In a campaign that took place from August to December 1678 in Kediri (in modern-day East Java, Indonesia) during the Trunajaya rebellion, the forces of the Mataram Sultanate, led by Amangkurat II, and of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), led by Anthonio Hurdt, marched inland into eastern Java against Trunajaya's forces.

After a series of marches beset by logistical difficulties and harassment by Trunajaya's forces, the Mataram–VOC army crossed the Brantas River on the night of 16–17 November.

[4] The rebellion was initially successful: the rebels took Surabaya, the principal city of eastern Java, in late 1675,[5] defeated the royal army at Gegodog in 1676,[6] and captured most of the Javanese north coast by January 1677.

[8] The VOC also depended on timber from the Javanese north coast in order to build and repair ships for its trading fleet, and for new construction in the city.

The royal capital was sacked, the entire treasury was taken by the rebels, and King Amangkurat I—who was gravely ill—died during his retreat, throwing the Mataram government into disarray.

[13] Lacking an army, a treasury, and a working government,[14] Amangkurat II went to Jepara, the headquarters of a VOC fleet under Admiral Cornelis Speelman, and in October signed a treaty renewing their alliance.

[15] In exchange for helping Mataram against his enemies, Amangkurat promised to pay the VOC 310,000 Spanish reals and about 5,000 tonnes (5,500 short tons) of rice.

[16] With the agreement concluded, Speelman and Amangkurat were eager to march quickly against the rebels, but this was delayed by the cautious policy of the VOC Governor-General Joan Maetsuycker, internal strife in the Mataram court, and some courtiers' opposition to the Dutch involvement.

[16] In November and December, there were only limited operations by Mataram forces with VOC support on the north coast, which were partial successes.

[18] He left for Batavia and the VOC appointed Anthonio Hurdt, a former governor of Ambon, to replace him as commander, granting him the title "Superintendent, Admiral, Campaign- and War-Commander.

"[19] Despite his long administrative service in Eastern Indonesia, at this time Hurdt had no experience in Java or in military campaigns, and was only selected due to a lack of more suitable candidates.

[20] As the march progressed, new troops were levied along the way, and some lords declared their allegiance to the Mataram King, enlarging the royal army to 13,000 men.

[2] According to the historian of Indonesia M. C. Ricklefs, "it must have been emphasized that there appears to have been no significant technological difference" between the land forces of Trunajaya, those of the Javanese in general, and those of the VOC.

[25] The people of Java had manufactured gunpowder, muskets and cannon since at least the 1620s and probably long before,[26] and they were also quick to adopt newer European military technologies.

[27] Hurdt wanted to attack Trunajaya's stronghold Kediri from Surabaya in coastal East Java, which would be the shortest route.

[20] To the east, a column led by Captains Abraham Daniel van Renesse and Frederik Hendrik Mulder left Rembang on 26 August.

[20] The western column was reinforced by the garrison of Semarang and marched southward to the Pajang district, where it fought the followers of Trunajaya's ally Raden Kajoran.

The central and western columns then met in the Semanggi (now Solo) River valley and marched together from there, led by Hurdt and Amangkurat.

[2] Throughout the march, the loyalist forces faced problems such as desertions, lack of discipline, illness, food shortages, and poor navigation.

[20] The Hurdt-Amangkurat army arrived at Singkal (today part of Nganjuk), on the west bank of the Brantas River north of Kediri, on 13 October.

[2] Trunajaya's artillery continuously pounded the loyalists, even reaching Hurdt and Amangkurat's lodgings, as well as the army's field hospital.

[31] On 3 November, Hurdt and Amangkurat were joined by an additional column led by Willem Bastinck from Surabaya, accompanied by 800 ox-carts carrying supplies.

[31] Hurdt was frustrated by the lack of progress, and gave Amangkurat an ultimatum that the VOC would withdraw unless the King supplied pontoons for the crossing, and matches for its soldiers' matchlocks.

[23] As was common in Javanese siege warfare of the time, the assault was accompanied by cannon fire, as well as loud yelling and the playing of drums and gongs to weaken the defender's morale.

Four VOC companies, under the command of Tack, engaged in "courtyard-by-courtyard" fighting to conquer Trunajaya's residential compound in the city centre.

[40] In an act of cultural misunderstanding, the VOC fired musket and cannon salutes, thinking the event was a coronation in the European sense.

[40] With Trunajaya expelled, and the looting finished, the loyalist army left Kediri for Surabaya, the principal city and port of East Java.

[41] A river convoy left on 15 December, which included Hurdt, Tack, van Renesse, 288 VOC sick and wounded, field cannon and their ammunition.

Many died from sheer exhaustion, "hungry, tired and spent like beasts along the road and indeed in the water", according to the VOC's journal written by Hurdt's secretary.

[45] Dutch commander Hurdt's secretary, Johan Jurgen Briel, wrote a diary of the campaign, which became an important historical source.