Battle of San Juan Diego

Battle of San Juan Diego
Part of the Sequoyan Civil War and the CODECO military intervention in Sequoyah
Date 29 November 2020 – 15 February 2021 (2 months, 2 weeks and 3 days) Location San Juan Diego, Sequoyah Result RCGRS and COMISEQ victory Territorial changes San Juan Diego and the surrounding area captured by the RCGRS and COMISEQ
Belligerents
Pro-Atagulkalu forces Cheasequah Front San Juan Diego Militia	Until 4 January 2021: Sequoyan government Deseret Rangers From 4 January 2021: RCGRS COMISEQ
Commanders and leaders
Gawonii Unaduty (POW) Ernesto Castro Aldana (until 2 February 2021)	Diwali Wesa (POW) Atohi Dustu Ernesto Castro Aldana (from 2 February 2021) Lázaro Chacón González Camillo di Savotta
Strength
3,500 soldiers 500 front members 1,000 militiamen	Wesa's forces: 2,500 soldiers 300 rangers Dustu's forces: 12,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
428 killed 653 wounded 1,500 captured	Wesa's forces: 72 killed 153 wounded Dustu's forces: 85 killed 248 wounded
300–1,000 civilians killed

The Battle of San Juan Diego (Sequoyan: ᏓᎾᏟᎲ ᎾᏍᎦᏅᏅᎠ ᏧᎸᏫᏍᏓᏁᏗ ᎤᏲᎱᏒ, transliteration: Danatlihv Nasganvnva Tsulvwisdanedi Uyohusv; Creeperian: Batalla de San Juan Diego) occurred in the Sequoyan city of San Juan Diego during the Sequoyan Civil War. The battle was fought between forces loyal to deposed president-elect Usti Atagulkalu and those of the Sequoyan government, first of that under interim President Diwali Wesa, and then under that of provisional President Atohi Dustu, from 29 November 2020 until 15 February 2021.

Background

On 27 November 2020, Admiral Diwali Wesa, the interim president of Sequoyah, arrested president-elect Usti Atagulkalu at his home outside of Asequi. The arrest came after Atagulkalu praised the Cheasequah Front, which was declared as a terrorist organization by Wesa on 22 November 2020 following the group's various attacks against tribal Sequoyans following the October 2020 Sequoyan presidential election. Atagulkalu's arrest led to many pro-Atagulkalu uprisings across the country, which saw Wesa's action as a coup against Sequoyan democracy.

Prelude

Atagulkalu's arrest let to public outcry in San Juan Diego, a historically conservative, Federalist, and Creeperian League stronghold in the northern part of Eastern Sequoyah. The day of the arrest, an estimated 15,000 people marched in protest of the arrest and Wesa's seizure of power, calling the event a self-coup. Ernesto Castro Aldana, the mayor of the city, condemned the arrest, stating, "Wesa has betrayed the Sequoyan state and has deposed the democratically elected and rightful president of our country".

Battle

Atagulist takeover

On 29 November 2020, pro-Atagulkalu forces under the command of Brigadier General Gawonii Unaduty, consisting of the 3rd and 4th infantry battalions, ousted a force of 125 pro-Wesa soldiers from major government buildings in the city. The San Juan Diego Militia and many independent ethnic-Creeperian fighters assisted the pro-Atagulkalu forces against those loyal to Wesa. Castro Aldana voiced his support for Unaduty's forces.

The pro-Wesa forces regrouped on the southern side of the city, aided by a force of 300 Deseret Rangers, however, the pro-Wesa forces fell under attacks by the Cheasequah Front around 11 p.m. local time that same day. At around 8 a.m. local time the next day, Wesa ordered his forces to retreat from San Juan Diego and regroup at Fort Picard, located 15 miles south on the coastline. The retreat of Wesa's forces from San Juan Diego was announced in a press release from the Sequoyan Air Force at 5:35 p.m. that same day.

RCGRS and COMISEQ prepare attack

On 6 December 2020, a coalition of military forces of the Cooperation and Development Coalition (CODECO), known as the CODECO Mission in Sequoyah (COMISEQ), announced their military intervention in Sequoyah and proclaimed the establishment of the Reorganized Constitutional Government of the Republic of Sequoyah (RCGRS), with Major Atohi Dustu as its provisional president. Wesa resigned on 4 January 2021 to COMISEQ forces, and accepted Dustu as the country's provisional president, calling his forces to surrender to CODECO and the RCGRS.

On 2 February 2021, Dustu mobilized 12,000 soldiers outside of San Juan Diego in preparation to take the city from Unaduty's forces. Knowing that Dustu and COMISEQ would almost certainly win, and with his personal favoritism to Creeperian rule, Castro Aldana called on the city's defenders to surrender to COMISEQ. Most of the city's Creeperian militiamen, who also preferred Creeperian rule over Sequoyan rule, returned to their homes. Unaduty and the Cheasequah Front, however, rejected Castro Aldana's calls and ordered his immediate arrest. Castro Aldana fled the city and was welcomed by Dustu's forces, who continued to recognize Castro Aldana as the city's mayor. Dustu stated regarding Castro Aldana's defection, "Castro Aldana and the Creeperans in San Juan Diego aren't fighting for Usti Atagulkalu, they are fighting against Diwali Wesa, and now that they see Wesa is gone, they have laid down their arms to the current Sequoyan government".

Fall of the city

The RCGRS and COMISEQ's joint attack on the city began on 10 February 2021. Sequoyan, Creeperian, and Salisfordian soldiers attacked the Cheasequah Front and forces still loyal to Atagulkalu. Meanwhile, some Creeperans in the city joined the RCGRS and COMISEQ's forces in fighting the pro-Atagulkalu forces. Dustu pledged amnesty to fighters who surrendered to COMISEQ forces in an attempt to quickly end the battle. Aerial bombing of pro-Atagulkalu positions, including the San Juan Diego International Airport, by the Creeperian Air Force greatly weakened their morale and their ability to fight, and the city fell to the RCGRS and COMISEQ on 15 February 2021.

Aftermath

The battle killed an estimated 300 to 1,000 civilians, and Dustu called for humanitarian aid to be rendered to the city by the Terraconserva Council of Nations (TCN). A total of 428 Atagulists were killed and a further 653 were wounded and 1,500 were captured. For the RCGRS and COMISEQ, 85 soldiers were killed and 248 were wounded. The fall of San Juan Diego marked the loss of the Atagulists' final major stronghold in Sequoyah. The civil war would later end on 21 May 2021.

Dustu reaffirmed that Castro Aldana would remain as the city's mayor, and that he and Creeperans who fought with the Atagulists against Wesa's forces would not be prosecuted. Castro Aldana was later elected as the country's vice president in May 2022, assuming office on 21 May 2022 as a member of the Creeperian League (LECRE).

See also

• Siege of Caprica
• Fall of Asequi