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Description
Arcean forces repel the onslaught of Shirudo Arrowheads at Banner Hill.

Introduction
The Battle of Odinoko Pass was the first major engagement between the Arcean Republic and the Shirudo Empire during the war. It was fought near and in the small Corinthian town of Gadasasvelli in Mull. It followed a three month long campaign by the North Ghurrkan Army against the Shirudo First Army which, up to the point the point of the Battle, the Shirudo had successfully stood their ground against. The battle led to the destruction and surrender of the Shirudo First Army.

Background
When the Arcean Airfleet of Rasman arrived, the Shirudo First Army began to loose ground as supply lines came under constant attack. Things only became worse midway through the next month when the Arcean Army of Antikori took control of the major routes out of Mull. The First Army began a full withdrawal in an attempt to avoid being caught between both armies without ammunition. Thanks to the superior mechanization and leadership of the Shirudo force, they managed to easily outrun the North Ghurrkan force eastward.

Finally reaching within 100km of the border and the Arcean line, the commanding officer of the Shirudo force, Matsui Yamashita, was left with a difficult choice. They could abandon their equipment and attempt to avoid the Arcean lines by hiking through the mountains into Shirudo Occupied Nordvest, or they could focus all of their force onto a single point in the thinly spread Army of Antikori's lines. After a day of deliberation, Matsui decided that if anything, dying in a blaze of glory would be better than dying to hunger and disease in the mountains.

Shirudo scouts managed to find what they viewed as the most vulnerable point in the Arcean line after a week of examination. The Odinoko Pass was guarded by a force of 9000 soldiers with limited artillery or air support.

The Battlefield
The Odinoko Pass has historically been a strategic strong-point in various wars throughout Mull's history. Many ancient fortifications dot the foothills into the mountains giving decent protection for modern forces as well. A river runs from the mountains further east, through the pass into the Gadasasvelli valley. The valley itself is considered the world capitol for coffee production, with the plant being hard to grow anywhere else on Unus Solum. Huge coffee plantations run alongside the valley, as coffee can only be grow on hills. Vineyards make up most of the valley proper. Gadasasvelli sits in the center of the valley split by the river. It is a classic town with many of it's buildings dating back over a half millennium.

The Forces
Matsui's scouts didn't know that what the force at Odinoko lacked in numbers, it certainly made it up in experience and leadership. The soldiers were led by General William von Ruytenburch, a rising star in the Arcean Army who had prior to the war had been a field marshal leading the army mission in eastern South Ghurrka. Under his command he had the Old Guard regiments of the Port Haven garrison, as well as the entire RSG Corps and much of the Nikea's Own Guards. To add, Ruytenburch had Bucerius tanks, superior to the Shirudo Stamped Guns. Finally, Ruytenburch had dug his force in at end of the Gadasavelli Valley in the mouth of the Odinoko pass, making the Shirudo numbers far less useful.

Despite this advantage, the Shirudo First Army had some notable advantages that they managed to use to great effect in the battle. They had proper modern artillery, contrary to the handful of old mortars Ruytenburch's force had. The Shirudo also had the ability to attack in waves, with a total of 21, 000 men (the rest of the force was dedicated to a "rear guard" aimed at slowing down the North Ghurrkan force), they could relieve units over the course of the battle, while the Arcean Force would not be able to. Finally, the Shirudo had a number more armoured vehicles.

The Battle
With the North Ghurrkan Army only two days behind, the First Army attacked at 5am. They easily routed the force within the town of Gadasavelli, albeit Matsui lost more tanks then he had planned. Fortunately, the Arcean's were forced to abandon much of their infantry AT weapons in the process. He moved his artillery up the town before pushing forwards.

At 7am Matsui began a massive attack on "Banner Hill", a hill 3km forward of the Arcean line, which, if taken, would have made further attacks on Ruytenburch's right flank far easier. Hoping to take the hill within the hour, the Shirudo First Army saw three regiments routed within 15 minutes taking almost 200 casualties. Matsui decided to simply bombard the hill while he sent his tank regiments up the left side of the river onto Ruytenburch's left flank. At 9, the First Army launched a well organize mechanized attack on Ruytenburch's left flank. Knowing full well that a victory wouldn't be easy on this flank, Matsui turned to attrition tactics, knowing that he simply had more men.

Matsui once again tested "Banner Hill", sending scouts to test defenses. After taking heavy casualties, the Shirudo skirmishers reported that the RSG and Nikea's Own were on the hill and well dug in. Furthermore, the artillery was having little effect on the hills defenses, much less moral.

In a stroke of luck, at 3pm the Shirudo managed so silence Arcea's armour on the right flank A minor panic arose in Ruytenburch's camp when news came in that the Shirudo force had broken through the first line of defenses on the northern side of the river. In response, the Arcean's sent line-breakers charging into the trench to try and wrestle it away from the Shirudo infantry. A bloody melee ensued, going over for well over and hour. By 7:30pm, the Shirudo force was pushed from the first line trenches, losing thousands of men in the process.

At 8, losing on edge with rear guards reporting clashes with approaching North Ghurrkan scouts, Matsui sent all four regiments (800 men in total) of Arrowheads at his disposal at "Banner Hill" Fighting would go on into the night, with a combination of soulless warriors and heavy artillery pounding away at the RSG and Nikea's Own. At midnight, communication was lost with the hill, reducing many of the Arcean soldiers and officers to prayer on the south side of the river.

At dawn, "Banner Hill" was reduced to a barren, alien waist land. Ruytenburch sent a party of Engineers to the hill to check on the situation. What they found was a hill littered with corpses and body parts from soldiers on both sides. Under the carnage discovered a handful of Arcean soldiers, no more than 50 of the original 250, still in position awaiting an oncoming attack. Relieved, Ruytenburch had lines of communication were restored, and the remaining soldiers were pulled to the mainline while four campaigner regiments were sent onto the hill.

At 10am, the Shirudo once again managed to break the Arcean first line on the North Side of the river, renewing hope within the Shirudo First Army after a disastrous first day of combat. The Arcean linebreaker counter attack was this time repelled, and, an hour and a half later, the Shirudo pushed for the second and final line. Within a half hour, the second line was at risk of breaking, which would have forced the entire Arcean force to retreat.

Ruytenbach took a gamble, taking a few of his precious Air Marines from the North side of the river, loading them onto an Aircorvette and had them attempt to wrestle back control of Gadasasvelli. Miraculously it worked. The Shirudo lost almost all of their artillery, and had their force cut in half. Attempts at retaking the town proved even more disastrous. The Shirudo had much of their remaining armour lost in ambushes using the abandoned and now reclaimed AT weapons in the town. By noon, the First Army had once again lost the first line of trenches, this time the 2000 soldiers surrendering. By 1, the entire force on the other side of Gadasasvelli from Matsui's camp had surrendered, losing him more than a quarter of his remaining force.

Despite Matui's valiant attempts to rally his remaining troops, which still outnumbered the battered Arcean Force and still had time to push through, further attacks were far less confident and effective. Without armor the Shirudo began finding it almost impossible to regain a foothold, and with sniper fire from Gadasasvelli making matters worse, the Shirudo never managed to establish a strong foothold in, much less capture, any of the Arcean trenches. A final desperate attack was made on "Banner Hill", but the force routed under mortar and machine gun fire without inflicting any casualties on the Campaigner regiments defending the Hill.

At 11pm, the North Ghurrkan force from the west, easily smashed Matsui's rear guard. Worrying for the livelyhood of his men, Matsui surrendered his sword to Ruytenburch in Gadasasvelli city hall at 2am, with the Arcean General coming proudly escorted by the remainder of the RSG and Nikea's own.

Aftermath
With the loss, the tide shifted significantly in favour of the Continental Alliance on the Northern Front. It allowed North Ghurrka to enter the war, helping Corinth greatly, while also giving the Arcean Army a much needed confidence boost after losing the Archipelago Islands. North Ghurrkan troops marched to relieve the seriously outnumbered Corinthian force at Landsdowne. Arcea sent it's most strongly numbered regiments as well as the Rasman Fleet to help repel the Shirudo invasion of Ephesus. The RSG and Nikea's Own Guards were brought back to Arcea to be brought back to fighting strength. Ruytenburch was made into a National Hero, did several radio interveiws and was paraded down the streets of Nikea with the hero's of the RSG and NOG before being sent to lead the liberation of Ephesus.

Legend
During the long night of fighting for Banner Hill, it is said that the Arcean's sang the popular folk song "Devil's Got a Gun" to calm their nerves. Reportedly, some soldiers 3km away could hear the hymn during lulls in the shelling, albeit this is unlikely. Regardless, the folk song has become associated with the battle.

Look out, this thing is gonna blow
I heard it from the people in the know
There's trouble in the tenements below
There's fire where the flowers used to grow

I'm never going back
I'm running from the sun
Bullets at my heels
The devil's got a gun
I'm never going home
I'll be the only one
With daylight on my tail
And heaven on the run

Rain is jumping up into the clouds
A girl has ceased to make her father proud
Lovers wrapped up in cellophane
The bitter fruit has fallen from it's prey

I'm never going back
I'm running from the sun
Bullets at my heels
The devil's got a gun
I'm never going home
I'll be the only one
With daylight on my tail
And heaven on the run

You've made it this far, through the tireless reading and grammatical errors? You are now an official Corinth Fan Here's a cookie Anyway, my terrible attempt at a battle scene. If you can guess what painting this is based off of, you deserve a real prize. Albeit, I do think Canadians will have a huge headstart.

Description
Arcean forces repel the onslaught of Shirudo Arrowheads at Banner Hill.

Introduction
The Battle of Odinoko Pass was the first major engagement between the Arcean Republic and the Shirudo Empire during the war. It was fought near and in the small Corinthian town of Gadasasvelli in Mull. It followed a three month long campaign by the North Ghurrkan Army against the Shirudo First Army which, up to the point the point of the Battle, the Shirudo had successfully stood their ground against. The battle led to the destruction and surrender of the Shirudo First Army.

Background
When the Arcean Airfleet of Rasman arrived, the Shirudo First Army began to loose ground as supply lines came under constant attack. Things only became worse midway through the next month when the Arcean Army of Antikori took control of the major routes out of Mull. The First Army began a full withdrawal in an attempt to avoid being caught between both armies without ammunition. Thanks to the superior mechanization and leadership of the Shirudo force, they managed to easily outrun the North Ghurrkan force eastward.

Finally reaching within 100km of the border and the Arcean line, the commanding officer of the Shirudo force, Matsui Yamashita, was left with a difficult choice. They could abandon their equipment and attempt to avoid the Arcean lines by hiking through the mountains into Shirudo Occupied Nordvest, or they could focus all of their force onto a single point in the thinly spread Army of Antikori's lines. After a day of deliberation, Matsui decided that if anything, dying in a blaze of glory would be better than dying to hunger and disease in the mountains.

Shirudo scouts managed to find what they viewed as the most vulnerable point in the Arcean line after a week of examination. The Odinoko Pass was guarded by a force of 9000 soldiers with limited artillery or air support.

The Battlefield
The Odinoko Pass has historically been a strategic strong-point in various wars throughout Mull's history. Many ancient fortifications dot the foothills into the mountains giving decent protection for modern forces as well. A river runs from the mountains further east, through the pass into the Gadasasvelli valley. The valley itself is considered the world capitol for coffee production, with the plant being hard to grow anywhere else on Unus Solum. Huge coffee plantations run alongside the valley, as coffee can only be grow on hills. Vineyards make up most of the valley proper. Gadasasvelli sits in the center of the valley split by the river. It is a classic town with many of it's buildings dating back over a half millennium.

The Forces
Matsui's scouts didn't know that what the force at Odinoko lacked in numbers, it certainly made it up in experience and leadership. The soldiers were led by General William von Ruytenburch, a rising star in the Arcean Army who had prior to the war had been a field marshal leading the army mission in eastern South Ghurrka. Under his command he had the Old Guard regiments of the Port Haven garrison, as well as the entire RSG Corps and much of the Nikea's Own Guards. To add, Ruytenburch had Bucerius tanks, superior to the Shirudo Stamped Guns. Finally, Ruytenburch had dug his force in at end of the Gadasavelli Valley in the mouth of the Odinoko pass, making the Shirudo numbers far less useful.

Despite this advantage, the Shirudo First Army had some notable advantages that they managed to use to great effect in the battle. They had proper modern artillery, contrary to the handful of old mortars Ruytenburch's force had. The Shirudo also had the ability to attack in waves, with a total of 21, 000 men (the rest of the force was dedicated to a "rear guard" aimed at slowing down the North Ghurrkan force), they could relieve units over the course of the battle, while the Arcean Force would not be able to. Finally, the Shirudo had a number more armoured vehicles.

The Battle
With the North Ghurrkan Army only two days behind, the First Army attacked at 5am. They easily routed the force within the town of Gadasavelli, albeit Matsui lost more tanks then he had planned. Fortunately, the Arcean's were forced to abandon much of their infantry AT weapons in the process. He moved his artillery up the town before pushing forwards.

At 7am Matsui began a massive attack on "Banner Hill", a hill 3km forward of the Arcean line, which, if taken, would have made further attacks on Ruytenburch's right flank far easier. Hoping to take the hill within the hour, the Shirudo First Army saw three regiments routed within 15 minutes taking almost 200 casualties. Matsui decided to simply bombard the hill while he sent his tank regiments up the left side of the river onto Ruytenburch's left flank. At 9, the First Army launched a well organize mechanized attack on Ruytenburch's left flank. Knowing full well that a victory wouldn't be easy on this flank, Matsui turned to attrition tactics, knowing that he simply had more men.

Matsui once again tested "Banner Hill", sending scouts to test defenses. After taking heavy casualties, the Shirudo skirmishers reported that the RSG and Nikea's Own were on the hill and well dug in. Furthermore, the artillery was having little effect on the hills defenses, much less moral.

In a stroke of luck, at 3pm the Shirudo managed so silence Arcea's armour on the right flank A minor panic arose in Ruytenburch's camp when news came in that the Shirudo force had broken through the first line of defenses on the northern side of the river. In response, the Arcean's sent line-breakers charging into the trench to try and wrestle it away from the Shirudo infantry. A bloody melee ensued, going over for well over and hour. By 7:30pm, the Shirudo force was pushed from the first line trenches, losing thousands of men in the process.

At 8, losing on edge with rear guards reporting clashes with approaching North Ghurrkan scouts, Matsui sent all four regiments (800 men in total) of Arrowheads at his disposal at "Banner Hill" Fighting would go on into the night, with a combination of soulless warriors and heavy artillery pounding away at the RSG and Nikea's Own. At midnight, communication was lost with the hill, reducing many of the Arcean soldiers and officers to prayer on the south side of the river.

At dawn, "Banner Hill" was reduced to a barren, alien waist land. Ruytenburch sent a party of Engineers to the hill to check on the situation. What they found was a hill littered with corpses and body parts from soldiers on both sides. Under the carnage discovered a handful of Arcean soldiers, no more than 50 of the original 250, still in position awaiting an oncoming attack. Relieved, Ruytenburch had lines of communication were restored, and the remaining soldiers were pulled to the mainline while four campaigner regiments were sent onto the hill.

At 10am, the Shirudo once again managed to break the Arcean first line on the North Side of the river, renewing hope within the Shirudo First Army after a disastrous first day of combat. The Arcean linebreaker counter attack was this time repelled, and, an hour and a half later, the Shirudo pushed for the second and final line. Within a half hour, the second line was at risk of breaking, which would have forced the entire Arcean force to retreat.

Ruytenbach took a gamble, taking a few of his precious Air Marines from the North side of the river, loading them onto an Aircorvette and had them attempt to wrestle back control of Gadasasvelli. Miraculously it worked. The Shirudo lost almost all of their artillery, and had their force cut in half. Attempts at retaking the town proved even more disastrous. The Shirudo had much of their remaining armour lost in ambushes using the abandoned and now reclaimed AT weapons in the town. By noon, the First Army had once again lost the first line of trenches, this time the 2000 soldiers surrendering. By 1, the entire force on the other side of Gadasasvelli from Matsui's camp had surrendered, losing him more than a quarter of his remaining force.

Despite Matui's valiant attempts to rally his remaining troops, which still outnumbered the battered Arcean Force and still had time to push through, further attacks were far less confident and effective. Without armor the Shirudo began finding it almost impossible to regain a foothold, and with sniper fire from Gadasasvelli making matters worse, the Shirudo never managed to establish a strong foothold in, much less capture, any of the Arcean trenches. A final desperate attack was made on "Banner Hill", but the force routed under mortar and machine gun fire without inflicting any casualties on the Campaigner regiments defending the Hill.

At 11pm, the North Ghurrkan force from the west, easily smashed Matsui's rear guard. Worrying for the livelyhood of his men, Matsui surrendered his sword to Ruytenburch in Gadasasvelli city hall at 2am, with the Arcean General coming proudly escorted by the remainder of the RSG and Nikea's own.

Aftermath
With the loss, the tide shifted significantly in favour of the Continental Alliance on the Northern Front. It allowed North Ghurrka to enter the war, helping Corinth greatly, while also giving the Arcean Army a much needed confidence boost after losing the Archipelago Islands. North Ghurrkan troops marched to relieve the seriously outnumbered Corinthian force at Landsdowne. Arcea sent it's most strongly numbered regiments as well as the Rasman Fleet to help repel the Shirudo invasion of Ephesus. The RSG and Nikea's Own Guards were brought back to Arcea to be brought back to fighting strength. Ruytenburch was made into a National Hero, did several radio interveiws and was paraded down the streets of Nikea with the hero's of the RSG and NOG before being sent to lead the liberation of Ephesus.

Legend
During the long night of fighting for Banner Hill, it is said that the Arcean's sang the popular folk song "Devil's Got a Gun" to calm their nerves. Reportedly, some soldiers 3km away could hear the hymn during lulls in the shelling, albeit this is unlikely. Regardless, the folk song has become associated with the battle.

Look out, this thing is gonna blow
I heard it from the people in the know
There's trouble in the tenements below
There's fire where the flowers used to grow

I'm never going back
I'm running from the sun
Bullets at my heels
The devil's got a gun
I'm never going home
I'll be the only one
With daylight on my tail
And heaven on the run

Rain is jumping up into the clouds
A girl has ceased to make her father proud
Lovers wrapped up in cellophane
The bitter fruit has fallen from it's prey

I'm never going back
I'm running from the sun
Bullets at my heels
The devil's got a gun
I'm never going home
I'll be the only one
With daylight on my tail
And heaven on the run

You've made it this far, through the tireless reading and grammatical errors? You are now an official Corinth Fan Here's a cookie Anyway, my terrible attempt at a battle scene. If you can guess what painting this is based off of, you deserve a real prize. Albeit, I do think Canadians will have a huge headstart.