Dying New Galasia

[Hadash]

Show ContentMap of mid-1583:

Marth, 1583

Leon Androsius looked to his youngest son while his wife kept holding his arm, strongly and hopeless. As many civilians, he and his family opted to leave the area controlled by the Galasian monarchist forces and moved to the northwestern districts, controlled by the Rojadavi separatist forces. Although a truce was finally accepted between the Galasian and the Rojadavi forces after weeks of negotiations, shooting and the noise of the artillery and buildings collapsing could be heard not far from there, as the truce did not affect the Akhadist militias, who kept advancing from the south and east.

For a long time, Androsius had hoped that the war could end soon. After all, despite all the problems by the Galasian forces in Nova Tairal and the southern provinces, it was been said that the monarchist forces were better prepared and organized than in the early months of the war, and news about victories in the battlefield kept coming from the north, where the monarchist forces were able to advance and recover territory from the Rojadavi separatists. The support of Mestra and Angiris, the two most powerful countries in the region, to the Galasian monarchists, even if mild, gave hope to inhabitants in Nova Tairal and Eastmarch that the civil war could end soon. But in practice, Mestran and Angirisian help to the monarchist forces only prolonged the war even more, weakening the Rojadavi separatist while strengthening the Akhadist militias in the south.

“What are we going to do?”, his wife Julia asked Androsious while they were waiting in a long queue. “We can’t go back”.

They were told that only women and children were allowed to leave the city, while male adults older than 14 years old where forced to stay, therefore Androsius and his elder son weren’t allowed to leave.

Androsius wasn’t sure what to think, what to do. After all, it wasn’t clear where they were going to end, if they would allow to cross the lines beyond northern Eastmarch or Angiris, send to a refugee camp, or even moved to Ustyara, where their survival was not certain. At the same time, he understood that remaining in the city could be like a likely sentence of death.

“There is no other option”, Androsius said to his weeping wife, “we will be fine. A friend in the Legion will give us forged documents, but it is better if you leave. Take care of our children, try to move to Eastmarch as soon as possible”.

“No!”, Julia replied. “We can’t do that...”.

“Move on!”, a Galasian guard said. “Excuse me, madame, but we haven’t all day. There is many people waiting”.

Julia tried to clean her tears out, while hugging and kissing their elder son Marius.

---

Dein 1583

Helîm Bozarslan observed Nova Tairal from a hill at the other side of the river which crossed the city. The Rojadavi commander had been leading the Rojadavi forces in the area  for a year.

Bozarslan had been an officer in the Legion before the war, being fired from the army in a purge in the armed forces by Regent Ambrosius, some months before the start of the civil war. He joined the separatist forces shortly afterwards the start of the revolution, becoming one the first members of the "Provisional Council for the National Resistance" from 1579 to 1581, that year being sent to take charge of the Rojadavi forces in the south. He successfully took the town of Madavî, which cut communications between monarchist forces in the south and north, while establishing a Rojadavi-controlled area along the Ustyaran border.

From late 1582 to Marth 1583, he had led the Rojadavi forces in the Third Battle of Nova Tairal, which resulted in a short-lived truce between the Rojadavi and the monarchist forces. Although the Rojadavi army was able to seize and control several important districts of the city, the battle resulted in a strategic failure by the Rojadavi forces, as they lost many men for such such a pyrrhic result. The truce allowed many civilians to leave the city, but it barely served the aims of the Rojadavi army, rather the contrary.

Combats continued nearby Nova Tarial, but soon the Rojadavi forces faced more important changes. The Battle of the Sermîyani Valley, between Fein and Septem, resulted in a stalemate but weakened considerably the Rojadavi forces, who lost a few thousand of men, although the monarchist army was only able to take over a few villages along the Northwestern Angirisian border.

At the same time, Akhadist militias started to pouring into Nova Tairal again, precipitating the Fourth Battle of Nova Tarial. Bozarslan was pressure to take control of the city as soon as possible, but it was soon clear that strategy was not working.

On late Dein 1583, after two months of fighting, Helîm Bozarslan took the decision to withdraw from Nova Tarial, as the monarchist forces had launched a new offensive, this time even larger than the previous one, and the Rojadavi forces needed all their forces to repeal the attack.

On Dein 19, civilians from several northwestern were ordered at 8 a.m. to leave the area in the next four hours. At 18:00, Rojadavi artillery obliterated most of those districts, in order to allow Rojadavi forces to leave the city without more attacks from the Akhadist militias.

Bozarslan observed the smoke from the other side of the river which crosses the northwestern side of the city. The withdrawal wasn’t expected to change much the situation in the nearby region, as the Rojadavi forces controlled most of the villages and roads west and north to Nova Tairal, and being the province mostly flat -excepting a few hills controlled by Rojadavi artillery- make it difficult to surprising offensives. Most of Rojadavi forces from the city, however, would move further north, where they were expected to fight the monarchist forces.

---

On Dein 24, after three days of battles, the Akhadist militias were able to cut the monarchist forces into three pieces. Outnumbered, a large group of them were destroyed while trying to move to a safer area. A second group was forced to surrender, where more Akhadist militias entered through the northeastern districts catching them by surprise.

After another four days of fighting, what remained of the Galasian resistance, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Cadon Balanius, was completely destroyed. The situation was completely chaotic, and even after most of the monarchist forces were forced to leave the arms, shooting could still be heard in distant neighborhoods.

At  15:07, a group of armed entered into the old offices of the Royal Alsace Bank, which had served for a while as the headquarters of the monarchist forces. Minutes later, they entered into Balanius office, who understood easily that not a legalistic treatment was waiting for him. Before being tied, gagged and dragged from the building, they kicked his genitals and smashed his face against the table.

Ten minutes later, the truck carrying Balanius and other prisoners stopped in front of the King Arcturus Square, where Nova Tarial town council was located. Balanius could see corpses around all the square. He could see two men in the middle of the square, who seemed to give other to the other Akhadist fighters.

One of those two men were Uruslan Azakur. He had served in the army of the Akhadic Republic of Kyrzbekistan during the long civil war in that country, and later became a foreign fighter in Wadiyah. He, somehow, appeared in Ustyara some years later, and he was now the leader of one Akhadist group of foreign fighters.

Uruslan looked at Balanius and smiled. He ordered that the other prisoners were executed, while Balanius and other Galasian prisoner were taken into the basement, who was serving as soon kind of improvised prison cell.

Twenty minutes later, the other man visited the basement. Balanius learned that he was a former police officer, an ethnic Rojadavi, who had fought in the Wadiyah civil war. Balanius would be tortured during hours, under the supervision of that man. They were trying to find out basic information about hidden weapons, move of troops, and information about the monarchist leadership. However, they did not seem too concerned about the information itself.

The next day, a militiaman woke Balanius up, he was tied and gagged, and moved to a tiny office upwards. The room was messy, with broken furniture, and the floor tainted with dry blood. Before he could turn his face, an armed men hit Balanius on the face with the rifle. Several men beat and kicked him while he was on the floor.

He was put on a table, and he couldn’t barely feel his face anymore. One men approached him, with a long rope on his hands. Balanius thought that he was going to be hanged, but he was not afraid. At least everything will end soon. However, they tied the rope to his feet, not around his neck. Although he could barely walk, they pushed him toward the window, and threw him away.

Balanius didn’t fall, however, as the rope was not long enough. Head down, he was descended slowly, until his head was close enough to the ground. He felt nauseated. From there, he could still see many trucks leaving the square, many of them carrying people, likely civilians.

A group of men approached him. Between them, he could recognize that men he saw the day before. The other were rather younger. Two of them had Rojadavi features, Balanius thought, but he wasn’t entirely sure.

Balanius could barely mutter some words, when we was punched on the face again. The older man make a not very convincing noise of disapproval, before coming close.

Uruslan said a few words in a language that Balanius could not understand, before removing the gag and pull the soldier’s hair in a not very friendly manner. Uruslan shouted to one of the other militiamen, and one of them throw him a long dagger. Balanius tried to offer some resistance, but it was futile, With quickly moves, Uruslan removed Balanius eyeballs.

The pain was intense but become confusing when someone introduced something into his mouth and he was gagged again. Balanius suddenly understood that it was his own eyeballs what he had into his mouth now. His convulsed moves ended when Uruslan cut his throat in two quickly moves. He felt his own blood pouring to the ground.

Uruslan introduced his hand through the throat, and Balanius simply felt an intense pain in his tongue. Uruslan introduced the dagger into the dying Galasian officer, before moving his hand away.

Uruslan, with an unconcerned smile, throw something to one of the younger fighters. The young man didn’t realize immediately that it was a tongue, mixed with blood and gastric liquids. “For fucks sake!”, he said in his native language.

“Long time ago,  before we were enlightened with the only True Faith, our warriors ate the burned tongues of our enemies, it was believed to be a source of wisdom and inner strength. At least that is what our fathers told us, according to the legend”.

“Yes, whatever”, the younger fighter replied.

Another armed man came. “We have found something, you may find it interesting”, he said.

“Alright, let’s see”, Uruslan said. “Don’t waste too much bullets”, he said while moving toward a nearby jeep, to a group of militiamen which were ordering to Galasian prisoners to enter into trucks.

Five minutes later, they came to an old school, which destroyed playground had become some kind of parking lot. There, there were about three tanks.

“These are different to those we destroyed in the last months...Never saw these ones. Is this an Angirisian model, maybe”, one of the local commanders asked.

“No”, Uruslan said. “It’s a Mestran tank. Not too old, they could be useful soon”.

“Werzan has called”, a third militamen called. “We will meet in the southern headquarters in the coming hours”.

“Alright”, Uruslan said, “Let’s have a cup of tea meanwhile”.

---

During the next week, violence continued in Nova Tarial. Akhadist fighters entered home to home, looking for hidden Galasian soldiers and former members of the New Galasian security forces. Many of them were executed, either in their own homes or somewhere nearby the town. Other suspects were luckier, and transported in trucks to the southern province, along other civilians, likely to be exchanged for Akhadist militants and fighters under the custody of monarchist or other forces in the southern region.

An “Akhadic Council” was proclaimed as the civil and political authority of the city, which declared abolished all the legislation of the old monarchy and all the decrees passed by local authorities in the latter months. Instead, Zokuk was proclaimed as the only land of the land, in accordance to the southern jurisprudence.

However, much of the real power in the city was given and exercised by the “Military Council”, formed by the main commanders of the Akhadist militia, which divided the city accordingly. For example, three of the central and northeastern districts were administered by a group linked to the “Kuzeyinde Inançik” organization, mostly formed by Kyrzbek foreign fighters such as Uruslan Azakur. Fighters belonged to the Rojadavi Leçkerên-Akhadi , which was responsible for the terror attack which had killed Viceroy Arcturus Neretus also controlled several important districts. Foreign fighters from Northern Ustyara, mostly belonging to the Ghudki and Shavi ethnic groups, were also an important contigent. Still, most of the commanders of the Military Council where ethnic Rojadavi, which had fighted against both monarchist and Rojadavi separatists in the southern provinces during the last years.

The seizure of Nova Tairal, the second largest city of the eastern region before the war, had been the most unexpected and important victory in more than four years ago, so the Akhadist militianmen were exhuberant. However, they realize that this was only the beginning, and the final victory was still quite far.