Riombara/The Great War/Part 2

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The Great War - Second Part (5th Campaign)

To read about the first part of the Great War covering the beginning from June 1006 to November 1006, go here: The Great War - Part 1


4th Campaign, results

The past 5 weeks have seen a complete shift on the front: While the relative strengths of both sides remained nearly constant in the beginning, still the tables did turn: Due to the reorganization of our command, the activation of the Military Council, much closer coordination with our allies and a lot more information being supplied to all concerned our army has become a lot more mobile, grave mistakes have been avoided and our enemies's mistakes could be exploited. Of the 7 major engagements all resulted in allied victories, Luz has been kept besieged in their capital for most of the time and we were able to wrest 5 regions from them. After 5 months of war everything that Luz had gained during the beginning has been retaken and we had isolated their capital, forcing its move back to its original location. Indeed, all seemed well until Enweil reappeared.

Fifth Campaign (December 1006 to February 1007)

Riombara-Age3-GreatWar8a.jpg

Diplomacy: With Plergoth out of the fight and Sint being vastly more interested in pursuing their war of extinction against Ashborn, the western half of the Grand Alliance is more or less dissolved. Now Enweil turns their might against us - once again Riombara is vastly outnumbered. Irombro too withdraws from the fight, then soon afterwards declares hostilities towards us. During this time a defensive alliance with Alluran is signed, followed shortly after by a peace with Avalon. The entire 5th campaign would be fought by Luz, Enweil and Irombro against Riombara and Alluran.

  • Dec 9th: Enweil pushes into Bym (I), resulting in a small battle where we loose 2000 men. We withdraw into Grehk, our allies withdraw from Eylmon.

The 2nd battle of Grehk, Dec 11th

  • Dec 11th: We are running a hostile TO in Grehk (II), but Enweil and the first Luzian units attack and defeat us there: 22.000 against 11.000. Practically our whole force is crushed while the attackers suffer little, our TO fails.
  • Dec 12th: Enweil advances 16.000 men into Ardmore (III), even though they first stated that they would not advance past Luz' original lands. Luz runs hostile TO's in both Mio Dupaki and Glongin. The next day, we loose another 3000 men in Ardmore which are retreating from Grehk towards Athol.
  • Dec 14th: We lose Mio Dupaki to Luz, followed the next day by Glongin. Irombrozia starts a hostile TO of Rii. We reenter Ardmore the next day.
First sortie 

The 1st battle of Rii, Dec 16th

  • Dec 16th: 7000 Riombarans attack 5000 Irombrozians in Rii (IV) - the first battle of this new war. Irombrozia is routed, losing their whole army while we have only around 1000 casualties. On the next day, 3400 undead attack 6700 defenders in Avengmil, but are easily routed. King Marc is captured during the battle.
  • Dec 18th: We advance into Glongin (V), killing 1000 enemies and start a friendly TO. Our army of 9.800 in Glongin faces 8.800 Luzians in Grehk.
  • Dec 20th: A small force of 4000 attacks 1000 Luzians in Mio, wiping them out. While this happens, we take Glongin for the second time.

Diplomacy: Marc, the former duke of Irombro, finally meets his end: Condemmed for seceeding his city in July, he is beheaded in Athol's main square on December 20th.

  • Dec 22nd: After repairing Glongin, we head home to refit. Luz advances 4000 men into Glongin, defeating 2500 of our stragglers.
  • Dec 24th: While we refit, Luz heads home as well, leaving a 5000 strong militia force in Grehk.
Second sortie 

The 3rd assault against Grehk, Dec 27th

  • Dec 27th: After assembling in Ardmore once again, we assault Grehk (II): 10.200 against 6.800 defenders behind level 2 walls. After 6 rounds of fighting, 5 of our nobles finally gain and hold a portion of the wall, enabling us to surround and defeat the defenders. We lose 3000, our enemies 5.500 men.
  • Dec 28th: Dance of Armies: We advance into Mio Dupaki once again, starting a friendly TO. Alluran moves 6000 men into Ovujemeh (VI), starting a TO, but Luz counters by advancing 9000 men into Eloranaal, threatening Allurans army in turn. To complicate the situation further, Irombrozia sends 5000 men into Rii, starting yet another TO while Enweil sends an army towards Grehk: 8000 reach Kuugl on Dec 29th. Now there are 3 Takeovers running in the south and 5 armies are marching, trying to gain a superior position...our enemies numbering 22.000 total, Riombara and Alluran 15.000.
  • Dec 29th: Both Alluran and Riombara have to withdraw from our TO's in Ovujemeh and Mio Dupaki before the enemy advance. Luz advances into Xween.

The 2nd battle of Rii, Dec 30th

  • Dec 30th: 7000 Riombarans attack 5000 Irobrozians who are guarding their TO of Rii - though the battle is bloody, we drive them off. Luz advances into Brovyl and starts a hostile TO there.
  • Jan 1st: We are refitting, Enweil and Luz move 5000 men into Ardmore.
Third sortie 

The 11th battle of Ardmore, Jan 3rd (Sunrise)

  • Jan 3rd / sunrise: Luz' TO of Brovyl fails and they head for a refit. Irombrozia sends 3.000 into Rueffilo, killing 800 Riombarans while we advance 10.000 into Ardmore and meet 6.800 enemies - though especially the Enweilian troops put up a stiff fight, the enemy is routed with heavy losses: 5.800 compared to 2.500 of our men. With this battle we have achieved parity with our enemies in the area of Grehk - and their forces are divided. By now Ardmore has become the bloodiest field in all of Beluaterra - whenever fallen are to be buried, remnants of previous battles are unearthed.

The 3rd battle of Glongin + the 12th battle of Ardmore, Jan 3rd (Sunset)

  • Jan 3rd / sunset: Right after the battle in Ardmore, we advance 7.300 men into Glongin, catching 2.500 enemies who have not withdrawn behind the walls of Grehk. All are slaughtered while we lose 800. While Grehk is stormed, our enemies move 2.800 into Ardmore in an attempt to catch reinforcements - they are more successfull than they like: 2.800 attackers meet 5.600 Riombarans. Our enemies are crushed, losing 2.200 while we lose 1.300. Irombrozia still holds Rueffilo with 3000 men.

Diplomacy: Fwuvoghor has elected Retravic as Prime Minister. She cancels Fwuvoghors alliance with Riombara, says that no hostile action against Riombara will be taken, then closes her borders against any allied force wanting to reach our lands.

The 4th assault against Grehk, Jan 4th

  • Jan 4th: the 4th battle in a row - though tired and bloody, we assault Grehk with 8.800 men, routing its 2000 defenders who fight to the last man. We lose 800.

Within 2 days and 4 battles we managed to attack and beat an oponent who was considerably stronger than our force. We have regained control of the southlands in and around Grehk, while Enweil is retreating its remnants north and Luz is assumed to be refitting in Jidington after their failed TO of Brovyl.

  • Jan 6th: We advance back into Ardmore, then on into Rii and Rueffilo, driving away the Irombrozians who had made a foray into both regions. Another battlegroup heads into Mio Dupaki, starting a friendly TO and on into Bym, starting another friendly TO.

The 1st battle of Bym, Jan 8th

  • Jan 8th: Both TO's fail due to peasants rising up. Luz cunningly assaults our advance battlegroup in Bym, routing our forces: 7000 against 4000. We head reinforcements into Mio, blocking the way east.

Diplomacy: We uncover a spy who had recently joined us from Fwuvoghor: Alaned. He had forwarded our orders to our enemies via Queen Retravic. Hireshmont has been implicated as well. Queen Retravic announces her marriage to Hireshmont.

  • Jan 10th: Enweil shows up in force again in Kuugl - they field 16.000, with another 4000 behind them in Kuugl. We have to withdraw our 10000, our enemies jointly advance, catching 2000 of our stragglers in Mio then another 1000 in Grehk. We withdraw further to refit.
  • Jan 12th: Luz starts a brutal TO of Glongin while Enweil marches south towards Alluran.

Diplomacy: Civil War in Fronen. After Cedric did abdicate, Enzeru was elected. He plus Grimbaldus staged a rebellion, with Enzeru giving in to the rebels as planned, making Grimbaldus (the former general) Prime Minister. They plan to create a monarchy and remake Fronen into something different. Aparently that act has been planned in concert with Hireshmont. The old loyalists start a counterrebellion. The Titans strike Grimbaldus down, resulting in Cedric winning the election, making the counterrebellion moot. The original rebels around Enzeru and Grimbaldus are banned.

Fourth sortie 
  • Jan 15th: We reenter Ardmore in force. Irombrozia moves 4000 into Rueffilo while Luz guards their brutal TO of Glongin with 10.000 men. In addition, Luz runs a friendly TO of Brovyl - an Alluran region - with 3 nobles and only 600 men present. That TO is guarded by 9.300 Enweilians.

The 2nd battle of Rueffilo, Jan 16th

  • Jan 16th: 10.400 Riombarans charge the 5.000 Irombrozians who did march into Rueffilo one day ago. Their staggered defense is broken and they are routed, losing 4.200 against our 1.400. While the battle rages, Luz brutal TO of Glongin is successfull.

The 4th contest of Glongin, Jan 17th

  • Jan 17th: Right after the battle in Rueffilo, 13.000 Riombarans are ordered to attack the 10.000 Luzians in Glongin. We march through the night, but when the sun rises, Luz has withdrawn into Bym. We catch 900 stragglers and start a friendly TO.
  • Jan 18th: Part of the army is ordered to storm Grehk - once again. The 600 defenders are easily routed, then we continue on into Mio, which is empty. Except for Hireshmont who is returning from his wedding...he evades and our friendly TO of Glongin is successfull after one and a half days. We start a friendly TO in Mio, Luz withdraws 9000 from Bym, Enweil and Luz have 14000 arrayed against Alluran in Brovyl while Luz is running their friendly TO, Irombrozia is rebuilding, we have 12.000 in the Grehk-Glongin-Mio Dupaki triangle.
  • Jan 19th: An advance force of 3000 Riombarans reaches the summits of Bym, but Hireshmont again evades. We start another friendly TO in Bym while our forces gaze south and west over the large enemy contingents marching all over the plains between Jidington and Eno. Irombrozia moves 3000 into Rueffilo.

The 5th battle of Glongin, Jan 19th

  • Jan 19th: Luz takes Brovyl from Alluran. At sunset, our TO in Mio fails and is started again. Surprisingly, Irombrozia attacks Glongin with 2000 men, but as that region has been reinforced they meet 8000 of ours and the result is pure slaughter. We wonder why Irombrozia marched to that attack...they have advanced into our lands 5 times now, and only once managed to retreat part of their forces behind the safety of their walls.
  • Jan 21st: Our TO of Mio fails a second time. After taking Brovyl, our enemies are combining their armies and push 21.000 into Bym, ending our TO there. We withdraw our 12.000 from Mio before their advance. The next day Irombrozia advances 3500 into Rii while Enweil and Luz descend from Bym into Glongin. Alluran sends 7000 into Brovyl, starting a hostile TO to retake their region.
  • Jan 23rd: Irombrozia has started a hostile TO of Rii, soon after Luz starts another brutal TO in Glongin, guarded by 18.000 men. We withdraw further into Avengmil.
Fifth Sortie 

Diplomacy: Valentia is no more - the duke of Unger, its sole city, declares allegiance to Melhed.

  • Jan 25th: After refitting, we push 11.000 into Ardmore. Our enemies hold Glongin with 14.000 and Rii with 3.700. Luckily they do not react in time. We forcemarch into Rii, though Irombrozia withdraws to Rueffilo and we catch only 300 stragglers. We head back north towards Ardmore.

The 12th battle of Ardmore, Jan 26th / sunrise

  • Jan 26th / sunrise: Our enemies take the bait - Luz, Enweil and Irombrozia have a total of close to 18.000 men in Glongin and Rueffilo...outmaching our 11.000 by far. Thus they march into Ardmore to catch our aparently retreating force. What they don't know is that we have hidden another 6000 in Athol, currently forcemarching towards Avengmil as well. Once the battle is joined, our enemies realize that they face a superior force: 12.300 attackers against 16.700 riombaran defenders. Their flank crumbles under the surprise reinforcements from Avengmil and after bitter and bloody fighting their army is crushed. Our enemies lose 10.800, we have to bury 6.500. With that victory we once again dominate the southlands, though Enweilian reinforcements are on their way... At the same time, Alluran retakes Brovyl

The 12th battle of Ardmore, Jan 26th / sunset

  • Jan 26th / sunset: Tired, battered and weary we advance against Glongin. By sunset our enemies have forcemarched reinforcements there, raising their strength to 6.200. We attack with 6.600, 800 more infantry do not reach Glongin in time. The fight is one of the fiercest of the whole war, both infantry lines are routed and their very last archer unit rout ours. We lose 3.400, our enemies 4.200. But the harshest loss is Marshal Kakeru who is killed as he lived - charging the enemy. The next day we are ready to force battle once again - but the enemy retreats except for 400 stragglers which are quickly overwhelmed.

5th Sortie / Aftermath: During 2 days of vicious fighting our force of 17.000 has attacked and driven off an enemy force of over 20.000, killing 16.500 while our losses are 10.000. Two enemy TO's have been broken as well and Alluran was able to retake one region. Considering that Alluran and Riombara stand against Luz, Enweil and Irombro with a very probable hostile Fwuvghor breathing down our necks we consider this no mean feat at all...

  • Jan 28th: Both sides retire.
Sixth Sortie 
  • Jan 30th: Our advance guard of 4000 reenters Ardmore. Luz gathers in Epinokte and - one day later - pushes 6.800 into Ovujemeh to threaten Alluran once again. Irombrozia is staying behind their fortifications. At the same time we drive 400 Luzians out of Glongin and reoccupy Grehk - which is defended by a grand total of 200 men. Luz has quite clearly given up on trying to hold the city by force.

Diplomacy: Avalon and Riombara sign an alliance - a historic day for our realms!

The 1st battle of Brovyl, Feb 1st

  • Feb 1st: Luz had moved 6.200 men into Brovyl the day before. On sunrise Alluran attacks with 5.800 - and despite their numerical inferiority, they rout their foes after a bloody fight! 5000 Luzians fallen stay on the field, Alluran losses are estimated at 3000. We start another friendly TO of Mio Dupaki, which promptly fails (again!) next day. A hostile TO is started at once.
  • Feb 3rd: We push an advance force up into the crags of Bym once more - and again armies are seen marching down in the plains. Enweil has refitted and is sending 13500 against Alluran into Ovujemeh. Luz is rebuilding as well and by the next day they have 7.800 in Epinotke, facing Bym. We have 11.000 in Mio Dupaki, guarding our TO.
  • Feb 4th: Irombrozia moves their fresh army into Rii and starts a hostile TO. Surprisingly, this TO suceeds after only 1 day - Irombrozia takes Rii. Luz and Enweil combine their armies in Brovyl. The next day that army is split once again, 8.500 move into Xween while 16.900 stay in Brovyl - they now field a total of 25.400 against Allurans 12.000 (militia and mobile units). That puts the total of mobile enemy units at close to 30.000 against Allurans and our 18.000.

The 1st battle of Xween, Feb 6th

  • Feb 6th: Alluran in a brave move dares to attack their enemies in Xween: 7.600 march to battle against 10.500, while roughly 15.000 further enemies hold the neighbouring region of Brovyl capable of reinforcing Xween...Alluran loses the battle and roughly 2.500, Luz/Enweil a staggering 4.500, including their full cavalry arm. While battle rages in the south, we finally take Mio Dupaki after 5 days. Now Grehk is cut off from Luz. We head home to refit.

5th Campaign, results

The entire 5th campaign was fought by Riombara and Alluran against Luz, Enweil and Irombro. Our enemies were considerable stronger than our side, still they did not manage to gain anything. In the beginning, Luz and Enweil retook Mio Dupaki and Glongin, but after bitter fighting we managed to retake them. This did cost us Rii which was taken by Irombrozia, and Brovyl which was taken from Alluran by Luz. So after all that strength being invested by our enemies against us, they had practically given up on holding Grehk by force and were unable to make any significant gains against Alluran.

The Great War - Part 3