Draft:Battle of Ayrum

The Battle of Ayrum was a military battle fought between the First Republic of Armenia and the Democratic Republic of Georgia on 16 December 1918, it began following an Armenian breakthrough into Lori.

Background
In May 1918, towards the end of World War I, Armenia and Georgia both declared their independence, dissolving the short-lived union between them. Both Georgia and Armenia claimed Lori and Akhalkalaki, both of which were populated primarily by Armenians. The border dispute turned into an open Military conflict on 7 December 1918.

Battle
Due to the Georgian People's Guard's poor resistance, they had greatly endangered the position of Georgian troops in Ayrum. General Drastamat Kanayan acknowledged this, and on 16 December began a surprise attack on the town during the night, the Armenians were able to catch the Georgians off guard whilst most of their troops were sleeping which allowed them to storm into the town from numerous positions. The Armenians used grenades to blow up the bridges which prevented the Georgians from escaping as this resulted in an devastation of the entire Georgian garrison in Ayrum, as five hundred Georgians which was their entire Ayrum garrison was either killed or taken prisoner.