Siege of Roan (1852 - 1853)
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| Part of The Allamunnic Wars of Unification | |||||||
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The Siege of Roan was an attempt to take the city of Roan by the allied forces of the Kingdom of Staalmark, Kingdom of Onneria, and Kingdom of Æthele. At the time, Roan was the headquarters of the Pan-Allamunnic Union, an alliance between the Jormundean Republic, Archduchy of Innia, Kingdom of Skraelingia and Kingdom of Tyrrslynd. Prior to the siege, Staalmark had been associated with the Union as well.
Following a vote by the United Council of the Pan-Allamunnic Union, Captain General Skaadi U'Daanyl formally announced the creation of the Unified Army of Allamunnika in 1850. Utilizing a number of volunteers drawn from the Union's member-states, trained by military officers from Jormundea and Innia, the Army was established with an eye to creating a rapid-response force that could assist in the defense of any member nation from an outside threat. However, Queen Junna VI of Staalmark and King Mikel X of Onneria were alarmed by what they viewed as a potential power-grab by the Union.
In a bid to put a stop to the creation of the Army, the two monarchs dispatched forces to besiege Roan. In addition, Mikel called on his brother-in-law, King Nicholas VIII of Æthele to assist in the disarming of the Pan-Allamunnic Union. The Allied force invested Roan while the Unified Army was still in the process of being trained. However, a defector from the Staalmarker force gave the Union advanced warning, and they were able to prepare a defense, turning what was meant to be a surprise attack into a siege.
The siege lasted for eight months, with the vastly-outnumbered Union forces suffering heavy bombardment and repulsing numerous assaults. Although the forces were on the brink of starvation and were dwindling by February of 1853, a breakthrough came when, during an attempted assault, King Nicholas VIII was killed, leaving the Æthele army leaderless and confused and later would be the triggering event to the War of Æthic Succession. This precipitated a general crisis of leadership in the Allied ranks, which ground the siege to a near-halt. Still, the siege continued, albeit with less vigor, until word reached the remaining Allied commanders that Union-aligned reinforcements were inbound from the north and east. Ordering a general retreat, the siege was broken on March 6th.
A retreat began, but before the Allied forces could split and return to their respective home countries, they were intercepted by the combined Union forces. Jormundeans under the command of Tyrant Margus Grahulm struck from the north, assisted by Innians under the command of Rikard Filiius from the east, gave battle at Faerynsburg. The result was a rout of Allied forces, who split and retreated in disorder to their home countries, leaving the Union forces a chance to regroup.
Aftermath
The siege was the opening battle of what became known as the Allamunnic Wars of Unification. The campaign proved to be a baptism of fire for the nascent Union forces, and the Unified Army quickly found itself receiving more volunteers, along with the full cooperation of Jormundea and Innia, even as Skraelingia and Tyrrslynd wavered. The veterans of Roan became the nucleus of the Union Army that was trained, expanded, and reorganized over the course of 1853 and early 1854. After that year of relative peace (in which military action was limited to small skirmishes throughout the Allamunnic nations), the first war would begin in earnest in April of 1854.