Second Liberation of Telesis

The Second Liberation of Telesis was the final major action of the Telesian War.

## Background

The Telesian War had been raging for five years, with both sides winning victories and suffering losses. The tide tended to flow with the campaign season - the levied forces of Cyclos and Radynkia were seasonal warriors at best, and thus sailed home to collect the harvest every year. During this reprieve, the Plainspeople were able to rest and recuperate.

The involvement of the mighty state of Ghorny changed matters entirely. The Stranyas of Belgodonsk, Timapol and Korokhovo sent armies of professional soldiers, who required no rest like their allies did.

The Plainspeople were put on the back foot, their forces sent reeling by the onslaught. Belgodonsk's forces were led by the Czar himself, Vasiliy Dmitrovich. His advance in the campaign season of 688 earned him the epithet 'The Relentless', as his heavy cavalry cut through the Plainspeople time and again.

In June 688, nearing the end of the campaign season, Czar Vasiliy's forces joined with Cyclosian and Radynkian armies under Strategos Enceladas of Demelca and Ksiaz Gintaras Sarnecki respectively. This combined army of around 13,500 men made for the occupied city of Telesis, with the plan of capturing the city and leaving Czar Vasiliy and his men to hold it over the winter, with the support of Timapoli and Korokhovan forces.

## The Battle

Upon their arrival at the city, human forces were met by a head-on assault. The Plainspeople built no cities, nor marked the ground in any way. Thus is was clear they had no knowledge of siegecraft, and had no idea how to defend the city during a siege. Therefore their commander decided to sally out of the city instead, and fight a pitched battle.

As was usual, there was no variation in the forces of the Plainspeople, and they formed up into five masses of one thousand each - three of these formed the front line, while the other two were held as reserves on the wings.

The Cyclosian and Radynkian infantry formed the human front line, with Cyclosian skirmishers at the front and the Radynkian and Belgodonskoy cavalry on their wings.

Czar Vasiliy began the proceedings by leading five hundred heavy cavalry on a circling path to the human left. He was met by a Plainspeople formation and fell back before becoming caught in the melee. After this, Ksiaz Sarnecki led his entire cavalry command to the right, taking a less circuitous path and meeting one of the Plainspeople formations in combat. He was reinforced by the Belgodonskoy heavy cavalry under Czar Vasiliy, and the Plainspeople sent another two formations to assist.

Strategos Enceladas led the infantry forward and engaged the Plainspeople centre once the wings had committed. While the Cyclosians held the Plainspeople in place, he had the Radynkians flank them and rolled up the wings of the Plainspeoples' centre.

Meanwhile the Radynkian cavalry had collapsed and Czar Vasiliy was leading the Plainspeople wings on a hit-and-run chase. Over the course of about an hour, he managed to whittle down the Plainspeople enough that they fled the field. They were swiftly followed by the centre, and were harried by the now-reformed Radynkian cavalry until they broke entirely.

## Aftermath

This was the largest pitched battle humanity had ever won against the Plainspeople. It spurred humanity on to greater endeavours, most of which failed entirely.

The city was secured by human forces, and Czar Vasiliy managed to hold it over the winter. This action is said to be one of the major factors in the Plainspeoples' defeat in the Telesian War.