Star Wars Fanon
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Old Republic era


The First Siege of Traevilon was a siege fought between the Morsian Kingdom and Sicc'orax Republic on Mors during the First Morsian-Sicc'orax War. It was notable for being the first real battle to be fought by the newly reformed Royal Morsian Army, showcasing the new legionary system. It was also the first major Morsian victory over the Sicc'orax.

The siege began as the Morsian legions advanced to the south, encountering the walled settlement of Traevilon situated across a river line. The legions dug in and began to siege the earthworks surrounding the settlement, crossing the river at several different points away from the defenses, to surround the village. During the siege, however, the First Morsian Civil War broke out and resulted in the 1st Legion leaving the siege to return to the homeland and crush the uprising. The two remaining legions successfully completed the siege, however after pausing to loot the settlement, they too returned the way they came to aid the 1st legion in ending the civil war.

Prelude[]

in 16,700 BBY the then-king of the Morsians Caesar Tarqui'in I was assassinated by an unknown assailant. His son and successor, Pompinius Tarqui'in, declared war on the most likely suspect of the Sicc'orax Republic. Mobilizing the Royal Morsian Army, they marched to the south where the Morsian border with the Sicc'orax lay. Marching over the border, they looted and captured various settlements before arriving at the defended town of Traevilon.

Sicc'oraxian Wars
Prelude
Malagus · Favarae
First
1st Traevilon · (First Morsian Civil War · Sicc'oraxian conquest of east Virconis) · 2nd Traevilon · Colonae Caesarus
Second
1st Acdubros · 2nd Acdubros · 1st Pedeticum · 2nd Pedeticum · Sicc'orandunum
Third
Sicc'orandunum

Initial siege[]

The three legions of the army, totalling 3,000 men, surveyed the defenses in front of them which consisted of an earthwork palisade and a natural river barrier on the Morsian side. A small dock and jetty faced them but proved to be no way to get into the settlement. Without the knowledge or equipment to conduct a swift or impactful siege, the legions split up. Two of them set off up and down river to find a crossing point with which to conduct the siege without the river barrier. The 1st legion remained on the far side of the river to distract the defenders.

The legion remained camped there for over a week as the other two legions found crossing points and returned to the settlement, laying siege as best they could. Without advanced siege technology such as catapults, onagers or ballistae, the legions could only create basic battering rams and siege ladders for the walls, which proved to be time consuming. Additionally, the 1st legion would have to assault across the river, in order to keep the defenders focused on them. However, before any plans could be put into effect, news of the death of Pompinius and a civil war in the homeland reached the siege.

News of the civil war[]

The news of the civil war, and death of the king, greatly impacted the morale of the army. The three legates got together with their second in commands and discussed the situation. It was eventually decided that the 1st legion, due to its position being already on the Morsian side of the river, should turn back and march to the kingdom to quell the dissent. The other two legions would remain at Traevilon and continue the siege, leaving to aid the 1st legion as soon as the settlement had been taken. With this agreed on, the 1st legion swiftly packed up and marched back the way they came with the aim to restore order to the kingdom.

Breaking the defenses[]

With the 1st legion no longer occupying some of the defenders, the remaining legions had to speed up their siege. Constructing covers for the rams, the legions sped up their plans for the attack. The legions would attack at the same time from each side of the down, using the rams to batter down gatehouses while using the siege ladders to scale the palisade. After a few more days of building and preparation, they were ready to attack. At dawn, the legions took up their equipment and hurried to the walls in the waning darkness, shielded from the eyes of the defenders until the last moment, when a particularly eagle-eyed soldier on one of the walls spotted the legionaries through the gloom. However, it was too late to stop the first of the siege ladders being put up against the palisade and legionaries jumping onto the defenses.

The battering rams were manoeuvred to the gatehouses and, under a hail of fire from the now alerted defenders, began to batter down the main entrances. Meanwhile, on the walls, the legionaries put their new equipment to good use. With large shields and their shorter swords, in the close combat space of the wall walkways, the legionaries proved superior to the swordsmen and archers of the Sicc'orax defenders. Their metal armor was also superior to the light armor of the Sicc'orax, mostly made from a leather-like material.

Fighting was heavy on the walls, however the legionaries managed to secure several sections of the walls, leading to concentrated pushes to secure the gatehouses and open them for the forces outside. For the 3rd legion, this came too late, as the battering ram was able to successfully break down the gate before the legionaries on the walls could open it for them. The 2nd legion, however, was proving to have more trouble due to a larger amount of the defenders rallying to their side. The advance on the walls stagnated as Sicc'orax reinforcements were sent in and bogged down the legionaries. However, this meant that the forces facing the 3rd legion was comparatively light, so after breaking the morale of the soldiers facing them, they could march across the settlement to aid their fellow legionaries.

Under strict orders from their officers to not loot or burn the settlement until it was secured, the legionaries marched towards the other side of the palisade to attack the Sicc'orax from the rear. With most of their remaining forces fighting the 2nd legion, there was little to impede the progress of the 3rd legion, and the first cohorts arrived to attack the Sicc'orax rear lines in good time. Under the combined attack from both the front and rear, most of the Sicc'orax forces became trapped between the two sets of Morsian soldiers. A few who spotted the threat chose to flee, abandoning the fight and escaping out of the gatehouse not under attack by the Morsians. The others, however, could either surrender to the Morsians or fight to the death. Upon seeing their predicament, some chose to fight on, but with no escape and their numbers dwindling, those remaining chose to surrender.

Legacy[]

The prisoners were swiftly secured as slaves and the settlement looted. Much of the defenses were burnt or destroyed as the legions were not staying to occupy the settlement, so the Sicc'orax would have taken it back by the time the legions would have returned. As such, destroying as much of the defenses as they could would make the next attack easier. The settlement was also heavily looted for as much as they could find, along with taking additional slaves, before much of it too was destroyed along with the jetty on the river.

To quickly get across the river, the legions used materials taken from the destruction of the settlement to build a rudimentary bridge across the river to march over. After crossing, the bridge was destroyed to prevent the Sicc'orax from using it. In all the siege lasted several hours for the battle, and several days more after it was concluded to loot and burn it, as well as construct the bridge. It was a great success, despite the civil war, and showed the army as a force capable of attacking and taking land rather than just defending what was already taken.

Abandoning the settlement and leaving it to be re-occupied by the Sicc'orax was a blow to the war effort, especially considering that it was the first major battle and victory in the war. However, sacking and burning the settlement and defenses proved to be important, as the Sicc'orax were unable to properly rebuild them prior to the Morsian return several years later. This damage proved key to the success of the much swifter Second Siege of Traevilon.

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