The Siege of Soulaan

Soulaan midway through the final assault

**The Siege of Soulaan** was the final engagement of the **Great Acquisition,** fought between the Republic of Soulaan and the Narda-SSL-NAE Coalition on **18/02/2023.**

## **Background**

Following the Riddenheim Revolution, the majority of Soulaani forces had been destroyed; Coalition forces began to travel to Soulaan, in order to finally put an end to the war. While the Flogosian Incursion, contrary to everyone else, was met with relief and hope by the Soulaani that Narda and the NAE would be too damaged to continue, the invention and production of airships quickly restarted their worry. Panicked, and facing mass popular revolt, the Soulaani high command under Shakur Ningzhang forfeited control of the city over to Philistine King Taha. Taha though secretly a collaborator with Soulaan by being in the Headless Horseman Society, had been neutral in the war. This was done in hopes that the Coalition forces would be more lenient with the new regime- they were not.

## **The Siege**

By the time the Coalition arrived, they were outraged to discover Taha's success, learning that he had already confiscated the entire Soulaan treasury and had left little for the actual combatants. Taha, in turn, made several offers: he promised the entire treasury to the NAE in exchange for access into their royal chambers, and for protecting Philistine, and then to Narda in exchange for becoming an eternal defensive ally of Philistine; both offers were rejected. Eventually, the remaining Soulaani guards staged a coup to apprehend Taha and pursue new negotiations, only discovering, when they broke into his quarters, he had already fled - and the treasury with him.

The Soulaani hoped to appease the Coalition, however despite offering unconditional surrender and the citizens of the city relinquishing all weapons, the Coalition forces were undeterred in sieging the city. The Coalition forces probed the city several times, though they were barely repelled, and while the navy and blockaded the entire city, it was only with the arrival of the CR50 airship that the final assault began.

In the morning, the last holdouts of resistance were destroyed under the turrets of the Sapphirian airship; the Coalition systematically worked their way through the residential part of the city, killing everyone they encountered and firing the buildings behind them. It was only by the end that generals agreed to accept prisoners. by the end of the siege, whoever wasn't a prisoner or runaway was dead and the Coalition proclaimed ultimate victory against the Soulaani.

*Ornef's journal entry of the event*

*"From up here, protected from the ground that lays below my very airship. I fire my cannons at targets hundreds of kilometers away, which was once thought to be impossible. the engines so quiet, that you can hear the fire, and screams of civilians in the city below. That day will still haunt me"*

## **Aftermath**

Reportedly, all Coalition superiors held a party in a tavern within Kartonia, the capital of the Southern Sapphire League. Stolen Soulaani alcohol was drank as many people made speeches slandering the Soulaan Republic and lauding the victory. Some accounts of the party include Taha Razing and Boris Johnson as being there, though the accounts vary on what actually occurred.

Taha's presence can be explained; a few days after the celebration, Philistine and the NAE reached an agreement whereby Philistine would become a protectorate in exchange for the transfer of the Soulaani treasury. Taha most likely approached the 3 Emperors during the celebration to renegotiate a transfer of the treasury. Johnson's reason for his presence is still unknown.

The Necro-Arcturus Empire also began the process of dismantling the remains of Soulaan, successfully removing all but the southernmost part of the city in a few weeks. The Project was abandoned shortly afterwards, leading to the region being claimed under the SSL and the eventual founding of the Imperial City and Imperium Aurem