The boar's fall had allowed others to rise, though in ways only hypothesized. First of all, Juzo Ze returned to the capital to take up a central position, leaving command in the hands of the navy, both at sea and on land. Commander 'Tiger Shark' Asaruh was to take the forces left behind by Juzo and Kaizawa and make the most with them. He had a bevy of army officers in his staff to help him plan, all of them smarting at losing the opportunity to a madman. These put his ideas to paper, planning out a grand act.
Tiger Shark's offensive seemed to take General Zakura by surprise, even if his expected numerical largesse did not exist. Her forces were split up, much of them at Laotie awaiting reinforcements, the rest divided in an attempt to secure her occupation. Against these, the 'Shark Attack' of siege regiments to destroy stubborn initial knots of resistance while armor and cavalry cut into the rest of the front proved effective, helped out by Combustion Man's penetrative abilities.
The push forwards was only slowed by stiff resistance around the flanks and quicklime deployed by Kuro, which Tiger Shark's advisors cautioned him against permitting. Particularly worrying to them was the movement of several divisions to cut off their landward connection to Caldera, something that proved impossible to stop due to the size of the force (being taken from the reserve). As an attempt to cut their supply lines it proved ineffective given the naval supremacy in the inner sea, but it made the commanders cautious.
Rightfully cautious, as it turned out. General Zakura was known for her ruthlessness, and this extended even to the soldiers under her command. She had chosen to spend conscripts and land hand over fist while building up a strike force near Laotie. With the arrival of airships, balloons, and cavalry from other fronts added to her own mobile forces and armor, these proved complete. Striking from left and right, she personally attempted a double envelopment of the enemy's broad mass, putting Colonel Sei Guo in command of the infantry counterattack to ensure aggressive tactics.
In the meantime, a great amount of other movements and preparations had been carried out by all three sides involved.
The double siege of the Gates of Azulon was the most critical of these. While Yosor's soldiers menaced the northern fortress, Zuko's navy was massing behind them. Perilous and exhausting efforts were made by garrison forces at Burning Point to clear away the chain, attempts that were stopped short some miles away from the coast by the Blue Center Fleet, that attacked any vessels who dared to strike outside of the covering range of landward artillery. Though an easy and swift task in itself compared to what might have been if more time and technology had allowed the chain to become something greater, to do so under enemy fire was another matter.
Indeed, the Center Fleet had been ordered to hold or die, and further been granted use of the mercurial Niho, personal agent of the Firelord, to aid them. She had collected a handful of earthbender collaborators sent by General Bujing, whom she led in raids against Zuko's forces, correctly anticipating that they would never anticipate such a thing. These proved successful for both information gathering and sabotage, delaying the full assault over the gates for days.
In these raids they took great risks, and it was these such that took them down. While attempting a night attack on a catapult camp that threatened their fleet, death in its manly form found them. Combustion Man, an agent himself, was well suited to chasing away such threats and had been deputied for this affair.
The fight was like most those involving the silent assassin went: a matter of surprise, over in moments. The earthbenders died immediately, those who had managed to erect earth shields only achieving death by shrapnel rather than explosion. Only Niho survived, her watery defense turning to steam and scalding her deeply. As Combustion Man breathed in again, reading his kill, Niho unleashed her signature move: she bent water up his mouth nostrils, choking him suddenly, cutting him inside, and interrupting his bending. As he coughed up blood, she ran, jumping into the sea and swimming away, propelled by her powers.
The presence of Azula's fleet, even if a good third of it left to raid Sandu, made Juzo Ze's cunning plan to move reinforcements from Rouruo to break the siege of the northern fortress through the eastern unviable until at least the chain was broken, soon after made fully so by the mass reinforcement of the siege by forces from Hida Springs, who moved as soon as Bujing's army from Shuhon arrived.
These reinforcements therefore regrouped in Burning Point together with the large force rerouted from Dragon Island, intended for other purposes.
By this point, Zuko's high commands' attempts to tear down the chain without lowering the gates had proven outright impossible so long as there was a powerful fleet on the other side. A modification of the explosive original plan would have to be carried out. Most unfortunately, the time taken in preparation and misled attempts had resulted in the northern gate finally falling, their walls breaking under Bujing's climbing tanks.
Developments in the air were changed by new uniforms, stations, weather analysis projections, and a more far-seeing model for their work. The young Sky Marshal Majeek carried these out by continuing upon Shinu's work, as well as regularising adaptations to teething issues that had bedevilled the service since their beginning.
First among these was the test of mine removal by hot air balloons. They proved, as it turned out, very efficient against the firemines in current use. To simply get close and throw a fire blast at them, or stick a fuse, was enough. Time was the primary enemy of this, that and the airships that lurked around Hida Springs, and forced the balloons back.
At the same time, on both sides of the gates, stocks of blasting jelly were built up. The back and forth siege was apparently to come to an end soon, as Niho and Tiger Shark both took much for their own. With all future work planned, and all other routes exhausted, the true offensive by sea came. The main battlefleet of Zuko was led by Meng Taori in full assault against the chain and its defenders. Some forty escorts accompanied the five battleships that intended to shatter the last barrier holding Zuko's fleet from escaping their confinement to the inner sea.
The defenders had had little time to prepare, but they had acted decisively. With the northern portion of the Gates taken, they had halved the area that Taori could attack through, giving their fleet a fighting chance even though it was half the size.
The area available was even smaller if one took the chain under consideration. Only a thin strip had been cleared fully, that Taori had used to have patrol boats carry out reconnaissance, being too low to have a fleet pass without grave risk. Thus, the fleet went for a broad front, aiming to utilise their size as much as they could, and damn the chain.
Although panicked, Azula's commanders were relieved by the news that the enemy was simply assaulting the chain. This lasted until the first blow was launched, combining air and sea to simply blow up large sections of the barrier, particularly those with blasting jelly, then deploying tugboats under the protective aegis of their trebuchets to clear out what was left. Bereft of almost any airpower, the defenders were unable to make much use of this, though they made sure to attack exposed positions knowing that their enemy could not retreat.
Within days, the fleet's captains reported to Taori that the chain was now passable, and he gave the order to set out. Now the real risk began. Hold fast or die, those were the orders that had been given to the center fleet, while Meng Taori was aware that the war hinged on his success or defeat in this Operation Sea Breeze. Neither would quit battle save for truly terrible casualties, signified by Commodore Meng giving the order to reraise the gates behind him.
This, together with the weakness of their offensive power as compared to their armor, left the battle to last a full week. Meng Taori worked with extensive reports from Majeek's balloon squadrons, which risked life and limb to carry out reconnaissance of enemy positions. Attempts by these balloons to harry the fleet proved mostly ineffective due to the ships' agility and the difficulty of accuracy, while the scant airships apportioned to the other (lesser) Golden Dragon were more effective but also larger targets.
Thus the outcome hinged on a formal frontal assault. The only way out was through, and though he would have preferred another place for the critical battle, this one's advantage was in permitting Taori to smash his force straight into the enemy's.
First came cruiser raids, the commodore's crews throwing trebuchet fire at the enemy, and suffering for coming into battleship range. Then they came again, and again, rushed damage control being done in the rear. All the while, a line of balloons floated above, moving and passing messages back and forth.
After three such raids, the day passed. Taori judged the winds and tides not in his favour, and waited the moon out. A bold sweep northwards by frigates in the dead of night, their path outlined by Majeek's reconnaissance in the air, was foiled by Niho and permitted but one to escape the crescent of steel.
The second day proved more glorious. Protected by cruisers and frigates, three battleships pushed forward. They sought to flank with support from a northerly wind, and this time the balloons moved closer. Less agile in such waters, they proved easier prey for explosive packages, though they inflicted their own damage on the flying menaces. Punctured balloons exploded into flame, falling into the waters with screaming pilots.
Even such combined assault was taking more casualties than it was causing, however. The attackers could not bring to bear their full size against Azula's fleet, which was wearing them down and surviving their assaults. It was time to test innovation against tradition. Two days and nights of desultory, constant, frigate and cruiser raids were carried out to exhaust the enemy. In the meantime the balloons stayed up top, planning, preparing, writing out maps and messages
.
The fifth day decisively changed the direction of battle. When the attack came, it came with nothing held back. All five battleships and the best cruisers steamed forward, while from the air Majeek's Raven Hawks came. Similar to the Skull-Takers in their training, they had a new and improved technology at their hand: zip-lines.
When the battle-lines clashed, the airships descended, dropping long cables down which thousands of soldiers in black armor slid. Hundreds of them lost their grip, were shorn away by the wind, or simply fell into the water. More, however, successfully jumped or glided into a cruiser or frigate, signalling the first air-to-sea manoeuvre in a century; and the first not carried out by use of air bison.
Though casualties immediately proved ruinous, this mattered little. The shock, distraction, and chaos the Raven Hawks caused to the ships so weakened their fighting abilities that Meng Taori could bring his firepower to bear. The battleships blasted their way forward, all aggression and spite, extending the size of the front so more ships could join the battle.
By this point, it was clear it was all over. The defense had lost, all they could do was salvage it. But the fleet was better trained than to give up and die, and its leader was no stubborn earthbender. The rear focused their fire on the airships and on prize targets, while both flanks retreated as well they could while continuing attack. As the day wore on, casualties increased, and the Raven Hawks were rendered inoperational. Majeek himself had descended with the second round, and survived glorious with only minor scars.
This permitted more evasive maneuvers and better coordination, until night finally came. With visibility so lowered, Azula's fleet fled east, east, east. The day after the following they were caught upon by a vanguard of frigates and patrol boats, following up on balloon recon. The second battleship was sunk at a pretty price, but with the slowest ship lost the fleet could escape fully.
In the end, the battle had been a costly victory. Zuko's imperial fleet had won thanks to their supremacy in the air, as otherwise the small front would have minimised their advantage in size. The battle of the Gates was another example of the growing utility of airpower, which in the defenders' case had been fully diverted to a more southerly front.
Afterwards, the fleet split between licking its wounds and moving south to blockade Rangshao and Laotie, with ships moving towards the second as they were repaired and crewed. The blockade was too late for the primary objective of blocking troop movements from the east, but did impose a hefty toll on further supplies, messages, and other critical aspects of warfare.
Many of these movements had not been to Laotie or Rangshao themselves, rather to Hida Springs instead. There both Bujing and Sikai had amassed one of the largest concentrations of force, which they used but sparingly. A notable portion had seized and sieged the northern fort, while Sikai led raids in every direction that killed and burnt but did not fight much.
Bujing, aside from ordering extensive and cruel fortification, also had a long term view of things. Small forces were ordered west, seeking to connect with Kaya before it fell. Ouji Shinwoo was watching carefully under Kimi's command, and readied to provide a blow. At the last moment, Bujing's forces returned. Then more were sent out, providing mere patrols, connecting forces, and conscription officers. Though taking a risk in allowing a supply line, Ouji could not send out a solid force without anticipating the possible fall of Tottori, and had his hands tied responding to raids.
Then the signal came- a larger force, airships on the move, a siege park moving close. Battle was returning, as was Sikai. All evidence suggested another siege of Tottori. Despite the defenders' morale, Shinwoo prevailed over Kimi and Naoki to hold the line in the city itself. Forces were combed back for defensive planning, rationing increased, paranoia grew. No attack came.
Back south, Rangshao's claims of anarchism were collapsing by the day, but they were nonetheless a liberatory movement dedicated to fighting oppression. A secret deal with Bujing and Iwa Kuro soon became public, horrifying many (especially earthbenders and those descended from them) within their coalition, but the terms were mild enough to be accepted. In exchange for a truce, Shangba and her partisans would leave Shuhon for Rangshao's hills, and be permitted to do so without harassment. This treaty broke down almost immediately, as soon as news of Okono Nori striking He Ye spread, and then of him arriving at Shuhon to pick up Ashen Scarves.
The island being denuded of available naval defense was the only reason he was not immediately arrested, and Ketaaq's waterbending saved the ship from being attacked by jet skis, but it resulted in a demand for explanations from the Yeshe Tome. These promptly denounced and censored the so-called pirate-anarchist, managing to maintain the truce.
For Shangba this made transport more difficult, necessitating the need to pay for private shipping and count on sympathetic fishermen or Zuko loyalists to escape Shuhon island, delaying the full flood of the refugees.
While she ran to them, Tohmino was raising armies. Claiming anarchists to be the aristocracy of the mind, and promising them that they would naturally rise in any case, he was able to collect his friends and sympathisers among the nobility. A more appealing program that abandoned the raising of taxes gained them supporters as well, so that the area north of Rangshao all declared for the revolution, and soon after turned to barter.
The large number of steeds available to the nobility were, however, either volunteered or seized, making use of noble feuds to establish a larger cavalry force that could be most useful for the cause of anarchy. This territory was still flush with manpower, nearly untouched as a source.
The best and finest of the new model companies Lai Lee had been instituting, meanwhile, were picked out (so long as they were benders) into a new special operations force. Raku and Corpse both spent many hours training them in fire and earthbending, seeking the creation of an integrated style in which both learned from the other. To a certain degree, they found this unnecessary, specialization at times being better, but the utility of 'Sharu style' was more than the sum of its parts.
As the anarchist military grew in size and in quality, it found itself with growing problems. Previously, they had survived off the ample benefits of trade between Rangshao and its exteriors, as well as the city council's coffers. Now, they were to maintain a growing army while subsisting off of a population that, while sympathetic, was mainly sympathetic because of the very fact that they demanded no exactions. Food, at least, proved no major issue. But clothing- especially shoes- and armor, dedicated weapons, were a good deal more difficult; to say nothing of pay. Still, it had peace to itself to rest and recuperate, which was more than the rest of the region could say.
Zakura's counterattack proved devastating, the use of much superior firepower applied to weak spots in a most effective manner. After weeks of defeat, the Fire Nation soldiers were eager to take the fight and feed on victory. Tiger Shark's losses more than equaled those he had previously inflicted, and he risked his whole army being destroyed. He himself held on grimly, generally leading from the back (with some flashy exceptions) and thus inured to the collapse of the front.
His own siege, armor, and air units were vastly outnumbered, but he had more cards to play. Luckily for him, there was an army larger than his own ready for battle nearby- in Burning Point itself, in fact. The reinforcements from Rouruo and Dragon Island were rushed into battle, in particular their armor, providing enough flame and steel that stemmed the unequal loss of territory and manpower and stopped the attack before it reached the city.
Over in the western portion of the territory that Zakura had claimed for Azula, odder events were happening. War had not much touched it, but Zakura could spare but a handful of men to guard the area, and knew it was vulnerable. Moreover, she was very worried of the degree to which it was vulnerable to Zukoite infiltration, and that sympathisers had not been fully rooted out.
All these issues were solved by a line of ink. Loyal followers of Her Lordship were called to join the "Burning Banners", a new brand of formation of fanatical stormtroopers. More effort went into figuring out banners and mottoes that would bring forth recruits than actual training, but it did find many willing to join. Key among these were veterans and the old demobilised, who swelled the ranks and provided its actual spine.
But more publicly terrifying were the youths and the olds, the ones full of vim and energy, the ones who brutalised under orders. Thanks to the Burning Banners and their siege equipment, the land was cleansed of disloyalty, and Zakura had another army to command, if one that required quite a bit of testing before it was worth much.
On the date of the second full moon of the season, the first army at her hand suffered an unexpected assault. The hands of nature struck them, a flood of water and mud bursting into army camps outside the city. But this flood was not natural. The Yeshe Tome, their promises ignored, had betrayed Bujing and Kuro and Zakura to ally with Zuko and Juzo Ze. A joint effort of subtle earthbending and waterbending at the height of their powers allowed for shock and devastation.
Losses were minor initially, but the regiments were ripe for attack, at tremendous risk. Yet, for some reason, neither Raku nor Lai led their soldiers against them, but instead took the opportunity among the chaos to infiltrate Rangshao. There in the city they and Shangba struck command posts, killed officers, and wrought havoc before retreating through tunnels when attention grew. Their highest goal- the capture and assassination of Iwa Kuro- proved fruitless, however, when faced with two Fire Sages who pushed Corpse away in time. Tohmino's cavalry raided the territory that connected blue and red, tearing into Zakura's backline to provide aid to "the House of Ze" before retreating.
Despite these casualties, the army in Rangshao was still entirely capable of defending itself against anarchist incursions, and so the situation was complex. By this time, a blockade had already been instituted over the region from Rangshao to lower Laotie, cutting it off from enemy support. The blue fleet had to traverse longer distances and move southwards to reach their territory, and accept threats to their continuity.
Zakura's counterattack was winding down when it occurred, and this blow ended it, as she redirected her armies towards defense. Lucky that, as Meng Taori landed forces west and east of Rangshao that put more pressure on the city. With that, however, came the end of separate cooperation between Zuko and the anarchists.
Now their armies shared the same territory, fraternised despite official prohibitions, and authority was uncertain. Unwilling to enforce their rule, many in the Yeshe Tome proved loyal to the Firelord, so that a double administration emerged. Both were fairly distrustful of the other, but willing to work together. The result of this was Shangba's speedy growth in prominence, especially as the main element considered worthy of trust by both sides, and the one with enough connections in both camps to push for continued peace.
Shangba and the Ashen Scarves themselves, though they had had more haughty plans, were forced to simply accept safety. They took up positions around Rangshao, often ones dividing the anarchist and Zukoist camps, and rested after grueling months of guerrilla warfare.
At home, the news was worse. With the betrayal had come another crackdown, this one final. Kaga commanded the garrison to suppress what Scarves remained, and they obeyed. With much information gained during the period of truce, it proved much easier than expected. Suicidal do and die orders to stay behind units caused losses to RG forces, but crumbled away at their numbers.
Pico Toloph himself had chosen not to evacuate with Shangba but to be the last to leave, and paid the price. Helping a last boat of refugees to leave, he was found by a patrol of soldiers, and attacked them to provide a distraction. In this, he was successful, ten families saved from Shuhon's regime at the cost of his person. Pico Toloph was captured, another earthbender taken under Kaga's and Bujing's command. Behind him fell the Poison Scarves, Shuhon falling under absolute control of Kaga (or not, given political games ongoing there).
What was, then, the result of Burning Point? Whether to call it a victory or not was an unfruitful question. Better to say that Zuko's position at sea had been improved notably while Azula's on land had done so too, and that the anarchists had seemingly finally picked a side.
[Spoilers=Result]
Combustion Man temporarily wounded.
Pico Toloph captured.
[/Spoilers]
