Battle of Vatican City (Holy Wars Scenario)

The Battle of Vatican City, also known as the Siege of Vatican City (or the Vatican) or the Vatican Offensive, was the first major battle between the Catholic Church and Holy See and the Islamic Caliphate, and was part of the Italian Campaign conducted early in the Holy Wars. It took place over the course of one week between 2 and 9 September 2021 in defense of the Vatican and Pope Francis enclaved within Rome, Italy. The Persian offensive was intended to damage morale, stop Catholic use of the Vatican at Rome, and to split the Catholic lines, allowing the Persians to encircle and destroy their adversary’s longtime headquarters. The battle was some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Holy Wars. Debate continues over such ferocious infighting of the Persians during the battle, even by war’s standards.

The Persians achieved a total surprise paratrooper attack on the early morning of 2 September 2021, with airborne troops from the 65th Airborne Special Forces Brigade being dropped in Vatican City to secure the city-state. Farthest north, Hezbollah and Hamas militants landed at Via Vespasiano and Ottoviano to secure the roads leading to the Vatican across, supported by men of numerous IRGC Iraqi factions. Catholic forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the wars. These losses were worsened by the inexperience of many of the troops (including their ages, which sometimes ranged from seventeen to nineteen years old), the tactics used during the early phases of the operation, overwhelming Persian superiority in numbers and arms and complete air supremacy—coupled with the impossibility of Catholic retreat or reinforcement, along with sparse food and supplies—permitted no plausible circumstance in which the Persians could have lost the battle. However, Pope Francis was escorted during the battle by troops and taken in “exile” to an undisclosed location. After the Catholic defeat, Vatican City was taken over by the Persians, and came under its jurisdiction as a headquarters to further the Islamic cause.