Tomato Defeat

The tomato defeat was a disastrous field battle fought in the Conzia plain between the Doujatar Kingdom and a temporary league established between Calotia , Valkufri and Talvo, three major cities in the northern Free Lands. It was the decisive battle in thwarting the Doujatar invasion of the Free Lands; though the only victory against the invaders, it has stopped any plans of a second attempt up to these days.
Although outnumbering the defenders twenty to one, the Doujatar still managed to lose. Historians on their side ascribe the defeat to the lucky presence of tomatoes and to cheap shots and dirty tricks of the enemies, whereas Conzian annalists attribute the victory to the extraordinary ability of their commanders to exploit the enemies weaknesses.

The Conflict

Prelude

In the year 1635 the Kingdom had signed a truce with the Reawakened Confederation, putting an end to the Undead War, which had been going on for almost eight years. Although the treaty included the anexation of some territories in the north of Doujate, it also sealed any possible further expansion northwards. Looking for other territories to expand into, the kingdom considered the norther region of the Free Lands an easy game: the Conzia plain was a vast territory rich in cattle, farms and pastures, controlled by the small city of Talvo and the slightly larger Calotia, historical local rivals.
When the declaration of war arrived in the spring of 1721, Talvo, which was the city closest to the borders, asked Calotia for help against the invaders; not only did the Calotino judge accept to help, knowing that the next target would have been his territories, but he forwarded the request to the nearby island city of Valkufri, the largest and most prosperous city of the northern Free Lands.
Having ensured that his army still outnumbered the defenders army (twenty to one, according to the evaluation of a rudimental spy network), the king confirmed his intentions and followed up with the invasion.

The Engagement

At first, the Doujatar army trampled the rushed enemy defences, successfully breaching into the Conzia plain. They relied mainly on their doujiriders, both on land and in the air: the oubri-douji division revealed itself especially effective.
The defender army fell back into the plain, trying to reorganize, but everything seemed lost: they had lost their first line of defence in the mountain valleys, where there the Doujatar couldn't even deploy all of their douji at once. They thought they had no chance on the open field the plain was offering.
But only a few months of advancing in the plains made clear what the main Doujatar weakness was: tomatoes. Weird as it may seem, the mighty reptiles found the plant revolting and its smell make them run amok. The judge of Valkufri organised the final battle: he tasked a small group of people to infiltrate the enemy lines overnight and sneak tomatoes in the douji stables; at dawn the agents would put it into the douji's breakfast while the commanders started the counterattack. The Doujatar force was overwhelmed by the dragons wrecking havoc behind their lines while trying to hold position and routed.
Rumour has it, that the Conzian soldiers and even civilians pursued the routing army all the way back to the borders throwing tomatoes at them.
"To fight a douji with tomatoes" is a popular idiom in the Free Lands meaning "to do something that seems absurd but somehow actually works".

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

Spring 1721

Ending Date

Fall 1721