The Battle of Bull's Run

The Battle of Bull's Run was the final battle of the Western War, fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Corveaux and the Kingdom of Vichin. The battle began on the 6th of July 1429 and ended three days later on the 9th. 
=== Background ===
After a decisive campaign in the Westerlands, King Louis of Corveaux crossed the Wrynova River with the naval support of the Valonian League and marched on the Vichinian capital of Kurnow, which was already besieged by Vichinian Duke John Cleight, attempting to free the city from the tyrannical Pontiff of the Cister Cartian Church. After the death of King Florence II at the hand of the church, Vichin was left without a true royal authority, so three of the Vichinian dukes and duchesses had entered into a temporary coalition, forming the League of Vichin, in order to protect themselves from the approaching Corvian army. When King Louis entered Vichin, they rushed to block his approach and the two armies met at the Bull's Run River, 30 km from the city of Lysa. 
=== Prelude ===
The Corvian side consisted of around 37.800 soldiers including 3.000 mercenary troops and 4.000 soldiers from Westerland militias. The army contained 16.000 infantry soldiers and the rest was comprised of a mix of heavy and light cavalry. Even still, the armies of the League of Vichin outnumbered the Corvians with 45.200 soldiers, 11.200 of which were light and heavy cavalry and mounted crossbowmen, 31.000 of which were infantry and around 300 were knights. 
On the 6th of July, the vanguards of the two armies arrived in the vicinity of the Bull's Run river, where a squadron of Vichinian light cavalry attacked the enemy and took some prisoners, while the Corvians focused their attention on fortifying a camp on the high ground. In the following days, the League's vanguard continued to harass the Corvian encampment, while the complete armies arrived in the area. On the 9th of July, King Louis sent an envoy to ask for free passage back to the Westerlands. While the Vichinians argued on what to do, as the League representatives did not wish to attack head on, and bickering between them made commanding the force difficult, Louis crossed the river and marched along the northern bank, dividing his army into three battle groups, and assigning most of the army and his mercenaries to the vanguard, led by Arséne Dampierre. Seeing the Corvians advance, the commander of the League, Duchess Maya Saburov of Masuria decided to attack. She too divided her army into three columns, but placed half of her cavalry in the front, and the second half in reserve, with a considerable force left to protect their camp. The Duchess' strategy was to strike all three Corvian groups simultaneously, while two squadrons of light cavalrymen would circle around and harass the Corvian left flank. 
=== The Battle ===
The battle began with several volleys of arrows on both sides, which only let to few casualties. During the night, it had rained heavily, which had turned the Bull's Run River, usually nothing more than a stream in summer, into a considerable obstacle. This slowed down Saburov's main force in the centre, as it was forced to cross the river after the left flank, which delayed the attack against the Corvian center. In the meantime, the right flank, composed of 300 knights and led by the son of Landon Byways, attacked the vanguard, but after a single attack against the Corvian formation, the Duke's son was killed and the knights retreated back to camp. At the same time, the light cavalry, which should have harassed the flank, soon started to loot the Corvian baggage train instead. 
The left and centre managed to cross the river, though some drowned or refused to cross. Reorganized, they charged the Corvian rear guard, but the terrain was unsuitable for a cavalry charge, and King Louis, anticipating this move, had moved the centre of the army back to support his rear guard. 
The clash against the compact Corvian line was devastating for the Vichinians, who opted for a wave assault. Many of their soldiers deserted the clash, joining instead in the looting of the baggage train and leaving the Vichinian assault outnumbered. Even then, King Louis was extremely close to being captured and would have been, if not for the sacrifice of the Count of Collina-Montress. Many Vichinian commanders died or were injured, including the second in command, Duke Andrei Stoya, who should have signalled the reserve cavalry to advance. Instead, Stoya was dragged wounded from the battlefield and this signal never happened. On the Vichinian right, the infantry was cut down by the Corvians. Outnumbered, Maya Saburov sounded the retreat and crossed the river, where many more drowned or were killed by the Corvians. King Louis, seeing the devastation of his baggage train, decided not to chase the League members. 
=== Outcome ===
In just an hour, the battle was concluded. The Corvians lost around 4.000 soldiers and their baggage train, which contained around 300.000 florrints' worth of valuables, while the Vichinians lost around 10.000, including many commanders and noble lords. The high death toll was partly due to the Corvians not taking prisoners, but instead killing the wounded. The outcome of the battle was a bloody stalemate, as the Vichinians had taken the higher number of casualties and failed to defeat Louis' army, while the Corvians lost their baggage and left the field, forced to retreat to Corveaux. By the 9th of October, a frail ceasefire had been struck between the two kingdoms, but the lasting impacts of the devastating battle still linger in the economic and political disarray of Vichin.