Battle of Bezdna Studni

"To put it into perspective, gentlemen, more soldiers have died in this one battle than we as a nation have lost in warfare for our entire 800-year history."

- Chancellor Hjalmar Sfveer adressing the Druthenian Riksþing, October 1918

The Battle of Bezdna Studni (Zvogorian: Bitwa pod Bezdna Studnem; Radovian: Битва при Бездна Студни Bitva pri Bezdna Studni), sometimes known as the Battle of the Well (in reference to the town name) was the largest, bloodiest, and longest lasting battle of the Great Eidoran War. Involving up to 800,000 soldiers and resulting in at least 300,000 military deaths, it would prove to be a turning point in the war in Radovias favor. It is notable for involving both sides of the Zvogorian conflict fighting against each other (as this was often avoided by both commands), the first tank-on-tank combat, the only known duel between armoured trains, as well as the first true combat test of the Radovian Women's volunteer divisions.

Bezdna Studni
Bezdna Studni is a city and railway junction situated in north-western Zvogoria, with about 50,000 inhabitants before the battle. The name roughly translates to "bottomless well", giving rise to the alternate name of the battle. The name is thought to reference a seemingly endless well in the local area that would never dry out, and probably pre-dates the founding of the town.

Prelude
After almost two years of advancing through Zvogoria and sorrounding lands, the Commonwealth had begun to run out of steam and the advance had slowed down dramatically. During the winter at the beginning of 1918, the combined armies would settle in for recouperation and rest before committing to another offensive. The Radovian and royal Zvogorian forces, themselves also exhausted from the slow retreat, would also settle in for much the same reason, while drawing up a combined plan for a counter-offensive. Despite this, both sides would still find means to keep the opposite armies on their toes, launching probing attacks and massive artillery bombardments across most of Zvogoria.

Both the Radovian and Commonwealth commands had at this point identified the town of Bezdna Studni as a strategically important location. The town, a major railway junction, had become the only connecting point between the Zvogorian coast, and the Radovian inland: to Radovia, losing the town would have become a major blow for its easternmost forces. Knowing this, the Commonwealth would direct its future offensive here. Of course, Radovia was well aware of the importance of the town, and had also amassed some forces here in case of an attack. Plans were laid up to draw Commonwealth forces into a trap should an attack happen, though very little progress had been made before it truly did commence.

Because of the downtime before the battle, both sides had time to dig into truly extensive trench networks, something which had not been possible in many places before this moment. The battle of Bezdna Studni would thus be the first true example of large-scale trench warfare in the war.

The battle
In the early hours of the 1st of March, Commonwealth artillery opened up on the Imperial defenses in and around the town in the hopes of destroying lines of barbed wire and defensive positions. The bombardment continued for hours, and would end up destroying large parts of the town outskirts: the railway infrastructure was not targeted due to its importance, though received some damage regardless. The barrage was not as effective as anticipated, as many soldiers could simply take cover in the trench network and emerge safely when the barrage had stopped.

Around 9 am, Vangerist Zvogorian and Asterian forces began their offensive. Their armies were mixed together across the front line, which would result in the first large engagement between Zvogorian forces in the war, as the two sides had avoided such encounters whenever possible: both commands were convinced that their soldiers would have a higher morale fighting against foreigners (for example, against the other forces of the Commonwealth, or Radovians), rather than against their fellow Zvogorians, despite being on opposite sides in the ongoing civil war. Thus, engagements involving Zvogorian forces had often been directed towards other armies during the war.

Urban combat
The Commonwealth forces faced stiff resistance from the entrenched Imperial and royal troops, and the beginning of the battle resulted in little progress and a lot of blood spilled. As the battle continued through the weeks, the Commonwealth forces would gain some ground, slowly but surely closing in on the town, which they were able to enter in early May. Bezdna Studni would then become a hectic and quick-moving battleground in stark contrast to the still rather stationary battles in the trenches outside: brutal close quarters combat commenced, with improvised melee weapons and grenades becoming a terror around each street corner. The few examples of shotguns and sub machineguns performed well here, whereas the traditional long rifles of the average infantry man turned out to be more of a hindrance. Radovian tanks suffered greatly in the fighting, as Commonwealth soldiers were able to easily sneak up to and ambush them and place explosive charges. Many tanks were also captured this way.

Mages performed excellent in urban combat, able to easily jump between buildings and other tall structures, attacking an unknowing enemy from above at any moment. As mages excel in close quarters combat, the town would prove to be a veritable hunting ground. Despite this, many mages lost their lives in the brutal fighting, and the Commonwealth especially deployed their mages in aggressive and reckless attacks.

Fighting in the town proper continued long into the summer, with the trench lines outside the town rarely moving. As Commonwealth forces close in on the railyard, Radovian command frantically scrambled all available armoured trains nearby to help protect the vital infrastructure, but they would also find the cramped nature of the town difficult as an enemy could be waiting in ambush behind any building. We also find a rare example of train-on-train combat, when at the peak of the fighting around the main rail yard, two Zvogorian armoured trains (one from each side) engaged each other, with the kingdom-aligned train emerging victorious - only to be knocked out of action soon thereafter. The railyard sustained heavy damage during this, and the Radovians would struggle to keep up the supply trains to the coast via emergency repairs.

Withdrawal
Despite the slow push, the Commonwealth was unable to seize the town. By the middle of August, the Radovians executed their original trap plan and broke through Commonwealth defences on the outskirts of the town, threatening to encircle the soldiers within. A retreat was ordered, and while the Commonwealth forces were able to withdraw outside the town in time, General Jean-Baptiste Tilé would succumb to a Imperial air attack as he was retreating in his car. With such a experienced general dead, the future of the offensive was uncertain: a counter-attack was attempted at the beginning of September, but failed to break the re-established Radovian lines. Instead, the Radovians would push them back even further, and by October, had re-established the front line as it had looked back in March. The battle would end in a Radovian victory, having successfully defended the town, but at a brutal cost.

Aftermath
In the fighting, Bezdna Studni had effectively been leveled to the ground, and around a 5th of its population is assumed to have died in the fighting, with the rest fleeing the town before and during the battle. Even though the Radovians had won a hard-fought victory and defended the railway junction, the infrastructure had suffered heavy damage, leading to supply issues for the eastern forces. However, because of the exhaustion of the Commonwealth armies, they were unable to take advantage of this fact, and the east remained relatively calm. In the fighting, the experienced Asterian General Jean-Baptise Tilé had also been killed in an air attack, a substantial loss for the Commonwealth command. The battle would hasten the plans for a Imperial counter-offensive, eventually leading to the Autumn offensive.

It would later be clear that the battle had been a turning point in the war, marking the furthest advance of Commonwealth forces in the conflict. While the casualties in the army were replaceable, it left the Asterian and Vangerist Zvogorian forces temporarily depleted and exhausted, and the loss of many experienced mages were difficult to replace. The Commonwealth forces in Zvogoria had lost their momentum, and would begin to be pushed back as the Radovian Autumn offensive began in late october. The Radovians meanwhile had lost half their armoured train fleet, and a large majority of their available tanks, most of which had been left behind or destroyed due to mechanical problems rather than enemy action. It would take almost a year before tanks were deployed in any large concentration again.

The 2nd Women's Volunteer Division, one of four divisions raised by the Radovians during the crisis of late 1917, participated in the battle as regular frontline soldiers. They performed admirably, with noted zeal and morale, but suffered heavy losses in battle as it dragged on. Almost entirely decimated by the end, the 2nd division would be disbanded before the Autumn offensive - but the battle had brought forth a cadre of experienced female officers, who would be distributed to the remaining volunteer divisions, severely increasing their combat capabilities. It had also cemented the ability of the volunteer divisions, and the remaining units would see further combat as the war continued.