Siege of the Gouffre

Siege of the Gouffre
Part of Minecraft Attack
The formidable fortess of the Gouffre pastèque, located deep inside the Citroyan Empire.
Date: 0800-1030 March 12th, 2022 Location: L'Empire de la Citroye Result: Decisive Citroyan Victory, Collapse of Kurokaigan, further unification of Citroye Territory changes: Arenican Kurokegania becomes independent. Kurokaigan unclaims south coast of Citroye.
Combatants
Shanbao, Arenican Empire, Arenican Kurokegania Wikaros, Cflip_ limited aid from junair3 and bcfoss	L'Empire de la Citroye jusipat, mikymikou33, perrault22, Kjolt947 limited aid from bcfoss
Commanders
Wikaros	jusipat
Casualties
~3	0

The Siege of the Gouffre was a failed attack by Cflip_, Wikaros and bcfoss against L'Empire de la Citroye. They had originally planned to siege down the fort and steal valuables from inside, however a mix of tactical errors, bad luck, and turncoat allies made the situation unwinnable.

History of the War

The Alliance's Initial Plans

The plot to attack Citroye started when Cflip_ and Wikaros decided that they wanted to bring back the days of full-on war between nations. Kjolt947 was present during the initial planning, and bcfoss soon joined as well. A meeting was held in the Shanbao Diplomatic Centre, and it was decided that they would be able to siege the Gouffre fort in Citroye and steal jusipat's iron supplies. Kjolt947 was told he would be spared despite being part of the Citroye Empire. Kjolt947 was directed to remain neutral, Cflip_ and bcfoss set up fort in Kurokaigan in preparation for the war.

The best piece of armour jusipat had at the time was an enchanted diamond chestplate, while Cflip_ had a full set of enchanted diamond. It was presumed that through better gear and numbers that jusipat would easily be defeated.

Perspective of L'Empire de la Citroye

Prior to the beginning of the war, l'Empire de la Citroye had been at peace since its formation. Far to the north of the other powers on the server, jusipat had constructed the indominable fortress of the Gouffre pastèque and taken token control of Melondeau as a vassal of the new Citroyan Empire. Furthermore, Citroye was expanding as perrault22 began playing on the server.

There was no indication that the Empire would soon be attacked. Citroye's vast riches in minerals extracted were relatively unprotected behind the walls of the Gouffre.

Advance on the Gouffre

As soon as jusipat joined the game the next day, the alliance of Shanbao and Sableterre gathered forces in Kurokaigan and formally declared war on L'Empire de la Citroye in the game chat. perrault22 then joined the game and joined forces with jusipat, taking up defensive positions at the Gouffre pastèque. Wikaros, Cflip_ and bcfoss then advanced from Kurokaigan, descending upon the fortress from the north, attempting to draw out forces to give others a chance to enter the fort. Unfortunately for the attackers, night soon fell, which put additional stress upon the attackers as mobs and phantoms swarmed them periodically. Furthermore, the geography of the Gouffre pastèque did not make it any easier for the attacking forces; coming from the south they had to cross a jungle and a large unlit valley to reach the fortress which lay in full view of the fortress.

Siege of the Gouffre

The alliances' plans to draw out the defenders of the fortress was unsuccessful, as it gave the initiative to the defenders of the Gouffre, who began probing outwards. jusipat and perrault22 eventually went on the offensive after seeing no significant attack was progressing, however Cflip_ lost connection to the server during this critical moment and was rapidly tracked down and killed once rejoining. Cflip_ lost his entire set of enchanted diamond armour to jusipat, who took the armour and used it against the attackers. It was at this moment that the entire war turned around, as the one advantage Kurokaigan had against the defenders was lost. Following this, jusipat quickly gave his previous diamond chestplate to perrault22 and began tracking down Wikaros who remained on the battlefield. While perrault22 began advancing to hunt for other attackers, jusipat successfully tracked down Wikaros to the west of the fortress, slaying him. bcfoss then withdrew from the attack until the alliance could regroup.

Wikaros and Cflip_ respawned at a forward operating base south of the Gouffre, they then gathered some weapons and armour scattered across the battlefield and the team regrouped to go in for another attack.

At this time, bcfoss whispered to jusipat regarding the faltering morale of the attackers following the loss of Cflip_'s armour.

Second Assault & Jungle Battle

Attempting a new attack from the north-eastern direction, the attackers failed to scale the walls and were met with hails of arrows and lava buckets. The defenders then began sorties to neutralise isolated attackers. In the middle of the carnage, Kjolt947 arrived from Melondeau, alarming both sides as nobody knew who's side he would join. The attackers quickly retreated to potentially address the danger, and jusipat and perrault22 took the initiative in chasing after them. A large skrimish was then fought near the jungle path to the province of Melondeau. With the armour in his hands, jusipat and perrault22 were able to defeat the attackers who then decided to abandon the siege to defend their respective homes. Following the crushing defeat of Shanbao-Arenican forces, Kjolt947 joined forces with l'Empire as it pushed on into enemy territory, embarking for Kurokaigan.

Changing Winds of War

With the coalition forces in full retreat, the question of 'how far?' arose. Arenican Kurokegania was immediately written off as not worth defending for being too close to Citroye, which just left Shanbao and Arenia proper.

The Sacking of Kurokaigan

While the main force continued on to Shanbao, bcfoss split off in order to begin fortifying Sableterre. As the fortifications were hastily assembled, Kurokaigen was targeted in full force by forces of the Citroye and looted. perrault22 ravaged the streets, destroying all of the concrete stores, knowing the inconvenience it was to make it all.

The Siege of Sableterre

Insulated by Kurokegania and confident in a swift victory, bcfoss had neglected to fortify the western edge of the island against invasion, thus leaving the Bibliotheca Arenica dangerously exposed. The library entrance was hastily blocked off with obsidian, and the third story of the Library was hastily modified into a defensive position with wooden stockades and walkways erected on the sides.

Citroyan Forces Make Landfall

Citroyan forces soon arrived from the west following their sacking of Arenican Kurokegania, heard with the battle cries of 'Kráft Dïnnner'. The attackers, consisting of jusipat and perreault22 made tentative attempts to scale the walls, which were repelled with arrow fire. Arenian calls for assistance were answered by the arrival of Wikaros, which stalled further Citroyan attacks for a short time. An attempt to force the entrance by perreault22 was countered with lava by bcfoss, who was then suppressed by jusipat. Just as the defenders' supply of arrows was almost expended, the besiegers abandoned the siege seeing Cflip_ soon to join in the defense. Under the direction of jusipat, Citroyan forces were ordered to bypass the allied army and continue eastward towards a now undefended Shanbao.

junair3's Island Attack

jusipat and perrault22 landed on junair3's island and poured lava on his pigs, giving Cflip_ and Wikaros a chance to get ahead of them to defend the Fort Shanbao. However, suddenly the forces of Citroye then turned back to Arenia to put pressure on bcfoss. Cflip_ and Wikaros, under the impression that an attack was imminent, continued to defend Shanbao but no attackers ever came.

Sableterre Exits the War

bcfoss was left alone to defend Sableterre. Kjolt947, who had stayed behind the main fighting split with the main Citroyan force and parleyed with bcfoss, gifting baked potatoes and suggesting to bcfoss that Arenia surrender. After further negotiations with jusipat returning from junair3's pillaged island, bcfoss accepted under the conditions that Arenia would maintain neutrality for the rest of the war and release Kurokegania as an independent nation. Thus the Arenican Empire (but not Kurokegania) dropped out of the war. Citroye gained both a tactical and strategic victory from this outcome, as it now meant that the Citroyan forces held a clear numerical advantage against the scattered defenders of Kurokegania (who at this point had been folded into the defense of Shanbao) and Shanbao.

This left the allied forces of Kurokegania and Shanbao both outnumbered and in a perilous strategic position, as the Citroyan army could now capably contest Shanbao itself without worry of an attack on their flank from Sableterre. The war had decisively turned against its instigators.

The Phony War

Following these series of crushing defeats and loss of allies by the allied forces, they retreated to go on the defensive. Cflip_ returned to Shanbao, while Wikaros attempted to re-garrison Arenia, unaware of the peace settlement reached. Wikaros was then denied reentrance to Sableterre by bcfoss who fired upon him with arrows. jusipat and perrault22 then returned to L'Empire de la Citroye to make sure no further incursions were taking place there. Upon re-entering the Gouffre, it was found that at one point the attackers had managed to enter the Gouffre and steal a small number of supplies and a portion of the original wargoal, iron. These supplies, following the crushing battle outside the walls of the Gouffre at the onset of the war, then despawned following the route of the allied army.

At the time, it was believed junair3 was the one who had stolen the supplies, as he loitered around the Gouffre during the battle. In the paranoia of war he was swiftly ordered killed by jusipat and nothing was found on his body. Following the path of destruction of the Citroyan army, junair3 was killed numerous times and his island marauded, having nothing to do with the war. At this point negotiations began and Cflip_ made it clear that he would not come to the negotiating table unless his armour being returned was a clear part of the treaty, given the circumstances of his defeat. If this was not met, he promised Dirt Warfare, jusipat acquiesced to this demand.

Peace Negotations

As Cflip_ and Wikaros defended Shanbao, jusipat attempted to negotiate peace with Cflip_. Cflip_ refused to end the war unless he was able to get his armour back. jusipat eventually accepted this condition in a peace offer in order to prevent further warfare. Everyone gathered at the Shanbao Diplomatic Centre, and the Second Treaty of Shanbao was signed, ending the Siege of the Gouffre.

Outcome of the War

The Citroyan Empire's decisive victory would guarantee it superpower status for the rest of the server. Furthermore, the nation heavily centralized and expanded territorially following this victory. Kurokaigan would go on to be abandoned, due to the severe damage done to the settlement and its placement within the Empire's northern sphere of influence. Shanbao, though undamaged by the war, would begin to stagnate following the defeat. Sableterre's imperial ambitions would be crushed following the conflict as well, and it too would go on to experience relative stagnation and isolation.