Kingdom of Geldheim Annex Moridale land East of the Escondida through Wolf Woods

Military: Battle

The first stage of the War on Moridale takes place as the Kingdom of Geldheim successfully manage to annex Moridale land East of the Escodida after ecountering small but determeined resistance

The normally very efficient Kingdom logistics had not been up to scratch; hence it was time to launch the attack, however, the last of their forces were still trickling into their fortified camp. Aware that Moridale forces had mostly retreated though, the young officer currently in charge called forth their initial assault, group leaders were familiar with their objectives, they were all aware of the inherent dangers in the forest, namely the wolves and more troops were arriving by the minute. A short sharp whistle and the attack began. Kingdom forces launched from their fortress into the wilds of Moridale. The fury, coordination and overall efficiency of Moridale’s forces here though took the Geldheim army a little by surprise. Almost at every turn they were under pressure and, initially at least, were pushed back. This despite the healers from the order of St Allard working their skills almost nonstop, despite a formidable wall of warriors from house of Smith, the collective fury of Raven clan – a small contingent from Red Company and the Kings own guard. It was not a total shambles though. It was a smart move for some of the Kingdom forces to collect trees, branches etc Despite their heavy losses, they had the makings at least for a bridge. The river stones were too far apart for quick easy traversal of the river. The fighting up and down and on both sides of the river was a furious affair, neither side giving nor expecting quarter. After a brief, furious exchange, both sides withdrew – mostly to catch a breath but also each side needed to regroup so widespread through the forest and along the river had the fighting been. Whilst regrouping each army learned to some wolf attacks and the losses from them, for the Kingdom particularly, that included the young officer who had led this assault. The word went out among each army to be aware of the wolves and cautious about hiding in the forest – fight was near impossible, except of course for the skirmishers who were at home in the dense forested areas. More reinforcements had arrived at the Kingdom camp creating some disarray whilst they were dispersed. Bearkin issued brief, curt orders to his command – they were going to attempt to blow up the enemy fortification. Without further formality, he gave the order to move out. The Moridale army, what there was of it, split their forces forcing the enemy to do likewise, at least if they kept the explosive as hidden as possible. It wasn’t exactly small. Cutthroat fighting ensued, the bomb changed hands numerous times, the Kingdom wrestled it from Moridale and almost got it to their encampment, before it being wrestled back. The device had a hidden timer. Reasonably accurate, despite all of the jostling about it detonated at roughly the appointed time. It was close to the Kingdom fortification – whilst not destroyed, there was damage. And no small amount of carnage, including some of the Moridale warriors too. As the explosion shattered the sky, the walls shook, a few things broke, the units inside the fort were remarkably quick to get back into order. All realised the losses outside would be significant. Moridale pulled back again, the exact reason was unfathomable, but the brief reprieve gave them time to gather the wounded and get them into the fort, assign ancillary staff to look after the dead with a small contingent of guards. It was then time to move to meet Moridale, rather than wait for their next move. As anticipated, they encountered their enemy fairly soon after moving out of the fortifications. Standard held high though, houses of Allard’s Sacred Light, Raven Clan and Smith worked in unison, what turned out to be a hard-fought slog. Moridale’s shield wall was shockingly effective early on in the battle, however, once they were flanked, things began to crumble for this contingent from Moridale. It became inevitable, as defeat sometimes can, particularly a turn around such as this. Some fled, wisely it could be argued, the rest fell. At the last of them a cheer went up. Kindred wiped his blade clean, then the sweat from his face. He surveyed the field of victory; he chuckled to himself. It was a good victory, but he was a realist and knew this was only a beginning. He would certainly join the celebration that would no doubt be tonight make no mistake there. He would eat and drink his fill, because he knew, above all else, when in the field do NOT miss a chance to eat, sleep or pee…