp. 10 minutes later, the knights unexpectedly encountered the surprised reserve line of the Neuew. After a mere 30 minutes of fighting, the Neuew reserve line routed, with over 1,000 killed by the heavily armed knights. The knights then swept into the camp, leaving a small contingent to search it and find any intelligence they could, while the rest moved to surround the Neuew main line. Meanwhile, at 4:45, the Neuew main line had encountered a line of over 10,000 Vythan infantry and archers, including many units of heavy infantry, something the Neuew were lacking. Nevertheless, the Neuew line held while their reservist counterparts were fighting the Vythan knights. The Neuew light cavalry pushed a line straight through the Vythans at around 5:00, and the battle looked to be going in favor of the Neuew. However, half an hour later, 6,000 knights crashed into the rear of the Neuew force, having left 1,000 of their kin searching the Neuew camp. Within 45 minutes, the Neuew mercenaries had surrendered, having lost 9,000 soldiers in the fight. Only 2,000 remained of this force, including the Jaatlist Ghazatiin, who had surrendered after his personal bodyguard was surrounded. Meanwhile, in the camp, the knights found startling news: a force of over 20,000 Neuew soldiers, including heavy infantry and highly trained arbalesters, was set to land at the bay in a mere 45 minutes. With no time to spare, messengers were dispatched to the Vythan fleet lying in wait nearby.

At 7:00 AM, the Neuew fleet reached the bay. Seeing a force of what looked to be friendly mercenaries on shore, the Riirz Zudabitiin dispatched 10 Xataan vessels, each carrying around 120 Neuew troops, to the shore. As the Neuew troops dismounted the vessels, they were greeted with swords and arrows, the Vythans revealing themselves. As the troops aboard the preliminary vessels were captured, the Riirz ordered a withdrawal, realizing what he had drawn himself into. Hoping to reach friendly shores back at Ygrahn, he ordered his fleet into a tight formation, with the Xighiits forming the bulwark of the formation. In the 15 minutes that followed, no Vythan vessels revealed themselves. It was only when the formation had reached the opening of the bay into the open ocean that the hostile fleet appeared. Although the ships appeared much smaller and weaker than the Neuew fleet, the Riirz ordered them to stay in a tight formation, although he ordered ships behind the Xighiits to form a wide line formation. The Ghonts in the fleet were dispatched to harass the Vythans with fire archers, and the fleet action began.

As the vessels began to close the distance, Neuew mangonels and Springalds opened fire, the Springald aboard the Riirz's flagship firing 10 kilogram bolts at the enemy vessels. Several large Junks were destroyed by these opening volleys, along with multiple smaller vessels, although the Vythans were not deterred. As they closed to crossbow range, both fleets opened up with scorpios and crossbows, many ships taking damage from these volleys. Many Neuew ghonts were sunk while closing the distance to the Vythan fleet, single scorpio bolts being enough to sink the small boats. Nevertheless, many ghonts made it to the fleet, and began spreading chaos, flaming arrows being launched by them into the Vythan battle line. Meanwhile, at the main line, crossbows bolts punctured holes into the smaller Xataans, while the same bolts bounced harmlessly off the thick larch bows of the Xighiits. As the battle progressed and the Vythans were kept at range, many of the smaller vessels being sunk, the Riirz began to gain hope that the Neuew fleet would break out. However, at around 10:30 AM, the Vythan line rushed the Neuew line, and upon closing within 15 meters of the Neuew line, unleashed a terrifying weapon. From handheld launchers and ship-mounted siphons, a type of sticky fire was launched upon the vessels of the outer Neuew line. Lighting man and ship alike ablaze, the fire was not doused by water. A large number of Xataans were sunk within the next hour as fire consumed the vessels, along with 10 Xighiits. However, the remaining vessels formed into a dense square formation, and kept the Vythan vessels at bay. At 11:45, all Neuew hope of victory was lost as the Riirz was killed in his commanding office aboard the flagship, as a scorpio bolt punctured the thinly protected side of his vessel and caused a large number of splinters to spray into the room, including a large one which, by sheer chance, cut his throat and killed him on the spot. As the Neuew vessels heard of their leader's demise, terror overtook the crews, and around 30 of the remaining Xataans and another 7 Xighiits were lost as the Vythans closed in once again.

At 12:15, half an hour later, a desperate order was given out. The vessels were to ram through the Vythan encirclement, and break into the open ocean. The vessels, understanding their dire circumstances, set on a collision course with the portion of the Vythan fleet blocking their exit. The lead ships, a line of 8 Xighiits, opened fire with Mangonels, scorpios, and arbalests on the blocking ships, and sunk or damaged a large number. However, as they rammed through the enemy vessels, 3 Xighiits were set alight upon crashing into pots of Vythan fire on the vessels. These ships peeled off and rammed into surrounding vessels, setting a large number of smaller Vythan vessels alight. As the Neuew fleet peeled off, a small force attacked the 25 Xataans at the rear, setting 15 alight and leaving 10 left. Half of these 10 that were left escaped, while the other 5 were forced to surrender. The remains of the Neuew fleet sailed off in the direction of Ygrahn.

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the disastrous battle, a mere 20 Xighiits and 50 Xataans remained, a small portion of the fleet that had arrived. All 250 ghonts had been sunk or captured, 30 Xighiits were gone, and 2/3rds of the Xataans did not make a portion of the Neuew fleet any longer. As they returned to Ygrahn, the authorities of the city ordered them to leave, interning the 3 Xighiits and 5 Xataans that attempted to land. The return to Neuewland was also a treacherous journey, with a large hurricane sinking 2 more Xighiits and 10 more Xataans. 3 months later, as the fleet returned to Dawidsburg just before the ports froze, a mere 15 Xighiits and 35 Xataans remained. The Hamlet attempt to subjugate the Vythans had failed, and a second expedition was never attempted. Trade, however, blossomed in the wake of the defeat, and for the next few centuries, Neuew ships routinely made runs to the kingdoms in northeastern Meredonne. However, gunpowder was a commodity traders to Meredonne were not allowed to carry, lest the Neuew wished to subjugate Velutaria at a later date and held the advantage over them merely with their gunpowder artillery.