Post by Ladorak on Sept 21, 2009 13:06:36 GMT -5
Ferdinand watched happily as Duross' troops scampered back to the safety of their own lines. Good....stay there. The ferret was getting annoyed at the aggressive nature of the Rosferians. Didn't they realize THEY were the ones on the defensive here? They were just making things easier on him by trying to come after him. Perhaps he could play off of this however and lure them into making an attack.....
And that was apparently what was going to happen. 10,000 troops massed opposite his lines, and began a march down the ridge, an increase in the Rosferian artillery heralding their advance. The ferret Duke could hardly believe his luck! The Rosferians were either very impatient, very impulsive, or both. Very well...if they wanted to come at him then so be it. He'd let them dash themselves to pieces, then he'd begin sweeping up whatever remained.
"Keep up the artillery fire on them as they get closer! After that, advance the infantry and receive their attack!" were his orders. This command meant that rather than loading his artillery with deadly canister shot as the Rosferians got within range, the infantry would instead be receiving the brunt of their attack. At this point in time, Ferdinand had no real desire to use canister unless it was a larger group attacking his lines. Canister essentially turned the cannon into a giant shotgun and was devastating against infantry, but Ferdinand would hold off on it for now.
Due to the maximum range being used on the artillery pieces, Ferdinand slackened his fire and told his gunners to wait until the artillery fire on the Rosferian side died down...as it would have to do once the advancing troops reached a certain point out of fear for hitting their own side. Closer.....closer they drew. A mile and a half could seem like an eternity to a marching unit. They couldn't run...they'd be exhausted by the time they reached the Gradvar lines. They'd need that energy for their charge after all.
Ferdinand's gunners went and took cover for the time being, throwing out only occasional shots at the advancing enemy, and then, once the fire from the Rosferian side all but died down (they couldn't risk hitting their own lines after all) at about 650 yards distance, the Gradvarian gunners returned to their posts and began lobbing shot into the advancing column.
"Infantry advance!" as per the ferret Duke's orders, the Gradvar line took a few steps forward, covering the artillery, which quickly fell silent to avoid hitting it's own soldiers. Getting into standard defensive formation, the front rank crouched with bayonets fixed (lowering accuracy but increasing paw to paw combat efficiency), the second rank stood with no bayonets fixed, and the third aimed their muskets over the shoulders of the second.
The Rosferian units came within musket range and broke into a rather bizarre charge. Front rank zigzagging? Ferdinand had never seen this before. It intrigued him, but he deemed the maneuver one not worth studying further. Regardless of what they were doing they were still heading into a wall of lead that suddenly blasted out and into their faces. A solid blue line of 35,000 soldiers opened up with their muskets into the advancing 10,000 troops. The effect was rather incredible.
Many were dropped where they stood. Their return fire began slamming into fleshy bodies on the Gradvar side, but the highly disciplined and expertly trained warriors didn't flinch. They could fire roughly 3 times faster than the Rosferians, who had only about a month's worth of training under their belts (for the volunteers at least, which made up about half of the Rosferian Army here). While the front line reloaded, the second line fired, then the third, so that by the time it came back to the front line they were just about ready to shoot again, keeping up a nearly continuous rate of fire.
Fortunately for Kellerman, his goal was not to directly assault the Gradvar line with this force...that would have resulted in outright slaughter. They were outnumbered more than 3 to 1 after all. Because they lasted less than a half hour in front of the Gradvar line and started falling back, they minimized casualties, but nonetheless, about 1,000 of them fell in this attack, cutting them down to 9,000. Gradvar casualties had been not nearly as high, thanks largely to the lesser training found on the Rosferian side.
The Gradvar line continued to fire until the Rosferians had retreated beyond musket range, which was a little over 400 yards. "Sir! Do you want us to go after them and crush them?" Ferdinand's adjutant shouted in his ear. "Looks like we've got them on the run! Could easily swamp them! They're still close as well."
Ferdinand pondered this deeply, wondering if he should order another advance or not. The artillery would have to be silent on both sides. Hmmm....it WAS an awfully tempting target. The ferret was almost moved to try it. He gripped the reins of his horse...but then thought better of it. "No...pull the troops back to the main line. I want to see if they'll come at me again. After all, it just makes my job that much easier. Whittle them down and then attack whatever remains."
It had almost worked....Ferdinand had been nearly lured out....but his caution got the better of him at the last minute. His troops returned to where the artillery was, which quickly recommenced it's fire with solid shot upon the retreating Rosferian troops, who maintained their formation but had taken 10% casualties in that attack. This battle was working out rather nicely for Ferdinand so far. He wanted to see if he could tempt the Rosferians to keep battering their heads against his defensive position. If they did, he'd have no need for an offensive move until close to late in the day, and by then it would be all over, the ferret confidently predicted. Yes....let them come to us....see how much they'd be willing to do that.
((Sorry guys, not trying to be difficult. Just trying to throw in unknown variables that you might not always expect. Don't want your victory to be TOO easy after all. Battles never quite go as predicted either, which I think just makes it more fun. There will be times my stuff doesn't always go as planned either, so don't think that I'm just like trying to be difficult...I'm not. XD))
And that was apparently what was going to happen. 10,000 troops massed opposite his lines, and began a march down the ridge, an increase in the Rosferian artillery heralding their advance. The ferret Duke could hardly believe his luck! The Rosferians were either very impatient, very impulsive, or both. Very well...if they wanted to come at him then so be it. He'd let them dash themselves to pieces, then he'd begin sweeping up whatever remained.
"Keep up the artillery fire on them as they get closer! After that, advance the infantry and receive their attack!" were his orders. This command meant that rather than loading his artillery with deadly canister shot as the Rosferians got within range, the infantry would instead be receiving the brunt of their attack. At this point in time, Ferdinand had no real desire to use canister unless it was a larger group attacking his lines. Canister essentially turned the cannon into a giant shotgun and was devastating against infantry, but Ferdinand would hold off on it for now.
Due to the maximum range being used on the artillery pieces, Ferdinand slackened his fire and told his gunners to wait until the artillery fire on the Rosferian side died down...as it would have to do once the advancing troops reached a certain point out of fear for hitting their own side. Closer.....closer they drew. A mile and a half could seem like an eternity to a marching unit. They couldn't run...they'd be exhausted by the time they reached the Gradvar lines. They'd need that energy for their charge after all.
Ferdinand's gunners went and took cover for the time being, throwing out only occasional shots at the advancing enemy, and then, once the fire from the Rosferian side all but died down (they couldn't risk hitting their own lines after all) at about 650 yards distance, the Gradvarian gunners returned to their posts and began lobbing shot into the advancing column.
"Infantry advance!" as per the ferret Duke's orders, the Gradvar line took a few steps forward, covering the artillery, which quickly fell silent to avoid hitting it's own soldiers. Getting into standard defensive formation, the front rank crouched with bayonets fixed (lowering accuracy but increasing paw to paw combat efficiency), the second rank stood with no bayonets fixed, and the third aimed their muskets over the shoulders of the second.
The Rosferian units came within musket range and broke into a rather bizarre charge. Front rank zigzagging? Ferdinand had never seen this before. It intrigued him, but he deemed the maneuver one not worth studying further. Regardless of what they were doing they were still heading into a wall of lead that suddenly blasted out and into their faces. A solid blue line of 35,000 soldiers opened up with their muskets into the advancing 10,000 troops. The effect was rather incredible.
Many were dropped where they stood. Their return fire began slamming into fleshy bodies on the Gradvar side, but the highly disciplined and expertly trained warriors didn't flinch. They could fire roughly 3 times faster than the Rosferians, who had only about a month's worth of training under their belts (for the volunteers at least, which made up about half of the Rosferian Army here). While the front line reloaded, the second line fired, then the third, so that by the time it came back to the front line they were just about ready to shoot again, keeping up a nearly continuous rate of fire.
Fortunately for Kellerman, his goal was not to directly assault the Gradvar line with this force...that would have resulted in outright slaughter. They were outnumbered more than 3 to 1 after all. Because they lasted less than a half hour in front of the Gradvar line and started falling back, they minimized casualties, but nonetheless, about 1,000 of them fell in this attack, cutting them down to 9,000. Gradvar casualties had been not nearly as high, thanks largely to the lesser training found on the Rosferian side.
The Gradvar line continued to fire until the Rosferians had retreated beyond musket range, which was a little over 400 yards. "Sir! Do you want us to go after them and crush them?" Ferdinand's adjutant shouted in his ear. "Looks like we've got them on the run! Could easily swamp them! They're still close as well."
Ferdinand pondered this deeply, wondering if he should order another advance or not. The artillery would have to be silent on both sides. Hmmm....it WAS an awfully tempting target. The ferret was almost moved to try it. He gripped the reins of his horse...but then thought better of it. "No...pull the troops back to the main line. I want to see if they'll come at me again. After all, it just makes my job that much easier. Whittle them down and then attack whatever remains."
It had almost worked....Ferdinand had been nearly lured out....but his caution got the better of him at the last minute. His troops returned to where the artillery was, which quickly recommenced it's fire with solid shot upon the retreating Rosferian troops, who maintained their formation but had taken 10% casualties in that attack. This battle was working out rather nicely for Ferdinand so far. He wanted to see if he could tempt the Rosferians to keep battering their heads against his defensive position. If they did, he'd have no need for an offensive move until close to late in the day, and by then it would be all over, the ferret confidently predicted. Yes....let them come to us....see how much they'd be willing to do that.
((Sorry guys, not trying to be difficult. Just trying to throw in unknown variables that you might not always expect. Don't want your victory to be TOO easy after all. Battles never quite go as predicted either, which I think just makes it more fun. There will be times my stuff doesn't always go as planned either, so don't think that I'm just like trying to be difficult...I'm not. XD))