The Hobgoblin Invasion of Shamakhad, from 1431-1438, was the Command's premier invasion out of the Jade Mines and into Rahen in the region of Shamakhad against a coalition of Ruin Kingdom forces. The success of the campaign marked the beginning of the Command's dominance over Haless in the centuries to come.
The Campaign[]
A map of the Hobgoblin Invasion of Shamakhad of 1431 as illustrated by Evindal sÍl Gera.
1431[]
Starting in Yshdament of 1431, the Lion, Wolf, and Boar commands marched together to meet the army of Raghajandi at Ghupada Bend. The Raghajandi, overconfident against this lesser known foe, are destroyed against the shoulder of the Yanhe, opening the road for the hobgoblin forces to attack Sarilavhan.
1432[]
Arriving and beginning the Siege of Sarilavhan at the start of the year, the Hobgoblin forces quickly overwhelm and shock the commanders of the city's defenses with their tactics and skilled usage of siege engines. The hobgoblin forces surmount the walls and seize the city in only a matter of weeks, a feat that no previous hobgoblin invasion had managed to achieve. With the conquest of Sarilavhan, Raghajandi capitulates, the remaining nobility and soldiers left leaderless. Fleeing south, the army sought aid from the Kingdom of Tilathi.
Aware of the currently off-balance Raheni force's overwhelming strength if together, Grand Marshal Moguwon Wolfborn splits the three commands to strike quickly to destabilize the surrounding kingdoms[1]. The Lion Command is sent west into Khadisrapur to intercept an advancing army, the Boar south into Tilathi to pursue the fleeing Raghajandi, and Moguwon personally leading the Wolf Command east into Ghatasak to consolidate their flank.
Wolf Campaign[]
Moguwon's forces, departing from Sarilavhan, immediately drove a wedge into Ghatasak. First encountering the nation's army in the Marudhoj province, Moguwon smashed them at the Battle of Banapada. Shattering the enemy army with his widely regarded brilliant maneuvers, Moguwon then marched against the capital of the kingdom and put Ghatasak to siege, seizing the city after a 3 month siege. Settling into the city for the winter, the campaign season drew to a close.
Boar Campaign[]
Marching south, the Boar Command was quickly met by emissaries from Tilathi, who attempted to paryal with the Command. Boar Marshal Kitokan however rebuffed the emissaries,stating that there would be no peace unless it includes the subjugation of those too weak to fight the Command. Refusing to surrender to the Command, the Tilathi/Raghajandi remnant army battled the Command's forces at Nabhet but were forced to retreat to their fortress of Nakara. Proving more difficult to crack than those of Sarilavhan, the Boar Command encamped below the walls for the winter of 1432.
Lion Command[]
Moving slower than the other two commands in departing from Sarilavhan, the Lion Command first organized the local population and installed local collaborators, the Gerunanin, to govern the city in their absence. Lion Marshal Barugi, on hearing that Khadisrapur organized its forces and joined with an army from the princedom of Phabar, marched out to crush this force along with the orcish slave state of Thunderfist. Meeting Khadisrapur near the town of Marukhad, the Battle of Marukhad Sands ensued where the Lion Command destroyed the combined army that opposed them, They quickly marched towards Phabar but were caught by early snows and wintering at Dhenpa Gully.
1433[]
Wolf Campaign[]
Leaving the city, Moguwon started 1433 by consolidating control over the countryside of Ghatask and sending emissaries into the Demon Hills to open communications with the Oni, with whom the hobgoblins had long intermittent relations. His efforts spanning the summer, as Moguwon prepared the next phase in Gerunanin, news came that a great relief army from Sir had marched north to fight him and keep him from their borders. Moguwon's initial forces skirmished with Sir and reported back that the army consisted of 14000 Yansheni soldiers from Bianfang sent to aid Sir by their Monarch[2].
Engaging the numerically superior foe at the Battle of Khanamohri, Moguwon found these armies vastly superior to those he had destroyed thus far. Retreating to Khanamohri to prevent his forces from being flanked, he initiated a series of feints, retreats, and delaying actions while sending word to the other Commands to meet with him at their pre-arranged rally point in Khasardul, Moguwon in this time was forced to quit the field to prevent his forces from being flanked. After determining Ghatasak to be indefensible, he destroyed the city's defenses and marched out from the city in late autumn, his forces marching through an early winter storm to arrive at Khasardul, finding the Boar Command waiting for him.
Lion Campaign[]
Marching out from their winter camp, the Lion Command moved north and forced the submission of the small princedom of Phabar. Swinging back towards Prisunla, a fortified position, they arrived and put the fort to siege. After receiving word from Moguwon that the commands needed to come together to face a greater enemy, the Sir army, they prepared to march east when spring came again.
Boar Campaign[]
The siege of Nakara continued, nearing completion, until Khadisrapur's army arrived to relieve the city. Refusing to give up the siege, the boars found themselves unable to go on the offensive for a final push into the city. With their foes skirmishing their foraging forces and threatening an attack into the rear, when Moguwon's call to reinforce him came the Boar Marshal broke the siege. Bitterly disappointed by his inability to take Nakara, he set his orcish slave state of Bloodsong loose onto the countryside of Tilathi to pillage and destroy, ensuring they would be too preoccupied chasing down these raiders to harry them. The Boars marched to and arrived first at Khasardul, where Moguwon joined them shortly thereafter.
1434[]
The commands reunified with the Lion Command crossing the river in early 1434. Moguwon sent the Thunderfist orcs into Khadisrapur to stop their pursuit in the same manner that the Bloodsong were set loose in Tilathi, then the forces moved to confront Sir. The hobgoblins met the Sir/Bianfang army at Spirathi and won a tactical victory but a strategic draw. Pursuing their foe, the Command forced a battle at Ghilapur Crossing, where they showed exceptional knowledge of concealment and river warfare by catching the army while part of it was attempting to cross[2]. Rather than defend their allies, the Bianfang forces succeeded in crossing first and, realizing the cause was lost, abandoned the princes of Sir, marching away mostly intact but condemning the Great Princedom to destruction.
Thunderfist Campaign[]
Thunderfist orcish auxiliaries skirmished with Khadisrapur, but neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage in the fight.
Bloodsong Campaign[]
Bloodsong auxiliaries fought with Tilathi and prevented their forces from pushing against Raghajandi for some time, though the destruction of the Sir army at Ghilapur Crossing led the Bloodsong chieftain to lead his army east, to crush the now-defenseless Sir vassal state of Udapana.
1435[]
After destroying Sir's army, the hobgoblins marched along the river and set the city of Sir to siege. The siege of Sir lasted five months, and without a relief army to put pressure on the hobgoblins like the Khadisrapur had at Nakara, there was nothing to prevent the city from falling. After sacking the city, the hobgoblins swung around and retook the towns and cities of Ghatasak that had fallen to the Siri, repacifying the countryside and wintering in Ghatasak city. Here they received emissaries from the Oni, who had come down from the mountains to negotiate peace and trade.
Thunderfist Campaign[]
The Thunderfist Khadisrapur war continued, with the Thunderfist winning a great victory and believing they were close to finishing off their foes. They pursued eagerly and appeared to be close to catching the Khadisrapur armies on the last day of 1435, but fell into a trap that saw their forces badly damaged and forced to fall back in an attempt to regroup.
Bloodsong Campaign[]
The Bloodsong destroyed Udapana utterly and advanced south into Fengzhaobu after plundering much of the former kingdom. There they encountered the Xiaken for the first time and were met with great skill and ferocity. This intrigued the Bloodsong, who had thus far not found the Shamakhadi to be a match for their skills, and they began to probe against Xianjie more firmly.
1436[]
The hobgoblins returned to Sarilavhan in the spring, finding the Gerunanin who they left in charge highly cooperative. Bailing out the Thunderfist clan from Khadisrapur’s armies, the hobgoblins largely spent 1436 consolidating their holdings and setting up supply hubs to push south for a final thrust into Khadisrapur, Tilathi, and the Kingdoms beyond.
1437[]
The hobgoblins advanced into Tilathi and encountered significant resistance from large mercenary armies and adventurers who had come north from Lapnam Amrik and west from the Xia to fight them after tales of the great battles in Xianjie had reached Bomdan. These Adventurers fought alongside various exiled Raghajandi nobles, and led to a running series of battles up and down the Yanhe as the confident adventurers attempted to push the hobgoblin menace out of Rahen. The campaigns of 1437 ended with a great Hobgoblin victory over these mercenary armies at the village of Anakhadakana, which saw the destruction of much of Tilathi’s army and opened the way to a now undefended Nakara.
1438[]
Spies working for the hobgoblins discovered efforts in the first days of the new year to reconcile relations between Tilathi and Sarnavan, and soon revealed that Rajnadhaga and Sarnavan had mobilized their armies to stop Khadisrapur and Tilathi from falling completely. After receiving the surrender of Nakara, Moguwon brought his forces to defend these lands against armies advancing but found that the southerly Ruin Kingdoms had not committed to an offensive war, their armies standing marshaled in Tilathi and Khadisrapur’s remaining lands. Rather than fight these forces as well, Moguwon ordered a general consolidation of the conquered territories and a cessation of hostilities on 22 Esmarment, 1438. Seeing the command halting its advance and Moguwon returning to Sarilavhan, the Coalition armies refused to attack them on their own held ground, much to the chagrin of Khadisrapur and Tilathi. This undeclared cease fire marked the end of what is generally regarded as the Invasion of Shamakhad.
References[]
- ↑ Toronami Saikochi, "The Wolf of the Command"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Toronami Saikochi, "The Shamakhad Campaign"