On top of a hill a red haired 125 year old man sat upon his horse yet he looked the age of 30, he wore a grand red coatee which was covered in a woollen fur coat and a Pith helmet.
Marquis Rothenford a member of Alrian nobility currently was overlooking his Army which was intermixed with Corinthians he had travelled with his entire army under the orders of his lord who he had sworn vassalage to Archduke Val Maltya who under a blood oath had ordered him to take his and his lord's army, to assist Corinthia until enough artic silk had been extracted.
The Arkish horde comes with an outrageous 20,000 soldiers we only have 12,000 to defend this damn bridge pass, if that wasn't enough this BLOODY land is frozen the entire year around and to make it even worse it's 11 in the morning and it's dark as midnight I HATE Arkenshire how do they live like this.
The Marquis ranted to himself as he watched the troops desperately mine away at the frozen river,
They had destroyed the bridge but however the river was frozen solid and covered in at least 2 metres(6ft for Burgeroids) of snow all covering the river meaning they had to not only trace where the river was they they than had to break apart the thick ice that covered the entire thing to do so they were using canons left and right blowing apart the ice, it wasn't to prevent them from just running across it was just to slow the Arkish down as it was only a matter of time until the ice refroze however it hadnt stopped snowing in a while that mean there's be a huge trench whose bottom was a thin layer of frozen ice, he and the Corinthian nobles were just hoping that it would crack under the huge amounts of Arkish whom would be charging through and also prevent their cavalry from charging through.
Milord, a soldier in the same uniform as the Marquis approached him on horseback.
We have finished the digging and are currently cutting down all tress, however how shall we be able to cut down so many of them the only ones we will kill in projectiles are through canons we aren't equipped with enough musketeers to penetrate through their Heavily armoured Vanguards so what shall be our plan, we can't use the dragons breath either it's far too cold to get a spark here.
Inform the Corinthian nobles I wish to converse with them I shall be in the main tent.
—----
Count Velix it pleases me to know that you escaped the Arkish siege we didn't expect you to be able to breakthrough their lines.
Bah Marshal we did not breakthrough their lines once they brought down our city walls they just burnt down the entire town and left us they weren't after the city, they just wanted to get rid of all Artic silk so we bribed them with the location to it, though to be honest for just 200 of us to escape in exchange for twenty million worth of Artic silk doesn't seem like a good deal at all.
This was a lie Count Velix could be least bothered about the losses his lord experienced he was just glad to be alive.
Don't bother yourself over it we have a much bigger problem everyone else agrees.
Marquis Rothenford walked in to the tent with him were two guards carrying multiple scrolls of paper.
Gentlemen gather around the table will you, he said as he laid down a paper he took from a guard.
This right here is a map of our current position, now as you can see we have almost destroyed the chances of them overwhelming our position they hold an 80,000 advantage over us but more of us are equipped with muskets which means as long as we are able to annihilate their heavy vanguard we are good as it happens they can't perform a cavalry charge as after 10 hours we have made the trench long enough, this along with the thin ice will prevent them from sending their entire force which will prevent them from just charging in as they most likely have enough rope just to make five bridges, so the plan is quite simple using our superior deployable force we will force them to engage with us rather than go around as it happens we have cut down all trees to their surroundings meaning they will be in full sight of our firearms, as there is no way to cover that many men moving all together in such a speed they will have to advance forward or retreat, which they cannot as they are racing against time, now our formation shall be this in the centre we shall have Ranseurs as our frontlines behind them shall be our lucerene hammers, who shall engage while the Ranseurs fend off the Arkish frontlines who will most likely be halberders and behind these lucerene shall be out pikemen whom will engage any whom get through, as for our musketeers they shall be stationed at far behind on top of the higher ground.
The remaining 2 thousand soldiers shall stay in the backlines only to engage once the battle starts finishing up.
Seeing as we don't have heavy infantry that means that we will be vulnerable to Arkish musket fire we don't know how many they will have but it's is without doubt that they have the advantage in that situation, as such we shall have our cavalry positioned to the sides of our middle in order to flank their musketeers, now as for our sidelines they shall have the same formation but with lesser numbers except that they shall have a force of Guisarme to dismount their cavalry as it is without a doubt they shall go around the river, and considering how high of a stamina Arkish horses are known to have they will be able to run the entire way.
Now we shall distribute the following chains of command.
—--
Count Gothburg made his way through the dense forest with his army they had been marching since early 9 they just had to destroy the railways and they could regroup with the main invading force which unfortunately was only 3 million Arkenshires geography was similar to that of a crescent moon enveloping the other countries as such the other 18 million were all spread out in the other border regions while 3 million of them were concentrated in this Dukedom destroying all sources of Artic silk, their current objective right now was to derail a rail line in order to sabotage all attempts to get the shipments out.
The army marched for a long time carts dragged by horses and soldiers in thick coats all illuminated by fire torches they carried as batteries were yet to be cheap enough to be made in a large scale, until they came across a section of the forest which had been cut down, upon reaching it the soldiers rushed back to inform the leadership about it.
It would appear the Corinthians have set up a defensive line to halt our advance, on top of that it would also appear that they have dug out a huge trench and broken the ice underneath it's far to thin to walk enough troops across, men take out your Bardiche and get chopping we are going to build multiple makeshift bridges, we have looted an ungodly amount of Artic silk on our way here as such why don't we put it to use, those idiots should have cut down all the trees sure no army would ever carry enough rope for what we are about to pull off but what they don't know is that on our way here we encountered one of their supply vans.
Resound the orders throughout the camp, as for cavalry go around the river and attack get into position to attack the flanks most of their forces are focused on the middle the infantry vanguard shall go through, their cavalry is most likely in the rear , as such we shall go with formation number 4, now resound the orders throughout the army.
Lord Rothernford they should by no means have enough rope to build enough bridges to get all of them efficiently across.
Aye I see the falling trees as well though I must wonder why are they cutting that many it just doesn't make sense to me in most cases they would just build a few bridge and reinforce it so a horde could stampede across but whats the point of cutting so many I just don't get what they're doing in that forest.
We probably should've cut those down as well, anyways you were right either way they're sending their cavalry to go across the river I can briefly make it out in this darkness.
I gotta be honest the amounts of torches in that damn Forrest just gives me the creeps it's as if he'll itself is there, I really wish I was in Alria right now Ophelia and her light shant shine upon this damn land for another six months.
—---
The bridges have been completed all of you get head to the carts and equip your full armour, in order to march long distances most armour would usually be transported in carts, while marching the average soldier wore light guard on his biceps forearms.
Their chest was usually a thin plate to cover their stomach and chest.
Their lower limbs were pretty much the same as their arms on their hips and calves light armour.
And of course they always wore a fur hat which was covered by a helmet only good for shrapnel wounds on top of all of this they wore Artic silk coats something which they had an infinite supply of insuring they never went cold.
The properly armoured Soldier however only really changed two parts instead of a minor thin helmet he wore a thick helmet loosely comparable to a Spanish Morion the difference being it was of a much better quality steel had padding for gun shots, and had a face plate for defence against shrapnel wounds.
Their chestplate was covered by a cuirass in order to give more defence.
And of course everyone had a sabre sheathed on their side.
For other nations in such a weather wearing such heavy equipment would obviously lead to issues with the cold, but Arkenshire had Artic silk a near endless amount to deal with this issue and they were in their element.
Everyone get into formation Vanguard get ready to charge with your shields the moment we get the bridges out.
—---
Dear lord,Marquess Rothernford said as he looked through a telescope, the Arkish had used Arctic silk to tie together their bridges, as such there were at least fifty or more.
DAMN IT all the musketeers from the 200 reserves go forward to the middle line and join your comrades.
—----
Move forward men vanguard ready your shields now go.
The Arkish soldiers moved in from all directions but they all grouped up together in the centre, the vanguard formed a wall in the front with rectangular metal shields behind them were pikemen, behind said pikemen were Partisan wielders, behind these lines were the final lines of musketeers who were thinly spread out and were carrying Glaive-Guisarme which while not being as effective as Guisarme they had the same intended effect.
The line moved slowly, in a synchronised manner until finally the Corinthian-Alrian force began firing at them, the bullets deflected and dented the metal rectangles, muskets were seen as more of a defensive weapon due to their slow rate of fire and inaccuracy as such for attackers most of the time once they fired their first shot they just slung their guns to their back and changed weapons, while true the rifle did exist the version was only the very first basic one as such while the accuracy was higher the damage was not much of an improvement, making muskets seen as better due to their cheaper costs and maintenance.
The line moved slow until finally the Arkish forces got close enough upon which all hell broke lose.
A canon fired upon them they had finally gotten close enough for the ball to be hit or the ball would have sunk into the snow upon hitting the line of shields the formation crumbled upon which the vanguard elected to throw away their shields and drew out their sabres, retreating back and letting the partisans go forward who instantly began charging forward with their spears aimed forward, as the musketeers fired the bullets resounded almost all missing or being deflected,
Only some of them hitting area which were protected, those soldiers crumbled and were pulled to the backlines by the vanguards now turned swordsmen.
The charge continued with the Arkish force losing formation as they raced towards the defensive line, until they finally reached.
The Arkish immediately began to huddle together trying to advance forward, however the Ranseurs pushed their spears upwards while that happened lucerne hammers crashed downwards.
The line extended for metres upon metres everywhere the sight was similar for a full half a minute, that is when the rest of the Arkish arrived immediately upon reaching the Arkish musketeers rather than fire randomly began to focus fire on specific groups causing them to stagger or in rare cases get injured they than slung back their guns and took out their Glaives joining the partisans, this gave the chance for the partisans to reach the Lucerne hammers whom without the support of their allies were quickly outranged by the partisans pushing them back, this at once made the Arkish and Corinthian pikemen engage whome charged through the gaps fighting, however the Arkish also had swordsmen and this allowed them to overwhelm the Corinthian pikemen more easily, as the heavily armoured sabre weilding vanguard grabbed the pikes and slashed at the Corinthian-Alrian pikemen.
The minor collapses in formation caused the Marquis to panic whom at once shouted.
Cavalry get out of your holes go and flank their musketeers now.
The horses all charged from the sides making their way to the musketeers whom were yet to fire, whom however upon seeing this they slung back their guns and took hand their Glaive-Guisarme, the cavalry smashed into their forces but however as the did so some were dragged down by the Guisarmes and were promptly stabbed to death, however the Glaive-Guisarme was not a proper anti cavalry weapon as such many horsemen still rode on forcing the soldiers whom were still making their way from the bridge to detour and try and take them down it was far to risky to let them regroup for a second charge.
What a damn nightmare even in this darkness i can see still more of them are crossing the bridge to make it even worse we only have 700 cavalry while they have 2,000 Arkish horses may be slower but along with their high stamina they have a better charge ability, we need to get an advantage now or it's going to be over for us, there are too many of them and not enough of us , Marquis Rothernford pondered and pondered yet he couldn't think of any solution the Arkish had no formation at all this should've been an advantage for them but however the Arkish were synchronised in their attacks, each of them helping others.
This is nothing like the typical Arkish horde that is usually present in all their battles; this army is far more synchronised and efficient in their attacks, they have clearly been trained well, Lord Marquis.
Yes but however it would appear that the bulk of their army has finally reached the frontlines, send the order to get out the grenades. He said while looking at a nearby soldier.
Whats this grenade you speak of.
It's a weapon only allowed to be used by the imperial Alrian guard however I have the emperors blessings to use and so I intend to make full use of it.
While they were talking 60 men carrying crates and torches came running to the front lines where they positioned themselves in front of the musketeers spreading out instantly upon reaching the hill the Arkish musketeers began to fire upon seeing their position, in the dark day the flame was a dead give away to their location and so many of their musketeers found themselves under heavy fire.
However the 60 men opened the crates and took out glass balls filled with a dark powder and with a thread on the top, they then ignited the glass balls with their torches and began to throw the balls in the darkness they could just hope it would do damage.
The glass grenades soon began to blow up once the fuse reached the powder causing chaos among the Arkish lines as shrapnel went everywhere, seeing it more effective musketeers around the Grenadiners began to put away their guns and also began to throw the supposed grenades,
All around the Arkish line they began to retreat or were pulling back their injured comrades causing chaos all around their forces.
—--
Count Gothburg was observing the battle from the forest and was horrified by the sight the Corinthians were using a never before seen weapon he had been informed of its shrapnel effects and he had to admit while it was not good for lethal attacks it's was great for collapsing a formation or in this case causing chaos in a horde, however the cavalry had finally arrived and he was looking forward to what happens next.
The cavalry at once rather than go for the central line headed towards the weaker sides,expecting an easy breach they pressed on, as they smashed through the side lines hundreds of them were knocked off of their horses, those that weren't were quickly pulled down by Guisarmes which were far more effective than their hybrid counterpart.
It would appear the damn red is not the Corinthians but the damn Alrians, the train passes by here in 30 minutes, order cavalry regiments 1 to 8 to go and pursue the Corinthia cavalry and for the rest of them to go and focus on the frontlined.
Immediately throughout the Arkish backlines loud horns were blown in a pattern each one of a different tone and sound.
Hearing this the cavalry units retreats from the sides and split of in two groups with 4 in ten of them heading to the Corinthian cavalry while the others charged towards the centre defences all spread out.
The cavalry eventually all grouped up in a cluster together and began to focus on the areas where the Corinthian formation had already fallen.
Marquis Rothernford watched in great disdain as his centre collapsed rather than try and flank him the Arkish were just sending everyone towards the front, his pikemen were simply unable to battle the cavalry as they were too busy dealing with the Arkish swordsmen and even now the grenades were starting to run out, yet however the train would soon arrive once that happened they could finally retreat.
—-----
You're Excellency the train is about to pass us we need to break through their lines now or it's all of no use.
Send the orders, everyone is to huddle together on that single area isolated from the fight, and instruct the vanguards to do their job rather than wait behind the spearmen.
—-----
Men in the side flanks go and join the centre the train will be here any moment, Marquis Rothernford was in panic though it was only an 8,000 number difference it felt like there were just no end to the Arkish there had been gaps in his formation made through those Arkish swordsmen rushed in and were causing panic and disorder among those that remained in formation, rather than let the pikemen handle them the the Lucerne hammers were engaging with the Arkish swordsmen and Partisans, the Lucerne hammer wasn't doing as well as they should have, this was as the Partisan spear was specifically made for duelling while the Lucerne hammer was meant to be used from behind a defensive line due to it's armour piercing qualities, as the Partisans fought off the Lucerne hammers the swordsmen charged with their Sabres attacking at the wielders, everywhere he looked he saw the same scene, the army he was commanding was made up of conscripts the only Alrians here was him and his grenadiers whom had just arrived to deliver the weapons, compared to the Arkish whom were all acting in specific roles even in this chaos, his army was undisciplined and had constantly broken formation.
They just had to hold out for a few more minutes and they had won, yet however as the Marquis watched he suddenly noticed that in the moonlight a darkness had appeared in the Arkish lines, it was moving way to fast to be the clouds so he watched as they approached until they reached the defensive lines, illuminated by the torches he saw it Arkish cavalry had thrown away their Sabres and were charging in with their Lucerne hammers that they stole from the Corinthians, the cavalry swung their hammers with both hands propulsed by their momentum, they sent the Corinthians nearly flying, from the hole made out came the Arkish whom had concentrated there, he just noticed they weren't attacking any where else it was all close by to that gap.
Reserve forces it's your time charge.
The reserve personnel all began charging with their Sabres and spears, the Arkish upon seeing stopped charging up the hill and formed a line to defend as the Corinthian reserves charged at the Arkish line they were butchered by the more synchronised soldiers as that happened, the Arkish cavalry had now turned their sights on the backlines of the Corinthian formation charging at them from behind they struggled helplessly as they got sandwiched in both sides as the Arkish due to the momentum of the downward slope smashed through their lines.
I can see the train from here we just need to hold out for a while more, side flanks charge on the middle we just need more time.
—--------
The damn train is closing in sound the horns they need to know we are running out of time,
A horn much bigger than all suddenly was blown and everywhere the Arkish soldiers began to fight with far greater ferocity they no longer had time on their side and they knew it.
Damn it it's no use the train is right there it's going to pass.
Count Gothburg watched helplessly as the train in lightning speed dashed away right from their lines.
—--
Sound the horns to retreat the train is safe now let's go it doesn't matter if this force is lost they're just peasants.
All around the battle field Corinthian soldiers began to retreat, in a disorganised manner as they all ran away ,the Arkish cavalry only had 400 horsemen left at this point yet however the Corinthians had none and so as they retreated it turned into a massacre as the Corinthians fled.
—--------
Damn it damn it by Lucius damn it, that train more artic silk than all we have plundered goddamnit.
You're Excellency we need to notify the Tsar at once that Alrians were here.
Aye you're right, order the men to regroup were heading back to the city.
—--------
The battle had raged on for 4 hours, the Arkish had lost over 6,000 from injuries and deaths,
The Corinthians on the other hand had suffered 70,000 casualties from the battle the rest of their army was wiped out in their retreat all sacrificed for the economy of Alria.
Count Gothburg in an extremely anxious state walked in to the main building of the city, 10 hours had passed since they had finished their rest, and now they were finally back in the city.
Contact the Tsar through telegram at once I have news of utmost importance.
—----
Grabbing the line Count Gothburg heard a half asleep voice.
William I hope you have good news from that heavy breathing of yours cus if you failed against a damn peasant levi than we are screwed.
Your majesty I don't know how to say this, but the Alrians were there they brought with them their glass fire and better weaponry.
The Alrians shit so you're telling me the train got away.
Unfortunately yes what shall we do now.
We can't make a deal out of this cause if we do we are indirectly declaring war, instruct your remaining soldiers how many of them may be there not to speak a word, I must apologise I have no choice but to take you off of the commands as we need a guise.
I understand You Majesty there is no need to apologise for you to do so is grave sin by my right.
Nonsense, but however for you punishment in 5 months time my two sons shall be coming in on my behalf my younger son Alphonse as far as I know doesn't have much time to live you shall be his guard now unfortunately I can only let you keep 1000 of your soldiers for that role choose well it's a waste to see a talent like you in the backlines.
I understand I shall inform them at once.
That you shall good lucky William
Count Gothburg felt devastated in one hand he understood the need to insure Alria wasn't dragged into this war, on the other hand he had to give up his army whom he had trained rigorously it was the ultimate sacrifice for him he had always wished to change the Arkish military structure, yet now because of Alrian interference he had to give up on that dream.
Accursed Alrians I shall FLAY you bastards one day