| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On the 27th July the first battles in the Great Rutland War began with the taking of towns formally held by the TBA.
The main attack on the True British Army base at Rutland Water was due to begin on the 4th August, however due to quick advances the main attack was brought forward to the 2nd August. This was the death knell of the TBA which had been a thorn in the side of the member states of the OBN for many years.
The TBA base at Rutland had been built on the Hambleton peninsula in Rutland Water, a large reservoir in the center of the county.
26th July 2011[]
The Essex airship EAS Warrior has done a reconnaissance flight over the TBA Rutland base, the pictures brought back show two heavily defended walls cutting off the Hambleton peninsula from the mainland as well as large numbers of recently built military buildings on the peninsula.
In the nearby town of Oakham it was discovered that the majority of the town outside the central ring road had been razed to the ground and the town centre defended with a large wall with seven independently defensible towers built into it, even more heavily defended structures were found in the area surrounding Oakham Castle. The defensive lines have been linked to the peninsular defenses by two layers of walls and defensive ditches.
From the pictures it is approximated that the forces in Oakham and the Hambleton Peninsula number around 3200.
Troops from the OBN nations of Cleveland, Northumberland and the Parts of Holland have begun massing in the town of Melton Mowbray to the north west of Rutland. Meanwhile troops from Essex have taken the town of Stamford to the South East of Rutland without a fight, it appears the TBA troops holding the town left sometime in the past week. At the same time troops from Woodbridge have taken the village of Uppingham, the TBA troops guarding the village left at roughly the same time as the troops from Stamford, 40 Woodbridge medics have moved to support the Cleveland, Northumberland and Holland troops in Melton Mowbray.
27th July 2011[]
250 Essex troops have moved from Stamford and attacked the town of Empingham, resistance was light and the town was taken by mid afternoon without any Essex casualties.
Another 250 Essex troops have moved to take the town of Edith Weston on the south bank of Rutland Water, they have taken the airfield to the south without a fight, they currently are based less than 200 metres to the south of the town centre, plans are to take the town tomorrow.
750 Clevelander troops and 75 Hollander troops have moved south from Melton Mowbray and attacked the town of Langham less than 1km from the TBA controlled town of Oakham. The town put up some stiff resistance but due to overwhelming numbers of allied troops the town fell by nightfall with 27 TBA dead and two Clevelander troops dead, 47 TBA troops were injured and captured when the town was taken a remaining 70-80 TBA men retreated south east to the TBA base at Oakham.
A further 500 Clevelander and 250 Northumberland troops have attacked the village of Braunston-in-Rutland, the village fell quickly, again due to overwhelming numbers, with only four TBA casualties and 12 captured. A further 50-60 TBA troops retreated to Oakham and there were no allied casualties.
After the town of Langham was taken, the remaining Clevelander, Hollander and Northumberland troops have moved forward to the town in preparation for the planned attack in the next few days.
28th July 2011[]
Essex troops moved to take the town of Edith Weston this morning, they took the town easily, however just after 3pm the Essex troops came under mortar fire from the TBA controlled peninsular. Four Essex troops are killed in the initial bombardment with a further two killed in a second bombardment at 7pm. Essex troops returned fire once the first bombardment had abated, it is unknown how many TBA casualties were suffered.
At nightfall the Essex troops called on the EAS Warrior it has moved forward and is expected to begin bombing the peninsular at daybreak.
29th July 2011[]
At daybreak the EAS Warrior began bombing the Hambleton peninsula, over the day the airship completes seven bombing runs dropping over half a tonne of bombs, including a drop of incendiaries at 1.30pm which cause many of the buildings on the peninsular to catch on fire.
By mid afternoon many building were still burning fiercely, at roughly 5pm a large explosion occurred on the eastern end of the peninsula, it is assumed that either a fuel or more likely an arms dump had ignited, rubble from the explosion landed on the Essex troops in Edith Weston over 400 feet away.
The large shock wave from the explosion caused many buildings in the area surrounding to partially collapse and catch fire.
By nightfall many of the fires had been extinguished. Three main areas, however, continued to burn into the early hours of the 30th July.
30th July 2011[]
Due to the success of the bombing raids on the Hambleton Peninsula the EAS Cavalier has been called to the front and throughout the day it completed five bombing runs on the defended town of Oakham causing serious damage including two breaches in the town walls and some minor fires in the defended section of the town.
At the same time the EAS Warrior continued its attack on the Hambleton Peninsular, it completed three more runs including an incendiary bomb attack. However on the third bombing run the airship came under heavy machine gun fire, the airship was hit several times causing some minor damage. The first officer was hit by a bullet ricocheting from one of the main support beams on the bridge, he suffered a wound to his right leg but is expected to make a complete recovery.
The EAS Warrior has returned to Essex for repairs it is hoped that it will return to service by the 3rd August 2011.
31st July 2011[]
Rutland Water from the air.
With the EAS Warrior temporarily out of service the Woodbridge special forces began a mortar attack on the Hambleton Peninsula at dawn, the attack lasted four hours and caused more damage to the remaining ruined structures on the peninsular.
At the same time the Clevelander and Northumberland troops began their own mortar attack on the defended town of Oakham, their attack lasted in two phases from 10am to 11.30am and from 2pm to 3.45pm.
Both attacks cause damage to the many defended structures in the town centre, including enlarging one existing breach in the town walls and creating another breach, the attack also caused the total collapse of one defended tower in the wall and the serious damage of another three more.
Due to the success of the bombing raids by the Essex airships and mortar raids the planned main assault on the town of Oakham has been brought forward from the 4th of August to the 2nd of August.
It is hoped that the town will have fallen in time for the Clevelander, Hollander and Northumberland troops to assist Woodbridge and Essex in the main assault on the Hambleton Penisula on the 4th August.
1st August 2011[]
At daybreak the airship bombing runs on both Oakham and the Hambleton Peninsula begin again, the main targets are the town walls around Oakham and the two defended walls across the Hambleton Peninsula EAS Cavalier does six bombing runs throughout the day dropping nearly a tonne of high explosives on the area.
At the same time, between bombing runs, mortars are fired into the same areas by the allied troops and Woodbridge special forces snipers begin taking out targets visible on the peninsula.
The main attack on the defended town of Oakham will begin at dawn with a joint attack be Clevelander, Northumberland and Hollander troops, Woodbridge and Essex troop will continue their sustained bombing and mortaring of the peninsula in preparation of the attack on it on the 4th August.
2nd August 2011 - Battle for Oakham[]
At daybreak there was a sustained bombing campaign on the town of Oakham, both EAS Warrior - recently returned to service, and EAS Cavilier bombed the town for two hours from daybreak. At 9am the Clevelander, Northumberland and Hollander troops attack the breaches in the town walls. Clevelander troops attack from the north while the combined forces of Northumberland and the Parts of Holland attack from the west.
The attack was brutal with heavy losses on both sides, by noon 15 Clevelander, seven Northumberland and three Hollander troops lay dead. On the TBA side over 50 are dead and many more seriously injured.
By 1pm the allied troops have taken the town walls, the west of the walled town and have surrounded Oakham Castle. The allied troops begin mortaring the interior of the castle at 2pm and continue mortaring until just after 4pm. Five Clevelander troops scale the castle walls and open the main gate at 4.45pm, all five are shot from behind as the gates open and the remaining allied troops pour into the castle interior.
The troops attack the main hall, located in the west of the castle compound, first as there are large amounts of heavy fire coming from it, 25 Clevelander and four Northumberland soldiers break down the door and seven grenades are thrown in. Once the dust settles the allied troops quickly take the building with the loss of only four Clevelander and one Hollander troops. The TBA troops lost 87 men with a further 29 captured injured.
The remaining buildings in the compound fall easily with no allied losses, the only remaining building to take was the main tower built in the centre of the compound. The main castle tower had been built to a Norman Motte and Bailey design with the main stone tower built on a 50 foot high earthen mound. As the allied troops surround the castle tower they begin to take heavy fire from the defenders, including hand grenades and small home made explosives.
By 8pm a further 18 Clevelander, 21 Northumberland and seven Hollander troops are dead, the castle tower had so far resisted any attempts to take it. At nightfall the allied troops withdraw to a point where the castle defenders cannot cause any more casualties, it is planned to attack the castle tomorrow.
3rd August 2011 - Siege of Oakham Castle[]
After asking the Essex troops assistance, allied troops have received 25 rocket propelled grenades. The Clevelander troops use these weapons to attack the castle tower just after daybreak, they fire them at the bottom west corner of the tower, after 17 hits the corner of the tower begins to collapse and after a further 3 hits the corner totally collapses, bringing north west wall down with it, the three internal floors partially collapse and shortly after the collapse the allied troops attack the remaining structure, despite the severe damage to the tower the resistance from inside has extraordinarily heavy.
It takes nearly four hours to fully take the remains of the tower, there are heavy losses on both sides with 42 Clevelander, 21 Northumberland and nine Hollander troops lost, the TBA loses 234 troops.
It takes a further three hours to totally clear the remains of the walled town of small numbers of TBA troops which had taken positions throughout the town.
The remains of the tower are dynamited at 8pm to make sure that any TBA troops that have not been captured retaking the tower and using it as a resistance base.
The Clevelander, Northumberland and Hollander troops are to rest overnight and then assist the Essex and Woodbridge troops in their assault on the Hambleton peninsula.
While the attack was occurring on Oakham Castle the two Essex airships have continued their bombing raids on the Hambleton Peninsula, they have been focusing on the two defended walls separating the peninsula from the rest of the surrounding countryside. At nightfall the outer wall had been almost flattened and the inner wall had suffered serious damage.
4th August 2011 - Assault on the Hambleton Peninsula[]
Just before daybreak a group of 40 Woodbridge special forces supported by 100 Essex troops land on the far eastern end of the Hambleton Peninsula. They find three arms dumps and a fuel dump and place charges on all four they then return to the mainland.
At 9am the charges are all detonated, causing massive explosions across the peninsula, using small inflatable vessels, 2000 Essex troops and the Woodbridge special forces land across the southern coastline of the Hambleton Peninsula shortly after the detonations, the TBA troops fire on many boats as they approach the peninsula causing seven to sink, the troops aboard try to swim for the shore but weighed down by their equipment many drown or are picked off by TBA troops in the water. 72 Essex troops and nine Woodbridge troops, mostly medics, die in the water assault.
The Battle begins[]
Once ashore the remaining troops quickly take the shoreline a begin forcing the TBA troop back, fighting is intense and losses on both sides quickly build up.
At 12 noon the Clevelander, Northumberland and Hollander troops begin attacking the outer wall defending the peninsula. They quickly overwhelm the defenders and move onto attacking the inner wall, however as they attack the main gateway a massive explosion occurs killing 78 Clevelander and 34 Northumberland troops and blowing a large crater in front of the gateway, demolishing it in the process after the remaining allied troops regroup and surveying the area for further explosive devices, they attack the inner wall again at 2.30pm, it falls just after 4pm.
Through out the day the TBA troops resist strongly, but at 3pm a further 500 Essex troops land on the north of the peninsula taking the TBA defenders by surprise, with the TBA being now attacked on three fronts their resistance begins to falter.
At 5.30pm most of the eastern and far western ends of the peninsula had fallen to allied hands, the area around the village of Hambleton was still in TBA hands. Essex troops begin mortaring the village from the north and east whilst Clevelander troops begin mortaring from the west. The village put up stiff resistance, when a group of 40 Essex troops try and attack the village's eastern end three massive explosions occur in areas occupied by Essex, Woodbridge and Cleveland/Northumberland troops, it appears that the explosive devices had been hidden in partially demolished buildings and detonated once allied troops were in the vicinity.
Allied losses were very heavy with 187 Essex, 13 Woodbridge special forces and a further nine Woodbridge medics, 41 Clevelander, 18 Northumberland and 32 Hollander troops all being killed and many more seriously injured. The allied troops withdraw from around the village and regroup for nightfall.
Due to the heavy losses sustained in the attack Hollander troopers have withdrawn from the battlefield
The attack is suspended until the morning, it is hoped that the village will fall tomorrow.
Death toll from the TBA side have been confirmed as 342.
5th August 2011 - final assault on Hambleton[]
After the disaster the previous day, the allied troops have decided to soften up the defended TBA stronghold by mortaring it from before dawn and they have called on the EAS Cavalier to bomb the village with high explosives and incendiaries.
The airship bombing runs last until 10am, by which time the village was in burning ruins. At 11am a joint attack was started with Essex troops attacking the south east and Cleveland troops attacking the north west with Woodbridge and Northumberland troops attacking in reserve.
Even after the bombing, resistance was heavy. As expected there were more improvise explosives through out the outer ring of the village, losses were high with 22 Clevelander, 16 Essex, four Northumberland and seven Woodbridge soldiers killed by 12.30pm.
The Essex troops had more success entering the town than the Clevelander troops and by 2pm had advanced around Hambleton Hall. It appears that the leadership of the TBA are hold up inside. Defenses in the area are very strong and the Essex and Woodbridge special forces troops have had trouble attacking the Hall itself, a detachment has been left to guard the Hall until the remainder of the peninsula had fallen.
Through out the day the fighting continues but without orders from the leadership the resistance of the TBA troops begins to faulter and begins to collapse shortly after 6pm when 178 TBA troops surrender to Northumberland troops. The remainder of the TBA troops surrender after 7.30pm, all except the TBA leadership in Hambleton Hall.
All allied troops had surrounded the Hall at 9pm, using loudhailers the leaders of the allies ask for the surrender of TBA leadership, if nothing is heard by 9.30pm then allies will take it that the answer is 'No' and the attack will commence.
The only reply to the offer of surrender is a barrage of small arms fire.
At 9.45pm the final assault begins with rocket propelled grenades fired at the upper floor, quickly the upper floors are on fire. At just after 10pm a group of 25 Woodbridge special forces attempt access through a rear window, unfortunately the window is booby trapped, and explodes killing 12 of the troops, a further five Woodbridge medics are killed trying to help the wounded.
The explosion brings down a section of wall meaning that access inside was now possible. A group of Essex troopers gain access inside the building and while the majority fight room to room killing TBA troops as they go two manage to open the front and rear doors allowing Clevelander troops into the building as well. The fighting continues until there is a large explosion from one end of the building, the explosion kills five Clevelander and three Essex troops, and the entire leadership of the TBA, it appears that they had been expecting the final assault and had prepared a suicide bomb to take as many allied troops as possible.
Mopping up operations continue into the early morning but the battle for Ruland Water is declared a success.
Total death tolls have been announced
ALLIES
- 232 Cleveland
- 284 Essex
- 105 Northumberland
- 42 Parts of Holland
- 55 Woodbridge
TOTAL 718
TBA
- 1242 TBA