Capture of Zarthalin

Capture of Zarthalin
Part of the War of the Velaran Succession
Date 21 February — 31 March 1769 Location Zarthalin, Retikh Result Ja'ekhan victory
Belligerents
Ja'ekha	Isles of Velar
Commanders and leaders
Kenti of Ja'ekha	Atnas Laidakon
Strength
23,300	16,200

The Capture of Zarthalin (Trellinese: Vurisan Zarthalika; Urbonic: Zarthalkon Pera) was the culmination of the First Siege of Zarthalin, a major action early in the War of the Velaran Succession. Forty thousand soldiers took part in the siege, which saw the key port city, Retikh's capital, fall to the pro-Trellin armies of Kenti of Ja'ekha after a six-week siege.

Zarthalin was a staunchly Miróist city; even before the death of Queen Tarien its political elite had denounced the union of the Trellinese and Velaran crowns and petitioned to be granted independence. The commander of its garrison, Atnas Laidakon, was the most senior commander in Velar's mainland territories and had pledged to defend Zarthalin against any effort to deprive it of its unique civic liberties. Zarthalin was also regarded as the most strategically important city in either Retikh or Pelna and was thus the main target for Grand Duke Kenti's campaign.

Miróists in Parthenope and Txir hoped that a lengthy siege of Zarthalin would buy them time to land armies in their mainland provinces and prosecute a counter-offensive. To their horror, Kenti captured the city in under two months, when all had expected it to last at least six. Laidakon abandoned the citadel while street-fighting continued, acquired reinforcements and began his own siege of Zarthalin. This attempt to recapture the city was repulsed after two months; his second attempt, assisted by general Kúfet Heruyel, was similarly rebuffed. A fourth and final skirmish the following year was the last Velaran attempt to retake the Retikan capital before the province was abandoned.

Background

Zarthalin was a chartered city, one of only two in the province of Retikh, meaning that its burghers enjoyed considerable autonomy from the parliament and crown. A rich political tradition of estates, with petty merchant-princes, the city's clergy and the general public voting on civic laws, had evolved since its establishment under the County of Pelna, and Zarthalin was often vocally dissident in the nation's politics. No city under the Sidereal Crown enjoyed comparable freedoms, and other independent (or quasi-independent) cities had seen their privileges stripped when annexed by Trellin in centuries passed. Even while Tarien remained alive, emissaries from the city had unsuccessfully petitioned the royal court to grant Zarthalin its formal independence from the "frightening and ill-boding union of our crown to the Trellinese tyranny." These fears lessened over time but did not disappear, and they were brought abruptly back to the fore when Tarien died suddenly. As one burgher summarised their fears in the run-up to the siege, "Should Elcmar's daughter wear our crown, it will not go well for us."

Princess Azara, Elcmar IV's sole child by his first marriage, was not initially expected to inherit the Velaran throne. The Velaran nobles had been counting on Elcmar predeceasing Queen Tarien, whereupon she would presumably have named her second daughter, Ryarna, Duchess of Tkena (the elder daughter having married a minor Nikolian nobleman), or her son Modriq as heir to the Velaran throne. Tarien's sudden death in January 1769 plunged the court and parliament into chaos; they sought reassurances from Elcmar that Azara would not be named as Velar's heir. A Zarthaline prince was among the delegation that travelled to Mar'theqa. Elcmar refused the petition, however, and the Velarans selected Tarien's first cousin Prince Miró of Txir to claim the throne instead. War was now inevitable, and it was formally declared on 23 January 1769.

Prelude

Zarthalin had been heavily fortified in the late middle ages but, like many other Velaran cities, its fortifications had only been upgraded piecemeal in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Considerable urbanisation had taken place outside the existing circuit of walls, which nevertheless encircled the entire city proper, and a clear pale was maintained between the walls and any outbuildings. Formidable bastions overlooked the main approaches, on the east and west roads, and the comparatively modern Vingate Fortress (Urbonic: Timarsamaron Veron), built in the 1720s, guarded the north road to Kyeret.

When war broke out, General Atnas Laidakon held seniority in Velar's northern, mainland provinces, where he had been stationed for about twenty years. His command post was in Zarthalin, and had come to sympathise with the local population's fear of foreign interference. Before his appointment as senior, Laidakon had promised Zarthaline leaders that he would defend their city's ancient privileges. He stated on several occasions that his highest loyalty was to the integrity of Velaran constitutional instruments and the freedoms that existed beside it. Thus, when war loomed, there was a strong expectation that Laidakon would declare his support for Miró. Within days of its outbreak, commanders from across the province had rallied at Zarthalin. Laidakon reassured the citizenry that he would uphold his promise to defend Zarthalin. After consulting with his subordinates, he set out on 27 January with 20,000 men, marching east to stave off the most immediate threat: Kenti of Ja'ekha.

Kenti, the grand duke of Ja'ekha, was a close ally of the Trellinese king and was among the first to act on the outbreak of war. He gathered an army at Meharz and advanced on Laidakon, who had crossed the Flotir. The two armies clashed on 6 February in the Battles of the Fords of Flotir, the first major land battle of the war. The battle was a disaster for Laidakon, as Kenti inflicted four thousand casualties on the Velarans and took over a thousand more prisoner. Laidakon barely managed to prevent a rout, and he was unable to make a second stand against the Ja'ekhans. Instead, he continued to withdraw before Kenti's advance, offering minimal resistance throughout his 200-kilometre (120 mi) retreat, all the way to Zarthalin. The result stunned the Velaran provinces and smothered any possibility of resistance in its cot. The city of Konoros, despite having declared for Miró when Laidakon marched east to the Flotir, left its gates open to Kenti's army as he marched west. Retikh east of the Sarma was quiet as the armies marched to Zarthalin.

Laidakon reached the city on 20 February with more than 14,000 men. This brought its garrison to 16,200. As Kenti drew close to the city he had some 23,300 men under his command, and had forty cannon with him.

The siege

Encirclement

Kenti was wary as he besieged Zarthalin, expecting to be harried by Miróist insurgents or to be attacked by the large army of Kúfet Heruyel, who was based in Zynaza. He therefore kept large numbers of scouts active throughout the region, refusing to be caught unawares. Even his tenuous supply lines remained largely unharried, however. The Velarans of eastern Retikh had been overawed by Kenti's victory at the Flotir, and many, particularly near the frontier, preferred to acquiesce to Trellinese rule rather than risk their lives or livelihoods in resistance. A significant minority even chose to fight in support of Elcmar's claim.

Storming the breach

Street-fighting men

Aftermath

Subsequent sieges

• Second Siege of Zarthalin: April?-June?
• Third Siege of Zarthalin: September?-2 February 1770 with 18,000 men
• Limiykla's Tryst

Treatment

• What happens to the city/burghers/charter under Elcmar and Azara? cf. the amnesty