Battle of the Carto Empire

The Battle of the Carto Empire was the only major battle fought between the Ilakans and the Pro-Carto Rebels during the Carton War. The battle showcased the determination of the Cartons to free themselves from Ilaka.

## Background

In **416PR**, the city of Helicules was surrendered to Ilaka after the Helicules War. Angry about his defeat in the Battle of Helicules to Miguel Baztan, Minos Dimelis executed most of the citizens, pushing the rest into the slums.

When Minos died in **429PR**, the citizens in the slums were able to regain some of the titles and life they used to have before the war.

Things escalated again in **487PR** when King Ilias of Ilaka heavily taxed the citizens due to the nation dealing with financial struggles.

In **488PR** a violent crackdown from the Ilakan guards angered the citizens more, causing protests and riots to sprout.

The start of **489PR** showed some hope for the citizens, who heard that Ilaka was dealing with raids from the Northern tribes and the Lorenzen Kingdom. Under the leadership of Zinon Carto, they openly rebelled.

Hearing of the rebellion, King Ilias was slow to send a relief force for the guard. Eventually he reluctantly sent 8,000 troops under Theo Anthides to take back the city in Asunak **489PR**.

When the Ilakans arrived, they found that the city had surrendered, entering into the trap.

## Battle

After Theo had entered the city with most of his army, the Cartons quickly shut the Western gate, blocking a third of the Ilakan forces from entering the city.

### Ambush

Suspecting he had fallen into a trap, Theo ordered the remainder of his troops to assume battle formations in a square, able to defend the enemy from all sides. At the same time, Zinon Carto called for his range troops to rain down hell on the invaders. From all sides of the streets, volleys of projectiles hit the Ilakans, including from the walls up above.

On the other side, the Ilakans trapped outside of the city tried to get in but were repelled by the soldiers on the walls. After taking heavy losses, they retreated back to their camp.

In the city the Ilakans weathered whatever was thrown at them. For the Atkan, this was simple, their heavy armour blocking most of the blows. The Drakos did not have much success, taking moderate losses from their lack of adequate armour.

### Cartons Move In

After using every projectile at their disposal, the Cartons charged into the Ilakans, brandishing many of the weapons they took from the guards in the city. The remaining Ilakans, exhausted and wounded, prepared for battle.

Despite the ambush and using every arrow at their disposal, the battle was relatively close. The Ilakans continued to fight valiantly and the Atkan proved to be almost too much for the Cartons to handle. After hours of fighting, the Ilakans finally went down, fighting to the last. Their leader, Theo, went down early in the fight, using a group of Drakos to try and push through the enemy and hit them from behind but were overwhelmed.

## Aftermath

The remainder of the Ilakans outside the city would later return to their nation after hearing about the defeat on the inside.

When King Ilias heard about the defeat he was furious but unable to do anything about it, still dealing with the raids elsewhere that had hurt his economy in the first place.

Zinon Carto was incredibly popular after the victory, planning more expansion attempts now that the Ilakans were temporarily defeated.

## Legacy

This battle would become known as the Battle of the Carto Empire for it was proof to the world that the Pro-Carton faction could hold their own and were determined to secede from Ilaka.