1879 - Defense of Shoreditch

Shoreditch was, at one point, the Westernmost Vjiayan settlement on Valoria and grew exponentially thanks to its proximity good fishing waters. It was frequently harrassed by VIM raiders and a small contingent from the Vjiayan Army was placed there to build a town wall and dissuade any opportunistic natives.

The threat of a large attack was deemed 'low' by Vjiayan Command and just a couple hundred men were deployed.

On the 2nd of March 1879 a patrol conducting routine exercises spotted a large formation bearing down on the settlement. They rushed back to Shoreditch and informed the Vjiayan commander of the approaching enemy, who mobilised his small force into a defensive posture.

Efforts to communicate with the natives failed, and early on the morning of the third the first shot rang out from the barricades, followed by a barrage of others. Civilians interviewed later said they thought that the Vjiayans had deployed some new automatic weapon, such was the speed of their reloading and the magnitude of the lead that was being blasted out.

Repeated rushes of the outermost barricades forced the Vjiayans to fall back, even their skilled reloading unable to keep up with the repeated onslaughts of the near-suicidal attacks of the enemy. The Vjiayan ranks thinned and, despite their best efforts, they ordered the civilians to get on whatever seaworthy boats they had and make for the sea.

Attack after attack came and, though the enemy was suffering extremely heavy casualties (they didn't both removing their dead and simply charged over them), they showed no sign of abating.

After heavy, confused fighting on the night of the third, the Vjiayans were down to their last half thousand rounds and all seemed lost.

Nevertheless, they stood their ground and, their bayonets fixed, formed an impenetrable line of flesh and steel. Bloody fighting ensued, but the Vjiayans, with their superior discipline and training made short work of the dishevelled mob that was the enemy.

On the morning of the fourth, after a period of four hours without sign of the enemy, exhausted patrols returned and reported that they had disappeared back into the wildnerness.