Avatar:Fire Nation conquest of Ba Sing Se
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"There are smoke plumes rising above the rooftops of the city. The Fire Nation army demonstrating their power. Something flies across the sky, a massive boulder hurled by an Earthbender, before crashing down upon a rooftop across the way. Someone screams in the distance. Shrill and frightened. [...] The invasion has begun."
— Jin's first experiences during the Fire Nation conquest of Ba Sing Se.[1]
Template:Battle infoboxThe Fire Nation conquest of Ba Sing Se[2] took place in spring 100 AG after a coup organized by Fire Nation Princess Azula and the Dai Li toppled the Earth Kingdom government.
With the Council of Five captured and Earth King Kuei driven into exile during the coup, the Dai Li quickly crippled the leaderless defenses of Ba Sing Se and allowed the Fire Army to advance into the city. Though shocked, some Earth Kingdom security forces and armed civilians attempted to muster a defense, but their efforts were disorganized and resistance was violently defeated by joint Fire Nation-Dai Li forces within days. At the same time, many people fled Ba Sing Se, while the loyalist Silver Fangs went underground. Once the Fire Nation had fully secured the city, a puppet regime was set up. Ba Sing Se remained under occupation until its liberation in summer 100 AG.
Background
In spring 100 AG, Azula's team infiltrated Ba Sing Se and made contact with Long Feng, the deposed and imprisoned ex-dictator of the Earth Kingdom. Seeking to regain his position, Long Feng opted to allow the Fire Nation princess to mobilize the Dai Li on his behalf to overthrow Earth King Kuei's government which was supported by Team Avatar.[3][4]
Azula managed to successfully organize a coup, seemingly killing Avatar Aang and forcing Kuei to flee from the capital. The Council of Five was captured, removing the leadership of the Earth Kingdom military. Long Feng's attempt to exploit this success to his advantage failed, however, when he discovered that the Dai Li under their representative had largely decided to pledge loyalty to Azula. Acknowledging his defeat, he too was imprisoned. With most of the Dai Li now following her, Azula ordered the secret police to prepare Ba Sing Se for an occupation by the Fire Nation, seeking to present the conquered city to her father, Fire Lord Ozai.[2][4]
Though elements of the Dai Li opposed the Fire Nation takeover, these agents were too few to stop the rest of their comrades from following Azula's orders and thus opted to hide their true allegiances.[5] Similarly, the opposition network known as the "Silver Fangs" quickly learned of the coup, but were unable to muster an effective response. Concluding that open resistance would be suicidal, the network ordered most its members to either go underground or flee.[1]
Conquest
Entry of the Fire Army
The efforts to prepare the Fire Nation conquest began during the night of Earth King Kuei's escape into exile. The Dai Li quickly secured the Outer and Inner Walls, occupying most of the city's gates. The Silver Fangs were able to temporarily ensure that the Northeastern Gate remained open for refugees at midnight. In the course of the night, substantial troop movements of unknown affiliation took place in Ba Sing Se's Agrarian Zone.[1]
At dawn, explosions could be heard in the city's Lower Ring, as gates and other crucial locations were sabotaged.[1] The Dai Li completely shut down the monorail in the entire city, effectively crippling the vast city's infrastructure.[6] Soon after, Dai Li squads began to tear down sections of the Inner Wall, allowing the Fire Army to directly march into Ba Sing Se's urban core.[1][2]
After a few hours, propaganda leaflets were spread across the Lower Ring, declaring that Ba Sing Se was being occupied by the Fire Nation and calling for collaboration. Soon after, substantial contingents of Fire Army soldiers, backed by tundra tanks, marched through the city.[1] Though the invaders focused on taking major locations such as the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace,[2] the Fire Nation forces quickly split up and moved to secure residential areas.[1][6]
Disorganized resistance
By this point, substantial fighting erupted as disorganized loyalists, consisting of security forces and armed civilians, attempted to stop the Fire Army.[1][7] In the Middle and Upper Rings, any kind of resistance was hampered by the widespread open spaces, with vast gardens and wide lanes allowing the Fire Nation troops to quickly move and target enemies.[6] Unaware that the Earth King had fled, a few loyalist Earth Kingdom soldiers sought to protect their monarch and made a heroic but futile last stand in front of the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace.[8]
In contrast to the Fire Army's easy advance in the Upper and Middle Rings, the cramped Lower Ring with its narrow streets offered good ambush opportunities for the loyalists, with the tundra tanks too big to even get into many alleys.[1][7][6] Regardless of their location, however, the Earth Kingdom loyalists were leaderless and could not properly coordinate their defensive actions due to the Dai Li having crippled the local infrastructure. The clashes caused substantial destruction, with several fires breaking out in the Lower and Middle Rings.[1][7] Some Fire Nation units indiscriminately attacked anyone whom they encountered on the streets.[7] Earthbending and firebending in the densely packed urban areas destroyed numerous homes, killing, maiming, and terrifying civilians.[1][9]
One of the destroyed buildings was the boarding house where ex-Freedom Fighters Smellerbee and Longshot lived; the latter was almost killed by the collapse, though Smellerbee and their friend Jin managed to save him.[7] Once she returned to her own apartment, Jin discovered that her grandfather Gong-gong had suffered a heart attack, causing her to rush through the chaotic city to get help from Doctor Jan's Hu Yuan Apothecary.[9] Yet the medic had disappeared, with her family suspecting that she had been kidnapped by the Dai Li due to her Silver Fangs connections. As a result, Jan's son Xuan accompanied Jin to help Gong-gong,[10][11] but the old man died during the following night.[6]
Meanwhile, the Fire Army and Dai Li continued to suppress the open resistance during the next day. By the third day of the operation, large fires were still raging in the Lower Ring, but small Fire Nation patrols were already roaming the Lower Ring largely without issue. By the fourth day, fighting had ended and the Fire Army had set up guard posts at strategic spots in all districts to control the movements of local civilians. Markets were allowed to reopen under supervision, though the monorail and education institutes remained closed.[6] Large Fire Army units marched through the streets in parades to intimidate any remaining opposition.[2]
Aftermath
See also: Mission to Lake Laogai
A substantial number of Ba Sing Se residents managed to flee the city as the Fire Nation conquered it.[1][12] Many people believed that the Earth Kingdom had fallen after the occupation of Ba Sing Se,[4][2] but several regions remained under the control of Earth Kingdom loyalists outside the city.[13] Anti-Fire Nation forces generally refused to acknowledge defeat in the Hundred Year War, and kept fighting despite the loss of Ba Sing Se.[2][13]
Eager to make a difference due to her grandfather's death and hoping to rescue her friend Suyin Wen who had been taken by the Dai Li, Jin led Smellerbee and Xuan to infiltrate the secret police's Lake Laogai base in the immediate aftermath of the Fire Nation conquest of Ba Sing Se. The trio exploited that the base was largely defenseless, as most Dai Li agents were distracted by their ongoing assistance to the Fire Army in securing the city. Though the mission did not locate Suyin, Jin's group managed to rescue General Sung and a number of "Joo Dees"-in training who had been held captive in the base. The group subsequently destroyed the complex by triggering a flooding.[6][14][15]
After the Fire Army had largely secured Ba Sing Se, Azula appointed the brainwashed "Joo Dee" to lead the Supreme Bureaucratic Administrator's government, a puppet regime which would govern Ba Sing Se on the Fire Nation's behalf.[16][17] The conquest of the city brought great fame to Azula and, to a lesser extent, Zuko, among the Fire Nationals.[2]
Despite ongoing civil resistance and minor clashes,[17][13] the Fire Nation would firmly occupy Ba Sing Se until its liberation by the Silver Fangs and Order of the White Lotus in summer 100 AG.[18][19]
Appearances
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Book Three: Fire (火)
Avatar Legends novels
City of Echoes
Avatar comics
Book Two: Earth (土)
References
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