The Battle of City Central

Location of troops at the end of the battle.

The **Battle of City Central** (Portugese: Batalha da Cidade Central), also known as the **Central Offensive**, was a battle of the Echain rebellion fought by the armies of the Republic of Echain and rebel forces. It took place in February 1946 on the banks of the Rio Dourado. The battle was intended to be an easy success for the government but they had been misinformed about the capabilities of the rebels. More than 9000 men were killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in Echainian history. 4 of the regiments that fought for the government were members of the national Guard while one was the former Royal Guard recently released from the service of Governor Lorinbas.

The Republic of Echain's forces were commanded by two of the most important men in Echain. Minister Bradley3000 who was a General from before the Japanese occupation and President Grifenknight who had participated in the resistance during the occupation. President Grifenknight came out of the battle relatively unscathed although he was almost killed and suffered from shock afterwards because he had never seen so much death. The Minister led a final push against the rebels personally and was shot in the arm (which would later be amputated). The Rebels were commanded by an unknown former member of the aristocracy who had great wealth before the Japanese occupation.

**BACKGROUND**

Before the battle commenced there were conflicting reports about who the rebel forces belonged to. For a time members of the government thought it was Governor TomRP from Lurem but that was later discharged when the Governor proved himself loyal and new information came about.

The Minister of Defence Bradley3000 sent messages to the Governors asking them to lend their local militias to defend the area. Two responded (Governor Paradox and Governor Lorinbas). The legality of this action will soon be judged by the Constitutional court.

Governor WhiskeyWhiskers revealed to the public that the government thought TomRP was the traitor and eventually his gut feeling turned out correct and the rebels were not TomRP's men, he was arrested by Director Infernal for whistle blowing and will stand trial soon.

**BATTLE**

The Minister and the President had set up 5 regiments on the river banks facing Azurara, 1 in Azurara proper to scout and 2 in ships of the coast intended for a surprise pincer movement. This proved to be a terrible mistake as the rebels attacked from the direction of Praia and had far more numbers than imagined before. Because of this the men in the ships and Azurara became useless and would never reach friendly forces in time. The Minister and President set up 4 regiments on the riverbank facing Ciadade do Rei Luis and one in the town proper.

The rebels arrived far quicker than expected and were ready to destroy the regiment in Ciadade do Rei Luis (personally commanded by President Grifenknight). The President was forced to order a quick retreat and left behind 50 men in a few farm buildings to hold of the enemy while everyone else escaped. The gambit proved the right move and the regiment made it across the river where they took up positions with the rest of the army commanded by Minister Bradley3000.

Unbeknown to the Minister and President the rebels had 500 FG-42 paratrooper rifles, an advanced German rifle design but was worthless in the hands of untrained amateurs, regardless the forces of Echain decided to dig in and hold the river and bridge as anything else would have exposed their forces. The rebels then deployed mortars which left the Minister confused as to how they acquired such modern equipment.

The commanders of Echain knew they had to do something or their forces would be destroyed by mortar fire. They thought that a fake retreat would be the best option. The enemy fell for the trap and charged across the bridge at which point the Echain forces turned around and fired, however the rebels had better hardware and so they traded the same amount of casualties (1000 men) .

Fierce fighting then took place where the forces of Echain were split in two and slowly losing. Minister Bradley3000 decided that to stop the men from breaking he would personally go down to the battlefield and fight with the men while President Grifenknight would command the men. The President ordered the men to form a ring around the enemy and push them back. This ultimately worked and the Republic of Echain won the battle. The Minister who was shot in the arm had it amputated off.

**AFTERMATH**

After the battle Governor Lorinbas noticed that he had seen the enemy commander before and he was former member of the aristocracy. The weapons dropped by the rebels were given to the army and the CCAF who will use the designs to create more.

President Grifenknight was in shock after the battle and so the Minister ordered the men who had arrived from the ships to gather all dead and the men from Azurara to secure Praia. All men who participated in the battle received the Star of Echain. The only regiment to survive was the one commanded by President Grifenknight.

The Minister then delivered a speech at City Central announcing the governments victory before being taken to an undisclosed location to await trial.

The trial will take place once Minister 3000 has officially been charged by someone.