Defence of Port Hope

Defence of Port Hope
Part of the Asterian Theatre of the Great War
Clockwise from top left: Troops of the Satavian 4th Division disembark at Port Hope Harbour • Generals Harrison and Warwick surrender to Nuvanian forces • Estmerish forces defend Crayes Knoll • Damage to the starboard side of HMSS McCrory
Date 3-9 April 1928 Location Port Hope, Dominion of Satavia Result Nuvanian victory Territorial changes Nuvanian occupation of Port Hope
Belligerents
Template:Country data Estmere Estmerish Empire Template:Country data Estmere Kingdom of Estmere Dominion of Satavia	Nuvania
Commanders and leaders
Template:Country data Estmere Lord Ashgrove  † Oscar Harrison   James Warwick   Template:Country data Estmere Edgar W. Rose  † Richard de Vit  †	Schalk Barnard Pieter van der Merwe
Strength
12,644 troops 1 cruiser 3 destroyers	26,100 troops 66 planes 1 battleship 1 cruiser 4 destroyers 2 torpedo boats 1 minelayer 2 submarines
Casualties and losses
9,281 killed or missing 1,222 wounded 2,141 captured 1 cruiser sunk 1 destroyer sunk	4,882 killed or missing 7,599 wounded 1 plane destroyed
Civilian casualties: 3,500 killed 6,000 wounded

The Defence of Port Hope (3-9 April 1928), also known as the Fall of Port Hope and sometimes in Satavia as the Last Stand, was a week-long military engagement that took place in and around Port Hope, the capital of the Dominion of Satavia. The fighting around Port Hope was especially fierce and saw the near-complete annihilation of the Satavian 4th Division as well as the Estmerish forces in the city - some 81% of the city's defenders were reported killed or missing after the end of the fighting. The Fall of Port Hope saw the collapse of the Grand Alliance defence of Satavia, and much of the country was swiftly occupied by Nuvanian forces in the following days - except for Victoriaburg in the Western Freestate, where forces under the command of Thaddeus Crace resisted repeated Nuvanian attempts to take the city for a further four months. The fighting destroyed much of Port Hope's historic settlement, most notably Port Hope Castle a 17th-century fortress that was left in ruins after its shelling by Nuvanian forces - in addition to some 3,500 civilian deaths as a result of fierce urban combat.

Satavia had been a dominion of Estmere since the federation of the Satavian colonies in 1816, and consequently, when Estmere entered into the Great War, Satavia was compelled to declare war on the Entente powers. Soon, the historically and culturally linked nations of Nuvania and Satavia found themselves at war. Despite concerns levied by the Governor-General of Satavia Jonty Goodwin, 3rd Baron Ashgrove of a naval invasion across the Van Horn straight, these were largely ignored by Estmerish planners who felt that the Nuvanian Navy could not both defeat the Royal Estmerish and Satavian Navies and then stage a successful naval invasion. Furthermore, Estmerish military commanders also required large quantities of manpower and material to defend Estmere itself and were hesitant to divert resources to the Empire.

However, the Nuvanian Navy was able to engage the Royal Satavian Navy off the coast of Cape Devon on 21 February 1928, inflicting heavy damage upon the Satavian fleet. Whilst the Battle is generally regarded as having ended in a stalemate, it saw much of the Satavian fleet withdraw to Victoriaburg and the main Vehemens naval base at Port Arthur - leaving Port Hope relatively undefended, and effectively granting Nuvanian forces naval supremacy over the Van Horn straight. In addition, Satavia's only aerial support - four squadrons of the Royal Air Force - were withdrawn to Estmere to defend continental Euclea on 6 March.

On 1 April 1928 the Satavian destroyer HMSS Macquarie was sunk by four naval bombers dispatched from Nuvanian airbases around Philipsbaai, whilst the light cruiser HMSS McCrory was damaged and returned to Port Hope for repairs. Two days later, on the morning of the 3 April, a force of some 26,000 Nuvanian troops landed at Missionary Bay, some four kilometres south of King Edward's Mound, which offered a commanding view over the city. The landings were obscured by a thick fog and consequently went unnoticed for some time, and the landings went ahead unopposed. Meanwhile, similar simultaneous strikes occurred across the Hope Province, which saw the entire Cape James peninsula fall by 08:00 that morning. Nuvanian forces assaulted isolated Satavian positions at King Edward's Mound at around 09:30; quickly seizing the key positions overlooking the city. As the situation deteriorated further, General Harrison ordered Lt. Col. Richard de Vit to launch a counter-attack and retake the mound. Despite the protestations of Harrison's second-in-command, Lt. General Warwick, who argued that such an assault would be suicidal as not only did the Nuvanians outnumber Satavian forces, but had had time to dig into defensive positions, Harrison nonetheless ordered De Vit to attack. De Vit, despite his attempts to convince Harrison to delay the attack, carried out his orders regardless, attacking with some seven hundred men; of which forty-eight survived. Despite this disastrous attack, and despite Nuvanian forces advancing from Cape James to surround the city, Harrison continued to focus his attention on King Edward's Mound. At 13:00, the Nuvanian forces, under the command of General Barnard, had manoeuvred artillery onto the heights of King Edward's Mound and had begun shelling the city from above. Soon, Harrison ordered a second attack on the mound - commonly referred to as the "Bloody Assault", led by Colonel Rose and the entire Estmerish contingent of eight hundred troops, supplemented by two hundred Satavian troops, stormed the mound. Despite overrunning several Nuvanian positions at the foot of the mound, the attack soon became a slaughter, leaving all eight hundred Estmerish troops killed or wounded, including Colonel Rose, in addition to most of the Satavians.

By 14:00 that afternoon, it became clear that the city was soon to be encircled - and despite the urging of Lt. Gen. Warwick, Lord Ashgrove - himself a former member of the Estmerish Army - refused to leave the city. By 15:30 the city had been encircled by Nuvanian forces, and large fires had broken out across Kupier district, which sat directly below Kind Edward's Mound and was a prime target for Nuvanian artillery. Initial plans to evacuate by sea were soon foiled by a Nuvanian air attack; the four Royal Satavian Naval vessels sat out at Breybach Bay came under heavy aerial attack by Nuvanian naval bombers; the HMSS Goodwin, which had only been repaired two days prior, was hit by four torpedos to its starboard side and began taking on water. Meanwhile, HMSS Pienaar was sunk after a bomb exploded directly above its ammunition store, killing the whole crew. Despite the ferocious attack, the remaining two destroyers, HMSS Van Vallier and Somerset slipped out of the harbour with minor damage. The captain of the McCrory, who was by now seriously injured, then gave the order to manoeuvre the ship towards the narrow and shallow mouth of Breybach Bay; where she was scuttled by her crew, acting as an impromptu blockship that prevented Nuvanian naval forces from entering Breybach Bay until 17 April.

Fighting continued for the next few days, and no further efforts were made by Satavian forces to retake King Edward's Mound. Several demands of unconditional surrender were rejected by Harrison in the following days. By 7 April, however, Nuvanian forces had seized most of the city, leaving Satavian defenders controlling only the heights at St Stephen's Hill, and the immediate surrounding area - including the Parliament complex, Government House and the fortifications at Port Hope Castle. After attempts to break out of the city in the north at Pine Ridge had failed on 5-6 April, Harrison had descended into a catatonic state and most orders were being given by his second-in-command, Lt. General Warwick. On the night of 7 April, Nuvanian forces launched an all-out assault designed to crush the remaining defenders, who by this stage numbered approximately 4,500 men. By 07:00 on the morning of the 8 April, a firefight had been raging in and around Government House, the residence of the Governor-General. Despite strict orders from Warwick that he should avoid the firefight, Lord Ashgrove helped defend the building until his position was overrun and he was killed. Upon hearing the news that Lord Ashgrove had been killed, Warwick was able to convince an increasingly incapable General Harrison to discuss surrender terms with the Nuvanian army as the situation became increasingly untenable. Harrison, in his capacity as GOC Satavia, agreed to an unconditional surrender of all military forces in Satavia. Harrison officially surrendered at 08:00 on 9 April, ending the Defence of Port Hope. He broadcast the general surrender order some thirty minutes later from the SBC broadcasting station in Port Hope, which had been relatively untouched by the fighting (having been occupied by Nuvanian forces on the first day of the invasion). His orders to surrender were generally obeyed by the army, however, some elements chose to escape to Euclea whilst others, such as the divisions in the Western Freestate, chose to resist the Nuvanian occupation. Meanwhile, the Royal Satavian Navy continued fighting the Nuvanians and on 10 April won a significant naval battle off the coast of Northport, which allowed for the Navy to evacuate military personnel, and members of the Satavian government, from the city of Port Arthur before it was declared a free city and occupied peacefully by Nuvanian forces on 16 April.

The Defence of Port Hope remains a highly-divisive topic; many praise the actions of Generals Harrison and Warwick as an example of stoicism and courage in the face of insurmountable odds, and the battle is one of the most recognisable last stands in modern history. Others, particularly in Estmere, criticise the actions of General Harrison (particularly concerning the two assaults on King Edward's Mound) and decry the huge death toll as entirely unnecessary as they argue the city was destined to fall once it had been encircled. The total defeat of Satavia was a major blow to the Grand Alliance war effort as Estmere's last major colonial possession in the Asterias fell to Entente forces and compounded the Grand Alliance's total defeat in Asteria Inferior.