“It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se,
but the girls in the city
they look soo prett-ay!
And they kiss so sweet
that you've really got to meet
the girls from Ba Sing Se!”
The Siege of Ba Sing Se was a pivotal moment in the Hundred Year War, being the largest purely land battle of the entire War. The early 90s AG had been dominated by Crown Prince Iroh’s continued success in the Northern Earth Kingdom. In late 92 he successfully forded the Dashe River and established a lasting presence there, the farthest East the Fire Armies had pushed via land alone. Winter and a lack of supplies prevented his further advance, but already the Dragon of the West was planning a new great offensive.
Most of 93 was spent convincing Azulon that Ba Sing Se could in fact be taken, and then assembling the force needed to besiege and capture the Great City. By 94 the so-called “Army of the Dashe” was ready, 750,000 strong. It swept aside a half-hearted defense at Ni, and soon enveloped the walls of Ba Sing Se.
The Earth Kingdom’s response was, as was by now typical, disjointed and inefficient. Former Regent Long Feng maintained control over King Kuei and failed to provide direction to the men or allow his skilled Dai Li agents to fight. Had he maintained control of the city, it likely would have fallen. However just days before the encirclement of the City was complete, Guanyu Ye, and his 10,000 veteran soldiers from Chu who had marched and sailed at record speed, slipped into the city. Long Feng and the Dai Li would maintain control of the palace and the King, but Ye would effectively turn the palace into a prison. Food and water were sent in, and Ye was unwilling to put up a fight as of yet, but no orders were allowed out. The quixotic siege within a siege would last for the duration of the siege.
Ye set to work manning the walls of Ba Sing Se, drafting many men as he could into service, although most would serve on the inner walls. The General settled in for a long siege. He placed future Council of Five members General How and Sung in charge of the Two Internal Armies. The pair alternated keeping order in the city and acting as reserves for the forces on the wall. Ye had not wanted to appoint Bo Yang as Commander of the Outer Wall, but felt he needed some sort of sop to the Incumbent Council of Five, who were lending tacit support to his quasi-usurpation of Long Feng. This would prove disastrous.
Iroh severely underestimated the defensibility of Ba Sing Se, despite its fearsome reputation. As with most would-be conquerors, he did not realize the extent to which the walls around the agriculture ring made the city invulnerable to a simple starve-and-wait siege. After several months of skirmishing along the walls, General Ye famously ordered a great feast sent to the Fire Nation headquarters, in honor of General Iroh’s birthday, which infuriated the Crown Prince into action.
Control over the siege works was given to Masumi, Lady of Pyre and Master Engineer. 9 great towers were constructed in hopes of gaining control of the wall. They were subject to much sabotage from Earth Kingdom forces, but eventually the spires of metal and wood were rolled into place. Fierce fighting erupted on the battlements, and several times it seemed as if victory was close at hand. But How and Sung acquitted themselves well in plugging any breaches, even as Yang proved himself a liability, prone to defeatism and overcoution.
The coming of winter provided a welcome respite for the forces of the Earth Kingdom, as rust and rot necessitated substantial repairs to the great towers. The attacks resumed with a greater ferocity come spring, but still the Great Walls did not fall. Wave after wave of Fire Nation men went to their deaths. Meanwhile the food situation began to grow grim. The land just outside of Ba Sing Se is not fertile, and the army was stretching their supply lines.
However on the Autumn Equinox of 95, the Great General Guanyu Ye was killed defending a guard post atop the wall, leaving the frankly incompetent General Yang in command of the city. Meanwhile, Fire Nation catapults were burning the crops of the agricultural ring. Eager to take advantage of this Iroh and Infantry Commander Kanji made a daring plan.
The Fire Nation attack came in a place between where the towers had been. Fire, stones, tanks, and the Crown Prince’s own lightning were thrown at the wall in great numbers. Finally, after over a year, a breach was made large enough that it could not easily be bent shut. But the Fire Nation did not have control of it yet. For nearly two months Iroh fought How and Sung for control of the breach, before finally taking control. Yang, despondent, surrendered the entire Outer Wall on the spot, despite How’s far better plan to create a makeshift second line.
Tragedy soon struck for the Crown Prince. His only son, Lu Ten had been placed in charge of the cavalry, despite his youth and inexperience, and had been itching for action for the entire siege. He led a charge into the agricultural ring, only to find that How had not abandoned it entirely. Sources differ on how he died. Fire Nation accounts insist he saved his entire unit from destruction with his death. Earth Kingdom songs tell of an inglorious demise in a cowpig sty.
Whatever the cause Iroh descended into a fury and burned his way to the Inner Walls. When he saw that they were just as tall and strong as the Outer Wall, he wept.
Much has been argued about why the Crown Prince withdrew. Traditional accounts cite grief over his son’s death. Later histories, more skeptical of assigning causality to one thing, explain it by saying that the Fire Nation simply did not have the men or resources to besiege the Inner Wall. Ba Sing Se would no longer have access to the agricultural ring, but the Fire Nation could get little out of the burning landscape. Attrition rates were high and morale was low, despite the recent victores. Indeed, the Fire Nation was not able to hold even Iroh’s prior conquests after they withdrew from Ba Sing Se. Still, Iroh had overcome greater odds before, but it seems Lu Ten’s death sapped him of his famed ingenuity.
The impact of the failed siege was massive. Although militarily it did not turn the tides, the Fire Nation was again at the gates of Ba Sing Se within five years, it did prolong the war enough for Avatar Aang to return. Internally it shook up Fire Nation politics, resulting in the rise of Ozai to power. And inside Ba Sing Se How and Sung made the fateful decision to ally with Long Feng, allowing him out of the palace, in exchange for Royal Appointments to the Council of Five. Thus, despite his lack of notability during the Siege, Long Feng remained in control of Ba Sing Se. Fear of a repeat of General Ye’s seizure of power are likely what caused him to institute a ban on the discussion of the war.
One final note: When Princess Azula took control of Ba Sing Se in 100, and ordered the Dai Li to bring down the walls, they did so (without orders) at the exact spot where Iroh had breached them.