Second Ahargan War (Great Winter Offensive)

Prelude
The Second Ahargan War, or more commonly the Great War, Conquest of 548 was a decisive strategical move from the Hadašhim ruling house Nebanakhan to reclaim their long lost northern regions. After taking word of the rebellions in the northern lands of Šalmaram, the young and ambitious crown prince Nimir Nebanakhan intended to took the opportunity and raised his banners in the spring of 548.

Despite his best efforts the army gathered rather slowly and less than a quarter of the planned troops (ca. 25000 foot-soldiers and 15000 horsemen) amassed, thus giving insufficient forces for the campaign. The furious prince dismissed several military commanders named new personnel upon their position and delayed the start of the campaign by some months. His renewed efforts bore late fruits: At the very end of the month of the Blossom thirteen erinmeši, around one hundred thousand warriors waited his orders. Despite the counsel given to him, Nimir decided to start the war in the wake of the heat, choosing a risky path to the victory. On the 11th of Blossom after a full small moon his army rode out from the capital of Hadašham, Tir-Našadar, through the Gate of the Warlord.

Summer Campaign
The forces moved steadily upon friendly soil, they crossed between the Eastern Twin Peaks into enemy territory fourty days later on the 21th of the Months of High Heat. Their fast movement and first vicious skirmishes took the Aharganite Kingdom completely unaware, enabling swift advance. Ašared, the greatest and richest Aharganite city on the left bank of the Šyul fell on the 27th of High Heat.

Sack of Ašared
A young officer Harko Murtilis was tasked with scouting the surroundings of the city but his company of eighty lightly armored cavalrymen could reach the walls without raising an alarm. Standing in the woods and watching the open, easily guarded gate Harko decided for a lightning skirmish. He sent his fastest rider back to the main forces asking for assistance and then rode for the entrance of the city. After entering the walls they cut down all the guards, blocked the doors of the gate tower and destroyed the closing mechanism of the gate. They had to withhold seven hours of siege before the vanguard of the army arrived under the command of erinmešar Atti Narsilis from the first šurghans. The ensuring battle ravaged for one and a half days and meant an utter defeat for the Aharganite forces. Nearly a fifth of the cities two hundred thousand dwellers were either killed or enslaved, mainly those who take the conquerors Religion of the Sand upon themselves. Nimir, being a pious old believer from the Religion of the Thousand ordered the restoriation of the great Cathedral of Light and Fire and let the campaigns first serkana to renewed consecrate it. Most of the new believer Thousander of the Stone Rite have been let to live in peace but the sand believers were expelled from the city their shrines have been razed and it's fortune given as plunder to the soldiers, although some of the rich converts were allowed to behold their life and after paying a conversation tax of 2000 Golden Eagles (A yearly wage of one Golden Eagle is considered a fair sum among the workers of Tir-Našadar).

Continued Hadašhim advance
Nakad Birith, Umi Birith and the entire mining district soon followed suit and capitulated without much resistance. The sand believers of this region either fled or were lynched by their slaves and indentured servants of the old religions. Before the Aharganite main army could be alarmed on it's campaign in the north, all of the lands south of the Šyul has been taken by the forces of Nimir. Most of the forts and cities either capitulated or were taken in a matter of days in a relentless assault. The morale of the defenders was on it's lowest, desertions were daily occurrences. Entire garrisons left their positions with commanders and merged into the refugees fleeing towards the Zabirath mountains and beyond them. It seemed that the apocalypse came upon the land of Ahargan.

Well into the month of the Harvest the Riverbend, the Zabirath Foothills and the Path of the Two Rivers have fallen into hadaššim hands, leaving the former conquerors only with their core territories. At the end of the summer Nimir crossed the Black Šyul well into Ahargan and retrieved the easternmost part of it, also known as Damiham (Land of the fortresses). In this region he dispatched smaller forces to besiege and take the most possibly forts along the rivers and sent couriers home ordering the magnificent Star Fleet of the Hadašhim Empire to raise sails and reach the innermost territory of the subcontinent.

Word reaches the north
Between the months of Harvest and the Plentiful month the ruler of Ahargan II. Razon Sarkânu was informed about the landslide-like adavance of his family's eternal foes. Being a pious man he started to pray on the spot for assistance and the next day turned his forces towards the Zabirath mountains intending to cross at the Red Tower Pass. However Nimir learnt about his intentions well before time and dispatched two erinmeš under the command of his childhood friend Arata Birangamiš to stop or at least slow the attempt, giving him time to consolidate the newly acquired lands and more importantly time for the Star Fleet to sail up on the Šyul. The first reportage about the Aharganite army gave it's numbers in the high 300 000s thus signaling a serious albeit not decisive superiority.

Battle of the Red Tower Pass and Aftermath
The first of the main battles was fought in the shadow of the mighty and ancient Red Tower. Despite have the upper ground and a strong position, the tireless assaults of the Aharganite forces ate up the defense forcing the remaining soldiers to flee. Arata and his escort was deliberately led into a trap by locals where all but twenty were cut down. The captured commanders were brought before Sarkânu who offered them two objects: A long sword full of holes - used by his personal executioner - and a the idol of ghulrihrum the sun between the two scythes of both moons. Understanding the offer some of the high ranking Hadašhim converted others choose death than the dishonor but Arata alone begun to poke fun at the religion of the sand, insulting their god, their prophets and at last Sarkânus mother who died a year before despite the best effort from Hadašhim doctors.

Razon heard all the insults patiently and then ordered the flaying of the noblemen in which he found great pleasure. According to some accounts he pet his beard and smiles whenever Arata cried out in pain. After his gruesome deed he had Aratas skin to be made a standard for his army and dictated a letter to Nimir, full of insults and threats, written by the blood of his longtime friend. After the prince received the writing he ordered the execution of the envoy and enslavement of his company. He let the letter to be read in front of all his army which enhanced the moral and raised the fighting spirit among them.

Relief of Dam Ygar
After the first serious confrontation many Hadašhim advances has been rolled back. Entire froces were wiped out among the Riverpath and in the Riverbend to where Sarkânu has chosen to cross. After his early successes he decided to march along the Black Šyul in the hope to confront Nimir and the main forces. Nimir decided to draw back and has taken a defensive position after the westward turn of the Šyul in the most secure spot of the Damiham. Some smaller forts capitulated to Sarkânu but after the rumors of his cruelty catched wind even the smallest garrison's offered sort of fierce resistance and the defenders died with a sword in the hand and with a fortress in fire rather to yield. Most time from the month of the Wind was consumed in the process so the first larger and strategic located position, Dam Ygar could be besieged only on the 30th.

Dam Ygar differed from the earlier sieges in it's vast size. An enlarged erinmeš around ten thousand battle worth veterans defended the scene and the commander, Zobar Kharusilis, had a harsh reputation of fighting even in the face of the inevitable defeat. The besiegers made barely any advance before Nimir decided to break camp and cross the Šyul twice, it's main tributary above Dam Ygar the Huran once, to reach the Aharganite camp. He sent an envoy in the early hours, informing the king about his arrival. Sarkânu didn't find Nimir's boldness worthy to himself and so dispatched a trusted commander of him, Maur neb Morakan to deal with the problem.

At that time because of the high attrition and many garrisoning Nimir's forces consisted only three full šurghan erinmeš and about 15000 horsemen. Despite these shortages he lured Maur's forces seventy miles to the south where they were ambushed in a meadow and wiped out. Every single sand believer was executed with the other soldiers spared. About eight thousand decided to defect and join the Hadašhim side. The body of the deceased Aharganites were desecrated, urinated upon, thrown in mud and feces and mutilated. This infuriated Razon Sarkânu who pledged to break Nimir's back on the scene, castrate him, use him as a play boy and as a stool by saddling up. The young prince only laughed hearing about this and made haste to gather as many forces as he only could to confront the main army of Ahargan.

Because the enemy concentrated the southern flank, erinmešar Kharusilis was able to withdrawn from Dam Ygar via secret tunnels and led his forces through the Šyul with minimal losses. The fort stood empty for days until the opposing party realized it, and tried to enter. In fact the entire huge building was booby trapped by a delicate mechanism. As soon the gate was open it's counterweights decreased into the cellar andt triggered the Dardanian fire cache in the basement setting the fort on fire in a huge blast. Some hundred people burned to death and several thousand were executed by the furious Sarkânu upon seeing one of his greatest fortresses burning to ashes.

Strategic shift and new warring parties
On the 7th of the month of the Storms Sarkânu has broken camp and started his long march into the south pursuing the Nebanakhans. In the meantime Nimir choosed to gave up on the conquest of the right bank of the Šyul. Instead he concentrated on securing the advances of the left bank, recapturing the Riverbend, the Foothills and the Path of the Two Rivers, leaving the core territories of Ahargan in peace. He dispatched Kharusilis for the task sending two recuperated erinmeš from Damiham to enhance the capabilities of the task force. His only goal remained to defeat the main army of Ahargan thus forcing Sarkânu into peace and avenge his friends death.

At this time he hasn't known about that Sarkânu already sent word to the western kingdoms, longtime rivals seen as usurpers by the Nebanakhans, asking for aid. Although sharing the same religion but having serious dogmatic and interpretational differences (which made them called the new believers or the rite of the rock) the rulers of the Ore Mountains, the Damar islands, Panidutne, Tantorel and Egiten felt themselves threatened in the shadow of the renewed Nebanakhan advances thus they raised their banners and joined the Aharganite cause. Talim Hiyamas of Panidutne succeeded in persuading the small lifili rulers on the left bank of the Šyul to send forces into the struggle.

Their decision of support had grave consequences mainly because endangering Nimir's southern flank which relied highly on the possibility of retreat to the left bank of the Black Šyul. A large army consisting five erinmeš, two from them newly formed, was already marching towards Damiham. It's commander, erinmešar Turam Linaraš ordered his forces upon the lifili fiefdoms destroyed all their forces enslaved the population and retook the Left-Bank-Kartam once capital of the Hadašhim Empire. The ruler families haven't got fair treatment, most of the males were either castrated and enslaved or executed while the female relatives have been forced either into prostitution or given as a consort to high ranking military officers. King Gladinald's both daughters Avoca and Liena that time aged 13 and 14 respectively had became the paramounts of crown prince Nimir and bore him many children.

Arrival of the reinforcements
On the 27th day of Storms Linaraš' forces crossed into Damiham and joined Nimir's army. The two numbered over hundred and thirty thousand from which ninety thousand were good soldiers of Hadašham the rest being recently rose rabble from Ahargan.

Sarkânu begun a brutal campaign of purification in his lands seeing both the old believers and the new believers of the Thousander faith as traitors subsequently executing and enslaving the population or forcing it to convert. This produced a huge refugee wave, whose only goal was to reach safety wide away from the vicious sand believer marauders His army was also purificated resulting in a serious drop of numbers which counted after the events in the middle 200 000s.

Not all Thousanders gave themselves up easily and a force of good thirty thousand men under the command of Sarus nab Dengei broke away searching for protection under Nimir's banner. On the 7th day of the month of Snowfall the Star Fleet reached the standing army adding forty thousand men to them. Amongst the arriving were the Knights of the Wooden Bastion, the elite naval infantry of the Waterwalkers and the Sharkers, the personal bodyguard of high admiral Harim Zabalatte. His force now numbering in the low 200 000s the prince decided to take a stand against Sarkânu and to confront him.

Prelude
On the 10th of Snowfall Nimir broke camp and started his northward march along the southern bifurcation of the Huran. While remaining on the right bank of the river he constantly deceived the Aharganite scout by sending smaller dispatchments to the other bank. Sarkânu in the fact wanted to go south of Nimir's positions and attack the marching column in the back while the latter took a heavy stand between two mountains along the Golden Vale on the 15th of Snowfall. Having his enemy's back locked to the river, the Hadašhim army disguised itself in the woods and awaited command.

Battle
Sarus nab Dengei was dispatched with his old believers to form the Hadašhim vanguard and block the Aharganite advancement along the river. Sarkânu was first surprised then ordered a total assault against the force which took a strong position with impassable terrain on their left and the river on the right flank. Some good half of his army was engaged along the thin line when Nimir hit the drums and ordered the heavy cavalry to charge. The Hadašhim forces swarmed out of the woods their knights covered in chain and plate erased much man up to the river, cutting the long stretched Aharganites into two groups. The southern of them was butchered in the coming hours only a handful of them surviving either by escaping into the mountains and hiding there or swimming through the Southern Huran.

Aftermath
Less than a quarter of the original Aharganite forces remained intact. There were barely any noble families in Ahargan which hasn't lost at least one male relative at the Golden Vale. The ruling elite was shaken, the king himself wounded six of his seven sons captured the last killed. Sarkânu fled northward then turned west and marched toward his capital, Garomur (Ahar-Arath). He intended to winter there, regain some of the losses, wait the reinforcements from the Western Kingdoms and with renewed army strike the Hadašhim once again.

Nimir did not want to make the same mistakes as in the summer when he fragmented his army thus enabling a series of sweep victories for Sarkânu. He returned to the left side of the Black Šyul and concentrated on consolidating the newly acquired territories up to the river and in the Zabirath Foothills and Riverbend. The Star Fleet was ordered back to the Southern Ocean to protect the Freeholds territory from eventual Damarite raids and the army established a defensive perimeter along the river. Nimir came home on the 28th day of Darkness seven days prior to new year as a celebrated warchief highly strengthening his position as heir to his grandfather.

Renewed hostilities and peace
The western army mustered itself and hurried into Ahargan. Sarkânu also received some assistance from the Šalmaram rulers partly out of fear from the Hadašhim resurgence. In 549 during the spring the armies of Šalmaram were defeated in the Second Battle of the Red Tower Pass. Then the Hadašhim forces were gathered, crossed the Black Šyul and in a host of nearly four hundred thousand they forced the united western-aharganite allies to battle where the latter were utterly crushed. Fearing an overturning of the status quo Šalmaram threatened with an all-out-war forcing both parties to the tables.

Nimir originally wanted a more modest treaty but thanks to the arrogance of the Šalmaramese and their threats he decided to humiliate Ahargan. Not only the lifili fiefdoms, Kartam, the Northern Plains, the Foothills and the Path of the Two Rivers should be handed over to the Hadašhim but also Damiham and all the territories between the Northern Huran and the headwaters of the Šyul thus making Ahargan cut from the outside world. Their only way towards Šalmaram led through the Western Ore Mountains at the western edge of the continent - riskier and around four times longer than the previous.

Razon Sarkânu had to acknowledge Rakho the IV as superior to him, he had to pay the Hadašhim a yearly tribute of 50000 Golden Eagles, only his eldest son was set free the rest being taken captive and the two daughters he had had to be handed over to Hadašhim at discretion. Although the Western Kingdoms weren't punished the resentment among them rose against a newly empowered Empire.

The reconquered lands repopulated in the coming half decade mainly because the overpopulation in the Hadašhim cities and the large influx of both refugees and immigrants of the Old World. Their loyalty lay mainly with their liberator, Nimir, which set the power pretext to the devastating civil war of 560.