Siege of Anlaufhafen

Siege of Anlaufhafen
Part of the Alemannic Theater of the First Great War
The destroyed Uusladu District in Anlaufhafen after Hytekojuznik shelling in 1897
Date 19 January 1896 – 21 May 1897 (1 years, 4 months and 3 days) Location Anlaufhafen, Liiduria Result Concordat pyrrhic victory Territorial changes Anlaufhafen placed under Hytekojuznik military occupation
Belligerents
Hytekojuznia	Liiduria
Commanders and leaders
Johannes II Teofilis Vilmanas Arke Visser † Konrad, Count Bridai Oskar Melderis	Alexander II Urmet Sisask Priidu Säraloss Tauno Lippmaa †
Strength
1896: 186,000 in 7 divisions 1897: 460,000 in 15 divisions	1896: 97,000 in 4 divisions 1897: 167,000 in 6 divisions
Casualties and losses
279,000 114,000 KIA 165,000 to disease and famine	49,000 19,000 KIA 30,000 to disease and famine

The Siege of Anlaufhafen was the longest and largest siege of the First Great War, with over 600,000 total personnel involved throughout the siege. The siege lasted from early-1896, when the Kingdom of Hytekojuznia first entered the war, to May 1897, when Anlaufhafen was taken by Hytekojuznik forces. The siege is often regarded as a pyrrhic victory for the Hytekojuznik forces, and began their eventual downfall and surrender to the Leidense-Liidurian Bipartite in 1899.

Background

Upon the outbreak of the war in 1895, Hytekojuznik opinion was divided as to whether to get involved, as the Grand Alliance did not pose a threat to the country. The beginning of costly battles like the Battle of the Azur made many higher-ups in the country sceptical as to whether involvement in the conflict was necessary. As the war grew in size, Liidurian troops were increasingly spread out further as fighting ensued in places like Chokashia, Miersa and Dosceriche; many of which were relocated from the defenses of Anlaufhafen.

Anlaufhafen was a territorial ambition of Hytekojuznia ever since it unified in 1884, and the city was tactically important for Hytekojuznia to reduce Liidurian influence in Alemannia as well as gaining greater control of trade in the Gulf of Alemannia and Strait of Edressder (Anlaufhafen allowed Liiduria to seal off the latter). The city was an important port for the Liidurians and a vital city for their participation in the Alemannic Theater, making the defense of the city of importance to Liiduria. Johannes II, King of Hytekojuznia, approved partial mobilisation on the first day of 1896, and permission for full mobilisation was approved a week later on January 8. Eleven days after full mobilisation approved, the first shells were fired on Anlaufhafen and Hytekojuznia issued a declaration of war to the Leidense-Liidurian Bipartite.

Around 45 kilometres (28 mi) of new trenches were dug in five levels of defense of the city by Liiduria, and these defenses were later aided by around 800 km of barbed wire and fences surrounding the perimeter of the city. The initial military garrison of X as well as X civilians were surrounded by seven Hytekojuznik divisions totalling some 186,000 troops in size. The siege of Anlaufhafen displayed what many had thought to be a problem within the Hytekojuznik armies, orders had to be issued in several languages and racial tensions constantly threatened the organisation, discipline and morale of the besieging armies.

First siege

Vilmanas' portrait, taken in 1895

The first shells were fired on the city on January 19 at just after dawn. Juznik general Teofilis Vilmanas lacked an appropriate number of siege artillery to effectively begin an assault of Anlaufhafen, but he intended to quickly advance on the city and make a large push in an attempt to breach to half-prepared Liidurian defenses before a relief force could be sent. Vilmanas issued several orders to push for the city during the first days of the siege, the first of which came on January 21, where one-and-a-half divisions of around 30,000 men were ordered to attempt to push past the defenses. The push was poorly commanded and led and the disorganised advance was repelled by the Liidurians and forced into a retreat, sustaining around 12,000 casualties by the time the army had retreated to the Hytekojuznik lines. The second and third orders of advanced sustained similar fates, and by the end of January the Hytekojuznik forces had already suffered over 30,000 losses without making any gains.

Artillery pieces arrived from the Hytekojuznik High Command on February 2, although they were still not in sufficient numbers, so Vilmanas retreated and regrouped after the advances and instead ordered for continuous bombardment of the defenses with the new guns. The Liidurian trenches provided basic defenses against the shellings but the defenders still sustained some significant casualties during the bombardment. Vilmanas soon found that ammunition shortages were becoming a regular occurrence as more and more resources were dedicated to fighting in northern Juznia against the Second Leidense Regency. The lack of ammunition coupled with the increasing number of starvation-related casualties of the Hytekojuznik forces caused Vilmanas to lift the siege on April 12, and retreated to the nearby camp in the town of Karšpel to regroup and recuperate the armies. After the lifting of siege, many civilians were evacuated from Anlaufhafen for the safety and also to combat food shortages for the soldiers defending the city.

Hytekojuznik soldiers outside Anlaufhafen

Hytekojuznik tallies vary, but it is agreed that around 55,000-60,000 soldiers died during the first siege phase and advances whilst the army was under the command of Vilmanas, who was relocated to the Hyteko-Leidense Front in late April. The Leidense Regency increased fighting efforts in an attempt to move soldiers away from Anlaufhafen to reduce the size of assaulting armies and temporarily relieve the defenders at Anlaufhafen, but by May the size of the besieging armies had reached ten divisions with around 275,000 troops. A Liidurian relief force arrived in the city during May, and Liidurian general X hoped that the relief force in addition to the soldiers already stationed in Anlaufhafen would be able to deal a significant blow to the advancing Hytekojuznik armies and deter them from launching another siege on the city, although they were unaware of the army's drastic increase in size, which the Liidurian defenders failed to prepare for.

Second siege

Under the new leadership of experienced Belgan general Arke Visser, the Hytekojuznik army of 275,000 advanced towards Anlaufhafen for the second time. With more artillery firepower backing them, as well the inclusion of new 120 and 155mm siege artillery, although in small numbers, the Hytekojuznik morale was high, and a victory was expected in the second phase of the siege. Siege was once again laid on the Liidurian city on June 10, with bombardment from the newer, larger guns being almost immediately. Visser ensured a safe distance was between them and the Liidurian defense outposts in Anlaufhafen, and dug in around 6.5 kilometres from the city. Anlaufhafen was hit with constant shellings and bombardments throughout the months of June and July and it is then that the most civilian casualties were sustained during the siege, with around X estimated to have been killed during the bombardments. On August 5, Visser ordered an advance on the city, the first such one of the second siege phase. The advance included around 78,000 soldiers who marched on the city in three directions, with Visser himself leading the central advance on horseback. The charge order was given in the middle of the day, and the three contingents of the advance charged on the Liidurian defenses. The charge was a crushing defeat, with the Liidurian defenses far outmatching the advances of the Hytekojuznik troops. According to surviving soldiers, Visser is regarded to have severely underestimated the Liidurian defenses and manpower, and that his charge was ultimately unprepared to deal with the Liidurian numbers. Visser survived and retreated, but the army took some 35,000 casualties throughout the charge.

Visser's Stallions, a 1909 painting depicting Visser's second charge

Visser continued to be hopeful, even though his losses during the charge were tremendous, he was aware that he had inflicted a large amount of damage onto the Liidurians, with some soldiers leaving the frontlines to enter the city itself and look for civilians to be evacuated to prevent disease from spreading throughout the city. The Liidurians seldom expected a Hytekojuznik charge the next day, and when Visser commanded a similar-sized charge the next day, they broke through much of the Liidurian defenses and forced the Liidurians to retreat and dig in just outside the city, abandoning four of their five lines of defense during the charge, only losing around 2,000 men. The second charge made Visser a revered hero back in Hytekojuznia and he was to be awarded the highest medal of military honour in Hytekojuznia after the siege's conclusion. Visser bunkered down in the old Liidurian trenches for the rest of the August of 1896 to recover lost morale and also request reinforcements of Hytekojuznik reserves, of which the High Command agreed to send an extra 50,000 soldiers provided that Visser break through the final Liidurian trench lines to allow for a full siege and bombardment of Anlaufhafen to begin. Visser complied, and began preparing for a final charge to be carried out to break through the demoralised and wearied Liidurian defenses. On the evening of September 3, Visser ordered the charge, but miscommunications in orders and a shortage of ammunition made the charge extremely disorganised, with Visser's contingent charging head on into the Liidurian defenses around twenty minutes before his flanks departed, his army of around 4,500 were slaughtered at the hands of Liidurians, with Visser being killed during the charge and the army losing around 80% of its men. Visser was posthumously awarded the King's Medal of Honour for gallantry in the face of an enemy.

The death of Visser prompted the armies to enter a shattered retreat back to the nearby city of Lielostā, however a company of some 35,000 troops dug in further, built makeshift barricades and sent an additional 2,000 artillerymen to operate the large 120mm guns that were positioned around the city. After the retreat, the company, led by Konrad, Count Bridai, stayed fortified in the Liidurian trenches and continued to bombard the city. Konrad's leadership of the company allowed them to repel two separate Liidurian advances to retake the defenses of the city, one on September 9 and one on September 12. The company's success in holding their ground in the city's defenses allowed the artillery regiment some six kilometres away to deal considerable damage to the cities defenses, with some parts of the cities wall crumbling and destroyed by the end of October. The company was ordered by the high command to dig in for the winter, while many soldiers part of Visser's old armies were re-routed to the Leidense front. Around 12,000 of the 35,000 men in Konrad's company died of frostbite, starvation or disease during the winter, and the siege did not resume until April of next year.

Third siege

Once winter had passed, a final army numbering around 460,000 arranged in 15 divisions rejoined Konrad's company in the trenches surrounding the city. The walls of Anlaufhafen had been near-destroyed by the artillery bombardments of the 120mm guns. The army, led by Crown Prince Oskar Melderis arrived on the afternoon of April 19. Melderis summoned Konrad to his headquarters to discuss plans for the assault of Anlaufhafen, the Hytekojuznik forces had the numbers to easily overwhelm the Liidurian remnants in Anlaufhafen. On April 22, a decision was made to begin an assault on the fortress in May, and cavalry flanks would harass Liidurian defenses until then. The 155mm guns regrouped with the 120mm ones to begin a final bombardment of the city and its defenses on April 23, daily shelling throughout the light hours continued for many days after the continuation of the bombardment, while the Hytekojuzniks utilised a tactic that would utilise random night-shelling times, where the artillery corps would notify Melderis of the times of the night-shellings so that the Hytekojuznik forces would expect it. The tactic proved to be extremely effective on the mental state of the Liidurians, increasing fatigue and decreasing morale throughout their camps.

A Hytekojuznik military parade in 1897, after the fall of the city

The gates of Anlaufhafen fell on May 10 when a 155mm shell ripped through the locks on the gates. Upon seeing this, Melderis ordered a full assault of the city, over 250,000 personnel were involved in one of the largest charges in human history. The Liidurians held their ground well and dealt significant casualties to the Hytekojuzniks but the sheer numbers of the army eventually overwhelmed the Liidurian forces later that day. The Liidurians had been routed from their last defense and entered full retreat into the city on the evening of May 10, which Melderis ordered his forces to pursue. Two battles ensued inside the city itself, the first on May 14 and the second on May 17, with individual Liidurian resistance continuing until May 21 when the remaining Liidurian forces in the city, numbering around 40,000, surrendered to the Hytekojuzniks. Among their ranks were four generals, 59 senior officers and around 700 other officers, all of which were sent to prisoner-of-war camps near the city.

Life in Anlaufhafen under siege

While nobody still living today witnessed the siege first-hand, several diaries and personal accounts of civilians within the city have detailed the affects of the siege on Anlaufhafen and the people inside it. One such account, the diary of Liidurian citizen Robert Rebane, revealed the damage that the large Hytekojuznik shells did to the city, recounting that "the shells of the Hytekojuznik guns [often] destroyed whole buildings, shops and factories". Rebane's diary also detailed the gruesome deaths of some civilians who were hit by the shells, comparing their deaths to "disintegrations".

Famine was widespread throughout Anlaufhafen during the siege, and supplies from mainland Liiduria rarely reached the city during the 16 months of the siege, an estimated 24,000 civilians died as a result of starvation or dehydration during the siege. This worsened after the evacuations of Anlaufhafen in the February and March of 1896, and civilians who had not evacuated - either because they had missed the vessels or chose to stay - were scarcely helped by the Liidurian government, with monthly aid ships only rarely reaching the city (either due to mined waters or naval engagements).

Results

The fall of Anlaufhafen led many tacticians to believe that Hytekojuznia could now successfully launch a large offensive into the Leidense Regency to end the Alemannic Theater, but no such large push occurred and the Hyteko-Leidense front remained a costly stalemate. Several Liidurian attempts to retake Anlaufhafen were met with fierce resistance and ultimately ended in failure, with a garrison of over 100,000 being kept at the city of all times. Anlaufhafen allowed the Hytekojuznik Navy to expand operations within the Gulf of Alemannia during the war as well as start a potential blockade against Liiduria, but again, no such blockade took place.

A memorial in Anlaufhafen commemorating the siege

While the siege ended in victory for the Hytekojuzniks, they would sustain casualties that they would ultimately never recover from, with the estimated tally after the siege standing at 279,000, around 20% of the standing Hytekojuznik Army at the time. Ethnic revolts were a large problem for the Hytekojuzniks after Anlaufhafen was taken, with Liidurian revolts in the city occurring but being easily quelled due to the large military presence in the city. These revolts coupled with a sharp increase in Juznik unrest after their people's large losses during the sieges led to several instances of minor revolt, with Johannes II cracking down on dissidence after the siege, including the execution of many Juznik secession figures. Anlaufhafen represented the turning point in the war for the Hytekojuzniks, with most subsequent sieges and offensives ending in failure, most of which were against the Leidense Regency.