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Post by bookity101 on Nov 9, 2009 22:45:59 GMT -5
Beurnonville hurried to the dispensers to get a cup of coffee for himself, and some tea for the lad. He was back to the group in a matter of minutes, making it back just as Duross was pawing out orders for the battle. He took several fortifying sips of his coffee and pawed the cup of tea to Phillip as soon as he could. Phillip nodded his thanks and took a sip, then wrinkled his nose. He had been expecting coffee, not tea. The young jaguar leaned towards the older general.
"Sir, why the tea?" He kept his voice down as to not interrupt Duross. "I like coffee just as much as the next beast..." More so than the next beast really he finished to himself, it was the one thing that could wake him up on most mornings, or keep him awake on others.
Beurnonville smiled and took another sip, he knew that the younger beast loved his coffee, thats why he had gotten him tea. "Because lad, you are jittery enough as is, you don't need to add that coffee on top of those already twitchy ears of yours." Berny smiled as he saw Phillip pull his hat down more firmly over the ears in question.
Beurnonville and Phillip both saluted Farrand as he made his way off to start his part of the attack. Soon enough he and Phillip were mounting there horses and heading back to their portions of the battle field. Beurnonville turned to the younger beast, watching the swift changes on his face. His hat was lopsided again, revealing one continuously twitching ear. The older general reined in his horse at the point where the two would part ways.
"Listen Phillip, I know this is your first major field command so I'm going to ask you for some no-brainer things that you will come to think of on your own in the coming years." Phillip looked up at the still mounted guinea pig.
"Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated Sir." His eye's shown with excitement, and with some apprehension at the task ahead.
"First," Beurnonville held up a claw, "General Farrand is going to need as much back up from your artillery as possible. We want to seal up as much of their forces as possible to make it easier on his plan to work out." Seeing Phillips nod he moved on. "Second," up went the second claw. "Any fire power you can spare, direct it to a singular point on the enemies line, we need to break through the line as soon as possible, before sundown would be the best." Once again Phillip nodded, this time accompanied with a small gulp. "Thirdly," one more claw went up. "Relax Phillip," Beurnonville swiped his paw over the younger beasts head, knocking his hat to the ground. "You are in the center position, if you have any questions, General Duross is near by to help out." He smiled "And I'm just over the way a little. You can do this youngster." With that Beurnonville spurred his horse back towards the center of his line. He would send a messenger to Duross when his plans were better laid.... for now he would get his artillery started on pounding a hole in the opposing line.
Augustine Phillip watched the elder general ride off. Taking a deep breath he headed off to his artillery, sending an aide to fetch him another drink. "Coffee right Sir?" Phillip looked at him, "No, I think I will have so more of that tea...." The aide looked up in surprise, then shut his mouth when he saw a new determination appear in the eye's of the young jaguar, and simply went to get him the tea.
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Post by Ladorak on Nov 10, 2009 2:34:54 GMT -5
As the the two forces inexorably marched towards each other, the Archduke was able to win the race (he was far closer after all) and set up his line ahead of the village of Quaregnon. Taking the standard formation of having the first line kneel down while the line behind them stood, Darius didn't have quite the number of beasts for three ranks deep, and had to settle for two.
Farrand gave the orders to begin loading, and his blue column began to ready their muskets, though not in unison. Compared to Darius's line they were sloppy, and presented an undisciplined sight. It made the marble polecat smirk at this, but at the same time he recognized his own inexperience and wouldn't gloat. Well OK...he would gloat, but that's because they were inferior rebels. They weren't of noble birth like himself. Farrand was, and he was the one that Darius saw himself as facing Farrand and not his rabble.
The two lines drew closer...closer...and behind Farrand his other half of the division was busy crossing the Haine. "Ready arms!" the weasel general called out, and his front line troops brought their muskets up as they deployed into line formation, spreading out to three ranks deep to spread their fire.
"Aim!" Darius shouted, his gray clad troops leveling their own muskets in a much smoother line than the Rosferians. Almost within range....450 yards was the distance to open fire. Closer....closer...the marble polecat was trying to judge the distance. They had to be right about.....now! "FIRE!" he called out, almost at the same time as Farrand did.
The slugging match was on, and sheets of flame stabbed out from each of the lines, the Kostritz fire cutting into the front ranks of the Rosferians and dropping many beasts, but their ranks were replenished by those behind them, and it was now that Farrand thanked his numerical superiority. His own troops had a wild fire, and not as many gray soldiers went down, but fall they did. Once he thinned their ranks a bit, Farrand planned on conducting a bayonet charge to drive this impudent brother of the Kostritz Emperor back to where he had come from on the ridge.
Blasting away at each other, the Rosferians made up for their lack of accuracy with their plentiful numbers, and Farrand expected to come out the victor of this preliminary contest.
Likewise, Darius knew he was only stalling them, but he intended to give a very good showing of himself in this, his first real test of his valor and combat prowess. White puffs of smoke billowed out between the two lines now as the Rosferians continued their slow advance towards the Kostritz lines, firing as they went and reloading in a ragged manner. Back and forth the lead flew, whistling across the distance between the two forces. Battle had been joined.....
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Post by Carrow on Nov 10, 2009 17:39:17 GMT -5
Duross had a musket of his own, and what's more, the otter General was quite proficient with such a weapon. So he proved by claiming the lives of three Kostritz creatures in quick succession. He was indeed trembling with the excitement of battle, but his paws were remarkably steady when they needed to be. The mustelid could tell that the weasel General, Farrand, was planning their next move. Had he known what exactly his fellow mustelid was up to, he would of course have endorsed the scheme wholeheartedly. Such a manoeuvre as a bayonet charge could prove quite useful in certain situations - like the one the Rosferians now found themselves in, for instance. Duross continued sending over his shots. They were quite accurate considering the circumstances, and the otter smiled as he noticed how relatively heavily the Kostritz forces were being hit. The Rosferian strength in numbers was really showing himself, but the experienced General knew that this was no time to even consider getting complacent. There was quite a way to go yet until sundown.
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Post by Ladorak on Nov 11, 2009 10:52:57 GMT -5
Seeing their commanding general right up there with them blasting away with a musket of his own was heartening to the ill disciplined volunteers, and it gave them a sense of will that they could overcome this marbled polecat and his troops in front of them. They blasted away, giving just as good as they got due to their numbers. The Kostritz soldiers weren't suffering nearly as much, but they were feeling the pressure.
Intermittent but numerous sheets of flame exploded from the tips of the muskets on the Roferian side, showing their ragtag method of loading not as a unit as every beast for himself. It was sloppy and disorganized but at least they weren't horrible shots. They did tend to fire wildly but Kostritz soldiers WERE falling across the way. And Farrand kept his troops moving, albeit slowly.
He could sense a quick victory over this sector of the battlefield. But while he might be able to drive Darius back from whence he came, the weasel doubted he would seriously press the pursuit after this. Half of his troops were still crossing the Haine after all...and then they had march behind enemy lines, recross the river, and THEN he would be confident in throwing in all of his troops. A lot of it hinged on timing, and what could go right or wrong.
Checking his right flank, he could see that his guinea pig compatriot was still working on his artillery bombardment, and Augustine's own artillery was beginning to bark forth as well. But Beurnonville, who Farrand knew would be advancing soon, hadn't actually started forward. "Right then..." he snapped quietly to himself. "We'll just have to put as much pressure on Darius as we can, put in as much effort as we can until the rest of the army starts moving.....and then give them the bayonet."
"Right lads!" his voice boomed, being heard by those in close proximity. "Keep up a sharp fire! We've got to keep at this! Our comrades will be going into action soon but until they do we must keep this up! For our country....for liberty.....LONG LIVE ROSFERIA!" The troops who could hear him gave out whooping cheers, and intensified their effort to keep as much fire on Darius's position as they could. They had to put themselves into this.....soon the rest of the army would be getting involved, and the pressure would be evenly distributed throughout the line. Just a bit longer and they could fix bayonets and charge.....it was just a matter of waiting a bit longer....weakening Darius just a tad more.....and then they'd be unleashed.
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Post by Carrow on Nov 11, 2009 15:02:53 GMT -5
"LONG LIVE ROSFERIA!," Duross roared, echoing Farrand's cry as he redoubled his efforts. Many, many thoughts were whirling around in the otter General's mind, but he did his best to put them to one side and focus on what had to be done at that moment. The mustelid reckoned that quite the good job was being done as regarded this part of the Rosferian strategy. However, at the same time, he was mentally urging himself, as well as all others, to keep this level of fire up for the time being, for, like the weasel, he realised how much of their plan hinged on getting the timing right. The other half of the force continued to make their way across the Haine. A crucial moment in these early stages of battle was almost at paw. They would try their absolute hardest to get round and take those Kostritz soldiers by surprise - Duross had never known any of his creatures not to give their all in times of need - but their strike would need to be swift and completely unexpected, so other creatures on the offensive could start their bayonet charge. The otter was hoping that the Rosferians would still have the element of surprise later on when the other half of their contingent entered the fray. As things stood now, though, he thought, they weren't doing all that badly.
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Post by bookity101 on Nov 12, 2009 16:46:45 GMT -5
Beurnonville readied his own troops for his own press, glad he told Phillip to just focus on the bombardment. It would be much harder for them to cross the river at three points and keep the pressure on the enemy. They would have to use the pressure of the flanking to get Albert to figure out nobeast would be able to stand in front of the New Rosferian Army.
Beurnonville cast his glance over to Phillips line again, wait a second, what was he doing?? Beurnonville dashed to his horse, yelling over his shoulder to his second-in-command, Colonel Merfues, a very capable polecat, "Get them formed up, and if I'm not back in 10 minutes, get them moving!"
Soon Beurnonville yanked his horse to a stop in front of the young jaguar. "What in earth are you thinking Phillip?" Beurnonville slid to the ground in front of the troops that were forming up on the banks of the river.
Phillip looked up at him, confusion plain on his face, "I was going to put these beasts on these rafts, then ship them across the river, then have them charge up the hill." He motioned to the swiftly constructed rafts. "Isn't that what you and General Farrand are doing?" Phillips voice went from puzzled to defensive."
Beurnonville rubbed a paw across his forehead, this was his fault, he hadn't explained everything to him, so Phillip had made the obvious move. He recalled doing something similar during his first few campaigns. But playing copycat was one way to get beasts killed needlessly. He had learned that one all too well.
"Listen, Phillip, I realize that you are trying to do the best thing." Phillip took a breath to interrupt but Beurnonville didn't let him. "Listen to me Phillip, now, look up that embankment." when Phillip didn't turn, Beurnonville grasped his shoulders and turned him. Pointing a claw at the steep bank, he then turned Phillip again to look at the much lower sides that he and Farrand were stationed on.
Of all things Augustine Phillip was, he was idiot. He saw almost immediately what would have happened if he engaged the enemies right in front of him with a straight charge. They would be able to drop their bullets on his beasts like lead rain... Phillips shoulders fell, "I understand General." He rubbed a paw across his head, feeling like an idiot for not seeing it earlier. 'I'm sor...."
Beurnonville stopped him with a paw, "Listen Phillip, We all make mistakes." Berny sighed. "First time I was in charge of I let the majority of the beasts get captured or killed. Soon enough I learned how to listen and watch and learn." Phillip nodded, straightened his shoulders, and began going about what he did best, organizing his beasts to take full advantage of their posistion, which wasn't much, but he would manage to put pressure directly on the front lines, while keeping his own beasts safe.
Beurnonville watched for about two seconds before scurrying back to his horse and galloping back over to his lines. Col. Merfues looked up at him and smiled. "Just in time Sir, I was about to call the advance," Beurnonville smiled back, "Well we both know how much you enjoy that, so get it Colonel." With a nod Merfues motioned for the drummer* to approach. Taking a deep breath, he called "ROSFERIANS! MOVE OUT!"
Beurnonville smiled as he watched the group he had. Yes they were a little slip shod, yes they were a little unruly, yes they were unpolished, but they were fighting because they wanted to, not because someone told them they had to, they had that much more spirit, and he was glad to be working with these proud beasts. He just hoped that he wouldn't do some thing wrong today to get more of them killed than absolutely had to.
It would take them about 15 minutes to get in position sense they were able to build a makeshift bridge out of fallen tree's and other debris on their side of the river, 15 minutes 'till they engaged the opposing forces.....
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Post by Ladorak on Nov 12, 2009 17:41:10 GMT -5
Looking behind him, Farrand could see his troops were still in the process of crossing the river. Well that was to be expected...but was the support on the other flank? Beaulieu should have been attacked by Beurnonville by now at least...right? It seems the Rosferian military still had coordination troubles, but many of the troops themselves were green and inexperienced, and battles hardly ever went to plan. Coordination was one thing the Rosferian army really lacked, but it was only the first real battle for many of these volunteers, but through battle after battle and experience, they would learn how to become a well oiled machine.
If Beurnonville wasn't ready to advance yet, that was fine. Preparations needed to be made ready on the guinea pig's end after all, and Farrand wouldn't hold it against him. The fog of war was always difficult to see through, even for veterans like the two of them.
But they had to move. They couldn't delay. Farrand felt the time was now right. His troops were champing at the bit and he had to unleash them. And just as if his silent wishes were answered, he could see Beurnonville's troops stepping forward. Alright! Augustine seemed to be in reserve but that was fine with Farrand. Best to let the lad learn from the more experienced beasts first before throwing him right into combat. "BAYONETS!!!" he shouted, passing the order up and down the line. The blue clad soldiers began to fix the metal weapons onto the tips of their muskets. This lowered accuracy when firing because of the front end weight but at the same time presented a frightening wall of steel when they advanced.
Darius could see what was happening, and swallowed hard. Great....a bayonet charge. His troops would be swamped if he didn't order them back to the main lines. Even the young marbled polecat knew that much. "Prepare to fall back!" he ordered, getting his horse ready to move.
"Ready!" Farranded called. "And....CHARGE!" The weasel's host surged forward, roughly 7,000 beasts charging barely 3,000. There was no contest here.
"RETREAT!" Darius yelled, and spurred his horse, setting it at a gallop back to von Lilien. His gray force turned and began running back to the main lines, abandoning the village of Quaregnon in the process. Albert could observe all of this and see that his right was in trouble....and more importantly his adoptive son was in trouble. Spurring his own horse, the polecat started galloping towards his center...towards Count Clerfayt's troops.
The Rosferians surged forward, the Kostritz advance troops giving ground before them. Farrand had to be careful though.....he would let them charge...but needed to stop them...right.....now! "HALT!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as his troops took possession of Quaregnon. Halt? But they were driving them back....weren't they? Shouldn't they keep the pressure on? Skidding to a stop in the dirt roads of the village, the Rosferian troops started to realign their positions.
Farrand was shrewd. He knew that if he had kept going, his 7,500 troops would have come upon von Lilien's main force of 5,000...and they were at the top of a ridge. No....because he had divided his troops and sent half of them across the Haine, it would be unwise to attack before the rest of his division was ready to hit the Kostritz wolf from behind. He had to stop now...and not move until things were ready. It would mean that Beurnonville would receive no support at this point....but all the weasel could do was hope that his attack would not meet too stiff of an opposition. He felt bad...but he'd made his choice. He was flanking them....it would take awhile but hopefully it would be worth it.
***************
Pulling his charging steed to a halt in front of Count Clerfayt, the polecat Duke looked down at his horned lizard subordinate. "Count Clerfayt, shift your attention off to your right. von Lilien and my son in particular is in need of assistance." He pointed a claw in the direction of the troops falling back up the ridge now. "I am ordering you to shift one battalion from your command and transfer it to von Lilien, placing it under his orders. It looks like they're planning a very big strike on the right, so let's make sure von Lilien has the proper troops to repel this attack."
Duke Albert knew it would weaken the center, but as of right now there were no troops currently arrayed against Clerfayt, and Albert didn't see the harm in this. Clerfayt would be left with two battalions, which would admittedly leave him a bit short on beastpower, but as stated, this was right now the quietest part of the battlefield.
Chewing his lower lip, Albert wondered if he should head over to von Lilien's portion of the battlefield to see if his son was alright....but fortunately he could see Darius regain the lines with most of his troops, though some had been taken prisoner when they couldn't retreat fast enough. No...his son didn't want him constantly breathing down his neck....he would stay back...stay here. von Lilien could take care of Darius.
****************
Darius felt his heart pounding in his chest as he reached von Lilien. What a rush! And what a close thing that had been. Had he ordered that retreat too late well...his line might have disintegrated. As it was, the marbled polecat had managed to extract his force from harm's way, and fortunately he could see that Farrand had not pursued him...but why?
"Are you alright?" the wolf asked gruffly in his ear, his long, somewhat aged snout nearly poking the marbled mustelid's head.
"Oh! Yes....yes sir. I...I'm sorry though. I failed." Darius hung his head in shame, closing his eyes as he couldn't look at his mentor.
"Nonsense lad....I asked you to delay them, not stop the entire Rosferian advance. I mean look...it looks like Beurnonville will be going into action against Beaulieu soon, so I have to thank you for stalling Farrand where he is." Reaching out a paw, the wolf gently patted the downtrodden marbled polecat's shoulder. "You did fine.....you're young.....this was your first real test at combat...no sense in beating yourself over the head for this."
Opening his eyes and raising his head, Darius managed a small smile. "Thanks...." he said softly, barely heard over the booming of the cannon. He only hoped he had disappointed his father....but then again he wasn't supposed to stop them....just slow them down. He had done that...the next phase of the battle was about to start now, and he had survived to continue at his post.
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Post by Carrow on Nov 13, 2009 12:10:24 GMT -5
Duross' blood was up, and he roared like a creature possessed as he pelted along in the charge. The two sets of troops were not going to meet head on through this measure, and the otter knew this fact well - Rosferia had the numbers, and they were doing quite a good job of driving the point home. The foe clearly lacked the amount of beasts for a skirmish, and they retreated, just as the mustelid expected them to. The young polecat Darius was young, but not that headstrong to think that their efforts would match the Rosferians' in a full-on charge.
Duross smiled as Farrand's section collectively stopped. The bayonet charge had had the desired effect. The other half of the force continued on their way, and Duross was careful not to give any order to mount an assault just yet. The ridge was the thing that leveled out the playing field in this instance, even if the Rosferians had a substantial amount more creatures than Kostritz. Neither side would have too much of an advantage in that case, and so the otter was content to wait for the arrival of the other troops. Then they could see what the other side were truly made of. Futhermore, a scheme was taking shape in the mustelid General's mind as the seconds ticked slowly by. He would reveal everything soon.
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Post by Ladorak on Nov 14, 2009 15:49:57 GMT -5
((Sieg, I'm taking Clerfayt off your list because of your lack of posting on the site as of late. I'll let you keep Beaulieu though as I'm sure one character will be easier to manage. Don't worry too much about it, it's just we need to keep things moving with this one, and I'm not sure you can handle two characters as of right now. If you need help with something though please ask me, as I'm more than willing to work with you on your writing. ) Taking a glance down at the open fields before him, Count Sebastian Clerfayt took stock of the situation. It looked as if for now that the Rosferian left was pressuring their right, and the Rosferian right was beginning to move as well, towards Beaulieu. They would bring him to battle soon, but the reptile was confident in his compatriot's defensive skills. The old vulpine was a foxy one, wily and shrewd, knowing his business. A good commander in other words. The golden scaled lizard contemplated a few things. "Sir...if I may. I'd rather hold my troops in position here, just in case. I mean sending them over to von Lilien, especially when it seems that he's not in immediate danger would only serve to undermine the center of our line. I would have only two battalions, von Lilien would be boosted to five. Does he really need that many? Most of the Rosferian divisions have four themselves from the looks of it, so I would be outnumbered two to one from the looks of it if I were attacked." "Right...but I don't see any beasts attacking you right now, and von Lilien IS going to be hit again. We need those troops over on the right. Now shift them over, do not question my orders." Albert said insistently, wondering why his second-in-command was recalcitrant. "Now carry this out. Go!" The horned lizard sighed. He supposed it was just the Duke growing concerned for his adopted son, Darius. He wanted to make sure the lad was adequately protected. "Yes sir." He replied, throwing a salute and passing on the orders to his subordinates. One of his battalions detached themselves from the line, and began to march behind the main line over to von Lilien. They weren't concealed from the Rosferians, and Duross would be able to see this movement if he was looking over in that direction. At the same time, Clerfayt's other remaining two battalions began to sidestep to the right to fill in the gap. The horned lizard really didn't like this, as it left his position even more weak than it had been from the start, but he had to obey his commander's orders as well. Besides, he didn't plan on just rolling over and dying when the Rosferians did come at him. He still had his experience and his ability...he could see this through. *************** Farrand was now stalled. He dared not advance until the other half of his division was in position. He could see they had now safely crossed the Haine, and were moving along the opposite bank. Good...they'd just have to recross the river behind von Lilien's segment of the line, and fall upon him. The weasel could see Clerfayt sending the wolf reinforcements. It would probably bring von Lilien up to 7,000 troops, just about half the Kostritz army. Farrand pondered this. Well....even with the reinforcements, the lupine commander should hardly be able to hold his position with 7,000 attacking him from the front and 7,000 attacking from the rear. Turning to general Duross, the weasel saluted and gave his report. "Sir, sorry for the delay. I know Beurnonville will be going in alone now, but I'd rather that my column wait until my flanking attack is in position, as otherwise I don't think we can drive them off as we are right now. Because I split my force I won't be able to achieve concentration until they all come up. I'm sorry once again, but at least the initial crossing is over and done and with." He only hoped the otter would not be displeased by this lack of action on this side of the battlefield. Farrand was inwardly hoping his calculations had been correct and that he wouldn't be fatally delaying the attack.
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Post by Carrow on Nov 14, 2009 20:48:33 GMT -5
Duross smiled as the weasel spoke to him. When he had finished giving his report, the otter nodded. "Well, as I said, we have take risks in battle if we want to be victorious, and especially on such terrain as this, and I must admit that were we in any other position, such a move would prove foolish, and possibly fatal for a lot of us. But as things stand, I feel I must commend you on your desire to run the risk of such a tactic. This one's going right down to the wire, I'll say that for certain, but luck has been on our side so far."
The otter thumped his rudder decisively. There would be no turning back now. The plan had proved to be an effective one up to now, and the mustelid General considered the risks that the Rosferians were taking to be small fry when he compared them to the benefits of such a scheme paying off. It wouldn't go entirely to plan, of course - nothing ever did on the battlefield - but adjustments could certainly be made.
"So, for now, we wait. Things will all come to a head quite soon. Our creatures will be ready to move at a moment's notice. We're playing a dangerous game here, I'll readily admit that, but the potential benefits indicate that this is an opportunity that really must not be missed," Duross said to himself, as the seconds ticked slowly by.
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