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Post by Ladorak on Nov 18, 2009 14:51:04 GMT -5
((Sorry Bookity, but I'm autoing Beurnonville. I really need you to post from this point on. If you're having problems let me know, and I'll work with you. You can takeover as normal after my post.))
The Marquis's troops crossed the open ground under artillery fire, drawing closer and closer towards Beaulieu's line, as if being draw in by a string or rope, though it was willingly that they trudged. The old fox watched the blue horde advance, ordering his line to load their muskets and prepare to receive the enemy.
As the distance was closed, the guinea pig Marquis broke from column formation and formed his troops up in a line. Stretching for about a mile and a half, they swept forward, coming into musket range just under 450 yards. Both commanders ordered their respective units to open fire at nearly the same time. Like Farrand and Darius before them, the gray and blue blasted each other at close range, pouring on round after round as fast their muskets could be reloaded.
The attack had not been well coordinated but Duross had never specified timetables either, and it was really just taking on a life of it's own at this rate. Beurnonville was coming in late, and Farrand was stalled until his flanking column could come into play.
Beaulieu, for his part, kept his calm. He felt just the slightest of twinge of a shiver traverse his spinal column as battle was joined. Good.....he may have been old but he still relished a good fight. He had made his decision to support the nation occupying his homeland long ago, and it was Emperor Francis that he owed fealty, not to his fellow Mordenzites. For the Empire he served, and it was for the Empire today that he was fighting.
Stroking his long, drooping whiskers, the vulpine watched the unfolding contest before him with narrowed eyes. He felt confident he could hold his position. They were up on a ridge, the Rosferians were attacking uphill, and though they had more than enough to outnumber him by a safe margin, there was that factor too of the Rosferians being mostly volunteers with no regular background in the military.
*************
Over on the left, Farrand wished desperately to join in the fray. Turning to Duross, he again shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry once again for the delay sir. I know Beurnonville's sort of alone right now, but my troops have successfully crossed the Haine and are making their way down the opposite bank. They just have to recross the river behind von Lilien, and then that wolf will be hit with everything I've got. Sorry if it seems like my contribution is little at this point."
The weasel only hoped he could come in on time, and not be too late to effect things. He was growing more inwardly nervous as time passed, but he would just have to hope that his judgment had not been wrong in this instance. It wasn't even quite noon yet at any rate...they still had plenty of daylight left to burn before darkness would end this battle...that is, if the Rosferians didn't end it before then, hopefully in their favor.
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Post by bookity101 on Nov 19, 2009 0:39:49 GMT -5
[... don't worry about it Cal, I mismanaged my time terribly, sorry]
Berny staid near the back of his line, not because he was a coward, but because he needed to be able to call for the artillery fire to commence. He had to be exact, there would be now Rosferians hitting Rosferians on his watch. His artillery units already had the distance for the far back line of the opposing forces, he just wanted to make sure he would cut off as many beasts as he could…. He hated when he thought like that, he knew that beasts were dying on both sides, but this was war, beasts would die.
He shook himself, not the time to think of such things. They were almost ready. “Increase the rate of shooting!” This order was given to a certain group of beasts. Berny had made sure that he had a group of beasts who were faster at loading and reloading than any other group in the Rosferian Army. They all were hunters and sharpshooters by necessity, not by training. They were able to shoot more accurately and faster than most any out there, and he made sure they were suited near the front. But not so near they would take to many hits, he needed these beasts for later battles.
He turned to his runners, “Send word the artillery unit titled ‘Longshot’ under General Augistine’s care. Tell them its time.” With a nod the rider galloped his horse to were Phillip was with his artillery. “General! General!” Phillip looked up from his third cup of tea. “Yes Sergeant, what is it?” The weasel Sergeant slid to attention from off the back of the horse.
“M’lord…” Phillip held up a paw.
“Not my Lord Sergeant, just Sir or General.”
The Sergeant nodded and continued “Sir, Gen. Beurnonville says that you need to start the barrage from the unit ‘Longshot.’” He finished this all off with a salute. Phillip nodded.
“Off course, That will be all Sergeant, be on your way now.” He returned to salute and waved away any more saluting, “Be gone with you,” Phillip hurried to the division he had been told to let get their range, and then let them wait for the signal to be given by Beurnonville. Well that signal had come, and exactly what they were supposed to do was a mystery to him… so he was eager to find out what they were all about.
“Colonel,” The ferret leading the Longshots stood to attention. “Start the barrage.” The Colonel nodded and went to work shouting orders. Soon enough the big cannons boomed out, hitting beyond the front lines in the forces on both sides of the river, not far enough back to hit the forces coming from behind the Mordenz forces, and boxing in the forces facing Beurnonville, with some well put shots to the center lines.
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Post by Ladorak on Nov 19, 2009 2:58:23 GMT -5
((Well at least you're back Hope you didn't mind the auto too much.)) Beaulieu's perpetual frown only deepened as he saw some of the opposing artillery shots land amidst his troops. What were they doing? They were too closely engaged now to fire at that range. They were accurate and causing casualties, but more so around Count Clerfayt's troops, who were not directly engaged and therefore could be hit with impunity. "Keep up the fire and load cannon with canister shot." His horse jostled a bit underneath him, shifting it's weight. Canister was deadly, an anti-infantry weapon. It essentially transformed the cannon into a giant shotgun, shooting out hundreds of musket balls in order to break up infantry attacks. The artillery was line and was promptly reloaded with the correct shot. If he was going to be engaged by superior numbers he wanted to give as good as he got if not more so. He was a fighting fox, and wouldn't go down without a fight. The canister exploded from the muzzles of Beaulieu's guns, ripping into the front ranks of Beurnonville's line, cutting swaths in them, though they had more than enough numbers for now to replenish the ones that went down. It would begin telling after awhile, and Beaulieu just hoped he had enough canister to last this fight. Even if Beurnonville had to temporarily retreat, he could and would be back. It would wear them down, and the fox knew they couldn't keep this up all day. For now they were strong...but hit repeatedly they had the potential to break. Clerfayt, for his part, was growing a bit nervous about the accurate artillery fire landing among his ranks, His line was weakened as it was, but he had very specific plans to deal with any attack should it come. He might get that chance a bit later in the day, but not at the moment. He just had to support Beaulieu if the veteran vulpine began to crack...but for now he seemed to be holding his own quite well....
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Post by Carrow on Nov 19, 2009 13:11:22 GMT -5
"Never fear," Duross replied in reassuring tones, smiling at the weasel General. "It may seem as though we are just delaying things for the sake of it now, but the benefits of such a scheme paying off outweigh even the myriad risks of such a venture." The otter spoke decisively. "Although, I must say that we cannot afford to wait all that much longer, relatively speaking of course. The time is going to come, and sooner, rather than later, when we are going to have to bite the bullet and mount some form of attack. However, I know how much you are banking on this plan coming to fruition, Farrand, and I will allow things to continue as they are for the moment... that is of course unless something completely unexpected happens that knocks us out of our stride. Then we will really have to think on our paws."
The otter smiled thinly. This wasn't all that bad of a situation the Rosferians found themselves in, and he knew that they would strike a major blow if everything went as planned. It was only a few more minutes to wait, after all, and the mustelid General was quite certain that the Kostritz fores would do anything as rash as mount a surprise attack. The key to overcoming any kind of lull in the battle was to have patience, and the Rosferians had that in spades. They knew what they were in for, and would throw their weight behind it. However, time was ticking away every moment they waited, and the window of opportunity had to be kept in mind. If Farrand's troops didn't cross the river soon, something else would have to be put into effect.
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Post by Ladorak on Nov 21, 2009 1:51:56 GMT -5
((and just to move things along, did the calculations, and this attack did not go through, but there's still plenty of time to come up with something))
Beaulieu's troops, while bloodied, weren't giving ground. They were the best in the Occupation Forces, as the fox had trained them quite well, instilling both discipline and resolve within the troops, and they stood their ground under fire. The close range canister fire cut holes in the front ranks, and stalled Beurnonville's attack in it's tracks. That's primarily what it was designed for, close range, anti-infantry fire. It was only good at about musket range though, as anything further and the target would be safe.
Firing and reloading, Beaulieu's wing back up their bark with bite, and more than held their own. Their ranks were thinned a tad, but not enough so that they would feel it. Now if they were continuously attacked...then the vulpine might be in trouble. But as it was Beurnonville's attack was flung back but not in disorder. His wing was still intact despite the fusillade, though his troops did have to withdraw out of musket range.
"Cease firing! Switch the cannons over to regular solid shot!" the fox smoothly ordered, as the Rosferians pulled out of both musket and canister range. They had survived round one.
Over to his right, Clerfayt wiped his brow. He was thankful to have gotten off round one without having been attacked. But as the horned lizard glanced up at the noonday sun he realized there was still five hours of daylight roughly remaining. Not good...not good at all. The Rosferians would come again. They weren't in disarray after all.
"Sir apologies sir. Looks like we might have to come up with another plan." Farrand said, bemoaning the fact that he hadn't been able to support Beurnonville in time. "Sir it's clear our coordination wasn't the best. Beurnonville went in after I attacked, and then I wasn't able to attack at all because I wished to wait. But look! My troops are starting to recross the Haine!" It was true enough. The weasel's troops were indeed splashing back across the stream, this time well behind the Cuesmes Ridge and von Lilien's troops. They would need time to get fully across, and once again Farrand found himself wishing he had not come up with such a complex maneuver.
"Sir...I would request that I be allowed to hold here and wait for my troops to cross...and then be allowed to carry out my attack against von Lilien. I know I can do this sir...it's just a question of timing. I know I've been slow today, but I hope to make it up to you by day's end." the weasel pleaded, hoping his commander would agree. "I think we need to come up with another strategy though, and hopefully I'll be able to come in again without too many more delays. It would be a waste to cancel this sector though. I can't speak for Duke Augustine or Marquis Beurnonville, so I suggest you give them new orders sir to your liking...that is..if you don't mind me continuing my proposed attack here."
Farrand only hoped he wasn't stepping out of line. But he really believed in pushing for this, and just didn't want to give up on it.
Meanwhile, Albert was readying his forces for the next strike, as he knew it would come. He brought up ammunition from the rear, and had Beaulieu prepare. He kept Clerfayt weakened though, as he did not recall his troops from von Lilien's lines. He wanted to keep the wolf as strong as possible as he knew he was going to be attacked from front and rear, and he would need all the help he could get....as well as harboring a desire to protect his adopted son serving over on the right.
Von Lilien, for his part, was strengthened by part of Clerfayt's wing but was left with the prospect of having his rear hit once Farrand got across. He could do nothing to prevent this, as splitting part of his command to deal with the rear would leave his front weak..and he simply did not have the troops to spare to do that. The Kostritz soldiers had to stay on their ridge and not move. They were immobile due to lack of numbers, and more likely than not the next Rosferian blows would fall.....
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Post by Carrow on Nov 21, 2009 8:55:48 GMT -5
Duross swore softly as he saw what was happening. He didn't want the weasel General to lose heart, though. It really had been quite the good strategy, everything had just not fallen into place, as the otter had been dreading, But he knew that in this situation, attack would definitely be the best form of defence. He turned to Farrand, his face the picture of disappointment.
"I can't believe that didn't work... 's not really your fault, Farrand. Like you said, our coordination hasn't really been the best, though, so we're just going to go with what we have. As for your suggestion, well, quite an amount of time has been spent waiting for an opportunity to strike, but it's a damned good plan.... Oh, I couldn't call it off, not after all this. Go right ahead. You have my permission, General."
The mustelid then turned to Augustine and Beurnonville.
"Right then, chaps, here's what I suggest you do. Combine your troops. and head in with some more attacks. I know as well as the Kostritz commanders do that their position has been altered to such an effect that they have to stay put for fear of being completely wiped out. We should take advantage of that, and go in with all guns blazing. When it comes down to it, that's the only way we're going to carry the day here. We have the numbers to back us up. They don't. We can do all the attacking. They are stuck now, unable to do much of anything. It's as simple as that, and I say we exploit that to its fullest. Any suggestions yourselves, gentlemen?"
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Post by bookity101 on Nov 21, 2009 22:57:14 GMT -5
Both Agustine and Phillip lasped into silence, both going over different stratigies that they had in mind. Phillip shook his head, not knowing what to do 'cept what he had already been doing. Give support to both surronding general's with his cannons. Not much else could be done because of the embankment that his infantry faced.... or was there....? He was in the midst of pondering this when he realized Beurnonville had been speaking to him.
".....Phillip, I'm may to have to borrow some of your beasts if this plan doesnt's go through properly..." Phillip's head snapped 'round.
"Oh, I'm sorry General, I wasn't paying attention to what you were saying." Phillips ears twitched a bit, showing he was embaressed. Marquis Beurnonville looked down at the young male beside him.
"Lost in thought lad?" Phillip looked down at his paws,
"Yes sir," Berny placed a paw on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about that lad," He winked at the younger beast. "I'll just be sure to get your attention from whatever you were plotting the next time I'm speaking to you." Phillip nodded and Berny continued. "As I was saying, I'm going to go ahead and keep up with what I was already doing," He nodded to Farrand. "the General here has a good idea, and because we have to beast power to keep at this, all we need is time," He looked over at Phillip. "Lad I'm going to need you to keep up with the speical squad, maybe even get the range on a couple other of the artillery units and keep this up." He looked over at Duross. "Sir for this to work, we are going to have to more daring then they will be.." Berny shook his head, "And Duke Albert won't allow any thing overly.. dangerous." From the vantage point he had found on the ridge, he had seen the weakoning of Clerfayt's posistion, and he knew that Farrand would need to keep pressure on that section.
Berny turned to look at Farrand "Sir, I saw that you will be facing more than you had expected on that hill. If we can get that section into disarray, the Duke may feel forced to pull even more troops from the center to support it, making an opening for us."
"And I have an idea about what to do if Clerfayt is weakend, or as he is," Phillip said, reacingd up and tugged on an ear, forcing it to stay still since it had been twitching ever since General Beurnonville started speacking. "But I need to go back and look at the layout of my posistion a little more before commiting to it."
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Post by Ladorak on Nov 22, 2009 1:48:39 GMT -5
"Well a try at Beaulieu again might work but..." Farrand scratched his chin, thinking a moment. "But I'd almost say go for Clerfayt. The front's too narrow to have you both attack at once, but maybe one could try first, and if that doesn't work the other could go in and overwhelm him. Of course that's...just a thought. I'd attack von Lilien with the pincer, and the rest concentrate on Clerfayt for now. Of course..."
Here he paused, still tugging on his chin fur a bit. "You did mention your own idea about Clerfayt. I wouldn't want to interrupt that if you feel it's good." he spoke in reference to Beurnonville. "I mean General Duross sir. You're in command after all, we just follow orders. It's up to you really to decide what to go with. I just want to get the chance to hit von Lilien and make up for my slowness. Slow and steady hopefully wins this race." the elderly weasel said, only hoping he could live up to his words as he puffed his chest out a bit, giving Duross a game smile.
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Post by Carrow on Nov 22, 2009 12:55:53 GMT -5
The otter smiled also, rubbing his paws rapidly, a clear sign that he was willing and able to go along with the weasel General's plan. "Capital idea, Farrand! I can certainly see this scheme producing some results. However, as before, this all hinges on timing, so, here's what I suggest."
The mustelid turned to Phillip and Beurnonville, an inspired light in his eyes. "You two take your forces and head for Clerfayt. Phillip, you go in first, strike as quickly as could be hoped, and then perform a calculated withdrawal. Meanwhile, Beurnonville, yet get your troops in order, and be ready to mount a rapid attack of your own as soon as you see Phillip pull out. The key here is giving those Kostritz creatures no time to regroup. And then, while all this is going on, Farrand pulls a pincer on von Lillien, like he's suggested. We leave them no room, and pile everything we have into this attack. That's my version of these combined schemes. I would still like to hear your idea, Phillip. Maybe we could work it into what's already been formed. What do you think?"
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Post by bookity101 on Nov 23, 2009 20:57:24 GMT -5
Phillip and Beurnonville looked at each other, then looked back at Duross. Berny was thinking on how they would get Phillips troops in fast enough. Phillip was in charge of much of the cavalry. Well at least more than he was, maybe a cavalry charge then follow it up with his infantry to route them to the fullest?
"....And we'll have to would have to increase the pressure to convince Beaulie into keeping his snout down.." Berny trailed off as realized he had been thinking out loud. "Oh sorry General." he rubbed his neck releasing the tension in it. He turned and called out to one of the young officers near by "Get me some of that coffee over there, quickly!" The young weasel jumped and pointed a claw to himself,
"Me Sir?" His voice broke, showing he was still going through that part of adolescence. Berny rolled his eye's,
"No, the stump your sitting will do a fine job at fetching coffee. He saw a flush appear on the insides of of the lad's ears and relented. "Just hurry and get the coffee boy." This time the lad snapped to, saluted and scurried off at top speed. Beurnonville turned back to his fellow Generals. "Hope he's not in that much of a hurry when he comes back with my coffee..."
Beurnonville turned to Phillip "What do you think Phillip,?" Phillip reached up and stroked his chin, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Well I think it would be a good idea sir." He looked around, taking in the faces of his superiors. "The only concern I have is some of the horses loosing their footing and bringing down the horses surrounding them." He looked over at Beurnonville, "Other than that its ok, Sir" Beurnonville looked at him.
"I didn't think of that lad, good catch." He looked back at the others. "Ok gentlemammals, any ideas on this conundrum?"
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