CHAPTER 4 - II -
***The river of Bere, to the north-east of Amaranth, February 13th…***
With Kuro’s ambuscade of an Imperial cavalry detachment at the borders of Devyere reaching the headquarters of the Imperial forces in Amaranth, diplomatic protests were sent to the Duke of Savoy to expel any foreign forces that were in his territory.
Of course, the Duke denied allowing foreign armies into his lands, even going as far as offering the Imperial ambassadors escorts to the site of the February 10th battle to inspect it and prove that those who attacked the Imperial cavalrymen were bandits, not professional armies.
Naturally, the Imperial delegation refused. They were afraid it’s a ruse for another ambush, so they labeled those who massacred their men as royalist rebels and bandit groups making efforts to ‘destabilize the Amaranthine kingdom’.
After all, no survivor was left to tell the tale of what actually happened.
However, rumors circulated once again that the legionnaires could be defeated, even by rebels and bandits, which proved to be even more disastrous to the Imperials. It shook the Amaranthines’ faith in their legions and inflamed the legionnaires. The men clamored to be sent to fight the ‘rebels and bandits’ who killed their comrades, and to avoid a mutiny, the expeditionary force commander Umberto Benicci decided to make an example of their enemy and sent out a legion to avenge ‘Devyere’.
The men that marched to Devyere eventually arrived at the region of Bere river, for they were trying to run after their enemies based on scout reports, and recent local knowledge of the area.
“There they are!” an Imperial scout notified his unit once he saw the tents and extinguished campfires of their elusive enemy a few distances away across the riverbank. One look and they could see that they could surprise their opponents, for they could make out the plates and overturned pots—a sign that their enemies were in the middle of a meal.
“Their group was smaller than what the reports showed.” an officer commented.
“Don’t be fooled by that, Henri!” the Imperial commander rebuked his staff, “The tree lines are flanking their right and left. Be careful; those bandits and rebels might’ve hidden their other men inside the forests. Bring in the archers and magicians!”
At once, the men who were ordered to the front came. The commander, not wishing a repeat of the one-sided battle in Devyere, ordered that the trees around the enemy camp be burned. Soon, the forests were set alight, as the enemy skirmishers shot their projectiles on the Imperials.
“Look at those bastards trying to stand up against us!” the commander began agitating his men, “Do they really think they could withstand our thunderous march towards their camp?”
The legionnaires let out their war cries, and without a moment’s delay, trumpets were blown, and they took their battle positions.
“Archers and magicians to the front! Bombard them with your arrows and spells. Infantry to the middle. Don’t waste time on their skirmishers!” the commander ordered, “Turtle formation! Advance!”
The legionnaires, even though they came from a long way from the city of Amaranth, showed no signs of slowing down. They steadily marched toward the enemy battle line, which was composed of skirmishers to the front and spearmen on the front line.
Seeing the quality of the men they’re facing while watching the burning forest that deprived their enemies an opportunity to ambush them, the legionnaires’ morale went up.
“The Saint of the Flame blessed us with a righteous resolve to smite these barbarians and bring order to Chersea! Kill them all!”
The legionnaires then began fording the river, using the ice spells of their magicians to freeze the water for makeshift pontoons…
In the defenders’ camp, the smoke from the burning forests, as well as the physical and magical projectiles caused the skirmishers to break and run back to the main battle line with a few casualties, which was being led by Griffyth, and the black-haired commander of the ‘Holy Coalition’, Kuro.
“And there goes Stephan’s warriors.” Griffyth commented, “Everyone’s retreating magnificently…”
“Just like in our plan.” Kuro reassured him, “I just didn’t expect them to burn the forests around us and come while we’re having our breakfast. Now, I’m really pissed.”
“Well, shit.”
“Let’s use those trees to our advantage. Tell Tarasca and his magicians to blow wind towards the Imperials. Stephan’s skirmishers will keep the enemy magicians occupied so they couldn’t negate the wind spell.”
“Smokescreen, huh?”
“Not only that.” Kuro laughed, “These Imperial guys fighting in front of us came marching all the way from the city of Amaranth, without time to rest save for their sleeps or when eating.”
“How d’you know?”
“Well, because of the number of days.”
“Ah, that new time-reckoning system?”
“Yep. I told you before that 24 hours is one day, right? How many days have passed since we ambushed that Imperial cavalry detachment?”
“Uh, three?”
“Yep. And from the spy reports, the legions are encamped near the city of Amaranth, or in the south, protecting their supply lines, both of which are of considerable distance to where we are right now. Their speedy presence here could only mean one thing…”
“They did a forced march.”
“Precisely.” Kuro took his gun and made sure he loaded it, “And because of that, I’m pretty sure they were tired. As a mercenary, you know it’s a mistake to send your men to battle without proper rest, and preparations, right?”
“Yep.”
Kuro smirked, “Well then, let’s butcher them! And don’t forget to cover your nose to avoid inhaling the smoke. Giving an extra effort to breathe would further tire you, see?”
Without delay, Kuro and his mercenaries surged forward to battle the exhausted legionnaires, who were about to gain a foothold on the other side of the river. First, the magicians led by Tarasca caused the wind to blow the smoke from the burning forests towards the Imperial soldiers.
“!!!”
The combination of heat, dust, soot, and smoke obscured the eyes of every legionnaire who crossed and were crossing the waters. The thick smoke further caused them to have difficulty in breathing, thus distracting them from a proper fight. Soon, several Imperials lost consciousness, and their crossing came to a halt.
The confusion was quickly exploited by the skirmishers under Stephan. Returning from their feigned retreat, a hail of javelins, stones, and magic spells rained on the poor legionnaires; the Imperial magicians’ attempts to negate the spells being thrown at their hapless forces were rendered useless…
“!!!”
…which is further made worse by the shooting of Kuro and Griffyth’s men.
One by one, the Imperial magicians working to protect their allies were picked off from a distance and shot at by the members of the ‘Band of the Oak’. If a musket ball missed the target, another one would quickly back up the shot, ensuring the kill. The Imperial archers couldn’t make out of their targets from the other side of the river, since the smoke obscured their line of sight. A mass volley would be impossible to achieve without hitting their own men.
Soon, the magicians maintaining the ice bridge were dead or bleeding injured. It’s not without a doubt that the magical pontoon collapsed, with all the men crossing it, falling into the river.
Kevin’s ‘Oaklyn Bets’ made a short work for the legionnaires who were forced to swim unto the wrong side of the riverbank. Kuro himself ordered them to take no prisoners, and to kill every Imperial in sight, injured or not.
***The Amaranthine-Valley Cities border, February 20, the first year of the Saint…***
The double defeats of the legionnaires in the Massacre of Devyere and Battle of River Bere caused a resounding disaster for the Imperial expeditionary forces in Amaranth. Lily knew the propaganda value of each victory, and so, through their liaison, Prince Simon of Nerfes, the news was spread around alleging that the Empire’s legions could be outwitted and defeated.
The main Imperial command at the city of Amaranth finally realized that it was fighting an organized force, instead of a ragtag group of bandits and rebels, as espoused by the Duke of Savoy. The emperor was furious, for he lost a legion in River Bere, and demanded vengeance on his losses. Morale among the legionnaires was plummeting, as their commanders struggle to produce a strategy to counter the threat.
Because of these, General Umberto Benicci and his staff decided to bring the fight to the enemy. Even though they never knew the exact identity of their opponents, they were to strike back. With that, and acting on the information about the existence of a ‘Holy Coalition’ led by the Iron Princess, the Imperials singled out the city of Stadtsberg and the Duchy of Savoy for an offensive.
Back on Stadtsberg, news of the impending attack of the legionnaires and the official declaration of war from the Empire caused panic and alarm among its population. The levies were called to serve, and the defenses were reinforced.
At the coalition camp, Lily, Griffyth, and Kuro took charge of organizing their men.
“How many men do we have?” Kuro asked.
“The army got around 8,000 spears at our disposal.” Griffyth explained, “And the city militia would bring in 1,500 more later.”
“How about the archers and cavalry?”
“I think Stephan’s group had 500, plus the 3,000 men from the coalition forces. As for the cavalry, we have 200 horses from Winters, and a further 600 under the command of the Count of Brooke.”
“Well, I guess that would suffice.”
“Why, what’s your plan?” Lily had Kuro explain.
“We will not wait for them here.”
“You mean…”
“We’re meeting them here for battle, in this valley to the south.” Kuro circled the map where he intended to bring the coalition army to meet the threat of the attack towards the city of Stadtsberg.
“Oh?” Lily exclaimed, “Just like the good old times! That’s the Dawson valley area.”
“Dawson valley? Isn’t that the place where you and Maddie fought against the Duke of Braunhauer?”
“Yep. But now I’ll be fighting with you…”
“Alright.” Kuro laughed, “But don’t get excited. I’m still trying to learn the ropes of command.”
“Well, if winning the battles of Devyere and Bere River was ‘learning the ropes of command’, I wonder what would happen if you already knew about those.”
Griffyth then interjected, “With Kuro on the helm, I’m pretty confident that we could win this war, even though it’s the legionnaires whom we are fighting. We may not win against them in a toe-to-toe engagement, but we can certainly prevail if we outsmart them.”
“Right!” Lily agreed.
“Well, thanks!” Kuro told them, “But let’s focus on this upcoming battle. We could continue talking to each other later when we have defeated the Imperials and removed the threat to our base.”
