Tianguese River War

The Tianguese River War was a conflict in the mid-6th Century between two of the major powers of northeast Tairghol: the trading republic of Dalfore and the expansionist Tianguese Empire. It resulted in a decisive victory for Tianguo, though the River War also marked the end of its expansionist stage.

## Background

Tianguo was founded around the Blue River basin and knew well the value of rivers and the trade they provided. Since before the Great Gap the Tianguese lords had coveted and desired the Merkata River for the immense riches it provided - trade flowed down from the Spurnian River and through the Trade Lake, then from there through the Merkata and distributed all along the eastern coast of Tairghol, from the Kaiganese fiefdoms of Janna and Furuekazu in the far south to the stable kingdom of Huon Sa in the north.

Tempted by this wealth, the only thing Tianguo had to fear was the country that had control over the Merkata. Dalfore was, like Tianguo, a country on the rise, and had the backing of several countries that depended on it for trade, Talor and Faramond among them. The most dangerous factor, though, was the presence of the Fallen Company - a massive Lacrivian mercenary group that was employed by the Dalforean government from the beginning of the 6th Century.

By the end of the Great Gap Tianguo was within striking distance. It had conquered the northern reaches of the Qiutianshan Mountains during the Fengyuang Mountain War in the 4th Century, and the only thing standing between it and the Merkata was ten leagues of farmland. Still Tianguo waited, quelling rebellions in its eastern reaches and steamrolling further southeast into the forests of Shenzhen, waiting for its chance in the north.

Tianguo got its chance in the mid 550's. The Dalforean Minister of the time Haervui suffered a sudden deterioration in 553 and, in a bout of rage, expelled the Fallen Company from Dalfore. He was quickly removed from power before he could do any more, but the damage was already done. While Haervui's successor Minister Aerfur tried to pick up the pieces and unite the now-fractured Dalforean administration (which had split into factions arguing about whether removing Haervui was the right thing to do), Tianguo primed itself to attack.

## Opening Stages

Tianguese forces surged over the border in March of 555, quickly overwhelming the Dalforean border guards and heading north. By May the southern half of the city of Delfar was under siege, and Tianguese detachments were crossing the Merkata in other places to raid and pillage. Only a limited number of Tianguese were able to cross the river, as Minister Aerfur had ordered the docks on the northern bank burned and dismantled - only small fishing skiffs were able to cross all the way to the other side. All in all, around ten thousand Tianguese managed to cross the river between May and August. These were detached from the force of fifteen thousand which was besieging Delfar.

The original plan, as set out by Emperor Ruogang Wan, called for the annexation of everything south of the city of Unetheas, but the Tianguese found it hard going north of the Merkata. The system of forts and walls put into place by the Fallen Company managed to resist Tianguese attacks in most places despite their inexperienced Dalforean garrisons.

Dalfore was not without an army. The Aladornic system ground into motion in late April and early May, and by June every settlement with an Aladornic House had a defending army, ranging from hundreds to thousands of men each. They were disparate and disunited, but each by itself was large enough to defend against the small Tianguese armies sent against them.

Dalfore was also not without allies. Its two Tungrid client states Ormol and Krasnar sent troops to help - only around five hundred each, but it was enough to harry the Tianguese as they marched. Faramond also sent soldiers - around four thousand led by the crown prince Rimbaud. These came by boat to the eastern end of the Merkata, and from there marched west, annihilating Tianguese armies whenever they met. At least twice Prince Rimbaud came up against larger, more densely concentrated Tianguese forces, at Arelbank and Stedlow, but he still managed to prevail and reached the northern half of Delfar in September with just over three quarters of his original force.

Dalfore's other ally Talor was not so kind. It had only just recovered from the Red Plains War twenty years before, and the secret of its peace terms had made its people uneasy - if Talor had been defeated by an unruly Kafetro-Vadyan tribe, what chance had it against Tianguo? Also, It was beginning to feel the strain of the Fallen Company - an influx of tens of thousands of unskilled citizens had caused an economic unbalance in its south and, since the immigrants were not naturalised or trained well yet Talor was facing a shortage of food and other goods. It blamed the Minister Haervui completely for this - if not for him then Talor would not have had to take on the Fallen Company. And so Talor sat and waited, delaying its response to Dalfore's pleas for help. In the end Talor did send a small force, but it was far too little, far too late.

All the while, the Aladornic armies of Dalfore's northern regions had been heading south. By September the Tianguese army north of the Merkata River had been shattered and the northern bank of the river was fortified and watched by enough Dalforeans to dissuade the Tianguese from crossing again.

## Siege of Delfar

The Siege of Delfar constitutes the main portion of the war. Delfar was, at the time, a city encompassing both banks of the Merkata. Though its main markets and offices were on the northern bank, the south was still a sizeable portion of the city. The entire city, on both sides, was protected by a high wall built during the Great Gap.

The city was defended initially by three thousand militiamen and levies, and another two thousand arrived from the surrounding countryside within a month of the siege beginning. Prince Rimbaud's forces arrived in September, making the garrison over eight thousand strong. Over the course of the siege more Dalforean troops arrived, but logistics dictated that they camped outside the northern wall.

The siege lay stagnant for several years, with neither army big enough to defeat the other, and Delfar had no trouble obtaining food and supplies as only the southern half of the city was encircled. The south was supplied by the north, with the docks inside the city intact but ready to be dismantled at a day's notice.

The status quo was broken with the arrival of Tianguese siege equipment and reinforcements from the Shenzhen front in 559. Catapults and onagers were supplied with stones from the Quitianshan, and a constant barrage of projectiles eventually knocked several holes in the wall of the southern bank. The army was reinforced by another twenty thousand men, bringing the total to thirty-five thousand.

In 560, in the early hours of a cold, misty morning in June, the Tianguese general Jin Huang ordered the advance. Thirty thousand of his men surged forward and took the defenders completely by surprise. The southern bank was captured after ten hours of fighting, and the north bank might have been taken too if not for the actions of an unidentified Faramondian ranger, who impersonated an officer and ordered the bridges and docks destroyed minutes after Huang's forces reached the southern wall. The destruction of the docks was completed only an hour before the south bank was captured.

## Winding Down

From here, the current status quo was maintained. The war officially dragged on another three years, but It was plain the situation would not change. Tianguo, despite overwhelming military superiority, could not marshal enough boats to cross the Merkata in force, and any small beachhead Huang could establish would be destroyed before reinforcements could arrive.

Eventually, in 563, a peace deal was signed. Dalfore could not continue any longer without trade along the Merkata, and agreed to the modified Tianguese terms that stated the southern bank of the Merkata would be ceded.

## Legacy

In the end, Dalfore profited from the war much more than Tianguo. The states of the Trade Lake were shocked at Tianguo's unwarranted aggressive expansion, and Dalfore was able to coax many into a trade league, which later became known internationally as the Dalforean League. The states in this alliance embargoed Tianguo, and favoured each other as trading partners instead.

Tianguo gained only a little trade from the Merkata - few countries wanted to deal with them because of the River War.

The identity of the Faramondian ranger who saved north Delfar has been a topic of hot debate. There were around thirty rangers present at the Siege of Delfar, and of those twenty-three survived. None of these men admitted to the action following the siege, though this is primarily because, though the man would be lauded as a hero in Dalfore, he would still be subject to corporal punishment in Faramond for impersonation of an officer. The compromise reached was that a statue of the Unknown Ranger was raised in the Faeric Square in north Delfar.