“It’s usually not the stronger ones or the braver ones who wins a clash of arms on the frontline. It’s the most stubborn ones who are most likely to win.” - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.

When two lines of heavy infantry clashed at the frontlines of battle, it made for a cacophonous noise that defied description, a loud, echoing ruckus that comparisons failed to clarify properly.

It simply was what it was. A deafening clang that seemed to invade the inside of one’s head and echo within, making the listener feel as if the sound threatened to burst their skulls apart from the inside.

With the dwarven heavy infantry across from them, the Imperial army also moved some of their elites to face them. Strong, burly soldiers were equipped with armor from good steel and heavy, sturdy sabers capable of vicious chops and cuts. They also carried oddly shaped trapezoidal shields that were wider and had a wedge taken out at the top, giving the shield a shape not unlike the fletching at the back of an arrow. The shield was wide enough to cover a soldier’s whole body and long enough to hide their form from the shoulder to the knee behind.

The Imperial soldiers formed a tight-knit formation, with their shields lined up to form a contiguous shield wall at the frontline. Between every two soldiers, another soldier from behind them would press their shield against the shields of those at the front, their shield positioned perfectly over the tiny gap between the two shields at the front, forming an overlapping double-layered shield wall. Those further behind supported the backs of those in front of them using their shields as well, knowing that the first clash would be a test to their cohesion and discipline.

Even with that preparation, they barely managed to hold their ground on that first clash, as the even heavier and more solid dwarven formation ran headlong into theirs. Those at the front felt almost as if their bodies were being crushed, the life being squeezed out of them by the grip of a giant, so violent was the force that acted upon them. A few even vomited blood on the spot, though to their credit, they remained standing in line even so.

Solid metal shields were pressed against each other’s surfaces as neither line was willing to give ground, a contest of strength, endurance, and cohesion, or at least, that was what the Imperial army was expecting out of their prior experience at war. None of them expected the dwarves to simply reach over the shield walls and strike down, leveraging the most of their long arms and weapons like axes, warhammers, and war picks.

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Some of the Imperial soldiers saw the blows coming and managed to block them with their sabers, if with difficulty. Others failed to react in time and the dwarven weapons struck down heavily upon their heads and shoulders. Helmets were dented and proved to be of little help against such blows, with more than a few imperial soldiers dying while bleeding from every facial orifice, a large dent on their helm.

That caught the Imperial army off guard, and their frontmost line of infantry crumbled before the dwarven onslaught, as did the second, but the third and fourth lines behind saw what happened and set up defensive postures that managed to halt the dwarven advance into the formation. Rather than focusing on overlapping their shields, every second soldier on the fourth line instead focused on using their shields to block incoming blows.

Soon after the dwarves clashed with the Imperial army’s elites, the rest of the formation also clashed with each other. Those clashes were more even, as while the Imperials did not have their best elites there – having concentrated them to face the dwarves with the rest on reserve duty – neither were the Coalition’s other soldiers as powerful or capable of overwhelming their opponents like the dwarves almost managed at the opening moments of the battle.

In fact, in most parts of the battle line, both sides placed their weaker troops at the forefront while keeping their elites and stronger troops in reserve, neither side willing to reveal their fangs so early in the battle other than the obvious display in the center. Both sides were maneuvering, biding their time and waiting for the right moment to pounce upon their foes when it would do the most harm.

Reinhardt’s Free Lances, alongside Barnaby’s Brewers, were sequestered in the central part of the Coalition army formation’s left wing, their stronger troops deemed suitable for striking decisive blows and thus were to be saved for later. Reinhardt himself kept a constant watch on the overall situation, having lent some receiver artifacts to the other commanders to warn them as the situation demanded.

The cavalry on both sides remained a bit further away in the back, giving themselves enough room to get up to speed when they were called to battle. The commanders in the rear were keeping an eye on the battle’s progress, prepared to give commands depending on how the situation developed, while also discussing the battle’s progress with each other.

Archers from both armies rained down arrows in parabolic arcs, shooting well past the front lines in order to avoid friendly fire, their projectiles falling down into the regions further back amidst the enemy soldiers, and at times amongst the enemy archers, even. Even so both sides continued undaunted, the fighting happening below a steady shade cast by the thousands upon thousands of arrows that flew over the heads of the combatants.

One side fought for the glory of their Empire, for conquest, for riches and rewards promised to them upon victory. They fought for their nation, for their own futures – as many amongst their ranks had risen through feats of arms – and for what would hopefully be a better living for their descendants. The other side fought to defend their homes and loved ones, to repel those that wanted to take away what had belonged to them for many generations. Neither side would give way, so bloodshed was all that remained.