Nesarian Invasion of Onshi

The Nesarian Invasion of Onshi, or the Nesarian-Onshian War, was the Nesarian invasion of Onshi by Emperor Athdus III. Like with all of Athdus III's conquests, the war was waged for religious reasons, as Athdus believed it was his duty assigned to him by the Gods to bring peace by uniting all the peoples of the world under one Empire. In numerical terms it was one of Athdus' greatest victories, but he hated the devastation that he had caused.

*This page is due to be rewritten. Nothing below this is canon, evidenced by the fact that it still uses the old name for Onshi (Osdarth).*

The Osdarthian territory bordering Estemoria to the east of the Osdarthian Sea (Kimato) was quickly occupied by Nesarian forces, however they faced a serious challenge in mounting a naval invasion of Osdarth proper. They seized Osdarthian ships (many of which were trade ships not suited for war) and built their own in order to win naval supremacy, however this was difficult to achieve, and Emperor Athdus III spent approximately a year achieving naval supremacy, by producing ships at a much faster rate than the Osdarthians could. Although the Nesarian ships were of much poorer quality, far more of them could be fielded and quantity triumphed over quality.

The first naval invasion of Osdarth in April of 83 failed, although the Nesarians managed to escape with few losses. In June, they tried again and succeeded in occupying the first wall of Osdarth (which had three layers of walls which grew progressively more well-defended). From there, they could secure their supplies, although starving Osdarth into submission was impossible - there lay huge food reserves and some farms beyond the second wall - and so an assault was needed. They constructed heavy artillery to destroy the second wall, viewing it as expendable, and successfully occupied what was left of it in July. Two weeks afterwards, an Osdarthian force sallied out to force the Nesarians back to the first wall, which nearly succeeded but Emperor Athdus III rallied the troops by going into combat himself, defending the position.

On the first day of October in 83, the Nesarians prepared to assault the third wall, however a group of Matirite envoys greeted the Nesarians the night before. They stated that Osdarth could not stand up to the invasion, and they agreed to open the gates for the Nesarians on the condition that Osdarth would have many guaranteed freedoms and the Nesarians would help them cleanse the city of Kashitites, who had become the majority. Raeshu Sintijo, a local hero and staunch Matirite, rallied both the Matirites and Kashitites behind him and led a hastily assembled defence once the Nesarians were through the gates. He stopped the Nesarian advance dead in its tracks, nearly forcing them out of the city. The fighting bogged down and went on for several days, turning into something resembling trench warfare as both sides made makeshift fortifications from which periodic assaults were made and archers and crossbowmen shot at each other from.

Emperor Athdus III eventually out-manoeuvred Raeshu Sintijo, managing to surround his forces. Athdus demanded surrender but Sintijo, with the blessing of the soldiers under his commanded, replied with the simple phrase "victory or death" and led a final desperate charge into the Nesarian lines, with himself and most of his soldiers dying in the fighting. After breaking this last piece of resistance, the Nesarian soldiers, frustrated at the long campaign, sacked the city, to the dismay of Athdus. The soldiers were harshly punished, but that did not reverse the damage to Osdarth, which was widespread. The Osdarthians summarily executed their Prime Minister and the provisional government that was set up surrendered. Athdus kept his word to the Matirites and put the guaranteed freedoms into law, earning him the respect of the enemy and preventing a rebellion that might have otherwise happened. Athdus III also permitted a state funeral for Raeshu Sintijo, whom he respected as a worthy enemy.