[center][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Fictitious_Ottoman_flag_9.png[/img]

[u][b][color=beige]The Sultanate of the Seljuk[/color][/b][/u][/center]

[i]Harakas, outskirts of the Karalian capital, June, 1911[/i]

General Mahmed surveyed the encirclement one final time. The preparations had been drawn up only nights before and probably served to it's inefficiency. Seljuk troops were unruly and lacked discipline. Their rifles, Schutze M1902's purchased from the neighboring Tyro-Antarian Empire were hardy, but not well designed for prolonged combat in the sandy desert. Mahmed wanted to forget the unfortunate reality that the majority of his soldiers were not trained to dissemble and clean their own rifles. From his low stool at the desk in his tent, Mahmed reviewed the order of battle--sent from Seljuk's General Staff.

[hider=Seljuk 2nd Army (Order of Battle)]
[center][b]Seljuk 2nd Army[/b][/center]

* The [b][color=beige]Seljuk 2nd Army[/color][/b] is commanded by General Mahmed ([i]Loyal/Alcoholic[/i])
-- [b]Objectives[/b]: The complete encirclement of the Karalian capital and the ultimate capitulation of the 'Karalian Dissidents,' who have self-proclaimed themselves the [b]Karalian Provinces[/b].

[b]Infantry[/b]: Seven line regiments and seven rifle battalion.
-- 1st Regular Infantry Division ([i]Birinci Nizamiye Fırkası[/i]) [8,000 men. 8,000 M1902 Schutze Rifles]
-- 2nd Regular Infantry Division ([i]İkinci Nizamiye Fırkası[/i]) [8,000 men. 8,000 M1902 Schutze Rifles]

[b]Cavalry[/b]: Five line regiments and one Hejaz brigade
-- 9th Cavalry Division ([i]Süvari Fırkası[/i]) [5,600 men. 5,600 M1902 Schutze Rifles]

[b]Artillery[/b]: Nine field and three horse batteries, one İhtiyat regiment.
-- 1st Artillery Division ([i]Topçu Fırkası[/i]) [6,800 men. 70 60mm Glaskanonen Field Guns]
-- Engineer: One sapper company, eight companies of engineers, one company of artificers.
* Engineer regiment ([i]İstihkâm Alayı[/i]) [1,100 men. 1,100 M1902 Schutze Rifles][/hider]

The encirclement of the massive Karalian city was an undertaking neither supported by Seljuk military theory or logistics. The lone railway between the Western Empire and the Back End (so referred due to it's abysmal infrastructure) was often overloaded and forcibly slowed bringing in supplies by disrepair. General Mahmed understood that while it was simply a matter of time before the Karalians surrendered en masse, every day was a worthless battle of attrition in supplying an army simply out of its element. The 1st Artillery Division, under equipped with only 70 Blutlandic field guns purchased in 1898, often ran it's course of shells and had to wait until the next train delivery before bombardments could fully. Similarly, the Engineer Regiment--[i]İstihkâm Alayı[/i]--was the only of its kind in the entire Empire. It's workers divvied up ten hours shifts in building sand embankments and shooting positions. This wasn't to be a shooting war anymore. It was just a waiting game.

[center][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Turkish_troops_en_route_to_the_Suez_Canal%2C_1914.JPG[/img]
[i]Elements of the 2nd Seljuk Infantry Division, 2nd Regiment marching into Karalia, 1910[/i][/center]

The worst opponent in the Back End of the Empire was the sun, the sand and the heat. The Karalians, who had largely given up now, were hoping the Seljuk's resolve might simply dissolve away. The Sultan however knew that allowing the ethnic minorities to stand up would embolden other minorities to do the same, which was one of many reasons the Sultan questioned a lack of assistance, martial or economic, from the Tyro-Antarian Empire, who had similar ethnic problems with their border.

On June 30th, General Mahmed was informed of an incoming presence from the south. The Zellonians were back again, he wondered? Messengers indicated however it was the long overdue arrival of the Saurilians--ten thousand men strong--as an amateur expeditionary force. The [b]Saurilian 1st Armed Battalion[/b] under a General Sjörn. The first question upon admitting the General to his quarters was a simple one: "Are battalions not commanded by lieutenant colonels in most modern armed forces, General?"

A question more of disdain for foreigners than anything else, Mahmed allotted the Saurilian 1st Armed Battalion the southern flank. "If you wish to prove yourself in combat, your men are more than welcome to siege the city. It's a mottled mess of buildings, stone and straw and clay. Otherwise, we wait. The men, the women, the children; they slowly starve day by day, as is due punishment for those who oppose the Sultan."