Beginning of Vullan's End: Fall of Bosantra, Vullan

Beginning of Vullan's End

[Summer 1840, 5 months after the declaration of war]

            On the very day word had spread of war being declared millions rallied. Men both young and the old enlisted in the army to fight for the Vullanese Empire.  It was the same for the Vestrisian Union only they rallied four times men more to their borders. They were stretched out across the frontlines one and a half miles from the border of Boathria in quickly dug trenches. These dug trenches stretched across the islands, creating a curve that followed the sea coast line. There were just five or six trenches on each border island that was split by the Vullanese and Boathrian factions. Each trench was over a few hundred yards away. Over fifty thousand men staffed one trench making their numbers up to 1.5 or more million on the Vullanese side.

            On the Vullanese side of Bosantra the day was clear with some fog left over from the morning. Standing on the edge of the first trench was Private Jorel Ascin. He looked out at the landscape wielding his rifle in hand. He was expecting the enemy to attack any moment.

            "PRIVATE!" he heard someone shout and his neck hairs stiffened then he jumped backwards falling on top of some fellow soldiers. His finger pulled the trigger firing a shot in the air. This shot rang out like an echo. He heard someone laughing behind him.  After getting up Jorel turned around and saw his commanding Sergeant and friend on the ground overwhelmed with laughter.

             "Haven't I told you Jorel, don't stick out like that. Don't you want to survive this war and see me marry your sister Reva?" He asked Jorel after regaining control and picking himself up.

            "Yeah, but that depends on if you get killed first!" Jorel snapped at him with some attitude.

            "Watch it I'm your commanding Sergeant remember?" His friend reminded him.

            "Sorry Sergeant Zarim." Jorel said saluting him.

            "You can still call me Orith, as a friend you know, I will allow it." He said to Jorel.

Another officer heard this conversation, "Ah, so we are doing the Union style, eh?"

            "Come on Karleth you know Jorel and I are friends." Orith said protesting a little.

            "Yes and I also know you're marrying his sister, Reva." Karleth replied pointing at a ring on a chain around his neck, which Orith had chosen to give Reva the day they married. Jorel looked over his shoulder at the men he fell on. They grumbled picking themselves up.

            "Sorry!" he told them hoping they would not try to shoot him in the future.

            "That's alright Ascin, it's not your fault." Orith whispered in Jorel’s ear. The three gentlemen continued with their conversation. They laughed until a colonel came up to them.

            "Alright you mangy BASTARDS, WHAT THE HELL, is going on here? Haven't I told yew tah stop screwing around!"

            On the other side of the border half a mile away, were two hundred thousand Vestrisian Union soldiers hiding behind a bunch of rocks and hills. This army also hid under the cover of fog waiting for the signal to attack. A marksman aimed his sniper rifle directly at the Vullanese colonel who was yelling. Next to him was his captain who would give him the order to shoot. On the Captain’s left was a large dark man who seemed too eager for action. He go up and tried to charge at the border.   

            "Let's get these fuckers already!" He growled attempting to charge the enemy positions.

             "NO!" the captain said pulling him down, "We have to wait for the signal!" The captain turned his attention to the marksman, “Alright kid you ready? Take him out!"

            A single gunshot came out of nowhere as the colonel fell to the ground. He had been shot by a sniper without any warning. This caught the Vullanese unawares and forced many men to drop down on the ground.

            "GET DOWN!" Sergeant Zarim yelled as he pulled his best friend down to prevent him from becoming the next corpse. Machine gunners readied themselves ducking behind the trenches enough to barely see over the top.

            Perched upon several large hills about eleven miles away was a company of artillery. A commanding officer looked through his binoculars watching the shot take place. As soon as he sees the colonel go down he turned to the teams and yelled out, "DRASTE!" the Forsythan word for fire. In the silent fog the Vullanese troops heard artillery fire from the distance. A shower of shells hit the ground shacking it like an earthquake. Many projectiles hit the trenches splintering wood causing pieces of wood to fling everywhere. Men were hit with multiple splinters getting wounded while some were fatally hit in the neck. Many of the other troops crouched down to have a smoke. As these despairing troops hunkered down in the trenches more were blown to bits. Blood and dirt splattered all over the place. This experience grew intense with each passing second. Jorel saw a soldier who was so distressed that he shakily put four cigarettes in his mouth and light each one. He looked up at Jorel he looked young and was apparently crying. An artillery shell landed where he was blowing him to smithereens, leaving nothing but blood, guts, and splintered boards. After two hours the artillery ceased firing. Vullanese troops came running out of their bunkers to see how much damage was done. Every man in the trenches wondered if it was going to happen again.

            On the other side the Union c.o. and yelled, "Charge!" Every Vestrisian soldier got up and charged letting out a blood curdling war cry. The Vullanese heard their war cry and fired at them. However a hail of bullets was fired overwhelming their lines. As they charged Union forces fired while running, not giving the enemy a chance to shoot back.

            Every Vullanese were forced to the ground lying on top of each other. Many riflemen and machine gunners were killed by the hail of bullets. A young corporal crawled over dead bodies towards an unmanned pillbox. With anger he fired non-stop, managing to kill a dozen or so before being blown away by a mortar shell. Gathering up courage, Orith stood up and encouraged others to do the same. Every man who stood fired his rifle despite the hail of bullets flying towards them. Together the long but thin line of soldiers along the trenches managed to kill many enemy soldiers.

            "Keep firing!" yelled Sergeant Zarim. No doubt there were more officers encouraging soldiers to shoot back. Many more joined the shooting. Jorel kneeled firing his rifle screaming with rage. Now there were twenty thousand casualties on the Union side, but the fierce army regrouped and kept firing. These deaths did not stop them since these soldiers happened to be veterans of the Castarian War four years ago. It was a war the Vestrisians fought in the east against the Castarian Empire. The numbers of remaining Vullanese troops in the trenches were very low. To make things worse they had over a hundred thousand Vestrisian Soldiers bearing down on them.

            Seeing these odds Sergeant Zarim ordered the remainder of the troops to retreat. Many more commanders in the area ordered their men to retreat as well. As the troops retreated they were gunned down by the numerous Union soldiers who were now pouring into their trenches. Machine guns were manned and fired on the backs of the retreating Vullanese. The reduced force soldiers of Bosantra, Vullan ran into the next trench, which was larger and had more room. The two friends collapsed into the trench, exhausted from running for their lives. Orith pulled out a picture of Reva from his coat pocket. Jorel moved closer beside Orith to look at this picture of his sister Reva. Neither of them believed they would ever see her again. With grief and despair they both missed Reva.

            Weeks went by as the war dragged on. Things did not look good for Vullan. Most of the divided islands were holding out, but the news of Adroth being taken was a demoralizing loss. After two months of fighting, the Vullanese were forced out of the first line trenches and bunkers. They were down to two lines of trenches with numbers dwindling down to a few hundred thousand. It was the same for a number of islands still holding out against the enemy. Despite the defense the Vestrisians still had ten times their numbers of troops with less casualties than the Vullanese. Their commanders were about to order to a suicidal charge to regain lost ground. Then someone spotted a convoy moving in from behind.

            It was their Nazdar allies, along with more of their countrymen to reinforce this weakened defense. The Vullanese reinforcements were sent from Loce, Asnar, and Vidothra. Now their numbers went up to over a few million across the borders. Their allies had sent a force of two million to reinforce the Vullanese man power. They also brought along a thousand lesser Wolf tanks.

            "Well, I'll be!" Sergeant Orith Zarim muttered to himself. He looked at Jorel who looked at Orith then the two friends laughed and rejoiced with their countrymen. Seeing this incoming convoy the exhausted Vullanese celebrated getting more reinforcements. Plenty of ammunition was also brought with more artillery rounds. Food rations were sent along with this convoy to last three years. They now believed they could defeat this Union force. The foolish Vullanese had forgotten that the war also raged on in other parts of the world. Even all over the oceans battles were fought between the Union and the Nazdar, Gantronese fleets.  There were plenty of dogfights in the air with aircraft the Vullanese never saw before. Sea battles were fought with vessels these people had never seen in their lives. The determination of both armies beating the hell out of each other stretched across the continent.  Although the Vullanese received reinforcements, more weapons, troops and tanks. The Vestrisian Union received the same as the Vullanese. A force of 1.2 million troops and 5,000 Dragon tanks came to the Vestrisians.

            The battle for Bosantra was a stalemate. Neither side gained any ground due to machine guns and artillery they both had. Three more months passed into the war as casualties’ sky rocketed for the Vullanese and her allies. More islands fell to the Union Army including Mothgar, and Eusvame that were taken three weeks ago. Battles at sea were mostly stalemates but a few victories came to either side. Desperately the Nazdar called for more reinforcements from Vodwania and Vidothra. A total of two million men and 4500 heavy Beast tanks were to be sent. All their tanks were destroyed by the Union Dragon tanks. This force was meant for the group of islands. However this massive force had to be transported by sea and air in smaller convoys. Along the way these convoys were ambushed by Vestrisian Union’s U-Boats, D-5’s and ships.    

            As months passed Union attacks greatly reduced these convoys to a handful of supplies. Much of the convoys were now at the bottom of the sea. Very few of these supplies made it to reinforce the Vullanese and Nazdar forces with 2,000 Wraith fighters and bombers sent with them. They hoped to eliminate the Union using air power. However the Union had also brought in a thousand of their own fighters the D-5s. Jorel thought they’d be able to crush this Union force but he was proven wrong. It was because of the reduced reinforcements and supplies. As a result the Vestrisian Union lost fewer men in each battle compared to the losses of the Vullanese and Nazdar.

            It was 4:00 a.m. and all Vullanese and Nazdar soldiers were sound asleep. In the dark of night the Union army advanced, for the Furd ordered them to crush this defense immediately. Their tanks came rolling in with a score of elites behind each one. A young Nazdar soldier named Visca Rieche got up to watch the sunrise. He spied thousands of shadows moving in the night.

             'The Union are attacking.' he thought. A Union soldier spotted him and raised his rifle to shoot the bastard. With a single shot he killed the spying pest, startling the sleeping enemy awake. Every one sprang up or tried to, for the Union already began shooting and bayoneting them. Those still sleeping were slaughtered while lying there. Only a few tried to fight back. Jorel shot three men, but was forced to pull back. Dragon tanks rolled over the trenches frightening the wakened Vullanese. Every single Wraith fighter and bomber were destroyed by artillery, to prevent them from bringing the fight into the skies. Orith rallied as many men as he could to hold them off even as they were routing and dying. With what he rallied Orith charged like hell, but was struck in the neck with a sword dark Vestrisian soldier had thrown. The valiant Vullanese troops died trying to hold back the Vestrisians. Seeing his friend fall to the ground Jorel felt rage and grief consume him.

             "Orith Nooo!" he screamed with tears of hatred in his eyes the loyal friend charged after the killer to avenge Orith's death. "You son of a-"Jorel growled and tried avenging Orith. He was hit square in the face getting knocked out with the butt of a rifle. This battle did not go so well for the Vullanese followers and their Nazdar allies. All the Nazdar were shown no mercy for they were executed in various ways, hung with chains or belts from a tank turret, shot, torched alive, and beheaded. The remaining Vullanese were spared and taken prisoner. Dawn came and all around the trenches thousands of bodies covered the area. All the corpses were gathered and piled up, from the great attack.  Many Vestrisians wanted to kill the Vullanese as well for their hatred against and abuse of various peoples. It was also that they followed those 'Teachings of Hell!' as the Vestrisians would call the Vullanese Religion. Jorel woke up to see a tall Vestrisian soldier aiming his rifle at him, ready to shoot this handsome seventeen year old soldier. A large dark man walked up to the tall man.

            "He isn’t worth killing Kouthra! The kid's too young to die!" The dark soldier told the other one named Kouthra who lowered his rifle.

             "Alright Katharn, guess we'll just make them P.O.W.s then!" Katharn replied, "Those are orders! Not to kill the Vullanese." Kouthra gave his huge comrade a smart look, then turned to Jorel. He pulled Jorel up to his feet.

            "What's your name kid?" He asked Jorel.

            In pain Jorel answered. "Jorel...Jorel Ascin!"

            "Nice to meet you Jorel, name's Kouthra Gwynor and this is Katharn Al-Zawi." Kouthra pointed to the giant dark man. Jorel shook hands with the two men even though they were enemies.   After getting up and shaking hands Jorel noticed the ring, which Orith was going to give Reva on their wedding day. It was now around Kouthra's neck.

            "That ring around your neck! It belonged to a good friend of mine! Could I have it back?" He asked hoping he could get it from him. Kouthra looked at the chain with the ring on it and took it off.

            "Certainly!" he said handing the ring over to Jorel.

            “I guess you'll be wanting this back too!" he reached in his uniform pocket and pulled out a blood stained picture of Reva. Jorel took this as well. He put the chain around his neck and the picture in a deep pocket on his pants. Jorel asked kouthra,

            "Are you the one who killed my friend Orith?" Puzzled kouthra answered with a question.

             "Are you talking about that Sergeant that charged at us?"

            "Yes!" 

            "No, it wasn't me. That was Katharn, but I did knock you out though!" The three soldiers had a laugh and ate breakfast. At 8:30, all POWs were gathered and boarded some troop transports that had arrived in the night.

             Kouthra let out a sigh, "I guess we're marching onward to a town called Kern."

            "That's where I live!" Jorel bellowed with excitement.

            "Well Kid!" Katharn said in a deep voice. "I guess this is your luck day!"

            "Let's just hope you'll be able to ride with us.  You do know how to ride a horse right?" Kouthra asked Jorel. 

            "Yes, sir. I mean yes kouthra." Jorel boasted happy to get away from the battlefield.

            The journey to Kern took longer than Jorel remembered. Along the way to Kern they came across Nazdar resistance.  Nazdar resistance ranged from ambushes to sniper attacks and fanatics which slowed the advance to Kern. Those who surrendered and survived had partnered up with two or more Vestrisian soldiers. In this process they made friends out of enemies. These Vullanese were given the Vestrisian Army uniform plus membership and enlistment into the Vestrisian Union Army.