The Edmundian War was the third phase of the Longerathian Wars. It lasted from 301 BP with the siege of Malinfleur to 287 BP with the signing of the second Treaty of Rossinia.
Background[]
With an unsteady peace having survived nearly 60 years, King Edmund II of Anglyodascunya came to power and vowed that he would retake Dascunya, Uestadenia and Ancalda. Having amassed an army numbering 10,500 men, Edmund sailed from, Francisco to Malinfleur in August 301. The plan was to take Malinfluer and join up with Prince Francisco VII of Samuelonia who was leading an army into southern Uestadenia. Emperor Arcadius I had installed Duke Hubert Krassel, a Dascunyan noble loyal to Estontetso, as Lord of Dascunya and Uestadenia.
Uestadenia Campaign[]
Edmund's army landed in northern Uestadenia on 28 August 301. The army of 10,500 men besieged the port of Malinfleur. The siege took longer than expected and the town finally surrendered on 22 September. The campaign season was coming to an end, and the Anglyodascunyan army had suffered many casualties through disease. Edmund decided to march most of his army (roughly 9,000) through southern Dascunya to the port of Albeck. Duke Hubert chose not to face the Anglyodascunyan at Albeck, holding his main force at Dendinburg, awaiting the arrival of more troops.
Having taken Albeck without a fight, Edmund chose to march on Dendinberg, despite the Estontetson force having a force numbering almost double, Edmund did not want to delay, knowing that reinforcements would be arriving from Rossinia and Saint Hughes within the month.
The two sides met on the battlefield west of Dendinberg. The battle began with a short skirmish between the Estontetson and Anglyodascunyan archers. Then the men-at-arms engaged directly without seeking to maneuver. It was a bloody combat, with both sides given orders not to give quarter to captives.
With the Estontetson right wing beginning to fall back, Edmund deployed his heavy Hochlandic cavalry to attack. The Hochlandic charge, led by Sir Gregor Duval crushed the Estontetson right wing and the Hochlandic cavalry turned upon the Estontetson centre. Seeing hundreds of heavy cavalrymen amongst the centre led the Estontetson left wing to flea the battlefield, leaving the centre to be crushed from all sides.
With Duke Hubert slain in battle and the army defeated around 3,000 Estontetson's surrendered. Edmund ordered the vast majority to be executed, as he wished to immediately commence his campaign.
Siege of Adnemar[]
Whilst events unfolded in northern Uestadenia, Prince Francisco VII of Samuelonia led a siege on the city of Adnemar. An army made up of Correanean, Samorian and Westerland knights and foot soldiers, was formed and set up camp at the foot of the walls of Andemar.
The Anglyodascunyan's did not take any initiative to attack the city, due to not having any large enough siege engines to break the walls. The town was surrounded and trade routes blocked to starve the defenders into surrendering. An Estontetson relief force led by the Duke of Frenkel, Jan de Cheive, was intercepted by an Anglyodascunyan detachment of the siege army. Although the Estontetson's were victorious, de Cheive was unable to break through to Andemar. Francisco VII then sent the main bulk of his army to face the relief force who were comprehensively beaten. Upon seeing the defeat from the wall's, the cities inhabitants opened the gates of Andemar to the Anglyodascunyan's.
Battle of Frenkel[]
The last major engagement of the Uestadenia Campaign took place in March 300 BP. Edmund and Francisco's two armies joined up on the outskirts of the port city of Frenkel. The siege of Frenkel was into it's second month when Estontetson reinforcements arrived from Rossinia. The battle of Frenkel saw both sides suffer considerable losses, but the Anglyodascunyan's had enough survivors to continue the siege of Frenkel. The city finally surrendered to Edmund in September 300.
Edmund wintered in Frenkel whilst awaiting reinforcements to arrive from Samuelonia the following year. Ill health for the King forced him to cancel any plans for a new campaign and he returned to Lagod to recover. Francisco of Samuelonia was left to command the forces in Uestadenia and without sufficient reinforcements, he set about preparing the city defences of Frenkel, Adnemar, Malinfleur, Albeck and Dendinberg.
Rossinian Campaign[]
Whilst both sides built up their forces, no major campaigns took place until 294 BP. Edmund's health had failed to fully recover, but by 294 he had regained enough strength to lead his armies. In April 294 Edmund approached the city of Rossinia from the east and Francisco approached from the west. The combined armies of Francisco and Edmund numbered 32,000 men.
Arcadius of Estontetso had been forced to pull forces out of Dascunya to deal with a northern rebellion, leaving Gerard Pitenburgh, a Dascunyan noble to command an army of 20,000. Seeing such a large Anglyodascunyan army approaching Rossinia from both sides, Pitenburgh left 6,000 men to defend the city and fell back with the main force of his army to Saint Hughes.
Not wishing to destroy the city of Rossinia, Edmund set about laying a siege of the city cutting off all supply routes. The city lay under siege for two years, until a Dascunyan sergeant-at-arms in the Estontetson army opened the south gate in October 292, allowing the Anglyodascunyan army to enter the city. The defenders surrendered the city, seeing little hope in fighting the much larger Anglyodascunyan army.
With Rossinia back in Anglyodascunyan hand's, Edmund marched on Danheim, winning a number of battles on route. Pitenburgh still refused to meet Edmund in battle. After a six month siege, Danheim fell to Edmund and now the Anglyodascunyan's began marching on Saint Hughes. Pitenburgh had prepared Saint Hughes for such a time and with nearly 15,000 men defending the formidable fortress city, taking Saint Hughes would be no easy task.
The siege of Saint Hughes began in August 291 BP but Estontetson reinforcements were soon to arrive, when Emperor Arcadius' son, Claudius led 20,000 men to the city. On the 14th of August 291, the combined Estontetson army numbered nearly 35,000 men lined up to face the Anglyodascunyan army, numbering 29,000. After four days of bloody fighting the Estontetson's were victorious. Whilst both sides suffered huge loses, Edmund's army suffered nearly 12,000 losses, whilst the Estontetson's suffered around 8,000 losses. A large number of high ranking nobles were included in the casualties, including Francisco of Samuelonia.
Edmund fell back to Danheim with the survivors of his army, which included huge numbers of wounded men. Edmund remained at Danheim for six months before he decided to fall further back to Rossinia with the majority of his army, which would be easier to defend than Danheim. Edmund left 2,000 men at Danheim, with over half of which were injured and unable to make the journey to Rossinia.
Claudius marched on Danheim in May 289 and besieged the city for three months. The small Anglyodascunyan army defended the city valiantly, refusing to surrender the city without a fight. But they were no match for the huge Estontetson army who stormed the city.
Claudius' army arrived in Rossinia in November 289 and sent envoys to Edmund demanding his surrender. Edmund, who was once again suffering a period of illness refused to surrender the city. He had chosen to remain at Rossinia instead of returning to Lagod and was prepared to hold out whilst awaiting reinforcements.
Six months into the siege, both sides lost huge numbers of men after an outbreak of illness. By November of 288 food supplies within Rossinia had become scarce and hundreds of Anglyodascunyan's died of starvation. During the siege, Emperor Arcadius died and Claudius was crowned the new Emperor of Estontetso.
Second Treaty of Rossinia[]
Facing death through starvation, Edmund agreed to meet with Claudius to discuss terms of his surrender. After months of negotiation between Edmund II of Anglyodascunya and Claudius III of Estontetso, the Treaty of Rossina (287 BP) was signed which bought an end to the Edmundian War. Edmund would be allowed to leave the city with his army on the agreement that he would pay a 100,000 gold coins. As part of the terms, it was agreed that Edmund's son and heir, Hugh would marry Claudius' only child, the infant Ardella of Estontetso. It was hoped that the marriage pact would bring an end to the Longerathian Wars and unite Estontetso to Anglyodascunya.
Aftermath[]
Having come close to retaking Dascunya. Edmund's surrender saw him have to return the city of Rossinia to the Estontetson's. Of small consolation, he had retaken the lands in Uestadenia and secured a lucrative marriage pact which would ensure peace. With Edmund's health continuing to decline, he died a month after his return to Lagod in August 287 BP.