| Original Message |
Robert the Brute (no login)
Posted Mar 10, 2003 4:48 PM
~You may march safely where there is no enemy~Sun Tzu
GREGOR's CANNAE
*The double envelopment was already in place, as he expected his mysterious opponent probed the lines with lite cavalry and horsearchers, and he let them see the appropriate troop types, not whole units, but mostly the conscripts and a few assorted troops to convince the foe of what lay beyond the barricades at various positions. No doubt the enemy soldiers would be positioned accordingly. It was as he sought it to be. Word from the main empire fleet had been promising, advance ships had landed in eastern Foldus and parties of troops were already moving to aid surviving bands of warriors and securing the countryside. Within days there would be no hope of retreat, which meant he had to act here and now, while the chance to withdraw to safer ground still seemed an option to the unwary enemy. The first flags rose at dawn, and a human wave assault was launched to fix enemy positions. Now it is a principle of war that if picked men are not placed at the front line, the result would be rout, and it was to prove to be the case here as well. But the conscripts did not have to hold their positions, only engage for a few short minutes err they could break. Criminals participated in the hope of freedom, conscripts participated because they had no choice (though to the empire's credit few of these were necessary) others were volunteers who readily obeyed for the sake of harming the enemy. Each did his duty and or died. When enemy positions had been thus fixed, the second flag went up, with a single drumbeat following, and conscripts began to waver. By the second drumbeat, some had turned and fled, seeming to abandon their comrads, and it was that moment that saw some of the reserves committed along the broad line to finish the break. And the third drumbeat sounded, and the regulars broke from cover to attack the flanks, corners, and front of the enemy troops, the conscripts buckled and ran in seeming rout, which offered hope only for the few seconds between then and the regular troops impact. The clash of shield and sword was thunderous enough to drown out orders for vital seconds. A second flag went up, and four successive drumbeats saw a cavalry charge of elven spearmen, their mounts carying a score of spears, the riders threw them one by one with unpleasant accuracy, harassing enemy positions and disrupting everything they could. Enemy cavalry sought to counter, but the elves wore little to no armor, and so outran the heavier horse, only to ride out and harass again. Two drumbeats haralded a new threat, the hidden rangers that had slipped through during the human wave assault, made their move. They crept through the enemy encampment, burned the flags and pennents, set fire to stores of medical supplies, cut the bonds of prisoners, the throats of officers, nothing would be spared. Many stores of food were set ablaze, while the more combat oriented went forth and struck at the rear of enemy soldiers, hurling daggers with poisoned edges, firing bows, or even attacking with melee weaponry. The carnage was nightmarish, the battle wore on ceaselessly for more than an hour as reserves poured in from the unengaged portions, while the "routed" conscripts made their third appearance, and struck at weak or buckling points, the more suicidal individuals even wading into the enemy mass to kill as many as possible before they were inevitably cut down. The battle moved into it's second hour, and the enemy finally began to break down, Hegemony troops began throwing down their shields and fleeing for their lives. Inside the camp, Palindros would have cared, but his throat was cut and his body lay still, beyond the death throws now. Much of the command had been butchered, and even the elite units of Hegemony warriors began to turn in flight, the defense turned into a withdrawl, and the withdrawl began to turn into a rout, and the rout became an utter and complete defeat, with units fled in all directions save that of the Empire's warriors. Chi'akan and Numidars had been preserved; and the Empire had had its first great victory.
PALINDROS'S FINAL MOMENTS
The troops had been lain to perfection according to his scouts reports, the word had been passed that an attack would begin that evening, and the afternoon meal had been finished mere minutes earlier, he was prepared for a great victory. Then the human wave began again, much larger this time, but he was ready for this one, and it did not succeed in penetrating his lines. Instead he fixed their positions and began pouring in supporting troops, traitors and regulars and mercenaries of many types. Things were looking up, after the defeat of the previous wave assault, this one looked to be only a repeat. So it was a great surprise when the regulars of his enemy broke from their positions and sallied out to attack, just as the expendable troops were starting to break. The appearance of elven cavalry was even more unpleasant, since they were able to so easily out maneuver his heavier horsemen. the spearman caused deaths beyond the lives of those immediately fighting, and he found it necessary to commit his reserves far sooner than he cared to. The nightmare truely began when he saw the outskirts of the camp burst into flames. At first he considered it a stray arrow that an archerer had lit...but as more and more fires started closer together, and screams began mounting from that direction, the situation became clear, Empire rangers had snuck into the enemy camp and were destroying supplies and officers in command were being killed to a man. This realization hit him just early enough that he saw the pair of rangers heading towards him, and allow him to draw his sword, but not long enough to let him finish, or block the dagger that went through his throat, and his strength left him enough time to watch the dwarf that threw it, take the knife out, pull back his head, and see the knife come down to cut the rest of his throat from end to end. After that, he saw, and knew; no more. |
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