“They say that the first time would be the worst, where all the nervousness built up. They speak the truth.” - Old mercenary adage.

Not a week after the outset of the Army’s march, they met their first obstacle, three day’s march into the territory of Kolischei. Along the way the army went past several small farming villages, the inhabitants of which seemed to have had no idea whatsoever at the going ons.

Nestor was not so naive as to believe that news of the army’s advance had not reached the nobility of Kolitschei, a belief reinforced by the utter lack of enemy presence in the first three days of the army’s entry into enemy lands. It was as if their enemy had heard of their arrival and withdrawn their soldiers to gather them together in order to repel the enemy advance, yet without caring enough to warn their people of the enemy’s arrival.

Knowing what he knew of the noble lords of Kolitschei, it might well exactly be such a case.

His guesses were validated when he met an army of nearly five thousand awaiting him at Fort Ivola. To call the small fortification - merely wooden palisades surrounding a small wooden fort set on a hill, a typical and simple motte and bailey design - was perhaps a bit of a misnomer, but such were what passed for defensive fortifications in most of the Kingdom.

The nobles who lived further away from the borders mostly fortified their main cities rather than built defensive fortifications elsewhere, since it was the task of the border duchies to hold the frontlines in their minds. That bit of selfishness on their part now returned to bite them in the rear as they had to deal with a lack of defensive positions outside of their own main cities over the civil war that embroiled the former kingdom.

For the first battle of the campaign, Nestor had claimed the right to lay siege to the fort with his men, a move that was more political in nature as it was intended to be a statement to their enemies, as well as a show of competence for their allies - especially the newer, smaller mercenary groups - to raise morale. Reinhardt might have called it a senseless show of vanity at other times, but Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez did not strike him as that sort of noble.

Nestor seemed to understand what went through the minds of his allies, and just smiled. He set up his army a good six hundred paces away from the fort. There he had a group of his soldiers - people Reinhardt recognized as combat engineers from the way they moved and worked - bring out large components from their storage artifacts and set to work to erect a half dozen trebuchets on the spot.

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The siege engines were not loaded with large rocks as was the norm, as apparently Nestor found it unnecessary for dealing with a wooden fortification like what they faced. Instead, they were loaded with large earthen jugs that had a length of fabric attached to its stopper. A length of fabric that was lit on fire before the jugs were launched.

Reinhardt instantly identified those jugs for what they were.

They were pretty much just larger versions of the ones he had Hannah drop on the enemy encampment years ago during the night attack on the Bostvan forces. Considering that the fortification they were faced with was made out of wood, the choice also made sense. Apparently Nestor had no desire to claim the fort for his own use and planned to simply burn it to the ground instead.

Even from afar, Reinhardt saw how the jugs broke apart against the wooden palisades, spilling the highly flammable oils they contained all over it. Oil that was lit aflame mere moments later by the wick of burning fabric each jug was attached to. Within mere moments large sections of the palisades were burning, the fire reaching high towards the skies and consumed everything in its way, despite the desperate attempts of the defenders to quench it with water and soil.

Then Nestor ordered a second salvo, then a third and a fourth, and within five minutes Fort Ivola was entirely covered in flames.

Not even ten minutes after that, the fort’s burning gates opened wide, and the inhabitants of the burning fort rushed out in panic, some of them with their hair or clothes burning, all of them desperate to save their own lives and escape the flames that even then consumed the fortification they were supposed to guard. All they found was not salvation, but rather a “warm” welcome from the army that awaited outside the fort.

A rain of arrows fell before and amongst the escaping Kolitscheian soldiers, injuring many and killing some. Then Nestor rode slightly ahead of his men and had several wind affinity mages work together to amplify and carry his voice to the desperate and panicked soldiers near the burning fort. He had them first create a loud sound to attract their attention.

Then he called for their surrender, promising not to kill those who laid down their arms and knelt down with their hands behind their heads. He also added that they had three choices before them. Surrender and live. Resist and be killed. Or, they could also burn together with their fort, if they preferred to do that. The choice was theirs.

Before too long - and a debate that spiraled into violence - the desperate defenders of the Fort chose to surrender, though Reinhardt noticed from afar how some people were either tied up or just straight up stabbed during the altercation that took place when they discussed the options amongst themselves. He also noticed how those who were abused in the altercation mostly wore better clothing than the rest.

Sure enough, when Nestor’s army took in the surrendering troops, they learned that most of the noble commanders of the fort’s defenders had either burned within the fort, or were taken down by their own desperate soldiers. The fortunate ones - the ones who treated their soldiers better, Reinhardt noted - were merely tied up and taken captive. The less fortunate ones merely received a dagger to the gut.

After all, while five thousand soldiers defending a fort might have been able to withstand a force six times their size for a good while, without the fort they had no such hope. On top of that, the fire had damaged or destroyed many of their equipment, as well as injured and killed many of the soldiers. It was only natural that they panicked and surrendered when pushed to such a corner.