Marqadi Conquest of Sumar

The **Marqadi Conquest of Sumar** or **Marqadi Invasion of Sumar**, was a series of conflicts from 842 until ??? between the newly formed Kalifat (disambiguation) of the Shadi faifth and the Vestian principalities of Brosmia that resulted in the gradual incorporation of most of Samvar into the southern Marqadi Kalifat.

## Early Conquests

### (842-847)

In May of 842, following almost two decades of near constant Vestian raids into Alhariqa, the Kalif Alhaq Sufiyya gave orders to generals Bir al-Qulladiyah and Yusuf b. Mustafi to cross the Straight of Gefem and capture parts of the coastline. Two months later both would cross over to Brosmia with 12 thousand men, landing near modern-day Vitria and quickly making their way up the coastline with ease, capturing most of the Cape of Gefem in under a month. Al-Qulladiyah decided to move on and split their troops evenly between himself, who was to go west and lay siege to Jusika (Yuriqa in Marqadi), and Yusuf, who was to go east along the coast and link up with an army the Kalif had sent to assist the two men. The siege at Yuriqa would last until September 842, when the inhabitants of the city killed the leader of the garrison and forced the remaining troops to open the gates, allowing the Marqadi army right in. Over the same time period, Yusuf had made his way to the coastal village of Marseun before being informed of the arrival of Dur b. Fal along with an army of four thousand men, who had landed in the port of Musta just a week earlier and forced it into submission. Yusuf and Dur quickly linked up and made their way north, encountering a Vestian force of 3,5 thousand and engaging them in the Battle of Nuqq, which ended in swift Marqadi victory over the less prepared and unsuspecting Kresti force. Following these two major victories, Al-Qulladiyah and Yusuf decided to settle down and ordered Dur to return to Alhariqa with five thousand of the men to inform the Kalif of their victory. Afterwards, both generals would spend the next five years in Samvar clearing out enemy control and establishing an effective government to consolidate control of the region, while the Vestians slowly fragmented into smaller principalities, leaving the governors of Durmas and Jusika as the only effective resistance in the region by 847.

### (850-851)

The shaky peace between the Marqadi and Vestians would last until August 850, when Jeur Huleape, governor of Jusika, lead an army of 800 to raid the lands near Yuriqa. In response, Al-Qulladiyah would leave Yuriqa with one thousand and meet Jeur in battle, which ended in an draw, allowing Jeur to keep raiding until the start of September when he retreated back to Yuriqa, where has was assassinated soon after. The new governor, Juan Jusero, would gather around 1,5 thousand troops and organise another raid into Marqadi lands in late September. Al-Qulladiyah once more went to beat him in battle, this time bringing 1,6 thousand troops. The encounter would end in a Marqadi success, which was followed by another just a week later, forcing Juan to retreat to Fergero, the temporary capital of Jusika. Qulladiyah followed him to the city and began to raid the areas around it, forcing Juan out of the fortress to stop him. The Battle of Gavuaro would end in a crushing defeat for the Vestians, causing their surviving forces to turn on Juan, brutally murdering him while on their way back to Fergero. Following the murder, Jusika would break out into full out civil war, allowing Bir al-Qulladiyah to raid their lands practically uncontested, capturing multiple border town on their way back and returning to Yuriqa with a large amount of loot, allowing him to further improve Yuriqa and the entirety of Sumar. Due to all of these victories, Kalif Alhaq Sufiyya would be convinced to give Al-Qulladiyah the title of governor of Sumar a year later.

### (853-)

Two years after the collapse of Jusika into civil war, Al-Qulladiyah decided to begin larger raids on the warring states, giving orders to Akbar ay-Tali to cross into Vestian land in July 853 with around two thousand troops. He began his raids in the realms of lord Fulsu and lord Hadejo, forcing Fulsu to ride out into battle against him, which would lead to his defeat and the capture of the fortress of Musa. Afterwards, Akbar marched further into Kresti lands and defeated lord Hadejo by August, while the Vestian lords surrounding him ceased conflict with each other and formed a grand coalition against Akbar, marching on him with a combined army of 4,5 thousand men. To the surprise of the lords, Akbar's smaller force would successfully defeat them at the Battle of Modero and two following battles in mid to late August, completely destroying the coalition and leading to the death of multiple of the participating lords, causing further chaos among the remaining ones. Learning of these stunning victories, Al-Qulladiyah would travel with one thousand more troops to assist Akbar in his efforts, using their combined power to take over the fortresses of Junda and Kastilo Drahon by just the end of September, opening a path into the rest of Jusika. But instead of expanding further into Jusika, Al-Qulladiyah instead made the decision to end the campaign and turn back in order to establish control over the newly conquered lands, at the same time sending Akbar with 900 men to organise a few more raids deeper into Jusikan territory, which would last until November of the same year. Meanwhile, the pacification of the newly conquered territories lasted until the middle of 854, though Al-Qulladiyah tried his best to preserve the towns and fortifications of the area in hopes of them benefiting the growing Marqadi presence in Sumar in the long term. With the campaigns finally fully over, Al-Qulladiyah returned to Yuriqa in June of 854, sending Mansur b. Balqam to inform the Kalif of Qulladiya's and Akbar's impressive victories over the Vestians, for which Al-Qulladiyah would be rewarded with multiple bags of silver and the title of governor of Brosmia.

By the time Mansur b. Balqam returned to Sumar with these news, conflict had already restarted between the Vestians and Shadi. By August of 854, the new lord of Jusika, Rafael Musse, had defeated almost all rival lords in battle, forcing all of them into an alliance with him that was aimed against the Marqadi. Following a month of buildup and mass recruitment, Rafael and the other lords had amassed a total army of 12 thousand troops and began marching towards Sumar, prompting Al-Qulladiyah and Akbar to quickly move against them with six thousand of their own troops. The two armies would meet at the Battle of Cindar, which would last throughout the entire day and night, resulting in the death of over 2,5 thousand troops and both sides retreating to regroup and resupply. Two weeks later, Akbar ay-Tali surprised attacked the Kresti forces in the Slaughter of Benne, killing six thousand Vestian troops and forcing Rafael to retreat back into Jusika, Akbar following close behind. The two would face off two more times at the Battle of Mincoto and the Battle of Mundar, following which Zomostro and multiple other Vestian fortresses would be laid siege to and promptly destroyed. Rafael used this time to reorganise his army and finally rid it of the lords, amassing a total of 10 thousand troops by October to use against the Marqadi. Finally in the early part of October, Rafael would march with his army to the fortress of Gumoru, still under siege by the Marqadi, defeating the six hundred strong sieging force and resecuring the fortress. He would then move forwards to the castles of Jimaru and Bullij, which he would successfully retake by the end of November, when suddenly a four thousand strong force under the leadership of Akbar attacked the exhausted Vestian forces and retook the castles, causing some of Rafael's troops to mutiny. Following this defeat, Rafael would move southwards and attempt to retake multiple castles there, mostly succeeding in this. Meanwhile Al-Qulladiyah and Akbar ay-Tali had decided to reorganise their forces, gathering new reinforcements from the Kalif and adding with that multiple camel regiments to the army as a replacement for cavalry. By the middle of December, when they began to move towards Rafael, the two generals had gathered around nine thousand troops to rival Rafael's weakening force. The two armies would meet on December 25th near the ruins of the old fortress of Javna du Porlis, where nine thousand Marqadi troops faced off against 7,5 thousand Kresti troops at the Battle of Javna. The battle began in the early morning and would drag on into noon, with around a thousand men dead on both sides and the armies interlocked, when the Vestian line would unexpectedly be hit from behind by the camel cavalry, which had been hidden in the near area the day before. The line quickly began to break, with around two thousand of Rafael's troops being slaughtered within five minutes, while Rafael himself barely made it outside and attempted to retreat with the rest of the army, but they wouldn't manage to make it too far, as the camels quickly caught up to them and surrounded them on all, slowly encircling them. As the camels and regular infantry descended on the Vestian forces, all order broke and the troops attempted to escape in all directions, being swiftly killed. Rafael himself would be injured during the fighting and, after again barely escaping from enemy lines, was murdered by one of his own soldiers.

With Rafael dead and the Vestian army in shambles, Al-Qulladiyah quickly marched to Fergero [WIP]