Chapter 5 The Irregulars
The Month of Ninsum Day 9 Year 675 Of the Second Holy Calendar
The Scout came riding back and reined up next to John. The Scout didn't need to say anything he could see it on the man's face and in his ragged appearance. “The enemy is coming?” he questioned the Scout and he nodded without a word. “How far?”
“Five-minute march, I estimate, Captain.” John nodded before dismissing him with a wave of the hand. Sergeant Blake approached him. The sergeant was a typical man from the kingdom of Black clean-shaven with short cut hair tall and thin but muscular. Other than a scar that took off half his nose he had no distinguishing features. John didn't like him all that much. He was too much of a soldier and not enough of an officer even if he was an NCO. He lacked the proper toughness to maintain the Army's discipline even if he was leading an Irregular unit. But John had to rely on him because he was the most senior NCO of the current forces he'd been given.
“Should we blow the Bugles, Captain?” Blake asked without even giving a salute.
John ignored that and instead replied, “Not right now the men are already in position, better to let them rest.” While saying this John surveyed the defenses of three lines of trenches and Earth walls. These were constructed on a downward slope so the layers higher up looked down on the ones below. Additional fortifications had been built in the form of towers. These fortifications were constructed in the narrowest part of this particular Mountain Pass. Even then it was wide enough for 15 men to pass shoulder to shoulder.
These three lines of fortifications were meant to delay enemy forces while the Irregulars fired arrows, javelins, stones, and whatever else they happened to find to throw at the enemy. It was a part of the Kingdom of Black’s strategy when dealing with an invasion of the Black Valley. To delay them as long as possible until reinforcements could rally from all corners of the Kingdom. Larger proper fortifications had been built on the wider mountain passes but the smaller ones only had these temporary fortifications.
Guarded by units of Irregulars, most of them were huntsman or herdsmen barely awakened to Mana and either having already retired from the military or joined for the few extra coins being a reserve soldier offered. As a result, they were required to train at least once a week but usually every month. John only had 865 of these Reserve soldiers facing a proper Army of 60,000. according to messages he'd received, another 60,000 were heading to an unguarded pass. But that was none of John's concern, his concern was the other Irregulars who had yet to join up with him thanks to the fast-moving enemy. Antlatur had put their men through a grueling Force March and made a journey that should have taken 4-6 days in three. As a result, the kingdom of Black hadn't been able to properly assemble the Irregulars. More were trickling in every day but John doubted his current forces could hold the enemy off for even an hour, much less a day.
Currently, all his men were lazing around on the wall, resting for the upcoming battle. They had been properly assembled and equipped but there was no point staying tense all the time. This gave John more faith as his men weren't just regular Reserve soldiers but had been through this process a dozen times before although not on the same scale. Turning to Blake he said, “Blow the Bugles in approximately 1 minute.” Blake nodded rather than properly acknowledging the command. While removing his pocket watch from the inside of his cloak. The two went to a watchtower on the third line and climbed up it had been specifically set aside for this purpose.
One minute later Blake shouted at the top of his lungs “Bugler's, prepare for battle.” Blake might have been an improper NCO but he did have the proper voice for one. It carried from the Watchtower that they were currently on to the Buglers at the bottom clearly as they blew their Bugles a second later. For the regular army, there were a lot of bugle signals but for these irregulars, there were only 5. Assemble, go to your positions, the enemy is coming, retreat from the line, and retreat fully. The enemy is coming with two sharp bugle blasts a few seconds later the order repeats itself, and the sound conveys the urgent situation without words. The other NCO started shouting but even without them the soldiers were already scrambling to their posts.
John gripped the banner of the Watchtower tightly as he waited along with the other soldiers for the enemy to show themselves. He started regretting the fact that he didn't have more troops and the fact that he had no proper soldiers aside from himself and a few others including Mages. “What if the enemy chooses a magic bombardment?” he worried. He only had five Mages at his disposal. But before he could worry about it anymore he spotted a dust cloud on the horizon certainly kicked up by the enemy's approach.
The Antlatur approached in a column at the front of this column their heavy Infantry was placed. Their heavy infantry differed from the black heavy Infantry in several ways. The first way was their helmet. They had a visored helmet that was flat at the top and only had eye holes. It completely blocked the ears and the mouth. Making it difficult for them to communicate in the middle of battle, it was also difficult to see in that helmet. Underneath their helmets, they wore mail coif.
The second main way was in the protection of their body - black heavy Infantry wore chainmail covered by light armor. Antlatur’s was chainmail covered by a cuirass to protect their legs they wore grieves rather than mail leggings. This was heavier and less flexible and because it was difficult to hear or speak gave them far less tactical flexibility. But in exchange, they had additional protection. Their weapons were also very different from black weaponry. Their shields were heater Shields and their primary weapon was a spear, not a short sword.
As they approached, Mages on their side cast anti-magic barriers that protected their columns from the front as well as the left and the right. These barriers were semi-translucent and only visible for a few moments before fading out of visibility. Any magic that passed through these barriers would be immediately erased from existence. Black Mages put up their own magic barriers three for all three layers. This would prevent their walls from being destroyed easily by magic while the enemy put up their barriers to prevent the black Mages from destroying their column with AOE(area of effect) spells.
They marched with their Shields raised over their chests and their shoulders pressing together, in unison row after row. A man in one of the back rows instead of carrying a spear carried a flag that flapped lazily in the wind making it difficult to tell exactly what was depicted but John knew it all too well. On a green background a golden antler with the words “We are the spears of the people” written underneath in gold lettering. John glanced at his own side's flag; they only had one because the whole plan involved retreating and having your flags captured by the enemy was considered to be shameful. The flag of the Kingdom of Black depicted a Golden Crown dripping blood onto a black field with the words Blood for Blood written underneath in gold lettering. John gripped his sword handle tighter as he glared at the forces of Antlatur wishing his glare could kill them.
Once their frontline crossed a certain marker it was just a stick stuck into the ground quickly and trampled but to the Archers it was a signal. The archers without a word or command knocked their arrows and raised their bows. Mana started to gather in these arrows every man had his color of Mana which coalesced around the entire shaft, fletching, and tip of the arrow. The Archers once again without a signal fired and the arrows fell like rain among the enemy. The Antlaturs were skilled or experienced enough to raise their Shields above their heads blocking most of the arrows. Some of them still found their way through at which point they collided with Magic barriers which shattered under impact. The archers knocked their second round of arrows and fired. Only two arrows managed to make their way through the shield wall and found magic barriers that had already been broken. One of these arrows harmlessly pinged off the soldier's cuirass the other found the gap between his greaves and his chainmail - another difference between the black and Antlatur soldiers. The soldier stumbled before falling and hitting his head. The soldiers behind him continued to advance trampling over him. It seemed heartless but in a tightly packed formation like theirs, they couldn't stop or move around.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The Archers got off two more rounds before the enemy came into Javelin range of the first line. Only two other soldiers had been seriously injured there were other minor injuries but nothing life-threatening so long as the soldier made it back to a healing Mage they'd be fine. On the surface that seemed to be a bad result. But John knew it was rather a good result as at least half of the enemy forces had had their Magic Shields broken making them more vulnerable to the Javelins. In general, regular arrows couldn't break through the heavy armor and Magic Shields to do real damage to heavy Infantry, but javelins could.
Once the enemy passed through a certain marker similar to the first, Javelin throwers raise their javelins. Magic swirled around Spears, more Magic than the arrows but the same multicolor. Once they finished, they threw. The spears rained down at different times depending on the soldier's speed of infusion of magic. John recognized the first javelin that was thrown or rather its magic - it was a deep blood red. Its wielder was Simeon the Quick as his comrades had nicknamed him. He was always the first to throw but his aim didn't suffer for it. His spear went straight into a shield managing to punch through slightly but not to the person standing behind.
The first confirmed death of the war happened thanks to one of the NCOS. His own javelin went over the shield and through the throat of one of the enemy soldiers managing to punch through the chainmail. Javelins and arrows continued raining down causing at least 50 deaths and several hundred minor injuries weakening enemy forces. But they only managed to get off a total of three rounds of javelins and six rounds of arrows before the enemy started approaching the first wall.
The enemy soldiers arrived in front of the trench and finally stopped. The trench was only around 3 ft wide and 3 ft deep but it was lined with spikes covered in fast-acting poison. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough to place on their arrows and javelins. Even so, it would block their movement and make it difficult for them to even reach the walls much less get through it. The magic barrier was much less daunted by the trench. It continued pushing forward until it smacked into the black’s magic barrier positioned barely one foot in front of the wall. Three soldiers moved along the small pathway which led to the gate. The gate itself was crude and simple, only made of planks of wood nailed together. The soldiers dropped their spears, drew swords and hand axes and started hacking at it to quickly get through. The soldiers in front of the trench, after two of them had died to javelins, finally bolstered their courage and crossed the trench jumping to avoid the spikes.
John could see all of this from his vantage point on top of the Watchtower. But he couldn't see the soldiers hacking the gate nor the soldiers who jumped into the trench but he knew what would happen more or less. The soldiers who jumped into the trench would weave around the spikes while taking heavy fire from the arrows and javelins. Finally, they would reach the wall and they would start to climb it by grabbing onto whatever surface they could or climbing on top of each other. The wall was only around 7 ft High adding the 3 ft of the trench it was only around 10 ft, and the average soldier was around 5.7 ft. His assertion was proven correct when one of the soldiers picked up a heavy stone prepared in advance and dropped it over the wall. Gravity and the weight of the stone did its bloody work as it crushed the man who had tried to climb the wall.
Even with all of this heavy fire, some soldiers still made it to the top. The first one who did immediately slashed to his right with his sword cleanly decapitating one of the javelin throwers. But another javelin thrower immediately drew his short sword and infusing the blade with his magic stabbed it straight toward his opponent's throat. The Antlaturer had only brought his upper body above the wall so he was unable to dodge or raise his shield in time. The sword plunged into his throat, spurting blood, the man fell off the wall.
The second soldier who made it to the top of the wall was a bit smarter about it, fully climbing the wall before stabbing his sword toward an archer who attempted to use his arrow as a spear killing him in one blow. After all, both the spear throwers and the archers were almost completely unarmored. After that, the soldier then crouched down covering his body with his heater shield. Behind him, another soldier climbed up this one still wielding his spear and stabbed it toward the javelin thrower who'd been about to throw at his comrade. This breach was short-lived, however. A black mage raised his wand and cast the tier one spell magic Arrow. This magic Arrow easily pierced through the spear wielder's helmet and killed him instantly. The other Antlaturer was quickly hacked to death by the black Irregulars, however, the Black forces' triumph was short-lived; an enemy spell that appeared to be the second-tier spell magic lance pierced through their own mage and killed him. The enemy could cast spells as long as they got close enough to the wall and past the anti-magic barrier. However, the Mage who killed their own mage was not long for this world John knew that his own men would target them relentlessly.
Despite the heavy fire to soldiers hacking at the gate, with at least nine enemies dying trying to take it down, they still managed to breach it by destroying the gate bar and pushing it open. However, three seasoned soldiers, proper regulars of the Black Army in full gear, were waiting to greet them once they got the gate open. They stabbed their 8 ft long Spears toward the soldiers who gleefully ran through the broken gate, caught off guard all two of them were stabbed through the chainmail and died. One managed to block with his shield but the black in front of him and the black to his right both stabbed their Spears straight into him. One spear deflected off his shield but the other spear went under the armpit of his cuirass it went deep and the man fell to the ground with the Spear still stuck in him.
Despite this John knew that only more soldiers would continue pouring through the gates; his front line would only be able to hold them off for so long and more soldiers continued pouring over the walls. John glanced at Sergeant Blake and said “Pull back to the second line.”
Blake nodded before peering out of the Watchtower and shouting “Retreat to the second line.” the Buglers played their tune which rang clearly through the shouts and screams of the front line. But for those who didn't hear, officers also started shouting and the second-line soldiers raised their weapons over their heads gesturing their comrades over. With all three of these cues, the soldiers of the first line began their retreat. Those on the wall jumped down; it was only a 7 ft drop so they made it easily and started running to the second line. Rather than all cramming through the gate, two paths on either side of the gate crossed the trench At the end of the path ladders were prepared. The soldiers quickly crossed the path and climbed up the ladder.
Some soldiers stayed behind as rearguards including the three blocking the bridge. One of these men grabbed the torch that had been prepared in advance and placed it in a specially designed socket. The fire quickly spread to the trench and to the various pillars supporting the wall, quickly lighting them on fire including the gate. As the rear guard held off the enemy, the gate and the walls quickly burned. The soldiers on the Watchtower jumped off to the wall and joined the fray. The soldiers of the rear guard had been selected in advance and they knew they were going to die. As a result they had no fear of death and did anything to delay the enemy just a second longer while their comrades made their escape.
The one minute they delayed bought time allowed for the pillars supporting the Earth the wall to completely burn and finally collapse. Blacks and Antlaturers alike fell and were crushed by the wall; those in the trenches burned alive and those by the gate were shoved into the fire by the two remaining soldiers who were standing there. One had been stabbed. Those two soldiers ran back one supporting the other - they were the last soldiers through the gate before it was forced closed.
John checked his pocket watch and cursed under his breath. It was only 3:35, several hours till sunset. “it looks like we won't be holding for a day,” John thought with regret. The smoldering Rubble of Earth and wood and the still-burning trench kept the remaining Antlaturs for 30 minutes while they waited for it to cool while the blacks prepared themselves for the renewed assault. The battle for the second line was more or less the same with a lot less time for the blacks to shoot their arrows and fire their javelins.
After the second line fell, John turned to Blake, “We fire a few rounds and then we retreat as planned.” Blake hesitated for a moment checking his pocket watch but he ultimately acquiesced to military orders. John sighed with regret, troubled with his failed mission and the likelihood that he be blamed for this in the future.
After they got off their few rounds of javelins, the bugles played the full retreat tune. The soldiers hearing this were a bit confused but still followed orders. They set the wall on fire and retreated, but not northward to safety. They split into two and retreated east and west. Into the mountains to hide from their enemies and harass them further. They would also block any small parties or convoys attempting to cross this particular Mountain Pass. John went with a group heading west and Blake went with the group heading east. They only wished each other good luck before they Departed.
In this battle, the Blacks lost 111 men of their irregular force. The Antlaturs lost just under 300. But it still could be considered a defeat for the blacks as they failed in their objective to hold back the enemy.