Battle of Fort Tremblay

Battle of Fort Tremblay
Part of War of the Usurper and the Siege of Telora
Capture of Fort Tremblay, by Verandus Rouse
Date 1 June - 4 June 1888 Location Telora, Aquitayne Result Cassonnaise victory
Belligerents
Cassonne	Aquitayne
Commanders and leaders
General Favreau  † Colonel Marchand Colonel Leclerc	General Nilsson Colonel Pessolano Major Venuti †
Strength
20,000 men 60 guns	4,000 defenders 20 guns
Casualties and losses
4,300 dead 3,200 wounded	2,300 combat losses 1,050 wounded 500 dead from disease

The Battle of Fort Tremblay (1 June 1888 - 4 June 1888) was the bombardment and ground assault of Fort Tremblay on the northern outskirts of Telora, by Cassonne. It ended with its surrender by the Aquitaynian Army, beginning the Siege of Telora.

Background

Battle of King's Bay

Main article: Battle of King's Bay

The Battle of King's Bay was a strategic defeat by Aquitaynian naval forces stationed around Telora. The destruction of Aquitayne's Home Fleet lead to the entire coastline being made vulnerable to invasion, which Cassonne took full advantage of. Admiral Kon'rei famously attempted a charging maneuver at the Cassonnaise gunboat screen at the mouth of the harbor, exposing his ships and men to a deluge of broadside fire from the Cassonnaise fleet. Kon'rei himself survived the attack, though he lost 10 of his ships in the process and over 7,000 sailors. The fleet was stationed in the harbor for shore leave as well as much-needed maintenance on the somewhat ageing group of ships. The battle is widely considered as the Aquitaynian Navy's defeat in history.

Bombardment

The bombardment of Fort Tremblay began around 9am, during the waning hour of the Battle of King's Bay. The protected cruiser MNC Acheron along with the gunboats Andromaque and Armide began firing on Fort Tremblay with a combined nine 6-inch guns and ten 5-inch guns. An estimated 650 rounds of munitions were fired at Fort Tremblay in the first hour of the bombardment, with additional ships taking part after the conclusion of the battle around 10am that morning. The protected cruisers Aigle and Vulcan also began using their 6-inch guns to volley rounds into the fort, with an estimated 3,000 rounds being fired before the landing ships Borda and Cassard made landfall around 11am that morning.

Amphibious assault

The Second Regiment Royal Dragoons disembarked from the landing craft and immediately made their way across the beach to the thick walls of the fort.

Second wave

After the initial assault was held back by the Aquitaynian defenders, additional rounds of bombardments zeroing in on the fortress walls began. Around three hours of bombardment occurred, with over 5,000 shells being fired at Fort Tremblay in addition to the first bombardment. Much of the fort was already in ruins by this time, though the deep infantry quarters underneath the fort provided some shelter to the defenders during the attack. Following the conclusion of the aerial barrage, the Cassonnaise Dragoons again assaulted the fort, this time breaching the inner walls.

Firce hand-to-hand fighting occurred, and miraculously the Aquitaynians were able to repel the Cassonnaise troops back out of the fort due to their unfamiliarty with the inner layout of the garrison. There were calls of confusion from the First Battalion commanders as they became disoreiented in the fighting and found themselves wedged between two Aquitaynian units. They attempted to retreat, but the trumpet commands were overheard by the rest of the attacking force and a massive withdrawal began before Colonel Marchand could countermand the order.

Counterassault

After the Cassonnaise retreat, the Aquitaynian garrison commanders quickly realized their losses were surmounting their ability to defend the fort indefinitely. Major Venuti recommended a counterassault to General Nilsson, making the argument that the only way to defend the fort entirely was to drive the Cassonnaise back into the sea. While there was some merit to his argument, Colonel Pessalano advised holding the fort was their best chance of survival, and a counterassault would only serve to weaken the brigade's fighting efficiency further. Reportedly, the three commanders met for roughly three hours discussing their tactical situation before General Nilsson finally sided with Major Venuti and ordered the counterassault to begin at sundown.

The Aquitaynian First Infantry Regiment would lead the assault, headed by Major Venuti himself. Colonel Pessalano acted as the reserve and General Nilsson the fallback element should the need arise. Major Venuti ordered his men out of Fort Tremblay and down the hillside towards the Cassonnaise encampment. The Cassonnaise troops were initially caught off guard by the assault, but quickly recovered and formed their battle lines effectively. Major Venuti lead the 1st Regiment directly into the Cassonnaise Dragoons, despite not having any cavalry to cover his flanks due to the initial bombardment of the Fort. Colonel Pessalano divided his 2nd Regiment into two battalions acting as flanking guards for Major Venuti's central advance, substituting his men for the flexibility of cavalry.

After about a half hour of fighting, the 7th Cassonnaise Cavalry Regiment appeared from a secondary encampment and assaulted Colonel Pessalano's guard units. Almost immediately the battalions routed, leaving Major Venuti's flanks open for an encirclement. After the Cassonnaise cavalry finished their envelopment, they surrounded the 1st Regiment and attacked its rear echelon to devestating effect. Its estimated that over half of the total Aquitaynian casualties from the entire battle occurred during this single engagement.

General Nilsson reportedly watched the battle unfold, and supposedly it was during this flanking maneuver that he understood he had no option but to surrender Fort Tremblay the following morning.

Surrender

After three days of fierce fighting, and the combat ability of the Aquitaynian garrison decreased by over one-third, General Nilsson ordered the surrender of the fort to Cassonnaise forces at 6pm on 4 June 1888. Colonel Marchand accepted Nilsson's surrender and the Aquitaynian garrison were crammd into the undersized prison cells at the bottom of the fort, except for the wounded. Reports indicate the conditions in the cells were horrendous, and although the prisoners were given food and water, the cells remained overcrowded for weeks after the surrender of the fort. It wasn't until mid-August when Colonel Marchand ordered the soldiers to rebuild the fort from the battle damage that they were released from the cells at all. It's estimated an additional 500 men died during their imprisonment from the beginning of June to mid-August.

Aftermath

With the defeat of the garrison at Fort Tremblay, the entirety of the northern face of Aquitayne's capital was open to the Cassonnaise advance. Cassonne quickly established its regimental headquarters in the fort and stationed remaining battalions around the city to seal its defense. Within the next few days, additional Cassonnaise troops would land and strengthen their positions around the capital, leading to multiple skirmishes and a few breakout attempts by Aquitaynian forces.

Additionally, the day after the fort was secured, the 4th Battalion would be tasked with securing the Royal War College a few miles away from Fort Tremblay. There, a small skirmish between the Cassonnaise troops and Aquitaynian students would occur, with 15 students being killed and another 50 injured. After around five hours of fighting, the school was torched and burned to the ground. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1898, ten years after its destruction.