Battle of Groundhogary Gorge

The Battle of Groundhogary Gorge

The **Battle of Groundhogary Gorge** was the largest battle of the Third Groundhog-Beaver War, involving about 3.5 million Groundhogs and Beavers in total. The largest invasion of territory in Rodentland history, it took place when 350,000 Groundhogary soldiers guarding Groundhogary Gorge where attacked by Beaverians in steel, enclosed boats floating up Gorge River. The Beavers scaled the cliffs in an attack designed by the Beaver Leader and Field Marshal Fathead Sturdydam to win by numbers rather than by skill. This attack worked for the majority of the battle, in which the Groundhogary were savagely overrun by the Beavers, who proceeded to take more and more ledges along the sides of the gorge.

King Big R. Pudgins VI of the Groundhogary got word of this from a messenger through Field Marshal Punxsutawney Phil. Phil's troops, under the command of himself and King Pudgins VI, were able to break through the Beaverian fences erected and guarded around the gorge to cut off supplies on the Gorge River. They then gave aid to the forces already there, increasing the Groundhogary numbers to around 550,000--200,000 of the original soldiers had died, and many more would die in the following final battle for the Gorge.

Pudgins faced off against the Beaver Leader and drove him off. The latter then ordered the retreat of all Beaverian forces in the area, and the beavers escaped with many casualties, none of which included their Generals.

## Prelude

### Battle at Outlander Plain

*Main article: Battle at Outlander Plain*

The Battle at Outlander Plain was the first battle of the Third Groundhog-Beaver War and the first battle during which the King of the Groundhogary Big R. Pudgins VI first commanded troops.

   The battle took place on the border of Beaverian territory. Outlander Plain was bloodied in the fierce battle that resulted in the start of the Groundhogary invasion of Beaveria and many Beaverian casualties. Colonel Bucktooth led the Beaverian troops in the battle against the King of the Groundhogary, and was promoted to Brigadier General following the battle.

### Operation Zero

*Main article: Operation Zero*

Operation Zero was a failed military invasion of Groundhogia by the Beaverians.

The invasion took place when the Beaverians skirted the western shore of Animilia along rocky cliffs and cold beaches in the north of the continent. The Beaverians then deployed small boats down the Gorge River and into Groundhogary Gorge, along the Groundhog-Chipmunk Border.

When the boats floated into the river, the Battle of Groundhogary Gorge began.

### Positioning of the Groundhogary Troops

The Groundhogary troops positioned at Groundhogary Gorge were stationed there as guards when Private Bigbelly H. Pudgyface saw the massive Beaver forces moving across the coast and up the Gorge River. Pudgyface took a ride on a patrol tank to report the Beavers' activities to King Big R. Pudgins VI.

Pudgins ordered 350,000 riflemen to the gorge under the command of Brigadier General Pudgy Largebelly, asking to be notified if the engagement escalated beyond small amounts of fighting.

The soldiers took their positions half an hour before the Beaverians arrived in the gorge in full strength.

## Battle

### Exiting the Boats

The metal boats that the Beavers rode in to reach Groundhogary Gorge on the river were large enough to hold roughly 100 Beaverians each. Thousands upon thousands of these boats came into the gorge at the start of the battle, and the leader of the Groundhogary forces guarding the gorge called for a cease fire until the tops of the boats opened.

The Beavers piled into the boats had to exit in massive numbers, so many of them were shot and killed the instant the top opened or while climbing out.

The exiting of the boats lasted for a few hours into the battle (which lasted almost a full day in total), and the Beavers who did successfully exit the vehicles were forced to hide under the lowest ledges of the cliffs that they were headed to. This was one of the bloodiest parts of the battle, as the combination of the casualties of the exiting of the boats and the enemy riflemen picking off the Beavers who made it under the ledges added up to an enormous amount.

### Scaling the Lowermost Ledges

#### The First Ledges

The lowest ledges were some of the hardest to scale, due to the fact that the Beavers were trapped between a difficult climb with only a few ropes and riflemen on the opposite cliff shooting at them.

Almost no Beaverians died of a fatal fall at this stage of the climb, due to the first ledges being only about fifteen feet above the ground. Most were shot by the Groundhogary on the opposite cliff.

There were no Groundhogs stationed as guards on the ledges until the Beavers got roughly thirty feet up, to the second set of ledges.

## Depiction in Popular Culture

The Battle of Groundhogary Gorge was dramatized in the war film *At Any Cost*, which was released nearly a decade after the actual event and written by a Private who served in the battle.

Several Beaverian squads became notable for their bravery after telling their stories to the Beaverians back in their home country, specifically the 74th Gunner Division and the 189th Squad. The books *The Tattered Flag* and *Twenty-One Gun Salute* were written by the two groups respectively.