The Second Defensive Battle of Border Town

> This is the attack on Border Town led by Lehman Hawes, for the attack on Border Town by Osmond Ryan, see The Defensive Battle of Border Town
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The **Second Defensive** **Battle of Border Town**, alternatively known as the **Defensive** **Battle of Border Town,** was a conflict between **Roland Wimbledon** and his First Army against **Timothy Wimbledon** and his army which was led by **Lehman Hawes**. It was Timothy's first incursion into the western region and the first time that modern warfare tactics were used by Roland in battle.

## Overview

The army led by Lehman Hawes had roughly 1500 men, most of whom were criminals, rats and refugees who were coerced into joining the army. They were very lightly armoured with most of them not even wearing armour and only had short spears as their weapons. There were also a few other knights who acted as commanding officers but there was no real cavalry force. Instead, the 1500 strong militia were equiped with Berserker Pills that would make them as powerful as typical cavalry.

It is unknown exactly how many men were within the entire First Army during the battle but it can be assumed that it increased from 300 after the last battle. However, it was confirmed that around 100 soldiers were now armed with revolver rifles and that at least 100 soldiers armed with Flintlocks remained in the rear to protect Roland and the artillery teams. The First Army also now had 20 12-pound field artilleries instead of four. The most important thing to note however was that the Army was well fortified within a defensive line of bunkers that protected them from projectile fire. They also had the assistance of the Border Town Witches.

## Chronology

### Prelude

Sometime after Roland defeated **Osmond Ryan** at The Annihilation of the Longsong Noble Alliance, Timothy Wimbledown had to deal with Duke Ise's rebellion at the Northern Region (however, it was suspected that Duke Ise has never started a rebellion and it was only an excuse for Timothy to conquer the region and install his own subordinates instead.) As such, Timothy was forced to send Knight Lehman Hawes as well as other knights from the North down to the Western Region to re-issue Timothy's recall order to Roland which the prince ignored and to escort the prince back to King's City.

However, the re-call order was actually just an excuse for the knights to investigate Roland's victory and to advance Timothy's rule over the Region. After destroying the Church and seizing its pills, taking over the Longsong Stronghold with minimal casualties and acquiring information from the local longsong nobles, Lehman Hawes marched his army on Border Town.

It didn't take long for the large host of militiamen to be spotted by **Lightning**who then informed Roland. Like the previous defensive battle, Roland quickly set up defensive fortifications and parameters in preparation for the battle. This time however, he also set up bunkers made from cement in multiple rows in a diamond formation while the 20 cannons were placed at the rear.

### Battle

Lehman Hawes eventually arrived at Border Town with his militia army. Although he wanted to readjust his army's ranks in order to flank, surround and overwhelm the enemy who had taken up defensive position, he was suddenly assassinated by **Nightingale** before he could give the order. At the same time that Lehman died, **Echo**imitated his voice and ordered the militia to charge at Border Town. She also copied the voices of the other knights and ordered all of Lehman's army to charge.

The militia took heavy casualties as they entered the firing range of the First Army's cannons and their revolver rifles. Despite their best efforts, the militia were mostly unable to harm the First Army soldier within the bunkers and were forced to ignore the bunkers and attack the artillery at the rear instead. However, this placed them in the crossfire of the bunkers and in the range of the cannon's grapeshot, leading to them suffering even more casualties and eventually routing.

Meanwhile, one of Lehman's knights, Levin has remained in the forest with a small group of the militia, trying to find and kill the witches who ordered the militia to charge prematurely. But his failed attempts to find Nightingale while his men systematically died around him made him realise that it may be impossible to find her. He then tried to return to the main militia body in order to protect himself but was surprised to find that the militia army he believed would overrun Border Town's defences were now in full route. As Levin watched the militia retreat, like Lehman before him, he too was killed by Nightingale by a single bullet to the head.

### Aftermath

The battle ended with most of the militia being killed in the assault and the survivors, including two knights surrendering. Only five soldiers of the First Army were wounded and all of them were healed by Nana Pine once the battle ended. With the main force destroyed, the First Army returned to Longsong stronghold and quickly recaptured the city. The captain of the garrison was killed by Nightingale and the 100 man garrison surrendered, marking the end of Lehman's incursion into the Western Region.

Roland's victory only made King Timothy more suspicious of the Western's Region's newfound lord. None of the information that Lehman acquired in the Western Region ever reached Timothy's ears so he once again clueless as to how his supposed idiotic brother could have succeeded in defending the Western Region. Nevertheless, Timothy still dismissed Roland as a major threat, believing that the Western Region will fall into the King's control eventually some time in the near future.

## References

1. Chapters 197-201
2. Chapter 266