Edmund Acker couldn't help but smile bitterly at the order he'd received. His position would be that of the center-right, connecting the right-left soldiers to the far-right soldiers. In most armies, the right wing was the position of honor given to the most disciplined and skilled soldiers. In that sense, the soldiers of Puplona were being honored. But at the same time, they were being disrespected. The Army was divided according to which principality had sent which soldiers. So the Principality of Caisra soldiers are on the far right, the Puplona to their left, the Vai to their left, and so on. The position of most importance was on the outside of the formation with no soldiers anchoring your flank. Meanwhile, a less critical position was anchoring your flank to your center. Edmonds's job was to connect the far left to the far right. To a certain extent, this was a mark of approval as he was still on the right, but he was given the important job of honor in another light.
He felt a bit wrong in his heart but knew why people thought that. At the war council at Colinum, the grand prince appointed an experienced general for one of the most powerful principalities, Tarchna. The General in question had a relatively prestigious military career. There was nothing to scoff at. Although he had his fair share of defeats, he had more victories to his name, and it had been on the battlefield for over 40 years longer than Edmund had been alive. However, from Edmonds's perspective, he was just another conservative General from this world, and he had severe doubts that this General would overcome the current unfavorable situation.
The League situation was very bad at the moment. The Kingdom of Triton had mobilized 200,000 soldiers to crush them in one fell swoop. The League of Hallstatt could mobilize more soldiers, close to 300,000. However, they couldn't fully mobilize all of their soldiers, primarily thanks to naval inferiority. The Kingdom of Triton threatened to sail around the coast and threatened any of their cities located on the coast, meaning they were incapable of mobilizing all of their soldiers at one time. It wasn't like the league didn't have a Navy. It was just that it was severely outmatched. While Triton's navy numbered nearly 400 ships, they had barely 200. At the end of the day, while swearing brotherhood to the league, the various principalities ultimately thought first of their own people and cities.
On top of that, they've been caught off guard by the size of the Triton Army, expecting them to mobilize close to 150,000 soldiers. Because of this, they responded by mobilizing 170,000 people.
The Triton Army had marched to the kingdom of Hulon, and when the people of Voltumna detected their movements, they hastily sent a call for Aid to the rest of the league. The principalities west of Colinum gathered in the city before marching on to reinforce their allies. The Triton Army had politely waited in their ally's territory before moving once the Hallstatt Soldiers arrived, making it clear they wanted a field battle.
Edmond recommended evacuating the citizens of Voltumna while stationing a strong garrison in the city while the main army remained outside of the town. If the Triton soldiers decided to besiege the city, they would catch them in a pincer attack between the Garrison and the field Army. If they decided to attack the field Army, the Garrison would attack the Triton soldiers from behind. If they decided to bypass the city in March elsewhere, they would link up with the Garrison soldiers and Shadow them. He thought this was a good plan. Although not perfect or foolproof, it would repel the Triton soldiers. Even if they managed to win a field battle, they would still have to overcome the strong defenses of the city.
However, the grand prince, the prince of Voltumna, and the newly appointed Grand General all objected to his plan. The main reason for their objection was that if they did that, the principality of Voltumna would be burned down with impunity, and evacuating the people would cost money. So, they chose to face them in the field. The army of Triton marched southward and occupied a small village on the border, while the Hallstatt Army marched northward to face them.
The Republic of Elefsina taught the league its heavy infantry tactics during the Great War because the kingdom of Triton supported the Republic's enemy, the Empire of Pellana. The Republic's heavy infantry equipment included a full-face helmet with a visor underneath, a chainmail coif protecting the neck and shoulders, and chainmail for the body armor ending around the thighs. They also wore steel shin protectors, steel boots, and gauntlets. They were also equipped with kite shields, spears, and short swords.
On the other side of the field, the Kingdom of Triton used the same tactics as the ancient enemies of the Azores Kingdom, the Lantar Empire. They wore chainmail covering their whole body from ankles to their necks. They carried kite shields and long spears. On their hip, they wore both maces and short swords. The soldiers of the Lantar Empire originally wore helmets that completely exposed their faces; however, the Kingdom of Triton replaced them with full helmets that protected their heads and faces.
It was challenging to say which side had better equipment. But it was easy to say which side had better skill. The Kingdom of Triton had heavy infantry formations deeply rooted in its culture and tradition. A heavy infantry formation required more than just dawning the equipment and a little training; it required a deep understanding of each other. The “I'll protect my ally” mentality is severely lacking in the league. It wasn't like the league didn't understand cooperation; it was just that their soldiers were culturally more similar to their feudal counterparts, as they had abandoned their feudalism less than 50 years ago. Their soldiers considered being a soldier a career serving a lord and not an honorable profession protecting the nation. As a result, Triton was far superior to the Infantry in the league. On the other hand, the league had a far superior Cavalry tradition to Triton.
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The Battle of nearly 400,000 soldiers begins the largest battle in history between the Kingdom of Triton and the League of Hallstatt. The two sides clashed on an open plane, each side fighting in Fairly standard formation, putting their strongest troops on the right and the weakest troops on the left and having their average troops connect their forces in the center. Peter Whitehead was chosen as the commander of the Triton soldiers. Being inexperienced in reality, the command was in the hands of a senior advisor who thought similarly to the Grand General of Hallstatt. Both generals merely considered throwing their soldiers at the enemy and allowing the one with more bravery and numbers to win the day.
Edmond and the rest of the right wing initially pressed Triton's Affiliated kingdoms, who were on the opposing left, backward. However, Triton stabilized its left wing with reserves, and the rambunctious League soldiers tired themselves again, proving the league's inexperience in dealing with heavy Infantry.
The rest of the line was easily pressed back by the Triton soldiers, who were not as Elite or experienced as the right wing. The league was winning only in the Cavalry theater, but even that took too long to prove effective on the battlefield. Edmund sighed as he stayed in the rear, absorbed all these reports, and began preparing to retreat. He couldn't retreat without orders and face punishment from his own principality, as the entire league would blame him for the failure rather than the grand general.
The Kingdom of Triton won a crushing victory, and they captured the City of Voltumna, shortly followed by all of the territories surrounding it. They began the process of turning it into an Affiliated Kingdom. They would send a Branch from each royal family to find a new dual-headed monarchy. They would also move landless citizens and second sons of nobles into the city.
*****
On the other side of the Calamise region, Archibald Erickson, the Wolf of the Norost mountains, won a victory that shocked enemies and allies alike against the kingdom of Jax in his efforts to reinforce his ally, the Kingdom of Gray Towers. The Kingdom of Jax had sent an army to block him from entering the kingdom; however, he burst through that army, killing its general and thousands of soldiers. In the process, tens of thousands of his own peasant levies died in honor of his nickname of wolf.
However, his efforts would ultimately be in vain as in a move eerily similar to that of the Golden Stallion’s invasion of the Kingdom of Black, the king of Jax, Ajax III, had broken past the border defenses of the Gray Towers. Up to this point, the kingdom had relied heavily on its natural and constructed defenses; however, once they were bypassed, their capital city was sorely lacking in troops and a skilled Commander like Veronica who could lead them through the crisis. Ajax used the human wave tactic to a great effect that impressed even the wolf of the Norost mountains And captured the capital of Gray Towers. Of course, the kingdom of Jax allies suffered tens of thousands of casualties, but Ajax didn't care.
Unwilling to admit defeat, Archibald, through his soldiers, went into a battle with Ajax, which turned out to be a costly defeat for the Uscan Union and a Pyrrhic victory for the kingdom of Jax. The only thing that would prevent people from criticizing Archibald over this particular defeat later. It wasn't his Brazen personality but rather the fact that he would lose three sons in the fighting; however, he would later admit that he didn't even remember any of their names.
With that, the kingdom of Gray Towers was conquered. It was subjugated and, in the same manner as Triton, turned the principality of Voltumna into an Affiliated Kingdom. Ajax's brother would become the new king of the Kingdom of Sahax.
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Following the death of the last Towers emperor, a Civil War began between the various branches of that family as the emperor lacked a proper successor. The war raged on for over 30 years, at which point many territories and former vassals of the Empire had fallen away. After 200 years of further decline, more rebellions and Civil Wars occurred. The Remnant states of the tower's Empire were that they were no longer capable of regaining the Empire's former glory and, by this point, ceased to be the Remnant States of a great Empire, instead turning into Kingdoms in their own right. Former enemies, former vassals, and former territories all revolted or took advantage of the chaos to gain territory in power and eventually formed various countries. These countries eventually consolidated both their direct and indirect power, forming multiple powerful blocks in what once was the Towers Empire.
These countries gradually centered into six main power blocks. These six powers would vie for control and influence in the Calamise region and forces outside the region. They would scheme against each other and wage war against one another, all in an attempt to reestablish the glory of the Tower's Empire under their control. Their wars would later become known as the Wars of the Six Kingdoms, although some called it seven and others called it eight. Many people debate whether the period should even be named or rather just continue being called the Century of Blood, Pointing out that there was very little difference except for in the scale of the conflict, no longer between fledgling States just emerging onto the world stage but rather between fully Consolidated and centralized kingdoms in the manner of the central continent.
However, I have personally chosen to label this period the Wars of Six Kingdoms and will be referring to it as such hereafter. I understand the perspective of both sides, but as someone who's lived through part of one of these periods and all of the other. There is a difference between the time of the Century of Blood and the wars of the six kingdoms. There's also a debate about when and where the Century of Blood ended and the wars of the six kingdoms began. Although I'm sure future historians will also debate this, I choose to end it at the turning of 75 to 76 of the second holy calendar.
~Excerpt from The History of the Western Continent by Anzatonas Organa