Chapter 11: The Battle of Erinvale Part Two
THE MONTH OF NINSUM DAY 20 YEAR 675 OF THE SECOND HOLY CALENDAR
The Black Army held back its center and left while attacking only with its right. Its center and light infantry were supported by light infantry from the right, which quickly repelled the enemy's light infantry. They then began to shower the center and enemy right with arrows and javelins. Possibly fearing a flanking maneuver from the Black Army's right-wing or being momentarily stunned, the enemy did nothing while the fighting on the right wing intensified.
Within barely 30 minutes after the battle started, the Black Right had already begun driving the enemy forces backward. Charles had sent orders to his captains beforehand, instructing them to stay in the same spot and not to advance to protect their flank from the enemy center. However, the Black momentum was too strong and began pushing forward regardless. With great difficulty, Charles managed to pull his line back and prevent them from being outflanked. The enemy took the opportunity to reorganize and attempt to counter-attack.
The infantry of the Black soldiers were usually armed with short swords, although some carried long spears. The second line primarily used the long spears to support the front line. They would thrust over the heads of the soldiers in the first line to attack or disrupt the enemy's front line. Valerius was not fond of this strategy, so he only equipped a quarter of his army—precisely, the fourth line—with long spears. However, Charles positioned his Spearman on the third line, and when the enemy reformed, he reorganized his forces so that the first line retreated and the fourth line became the new second line. He adopted Frederick Black's defensive strategy, known as the Shields and Spears formation. In this formation, the front line crouched and wielded short swords, while the second line used their long Spears. If an enemy got too close, they would be stabbed by the front line, and if they stayed farther away, they could only be stabbed by the second line without being able to inflict any significant damage.
The Spears and Shields battle formation quickly repelled the counterattack. Charles recognized the right moment to strike, so he ordered his men to abandon their defensive position and launch an offensive. However, his offensive quickly succeeded, causing the enemy forces to lose cohesion and morale, leading some to drop their spears and flee. Observing this, the enemy deployed the Reserve Brigade in assistance. This was precisely what Valerius had been aiming for, and Charles, overjoyed, sent word back to Valerius.
“The enemy has dispatched the reserves to our right wing, sir.” The messenger reported.
Valerius sat on the back of his favorite horse, a chestnut charger, which he named Victory. "Thank you. You may return," Valerius said, giving a nod of approval to the messenger, who left with his back slightly straighter.
“It looks like rain,” James commented absent-mindedly.
Valerius stared at him. “Jay, pay attention if you would.”
At his admonishment, James spoke in a bored tone. “According to your plan, we're supposed to send our reserves to wrap around our right and hit the enemy's left from the side and the rear. We've already been moving, and our soldiers are in a position to do just that. We should deliver that message to Brigadier General Drake,”
Before looking at an orderly, “You got all that correct.” The orderly had been so fixated on paying attention that he had stopped paying attention.
The orderly snapped to attention, saluted, and said, “Sir, you wish me to deliver orders to Brigadier General Drake regarding attacking the enemy flank effective immediately.”
“Our right and the enemy's left flank, yes. Now go.” Watching the orderly run-off, James looked back at Valerius and said in the same bored tone, “It looks like rain.”
Amused by this entire chain of events, Valerius looked up at the sky. “Indeed, Noel hasn't abandoned us yet.”
“Or maybe it's the rain god's curse,” James said absent-mindedly.
This caused Valerius to laugh. “You're quite superstitious for a tallwood. The Blacks aren't descendants of The Demon King; it's just a rumor.”
“No smoke without fire, sir. Speaking of smoke, I'm surprised your strategy worked out so well. The enemy has yet to move their center or their right.”
Valerius Shrugged. “The king of Redtowers is rather green. After seeing our movements, he's probably put all his hopes on his left and reserve brigade, and if we dispatch our Reserve Brigade, that will only make his attack easier.”
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“What if they send their Reserve Brigade around our flank instead of reinforcing their line.”
“Even if that does happen, it's not a big deal. Our Reserve Brigade is already moving; they will merely form another battle line. We will break through the original left, and the new battle will probably favor us.”
Valerius felt something hit his head. Glancing up, he felt more hit the top of his head. Confused, he glanced behind him and saw sheets of rain blowing. It started to pour, and a flash of inspiration struck him. “Jay, what direction is the wind blowing?”
“Dead south by last check, sir,” James replied, shouting to be heard.
“Order our center and left to attack at full force and order our archers and javelin throwers to return to camp and resupply.”
James looked confused momentarily before realizing what his General was trying to do and dispatched orderlies to carry out his orders.
The second brigade of the Black Army encircled the enemy's right flank, which had just received reinforcements. The reinforcements tried to support the line from behind, but the front line was already in disarray and being pushed back rapidly, resulting in heavy losses and causing a lot of confusion.
When the Second Brigade came around the flank, it caused even more panic and confusion. The Second Brigade had gained an unexpected advantage due to the rain. Sheets of rain fell into the enemy's faces and obscured the battlefield, allowing their flanking maneuver to go unnoticed until it was too late. The first company of the First Battalion of the Second Brigade had the honor of being the leftmost part of the line. This meant they would turn and strike the enemy directly in the flank. The rest of the second Brigade continued moving around, closing like a door on the enemy's rear.
Being outflanked on the battlefield was a death sentence in the Towers Empire formation. The soldiers at the back struggled to turn and face their enemies, and those who managed to turn were outmatched without support from the second or third line. The Redtowers Army could not retreat or fight back, and it was so tightly packed together that it could hardly move.
Valerius repeatedly reminded Drake not to go to the front lines personally since he was one of the only people Drake respected. Drake listened to the advice and stayed with a reserved light and heavy infantry brigade. He considered leading the heavy infantry to attack the main camp, but his advisors talked him out of it. In less than 10 minutes, the Redtower's Left Flank and the Reserve Brigade were either killed or captured.
The Black army charged forward, catching the Kingdom of Redtowers off guard. Despite being outnumbered, the Black left and center gained the advantage and pinned down the enemy center and right. After defeating the Redtower's left, the Black right attacked their center from the flank and routed them. Samuel Magyar, leading the Black Knights on the left, Defeated the Numerous knights of the Kingdom of Redtowers and smashed into the enemy's other flank.
The Redtowers king realized it was over and ordered a retreat. However, by this point, the Red Towers Army had already lost its cohesion, and their retreat quickly turned into an unorganized rout. The Black Army viciously pursued them, and their main camp was overrun. Samuel continued to pursue them for over five miles before finally returning.
Valerius walked among the fallen. The smell of death, blood, and shit wafted off the ground. The jubilation of victory in such a crushing victory had long since faded and was replaced by his slightly depressing mood. He felt no sympathy for his enemies. He never had and likely never would, but he did have feelings for his own fallen, and seeing their corpses depressed him. He got off his horse and personally walked among the dead, comforting the survivors and helping to lift the fallen onto the corpse cards. That was what the general should do. These men had died for him, and the least he could do was see them on to the next life.
He saw a group of soldiers and officers gathering around a single corpse, and so he approached it, wondering which officer had died. When he saw the face of the deceased, his heart almost stopped. It was Frederick Leavenworth; the old officer now had his eyes closed and a gaping wound through his chest. He and Frederick had not been friends, but he had known the man his entire life and was always as firm as a mountain. Seeing him lie still on the ground seemed impossible, but after a few seconds, he understood it was the truth, and he felt the pillar that he never knew was there collapse inside him.
“Why was he in the front?” Valerius quietly asked a nearby officer.
Upon seeing him, the officer immediately snapped into a salute. “General Paul became concerned about the front line, so he sent Colonel Frederick to command the front line personally. He was killed by a lieutenant colonel who decided he wanted to die today.” The officer pointed to a nearby body, which was riddled with so many stab wounds it was difficult to tell if it had ever been a human.
He moved over to Paul, who was already kneeling by the body and patted his shoulder. “We shouldn't just leave him lying here,” he whispered. Paul nodded with dead eyes. They lifted the body and wrapped it in a flag of the kingdom of black before placing it on the corpse carts with all the others. Valerius murmured a quiet prayer to Noel as the body was being lifted. As a descendant of Noel, he held the rank of priest in the temple. He knew the words he had known the words his whole life and had spoken them hundreds of times. But for the first time, he felt he was comforting himself and praying to his goddess for real.
As the cart rattled off, Paul turned to Valerius. “He should receive a state funeral for his years of service.”
“In this crisis will be difficult to manage, but I'll see what I can do,” he responded in the same hush tone. Noel’s Gates will surely open for him, and he'll rest in Noel's Halls for eternity.”
In this battle, 15,000 Red Tower soldiers, including numerous knights and nobles, were killed or captured, while Black losses were negligible. In addition, they captured the enemy main camp with all its supplies and materials.