Shadows of the Night, The Battle of the Blutiger Bach

 

       Emmanuel Costanza, Duke of Brie, looked with satisfaction as his troops drew up into formation. Turning to his aide-de-camp he smiled, "Did you enjoy your breakfast?" the youth nodded nervously, "That is well, for I'm afraid that we shall miss Lunch and are most likely to be late for Dinner. The enemy has claimed the heights and we will have our day's work set before us to drive them off" he motioned to the dark formations along the hilltop that the light of dawn was slowly revealing. "Have our Freedonian allies shown up?" he inquired.

         "No, they are still hours away, your majesty", the aide-de-camp squinted into the murky darkness to the west, "They seem to lack a sense of urgency".

          The Duke leaned toward him with a conspiratorial grin, "Frankly I don't trust them and would be happy to claim this day without their help. They seem to think that the land they help us liberate will be theirs in the end", he urged his steed forward, "Let us examine the enemy's position more closely".

 

the Small-Plater position, South is to the right, from left to right on the far side of the picture; 

a brigade of Gluttonian Mounted Arquebusiers, two units of Gluttonian Foot, a Gluttonian Medium Cannon, two units of Ferndalian Foot, two Ferndalian Shot units, a brigade of Ferndalian Mounted Arquebusiers

 

the Proper-Meal army, left to right; a brigade of Mounted Arquebusiers, a brigade of Cuirassiers, three units of Foot fronted by four units of Shot and a Mounted Arquebusiers brigade

 

opening moves, cavalry on both sides press forward as the Proper-Mealer Foot shift to the north, the Shot occupying the ditch astride the bridge, far to the north the Ferndalian Shot move to support the Gluttonian Mounted Arquebusiers

 

first honors went to the Gluttonian Small-Plater Mounted Arquebusiers as they moved west and opened fire on their opposite numbers

 

but very soon the northern end of the battlefield became a large swirling cavalry skirmish, the Proper-Mealer Foot continued  moving northward as the Shot marched up the Blutiger Bach stream

to the south a very evenly matched skirmish developed between the opposing units of  Mounted Arquebusiers

 

the Small-Plater Mounted Arquebusiers, ably supported by their allied Shot units, 

scored many hits in the early firefights

 

but, inexorably, the weight of fire and the advantage of numbers saw the Proper-Mealers

 push the Small-Platers back toward the stream;

seeing the flank of the enemy was too much for the Ferndalain Foot and they descended the hill to engage the Shot in the weed-choked gully of the Blutiger Bach

 

while to the south the Proper-Mealer Mounted Arquebusiers pressed thier opposite numbers closely only to find the advantage shifting away from them

 

seeing that the Proper-Mealer Horse were no longer in need of their help

 the Foot turned to face the onrushing Ferndalain infantry 

 

in the south things had turned to favor the Small-Platers, the Mounted Arquebusiers were wining the skirmish and the Foot were rapidly advancing to discomfit the Proper-Mealers advance

 

to the north the firefight between the opposing Horse was shifting to favor the Proper-Mealers and they began to press the enemy back across the stream

 

while in the south the Proper-Mealer Mounted Arquebusiers were rapidly losing the skirmish 

and were in danger of exposing the entire southern flank of the Proper-Mealer army

 

unsupported by their Gluttonian allies the brazen Ferndalian Foot

 threw themselves at an enemy force three times their size,

action was now general all along the line

 

despite the disordering terrain and taking a pounding from the fire  of the Small-Platers the bold brigades of Proper-Mealer cavalry forced a passage through the gully of the Blutiger Bach and gained a purchase on the far bank

 

while to the south the Proper-Mealers were desperately reorganizing 

as they were on the brink of complete collapse

 

back at the bridge the fearsome onslaught of the Ferndalian Foot swept the ravine clear and gained the far bank, driving all before them, a brutal short-range firefight developed as they reorganized

 

belatedly the Gluttonian Small-Platers sent one of their Foot units

 to assist the Ferndalians struggling to cross the stream

 

but the Proper-Mealers were gaining control of the space on the northern end of the battlefield as the Horse continued to press the Gluttonian Mounted Arquebusiers back

 

in the center the battle had turned into a bloody brawl that choked the soldiers with clouds of smoke and choked the stream with corpses

 

only by the narrowest margins did the Proper Mealer Mounted Arquebusiers 

hold on against the Ferndalian cavalry

 

in the center the weight of numbers was beginning to tell against the Ferndalain troopers

 

and to the north the Proper-Mealer horse were gaining full mastery of the battlespace

 

the tide was turning in the favor of the Proper-Mealers

 

even far to the south the Mounted Arquebusiers of the Proper-Mealers steadied their line 

and held off the Ferndalains

 

heavily engaged to their front the Small-Plater Foot did not see the Proper-Mealer Horse 

turning their flank and gaining a position to their rear

 

surrounded on the hilltop the Gluttonian Small-Plater Foot nervously considered

 their chances against the flood-tide of Proper-Mealer Horse

 

the gunners resolutely refused to contemplate surrender and died to a man for their courage

 

trying to gain space to help the now-endangered Foot the Small-Plater Mounted Arquebusiers broke contact with the Proper-Mealer cavalry

 

all along the body-choked stream of the Blutiger Bach the Proper-Mealer Foot pressed forward driving the Small-Plater Foot into the open and at the mercy of the Horse

 

as the sun set the Ferndalain Foot fled, covered by the efforts of their Mounted Arquebusiers, while the Gluttoniain Small-Platers decided that dying over a choice of repast seemed a poor choice indeed, they laid down their arms and held up their mess kits in the traditional Epicurean display of surrender

       Peter spread his hands out on the maps and sighed, "Explain to me again why I am not the master of this accursed town" he said slowly with a dramatically menacing tone. He raised his eyes to look at his Minister of War.
        Igor Mankowski felt a chill run down his spine, the next few moments could well spell the end of his thirty-year career in the service of the House of Whey, "Sire, it has just been a setback, the town is still under siege and our army is recovering inside the Lines of Contravallation. The Proper-Mealers suffered heavily and have stripped the rest of Gluttonia bare to press us in the north, Besides, the losses fell most heavily upon the Gluttonian Small-Platers and not upon our soldiers".
        Peter slowly pushed his chair back from the map-table, "Well, there is some small comfort in the thought that at least they fought for their cause", his voice dripping with icy sarcasm, "I hear that there was a mass surrender, it was confined to the Gluttonians, I trust?"
         Mankowski stiffened, "Our troops fought heroically, individuals may have been captured but none of our units surrendered", he replied, hoping that his King did not ask him if any of their troops had run from the fight. "The perfidious Gluttonians downed pike even though sunset was well upon them and they could have gotten away in the dark", he stated; not mentioning that the Gluttonians had been left behind when the Ferndalians had fled from the battlefield. "The siege continues unabated and the Proper-Mealers lack the artillery to assault our lines".
         "So, let me sum up our situation, and feel free to correct me if I misstate any salient points" Peter said as he clasped his hands behind his back, "First we have the Freedonians marching happily through supposedly neutral Boozonia and invading our northern provinces; second, the endlessly tumultuous Frozonians have once more risen in revolt against our throne; third, our Gluttonian allies won't fight for the King that they have proclaimed leaving the heaving lifting for us; fourth, the "lightning -strike" to capture Vienee has turned into a slow-motion siege", he paused and turned to his War Minister, "Have I missed anything?"
         "N-n-no, your Majesty." Mankowski stammered like a chastened schoolboy as he stood terrified at the sight of his King absentmindedly touching the ornate pistol he wore on his belt and remembering the fate of his predecessor. "The Navy is doing very well" he added lamely.

        The Guardians of The Portal were startled to hear a loud report of a pistol come from the King's Private Chamber moments before the doors were flung open and Peter the Famished stormed out and down the hall shouting for his lunch..........