Myatelmay Rebellion
| Myatelmay Rebellion | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Prince Myatelmay early in his rebellion | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| King Myude Kesladhel | Prince Myatelmay | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~50,000 | ~20,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Significant | Moderate | ||||||
| Civilian casualties are estimated to have been somewhere between 50,000 and 2 Million. Accurate records are sparse, and so exact figures cannot be obtained. | |||||||
The Myatelmay Rebellion, also known as Prince Aferay's Rebellion in some parts of Cananganam, was a dynastic conflict in Cananganam from early 1891 into the end of 1893, marking the beginning of the dissolution of the Cananganamese Dynastic System. It was initiated by King Myude's fears that Prince Myatelmay ḍemt-Aferay Ayđ̣ateh was plotting a rebellion against his rule. Prince Myatelmay, after defeating Kesladhel's army initially, proclaimed his cause to defeat the reigning monarch and to install himself as King of Cananganam. The battle was costly for both sides, however, King Myude had his legitimacy entirely tarnished by the rebellion, and his subsequent defeats leaving much of his supporting nobility either killed or in no position to resist future rebellions.
Background
Within Cananganam's society, it was still in a feudal state despite the rest of the world surpassing such limitations in both societal structure and the technology at the time having difficulty funneling into the Cananganamese interior, led to civil unrest. The multi-religious nature of Cananganam played several factors as it was not uncommon for the King of Cananganam to crack down on dissent through instigating armed insurrection to further legitimize their rule. These conflicts would occur roughly six times a century during the Kesladhel Dynasty's reign since 1732. However, problems began to plague the nation as the first attempt at building a railroad connecting the North and South was met with fierce resistance from Hisirudic Resistance groups, in the Bumyse region.
Prince Aferay Myatelmay was a prominent supporter of the Hisirudic cause, being a diplomatic channel between King Kesladhel and the leadership of many protesting groups. This drew the King's ire as Aferay was a very wealthy Cananganamese nobleman, having effectively full control over the Bumyse region's tax base, meaning he had full control over almost a third of the country's economy and half of its population. As such, Kesladhel had much reason to fear Aferay's intentions, as to the monarch, he was unsure of the nobleman's loyalties and where they had resided. The issue was further created when a prominent servant named Emaẖ, a ḍawq̄e under Aferay, was kidnapped by militamen under Kesladhel's orders in 1890. This was entirely unexpected by Aferay, as kidnapping another man's servant was considered equal to murder. This was made further worse as a ḍawq̄e has diplomatic immunity if they are under the ward of a nobleman, especially one as prominent as Prince Aferay. Word had reached Aferay of the news regarding her capture, and immediately raised his troops expecting the King's next move to be his own arrest. Soon, the King's guard arrived in Kombe, the seat of his council, ordering for his arrest. However, to the dismay of the Monarch, Aferay was not in Kombe, as he had left the city six days earlier to gather his troops together to prepare a march on the capital.
Aferay's forces were considered technologically inferior to Myude's as his troops lacked the modern firearms of Myude's troops. Myude had also received military advisors from much of the colonial powers such as Shohuan at the time, giving his troops superior discipline as a result of modernized training which played a significant role in the later half of the war.
Rebellion
On April 4 of 1891, Prince Aferay and King Myude had engaged in battle near the city of Mhis, where Aferay's skirmishers routed Myude's levy, leaving the route to Tellib a rough 100 kilometers away from Aferay. Myude had quickly fled the city and began to gather his levies from the Emisen and the Heddhamy regions while Aferay's forces besieged the walled city. The siege was not going well at all for Myude's defenders as the garrison left was just barely enough to man the three sides of the city, leaving the potential for Aferay's forces to assault Tellib from the sea. Aferay had commanded his naval retinue to swing along the coast of Cananganam and strike at Tellib itself, as he begun the siege on the 29th of May.
Emisen Campaign
Aferay had appointed his cousin, Budde Myatelmay, as his new admiral to take command of this contingent of ships. He managed to collect some 400 ships, consisting mainly of dated outriggers and several ships of the line captured on the eve of the war. He set out in June to reach Aferay's forces at Tellib. His plans, however, did not reach fruition as his assigned admiral was ambushed off the coast of the Distal islands by Myude's admiral Gottelaghat, utilizing the royal fleet equipped with ten ships of the line and an ironclad armed with two machine guns which raked the entire fleet with gunfire in the opening phase of melee, turning the 400 strong fleet into nothing as the fleet disbanded having taken much in the way of casualties. Some 15,000 alone are claimed to have died in this naval battle, having drowned or been killed by the sheer firepower displayed. Budde, was lucky to have survived the ordeal, however his ship had hit a sandbar and was forced to be scuttled as he and his 4,000 remaining men set out to make the most of their situation and reach Tellib. Taking initiative, his forces set out to raid the countryside of the region, reducing Myude's ability to raise troops and distracting the monarch from Aferay's siege. Aferay's cousin Budde, however, would be killed in an attempt to besiege the walled city of Beysosot, leaving his brother more dubiously qualified Enawqe to take command. Enawqe would not be able to live up the successes of his older brother, resulting in Aferay's situation to almost reverse as Prince Afray Qamkem's army, a nobleman still loyal to King Myude, took over defending the vital city of Beysosot for the distressed monarch.
Siege of Tellib
The siege was going Aferay's way for some time, as two months passed and the situation for the defenders grew difficult as the million populated city started to succumb to the needs of water and food, which was being denied by Aferay's artillery and trenchworks. The situation was dire as morale began to plummet after news of Myude's flight from the city was kept secret from the garrison to give the impression to Aferay that the monarch was still in the city. This led to defections and a near surrender of the city as a defector opened the Southern gates leading to an assault costing some 400 lives on the defending side and some 1,200 on the attacking side. The siege was nearing its close when Aferay's forces finally managed to knock out the Southwestern gate, only for Gottelaghat's fleet to arrive, bringing some 15,000 men to assault the city of Dhemidhu, some 60 kilometers south of the Tellib siege lines and threatening Aferay's situation. Aferay, left with two choices, had the option to assault the city once more and risk heavy casualties on his side, as well as being responsible for much of the population in the capital. And his alternative being to retreat back to the city of Medlyse, giving him a logistic base to recuperate his troops and attempting once again, with the expected reinforcements of Budde, which would never arrive as Aferay had not heard of Budde's death and the subsequent failings of his successor.
Aferay, realizing the limitations of his exhausted troops, decided against assaulting Tellib and retreated his 12,000 strong forces to Medlyse. This defeat would remain a thorn in his side for the rest of the war as this action left him alienated from any Asuranesian Nobility, leaving him to rely entirely on both his own and conscripted Hisirudic troops thereon. His retreat was not without difficulty, as a heavy storm blew through the region causing some of his scouts to be lost leaving him without any information as to the whereabouts of Myude's army. Myude would be some two days behind Aferay, but Aferay fearing Myude had caught up to him, decided to set up camp on a defensive position some 35 kilometers from Medlyse.