Siege of Rhunai

The siege of Rhunai was a large and important battle of the Ura Civil War. On the 5th of Redleaf; 13 months after the **Autumn Revolution** and the start of the war, an army of over 27,000 Ura Nationalist reached the Alliance capital and surrounded the 8000 defenders.

The siege was long and bloody. An estimated 3000 Loyalists lost their lives, versus a horrifying 14,000 attacking nationalists. On the 23rd of Icemark, almost four months later, the city finally fell to the rebels, the remaining Loyalist soldiers retreating on ships in the night. It was a Pyrrhic victory though for the Nationalists. They had hoped to take the city in two weeks and instead the defenders under **General McGannis** had inflicted deep wounds on their forces. This strategic victory for the Alliance Loyalists is seen as one of the key reasons for their victory in the war.

### Background

After the outbreak of civil war, the Nationalist forces continued to grow. After they had finalised their alliance with the Elven and Human rights coalition, they marched on the capital; hoping to make their victory certain. Most Alliance forces were in the East, defending the Coast from The Ice Dragon: Mint. After Colonel Suzin Pattella smashed the Alliance army at Pudra, the way to the capital was clear. Seeing that a siege was imminent, Orcish General William McGannis gathered all loyal forces and retreated to the capital. He ordered the Alliance Sea Fleet to hold the bay against blockade at any cost.

### Beginning

Negotiations were held between Nationalist leader: Patik Oran along with Colonel Pattella and Ura Minister of War: Indris Tenpuk with General McGannis. The Nationalists refused to back down and Loyalists refused to surrender, and so three days later on the 8th, battle commenced.

Scholar; Dathid Manoo was there to witness the start. In his history of the War, he writes:

*"It was 10 in the morn, both Son and Daughter were high in the sky when The Nationalists finally attacked. The first canon fired like a thunderclap, like the eruption of a fire mountain, like the yells of the Gods themselves. The ball hit the East wall and exploded in a shower of rubble and mortar. Then there was a sudden and frightful silence. The attackers daring the Alliance Loyalists to surrender, now that they saw how serious they were. But the famous Orcish general; McGannis, a veteran from the wars against the desert bandits drew his sabre and called: 'Those men out there are our brothers! But they have come to take our City from us, our freedom, our progress! And so in the name of Peace and Justice, I bid thee fight!' And with that, battle commenced, and the air was thick with Ura arrows, cannon smoke and the screams of dying men."*

### End and Result

The city walls were taken on the first day of Icemark, the following year. But it still took three weeks for Nationalist forces to push their way to the city centre. On the 22nd, McGannis decided that the 4700 remaining Loyalists would soon be overrun and decided on a retreat. As a distraction, Ura scouts under his command planted most of their remaining gunpowder in the Ruby Church of Ferrona and blew it up. Nationalist forces rallied nearby, expecting a counterattack, and while they did this the Loyalist forces slipped onto ships and retreated out of the port. There was celebrations from the rebels as they marched into the Central square.

The Nationalist forces never got over their huge losses at Rhunai. The Rebel advance had been stopped in its tracks. The remaining 9000 or so Loyalists left in the West barricaded themselves in the mountains, carrying out Guerrilla attacks, where they would wait for the main Alliance forces to reinforce them. 1 year and 5 months later, the Alliance Air Fleet arrived with 10,000 Loyalist ground troops. The city was retaken in under 72 hours with the loss of around 170 Loyalists.