Avatar:Siege of Ba Sing Se

"You once laid siege to [Ba Sing Se] for 600 days, but it would not yield to you."

— The earthbender captain mentioning the siege to Iroh.

Template:Battle infoboxThe six hundred-day Siege of Ba Sing Se was an unsuccessful assault by the Fire Nation on the Earth Kingdom capital six years before the end of the Hundred Year War. It was one of the largest and most legendary battles of the latter stages of the century-long war. The siege had a major impact on history, as it resulted in the fall from power of Crown Prince Iroh and the rise of Fire Lord Ozai.

Prelude

For centuries, Ba Sing Se was believed unassailable due to its extensive fortifications. Regardless, the military of the Fire Nation prepared for a possible war with the Earth Kingdom as early as the 4th century BG. This included a contingency plan for an assault of Ba Sing Se. Avatar Kyoshi's firebending teacher Rangi was informed of this plan, and considered it feasible, though also stated that she would "pity the troops who carried it out."

Crown Prince Iroh, the commander of the Fire Nation's assault on Ba Sing Se.

The Hundred Year War between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world eventually erupted in 0 AG. Over the course of several decades, the Fire Nation's armies gradually conquered much of the Earth Kingdom, and eventually launched a campaign to capture Ba Sing Se under General Iroh, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. His hope was that, by conquering the mightiest city in the Earth Kingdom, he could finally secure victory for the Fire Nation. At the time, Iroh was driven by his belief that he was fated to conquer the city due to a vision he had in his youth. As part of the preparations of the Crown Prince's grand attack on Ba Sing Se, the Fire Nation military sent special forces and spies disguised as merchants and travelers to infiltrate the capital. One elite unit of military spies was led by Keung.

Siege

Breaching of the Outer Wall

Around 94 AG, General Iroh and several armies under his command besieged the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se. The siege was initiated after Fire Nation infantry began attacking the Outer Wall of the city, hoping to breach the walls in order to secure a path for an invasion. The defending earthbenders of Ba Sing Se fought back, managing to hold them off for a long period of time. While Iroh's troops assaulted from the outside, the Fire Nation infiltrators inside the city began to take action as well, waging a campaign of murder and sabotage. In particular, Keung's force successfully eliminated "key military targets".

Amid heavy fighting, the Fire Army troops stormed the Outer Wall's breach.

The turning point of the siege came when General Iroh finally breached the Outer Wall during a massive artillery bombardment of trebuchets. When the Fire Army troops stormed the breach, the remaining Earth Kingdom troops tried to halt them by earthbending the wall's rubble at them, causing vicious losses. After a long period of battle, the Fire Nation secured the foothold that they desired. As a result of Iroh's victory at the Outer Wall, the general defending it surrendered.

The Fire Army advanced into the Agrarian Zone and continued their onslaught. The troops set up a camp, and began to secure the breach. Fire Army vanguard units kept attacking, turning the villages in the Agrarian Zone into urban battlefields. Despite their defeat at the Outer Wall, Ba Sing Se's garrison kept up a desperate defense of the city, and continued to inflict heavy losses on the Fire Army.

Fire Nation retreat

When Iroh ordered a general retreat, he sent messages to also inform his vanguard units.

Unbeknownst to General Iroh, his son, Lu Ten, had been mortally wounded around the time that the Fire Army had breached the Outer Wall. When the commander was finally informed of this event, Lu Ten was already dead. General Iroh's morale was crushed upon learning of his son's demise. Heartbroken and demoralized, Iroh lost his will to fight. He realized that there was no end in sight for the siege, as the Earth Kingdom defenders remained resolutely unwilling to surrender. Furthermore, his armies had taken very heavy losses and their morale was wavering. The general consequently ordered his troops to withdraw from the battle. Iroh also sent messengers to deliver the retreat orders to the troops who had already advanced deeper into enemy territory, including the infiltrators, but some messages never reached their destination amid the fighting.

Some Fire Nation contingents were cut off during the retreat and destroyed, including Keung's unit.

With Iroh's forces on the retreat, the Earth Kingdom military counter-attacked and retook the lost territory. Most Fire Nation contingents were able to get out of Ba Sing Se in good order, but some Fire Army troops in the Agrarian Zone were cut off and left behind during the retreat. These holdouts were soon overrun by the revitalized Earth Kingdom forces and mostly killed. For instance, Keung was the only survivor of his elite unit.

The Outer Wall was subsequently repaired. The siege had thus failed, but the Fire Nation unsuccessfully attempted to recapture the city in many future assaults.

Aftermath

Iroh himself would regard the siege as his life's turning point, and continue to blame himself not just for Lu Ten's death, but also the fate of any Fire Army soldiers left behind during the retreat from battle.

Despite the Earth Kingdom's victory, the long siege left many bitter feelings toward the Fire Nation and Iroh, specifically. These feelings were displayed when an earthbender captain captured Iroh, longing for vengeance for the chaos and violence he and his nation had wrought during the siege. Iroh was derided by many people for letting his own emotions interfere with the outcome of the battle, including some veterans of the siege. However, many in the Fire Nation who served under his command, despite the ultimate failure of Iroh's siege and even after his overt treachery later in the war, praised him as "a great leader and a great man".

While his nephew Prince Zuko, sister-in-law Princess Ursa, and even his father, Fire Lord Azulon, sympathized with Iroh's loss, his niece Princess Azula and younger brother Prince Ozai were disgusted by Iroh's decisions. Ozai intended to take advantage of his brother's losses and the failure of the siege. He requested that Azulon let him succeed the throne in Iroh's place, arguing that Lu Ten's death had left Iroh without a proper heir. Azulon was infuriated by this proposal and swore to punish Ozai. However, before this could be done, Azulon died suddenly and Ursa disappeared. Iroh, emotionally wrecked, did not fight for his throne, and therefore Ozai became Fire Lord on Azulon's alleged dying wish. Iroh lost his birthright and his son as a result of the siege, and Ba Sing Se did not fall until Dai Li agents, along with Zuko, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, overthrew the Earth King six years later. By this point, Iroh's campaign had become known as the "first siege" of Ba Sing Se.

Following the Hundred Year War's end, most Ba Sing Se residents developed a positive view of Iroh due to his role in aiding Avatar Aang, though some locals continued to despise him due to the siege. Furthermore, Keung eventually tried to take revenge on his old superior for the retreat order that contributed to his unit's demise.

Appearances

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Book Two: Earth (土)

Appearances: 1

Graphic novels

Appearances: c

Trivia

• In The Last Airbender, the Siege of Ba Sing Se was shortened to only one hundred days instead of six hundred.
• Under Iroh's command, the Ba Sing Se wall has been destroyed twice: the first time was during this siege, when he intended to conquer the city in name of the Fire Nation, and the second time was during the passing of Sozin's Comet in 100 AG, when he aimed to liberate the city from the Fire Nation.