Fourth Battle of Machayya (150 AW)

Combatants| * Rebel Princes
* Free Princes
* Imperial Princes

Commanders| * Rebel Prince Durkrin †
* Rebel Prince Zhincis
* Free Prince Borklaw
* Golden Princess Radchava †
* Imperial Prince Deslov

Forces| * Prince Durkrin's Warband
* Prince Zhincis' Warband
* Prince Borklaw's Warband
* First Liberation Army
* Third Liberation Army
* Divine Army of Toscov
* Barons' Army
* Princess Radchava's Warband
* Prince Deslov's Warband
* Machayya Defence Army
* Grand Restoration Army
* Princely Army of Machayya
* Second Imperial Volunteer Army

***“**Vixos save us all...**”***
— Golden Prince Gradimr

The **Fourth Battle of Machayya**, also known as the **Bloodbath at Machayya** or **Rebel's Fall**, was the largest battle of the War of the Fifteen Princes. Marked by extreme losses and a high degree of chaos, it was the most decisive battle of the conflict and led to the Rebel alliance fracturing for some time.

Machayya was a vital city in the civil war. It served as both the headquarters for the Golden Princes and a strong citadel overlooking the main route towards the capital city: Toscov. It had been attacked three times before, yet the Rebels' attempts to take Machayya became increasingly more desperate as their situation worsened heading into the 150s.

Ultimately, it was chosen to muster all available forces and strike at Machayya with the combined might of the Rebel and Free Princes. However, Golden Prince Gradimr, who had defended Machayya in the three previous attacks, was well aware of this plan and mustered all forces available to the Golden and Imperial Princes. This resulted in the largest gathering of troops in one location that the Eastland had ever seen.

On the 26th of Greenburst, knowing that time was of the essence to prevent further Imperial reinforcements from arriving and that a siege was impossible to carry out, Prince Durkrin opted for a reckless all-out assault. The Rebel Princes advance on the southern and western sections of the wall, with the Free Princes assaulting the eastern half of the town. Durkrin commanded the centre, Zhincis the left, and Borklaw the right. In return, the defenders sent one prince to hold against each attacking prince: Gradimr in the centre, Radchava on the left, and Deslov on the right.

The first day was marked by a frontal assault that proved ultimately ineffective. Despite the walls of Machayya cracking and crumbling under the might of siege engines and magic alike, the attackers were driven back by bombardments of arrows, rocks, magic, and anything else the defenders could get their hands on.

The second day was marked by skirmishes, though Zhincis devised a bold plan to take the left walls. Deslov sallied forth on the right, causing high casualties amongst the Barons' Army, unprepared for an assault.

On the third day, Zhincis sent the Divine Army of Toscov further north to assault the northeastern flank of the city, forcing Princess Radchava to spread her forces out more thinly. In a feint move, Zhincis packed up most of his army and began a march north, triggering a response by the Golden forces. However, they quickly turned and charged into the now thinly-defended gap on the left, causing a breakthrough on top of the walls. Somewhat unexpectedly to both sides, Radchava had remained with the smaller force and was overrun and killed in the struggle. Soon after, Imperial reinforcements drove Zhincis' troops off the walls and out of the city, though Radchava's Warband had been destroyed.

The fourth day was largely uneventful. Rebel Prince Durkrin was reinforced by the Third Liberation Army and prepared a frontal assault. In the night, the Second Imperial Volunteer Army arrived, which fell under the command of Prince Deslov. Deslov deployed them to the centre, correctly guessing Durkrin's strategy.

On the fifth day, Durkrin launched a frontal assault on the city, as he guessed he had a numerical advantage over Gradimr now that he was forced to reinforce the left. While this assessment was correct, he was unaware of the Imperial volunteers strengthening the centre. In the subsequent assault, the prince found his forces evenly matched in numbers, and with the defenders having the advantage, his troops were butchered. Too proud to call for retreat, Durkrin continued his push as his forces fell apart around him. Earlier in the day, Imperial Prince Deslov had broken a unit of light cavalry out of the city through the north, which had moved past the lines of the Free Princes mostly unharmed and now crashed into Durkrin's already crumbling rearguard. The main rebel force, caught between the walls and the cavalry, was massacred, with Durkrin dying at the hands of the cavalry. This left Zhincis in charge of the Rebel forces, though without Durkrin, many began fleeing as communications broke down between Rebel armies.

On the sixth day, Zhincis abandoned the left flank and pulled all his forces back to the centre, hoping to regain control over the Rebel forces. Gradimr reinforced the right, hoping to work with Deslov to overrun the weaker positions of the Free Princes, which had taken heavy casualties in previous days from bombardment.

On the seventh day, the Golden and Imperial Princes descended on the camp of the Free Princes. With many of its forces overrun, Prince Borklaw gathered his personal Warband and fled the battlefield, leaving those who remained behind to die. He headed straight for his headquarters at Vozhirishia, never looking back to help the stragglers or Prince Zhincis. Zhincis, now realising the assault was doomed, abandoned Machayya, though he set up at a defendable hilltop position south of the city.

On the eighth day, Gradimr and Deslov gathered their forces and assaulted Zhincis' position. His selected position allowed the Rebels to hold the line despite being outnumbered. In the chaos, Deslov was seriously injured when an arrow pierced his armour and hit him in the chest, burrowing through one of his lungs. He was rushed to a field hospital and required emergency surgery by Kymelomancers, but ultimately survived his injury. Gradimr called off the assault, and command of the Imperial forces passed to Affas Ilin, the general of the Princely Army of Machayya.

The ninth and final day of the Fourth Battle of Machayya saw no combat. Instead, in the Rebel lines, desertion became widespread as the demotivated men escaped at night. Prince Durkrin had been the one to summon the forces, and without him, they became uncoordinated. Furthermore, one disgruntled officer failed to assassinate Zhincis in the middle of the night. Knowing that no victory could be attained at Machayya, Prince Zhincis gathered his troops and marched south, abandoning the city. The Fourth Battle of Machayya had been a disaster for the Rebel and Free Princes.

In its wake, the Rebel Alliance began to shatter, with many regional rebel leaders acting on their own interests instead of following Zhincis' orders. Content to let them infight to their hearts' content, the Imperial and Golden forces marched against Free Prince Borklaw, who commanded a more unified front.