Second Battle of Usera
| Second Battle of Usera | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second Lauchenoirian Civil War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Lauchenoirian Resistance |
 Kerlile | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Sonja Viratnen-Alvarez Josephine Alvarez Ramiro Soto |
 Chloe Conde Amanda Littlewood | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5,500 | 9,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1,984 | 114 | ||||||
The Second Battle of Usera was a battle which took place in the city of Usera during the Second Lauchenoirian Civil War, which resulted in forces from Kerlile taking control of the city from the Lauchenoirian Resistance; and led to the return of Jennifer Hale to Kerlile against her will.
Prelude[edit | edit source]
In the weeks before the battle, Resistance forces were fighting across Yervia province with the assistance of forces from Laeral and other members of the Coalition to Liberate Lauchenoiria. Meanwhile, Junta forces used Kerlian and Gonhogian assistance to try and prevent Resistance-Coalition advances. By the day of the battle, most of the advances into Yervia province had been halted by Kerlian, Gonhogian and Junta forces. As the Resistance-Coalition forces scattered; Gonhogian and Junta forces split off to pick off the remnants throughout Yervia while the Kerlian forces focused on Usera, surrounding it by the evening of the 6th August.
Battle[edit | edit source]
The Kerlian forces attacked Usera at dawn on the morning of the 7th August. Throughout the night, there had been sporadic exchanges of gunfire as the Kerlian forces maintained a total blockade of the city; capturing or shooting anyone who attempted to leave the city. At dawn the attack began in earnest, and fighting lasted most of the day. Casualties were very high on the Resistance side, with many members choosing to refrain from surrender even while cornered due to the reputation Kerlile had for mistreatment of prisoners of war.
In the evening, the last remaining holdout of the Resistance was Usera Cathedral, one of the oldest Christian structures in Lauchenoiria. Sonja Viratnen-Alvarez, commander of the Resistance, held the cathedral alongside her wife Josephine Alvarez and a number of other Resistance members until Kerlian forces forced their way inside. Five individuals were taken prisoner inside the cathedral - Sonja; Josephine; Ramiro Soto, Peter Fischer (a former aide of Laura Moore) and Leonie Bennett, a teenager who acted primarily as a messenger for the Resistance leadership. All other individuals in the cathedral were killed.
Treatment of prisoners[edit | edit source]
Several thousand prisoners of war were forcibly taken to Kerlile following the battle, and subjected to numerous forms of mistreatment until the signing of the Haven Accords. After the battle, Sonja Viratnen-Alvarez was revealed to be Jennifer Hale, an heir to the Council of Kerlile and was forced to make a statement confessing her identity on tape. Her wife, Josephine, was subjected to numerous forms of psychological torture in order to force Hale to take Council of Kerlile vows, and participate in Kerlian high society.
Other POWs were tortured, subjected to forced labour, or executed. Female POWs under the age of 25 were subjected to alternative education techniques. POWs were taken to Kerlile in poor conditions; transported in overcrowded vans without air conditioning during a heatwave and denied food and water for several days' travel. Those who attempted to escape or otherwise resisted were shot. Both Chloe Conde and Amanda Littlewood were convicted of war crimes for their treatment of POWs following the battle.
Aftermath[edit | edit source]
Due to the revelation regarding Viratnen-Alvarez's true identity, the Council of Kerlile was restored to ten members after Jennifer Hale was forced to join. Hale also received IVF treatment to carry and give birth to an heir, Amelia Hale. A Kerlian Supreme Court decision ruled that Councillors were permitted to have lesbian marriages as a result of Hale's marriage to Alvarez - heterosexual marriages were banned. Hale was also sanctioned during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the use of a false identity, and banned from travelling outside of Kerlile until July 25, 2023.