The Northern Punjuki Campaign

The Northern Punjuki Campaign, which took place between 4490 BPC and 4478 BPC, was a series of military manoeuvres, feints, pitched battles, seiges and ambushes, which took place over a twelve year period in the early days of the Old Pale Empire when it first sought to expand from Myruthea and gain a foothold on the continent of Punjuki.

The Conflict

Prelude

Emperor Ingrald I set the terms of this conflict, which could be described as either a short war or a long campaign. The goal of the Old Pale Empire, was the conquest and subjugation of northern Punjuki, to gain control over the trade in valuable woods, spices and phryne leaves, all commodities from the southern continent which were eagerly sought after on Myruthea.

Deployment

The campaign can be broken down into three phases. In the first stage, the Empire took control of a number of important coastal settlements and used these ports to establish military strongholds and ship in men and materials in preparation for subsequent advances, deeper into the continent. The most important of these was Linmelle on Linmelle Isle, off the northern shore of the mainland, but footholds were also secured at Greth and Ullbay and later at Cliffport. For the first two years, the Empire was content to consolidate these early relatively easy victories over formerly independent and lightly defended towns and did not press their advantage.
The second phase of the campaign focused on the conquest of Katrapetch, the most important city in the north. This was the first time when the invading forces faced serious opposition and there were a number of setbacks before they succeeded in capturing it, in 4485 BPC.
The final phase, between 4485 BPC and 4478 BPC consisted of separate pushes south and east of the river Jold. In the east, the northern peninsula of the Cape of Juki, was brought under Empire control relatively easily. This area included almost all of the important phryne fields. In the south, the aim was to secure valuable logging lands. This was difficult terrain to march through and to hold, and Empire forces were subjected to many small scale attacks from hostile natives, which depleated their resources and debilitated their armies. Nevetheless when they succeeded in capturing Hokall, Greyforest and Wastbar, they were able to establish a stable southern frontier along the Hokall River which became the border of the Empire for many years.

Conditions

Northern Punjuki is hot and humid and between the settlements and rivers, there are areas of dense jungle forest, cut through by roads and tracks that are subject to flash flooding and continuous encroachment from the lush vegetation.

The Engagement

The most important pitched battles in the campaign were General Ryland's March in 4488 BPC and the Battle of Katrapetch in 4485 BPC. The first of these was a direct frontal assault on the city with an invasion led from Cliffport. It was unsubtle and proved to have overestimated the strength of the Empire armies and underestimated the strength of the defenders. The defenders of Katrapetch cut two important bridges along the route, and brought down a muddy avalanche of rocks, trees and water in a carefully prepared ambush which threw their enemies into disarray. General Ryland and his men never reached the gates of the city and his forces were utterly destroyed.
The second attempt to take the city used a more cunning but dangerous plan, aiming to blindside the defenders by coming down on the city from above. Troops marching from Ullbay, shown in the illustration below, went up the course of the river into the Katra Mountains.

Magicians' End - Old Pale Empire - Punjuki Campaign 02 by DMFW with Midjourney

Descending through the Katra pass, shown below, they were joined by a second force which had marched from Bress, at a place called the Lahkrill Crossing.

Magicians' End - Old Pale Empire - Punjuki Campaign 01 by DMFW with Midjourney

A third, more cautiously marshalled group of troops came from Cliffport and when all three converged on the city, it finally fell to the invaders.

Conflict Type

Military Campaign

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

4490 BPC

Ending Date

4478 BPC

Conflict Result

The Old Pale Empire secured control over all Punjuki north of the Hokall River

Location

Punjuki

Maps

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  Magicians' End : Punjuki

  Punjuki is the second largest continent on the world of Magicians' End. It lies in the southern hemisphere ocean.