Siege of Conflans

Belligerents| Di'Aamascene Westists | JabeyrackRepublic of Volaysia

**South Di'Aamascene Coalition*** Di'Aamascene Accords
* Khilseith Ascendancy
* Fulcrum Loyalists

Leaders| Olson Crenar †Géraud Sauvageau †Alban Poirier †Hubert Olivier † | SomvitHubert Golsbay

DeathThe **Siege of Conflans** was a major combat action during the Di'Aamascene Civil War that marked the death of most Westist high command, a coalition victory, and one of the final major battles of the war.

## Timeline

### Preparations

As coalition forces continued to advance through meager and demoralized Westist garrisons, Conflans had been turned into a fortress. Anti-aircraft emplacements, machine gun nests, walls of sandbags everywhere they could fit, and lines of artillery were layered into rings of defense. The industrial sectors of the city had been taken over to manufacture bullets and shells until the resources to do so were entirely depleted. Anyone blue, human, and not yet conscripted was forced to join the defense, regardless of previous combat skills and often with little to no training. Small blockade runner airships delivered guns, medical supplies, ammunition, and occasionally personnel to the surrounded and blockaded city.

For months, the coalition dug in outside of the city, with only minor skirmishes happening within the city's hinterland rather than the city proper. Artillery battered both sides, but only the coalition was able to resupply in a meaningful capacity. For months, the joint forces waited and provoked the Conflans garrison into using their very limited arsenal. However, after such a long time without true combat, the differing loyalties of the coalition members began to resurface. Sensing an imminent collapse, Jabeyracki military officer General Somvit rallied the coalition soldiers and commenced an attack on the city's outer defenses.

### Assault on Conflans

In the dead of night, coalition forces inched their way towards the city. On the city's outskirts were numerous abandoned guard posts and spotlights that, if manned, would've alerted the Westists to the oncoming attack. However, the poorly trained and demoralized militias guarding the city would often leave their posts or fall asleep during night watch, allowing the offensive to reach the first line of defense unnoticed. At 06:32, just before sunrise, the first shots of the battle were fired. The Westist garrison, entirely unprepared, scrambled to their positions, often without any armor or even basic gear beyond a rifle or pistol. Minutes later, the machine guns began to fire at the attackers, inflicting numerous casualties among coalition forces, but ammunition ran out far faster than was expected. In order to not give the defenders any time to regroup and rearm, a full-frontal assault was mounted against the fortifications.

And it succeeded. With the Westists' machine guns jammed, out of ammunition, or broken, they were left with only their rifles to defend with, which often broke down or ran out of ammo just as quickly as the machine guns had. Coalition soldiers overran the first line of defense on the eastern side of the city at roughly 07:48, taking an upwards of 100 soldiers captive. After regrouping and resupplying, the offensive continued. However, with the defenders now alerted to the attack, the battle became a brutal slog of street-to-street fighting, with Westist militants and regulars in apartment windows, storefronts, and hastily-prepared sandbag barricades in the middle of streets. For the next few hours, coalition forces would make little to no progress due to the nature of combat within the city. Gradually, however, from 10:25 to 11:03, the coalition was able to push forwards with the help of aerial, armored, and naval assets providing fire support.

At around 12:00, coalition forces seized one of three central ammunition depots within the city, and beat back multiple Westist counterattacks attempting to retake it. Olson Crenar and his general staff, however, remained unconcerned-- they were willing and able to fall back on their blockade runner if need be. For the remainder of the day, no important or lasting offensives would occur.

### Blockade

However, over the nearby oceans, an unmarked cargo airship would happen upon two patrolling Federal Tordynnar-Class Assault Ships by complete chance. The cargo airship attempted to evade the patrol and redirect its course, which resulted in the Tordynnar-Class airships chasing after the cargo airship and forcing it to land. A small squad of Federal soldiers boarded the grounded airship only to be met with guns pointed at them from the pilots and crew. Unable to respond in time, the soldiers of Tordynnar-Class Assault Ship *Triton* were all fatally shot and thrown out of the airship. Following the firefight, the cargo airship attempted to take off, which prompted the second Federal airship, *Balise*, to open fire with one of its 6-inch guns. *Balise* struck the engine of the cargo airship directly, causing it to crash into the earth, further damaging the structure of the airship. After landing, the small party of soldiers on board *Balise* alongside some crew members from *Triton* were successfully able to clear the downed airship of its remaining passengers. Upon inspecting its cargo, they found rows of bullets, explosives, rifles, pistols, and other military equipment, Westist uniforms, and damning of all, maps and routes to Conflans.

The airship Conflans needed to arm its resistance would never again take off, and Crenar was left without his fallback plan.

### Death of Olsen Crenar

Near the end of the battle, Jabeyracki aircraft would end up bombing a makeshift command post that--unknown to the pilots--Olson Crenar had been personally inspecting. Crenar would be immediately killed in the attack along with several other officers, and without a clear line of succession, the three remaining highest-ranking military officers (Géraud Sauvageau, Alban Poirier, Hubert Olivier) would immediate begin squabbling over rank. Several incidents of major friendly fire between differing officers' troops were noted and no organized defense or offense was offered for a day until Sauvageau was able to wrest control of Westist forces by allying with Poirier and executing Olivier; though, by then, the fate of the battle was sealed.