Battle of Slovan Desperation

BACKGROUND ----

With the connection of the two continents, the southern
Tetepontic and the northern Akros, at the Cretescast Isthmus and the subsequent
invasion of the Angshire, the previously dominant Nawatli had begun to be
forced out of their more southern borders with Angshire petty kingdoms reaching
as far as the Unflooded Steppes. At the same time, large assaults by the more
so subjugated Tallin and Hantzu had all but forced the Nawatli Duchies and
Kingdoms north of the Unflooded Steppes, besides fortress cities such as
Coacatlan and Tlaxpan. This movement north brought the Nawatli into conflict
with the Slovans, who lived within the forests and rivers north of the Lamawell
Tops, as well as on the large sub-continent to the east of Tetepontic connected
by an isthmus. The conflicts between the Eparchies and Tsardoms of the Slovans
and the Kingdoms and Duchies of the Nawatli rapidly turned against the Slovans,
as the Nawatli were determined to ensure they would hold a significant part of
the southern continent. Three battles around the Lamawell Tops, as well as
significant sieges in antiquated cities such as Tesdia (now Texcal) and Huaesk
(now Huaxacachi) had forced the previously strong Slovans to seek refuge on the
sub-continent, with the isthmus being their last proper geographical defence
against any attack. This cramped and less than plentiful living space caused
much strife and conflict between the once-powerful Eparchs and Tsars, with most
Nawatli happy to patiently wait to take the remaining land as the Slovans ripped
themselves apart.

This patience was
not shared by King Atsidi Bornbazine. One of the more powerful Nawatli rulers,
he had previously been based in the city of Coacatlan before having to flee due
to impeding siege preparations by the Hantzu. Now based within Texcal, with
king considered the rapid invasion and subjugation as the only way to ensure
that the Nawatli would be able to counter-attack the invading Angshire, Hantzu
and Tallin in the near future. Gathering a host of 40,000 footmen, as well as
5,000 archers, 5,000 light cavalry and 200 of the famed Nawatli Hippogriff
knights, King Bornbazine marched up the Slovan way, hoping to take the Slovan
cities of Metvetrov and Terelolic in an instant and as such remove the last
geographic defences that the Slovans had. However, as this host moved over
Tutalante's River, they were ambushed by a 20,000 strong host led by Duke
Istaqa Howi, a significant member amoung the Nawatli leaders who preferred to
wait out the eventual Slovan demise. Having heard of the gathering of
Bornbazine's host and wanting to knock out a rival to his own power, Duke Howi
had set an ambush up at the river crossing not too far away from his base at
Tlahna. (see image 1) The ensuing conflict lasted for 6 hours, and while King
Bornbazine had come out on top in the end, the fight had cost him over 15,000
footmen, as well as 1/3 of his auxiliaries and half of his Hippogriff knights,
a result which meant that Bornbazine's host had to delay invasion plans. With
the Duke's armies in tatters, Bornbazine's host entered Tlahna with little
conflict and stayed there for the better part of two months, as the host
gradually rebuilt from soldiers in the surrounding areas.

This short conflict and movement by Bornbazine's host
alerted the Tsar of Metvetrov, who also controlled the city of Terelolic.
Having already considered his territory as the last line of defence and knowing
he would get little help from any of the other Slovan Tsars or Eparchs due to
their constant squabbling, Tsar Daro Vassiliev had already started preparations
to defend the 170km long isthmus which protected the last vestiges of the
Slovans. However, the news of how close a Nawatli invasion was forced the Tsar
to abandon any plans which featured a defence along the entire front, as there
would be no time to prepare adequate defences. The Tsar knew though that if the
Nawatli host was able to penetrate anywhere along the front, it would likely
mean the end for the Slovan resistance. As such, Tsar Vassiliev split his
forces into three, with each of his cities being garrisoned by a force 5,000
strong and another force, 10,000 strong, being camped 50km from the front line,
deep within the forest. At the same time, within the two months he had to
prepare, boobytraps were laid all throughout the forest, hoping to slow down
the Nawatli advance. The hope was to bait the Nawatli host deep into the forest
and hit them from three sides, hopefully forcing them to retreat. As the final
defensive preparations were made, Bornbazine's host had already set off from
Tlahna and had reached the small town of Chern within the week. King Bornbazine
set camp here and began to plan his next move.

**---- THE**
BATTLE ----

35,000 Nawatli footmen

4,000 Nawatli Archers

3,000 Nawatli Light Cavalry

100 Hippogriff Knights

**Total:**
42,200

***Vassiliev’s Forces:***

***Metvetrov’s Garrison***

o
3,000 Slovan Men-at-Arms

o
1,000 Slovan Archers

o
500 Slovan pikes

o
500 Slovan light calavry

***Terelolic’s Garrison***

o
3,000 Slovan Men-at-Arms

o
1,000 Slovan Archers

o
500 Slovan pikes

o
500 Slovan light calavry

***Vassiliev’s Host***

o
7,000 Slovan Men-at-Arms

o
1,000 Slovan Archers

o
1,000 Slovan Pikes

o
1,000 Slovan Mounted Knights

**Total:**
20,000

**THE BATTLE:**

Having camped and sufficiently scouted the forest preceding
him for 4 days, King Bornbazine was certain that his battle plan would easily
crush the final Slovan defences, allowing him complete control over the
remaining Slovans and as such the ability to easily defeat his other enemies.
The plan was devised on information that the forest between Metvetrov and
Terelolic was completely deserted as Tsar Vassiliev had pulled his forces to
protect his cities. This as such gave the impatient and arrogant Bornbazine the
ability to completely circumvent the last defensive line of the Slovans and
push into the sub-continent without a fight. Taking this plan by the reins, he
ordered his army to begin the invasion on the 3day of the week,
despite the complaints of some of his advisors who believed this may be some
sort of trap.

However, unbeknownst to Bornbazine and his host, Tsar
Vassiliev had stationed a multitude of scouts both on horse and within the
dense forest canopy throughout the forest. These scouts would watch the
invading host’s movements and give notice to the Tsar and the city garrison as
to when they should strike.

At 08:00,
Bornbazine’s host began to enter the forest and met with no resistance from any
Slovan force for the first two hours. Having reached some of the forests most
dense regions, Bornbazine and his closest advisors felt that any significant
counter-attack by the Slovan defenders was nigh impossible by now and as such
commanded their host to move far faster and to spread out far more thinly than
they had been previously. This command came at the most opportune moment for
Tsar Vassiliev’s, as the Nawatli host passed by the first of his scouts. The
message of contact being made with the invaders soon permeated into the city
garrisons and Vassiliev’s host and signalled to these forces that the time to
attack was now. With the incredibly thin line which Bornbazine’s host had found
itself with and with a large lack of cohesion due to the order to move fast,
the larger host was in no way to effectively counter the attack against them.
(see image 2)

At the time of the counter-attack by Vassiliev’s forces,
Bornbazine’s vanguard
constituted of the 100 hippogriff knights which survived the ambush at the
Tutalante river, as well as 1,000 light cavalry. This vanguard was the only
part of the Nawatli host which had retained cohesion in the wake of the order
from Bornbazine, whereas the rest of the force was far more disarrayed,
especially on the flanks. As such, when the Slovan forces from Metvetrov and
Terelolic encountered the flanks of Bornbazine’s host at 11:15, they found it
quite easy to defeat and rout much of the forces there, despite the far larger
size of the enemy they faced. This subsequent destruction and rout of the
Nawatli flanks slowly rippled through Nawatli force as the two Slovan forces
quickly moved towards the vulnerable center of their enemy.  Once news of this had reached Bornbazine’s
vanguard, he commanded them to about face and join up with the rest of the army
in proper cohesion, as to ward off the assault by a completely insignificant
opponent. This action by Bornbazine show’s that he now believed that while a
counter-attack was happening there would be no chance for a full frontal
assault to happen, atleast not in time to reach his forces before they
consolidated. This view ignored the reality of the situation, as the Slovan
forces, who were adept at fighting amongst and on the trees were able to most
quickly reach Bornbazine’s retreating vanguard than he thought possible.

Leading the frontal attack, Tsar Vassiliev, 1,000 mounted
knights and 500 pikes crashed into the retreating Hippogriff knights and
Nawatli light cavalry. This attack caused Bornbazine’s entire host to collapse,
as the routing flanks of his host no longer had a stalwart vanguard to anchor
against. The ensuing chaos saw the Nawatli force converge in on itself as it
attempted to retreat from what it now believed a far larger and united Slovan
force. Cases of infighting appear as units on the Nawatli side who converged
from the flanks into the centre believed blood-covered warriors from the
opposite flank were enemy soldiers. As general chaos ensued, Tsar Vassiliev
regrouped his force of  mounted knights
as well as an additional 500 light cavalry and charged into the centre of the
Nawatli force, ensuring the destruction of Bornbazine’s host. At this point,
units of Nawatli footmen and archers had been observed to be exiting the forest
in a disorganized rout, and some witnesses report that King Bornbazine was
among them on horseback, having survived near-death as a Slovan mounted knight
nearly took his horse from under him.

The three Slovan forces converged and proceeded to cleanup
the remaining forces from Bornbazine’s host, killing and capturing an
approximate 25,000 men, whereas they had only lost 4,000 men themselves.
Bornbazine himself retreated all the way back to Texcal with the remainder of
his army, while Vassiliev celebrated in his capital of Metvetrov.

## **---- THE AFTERMATH**

Despite having reached Texcal with much of his army either
dead, captured or deserted, Bornbazine faced no opposition from his powerful
vassals or lords. His story of being ambushed by a numerically superior united
Slovan host was corroborated by returning footmen and cavalry who all
legitimately believed the actual inferior force they faced could not have been
numerically inferior and from one Tsar. As such, King Bornbazine faced no
negative repercussions due to the completely failed invasion. And as such, was
able to field significant armies against his Angshire and Hantzu enemies as
they turned on eachother, reclaiming large swathes of land for the Nawatli and
reconnecting Coacatlan to the main Nawatli regions. Despite this, 12 years
later Bornbazine was killed in a coup when evidence came out explaining the
true nature of the ambush in the Slovan forest.

On the other hand, Tsar Vassiliev was not done defending the
Slovan homeland from the Nawatli invaders. Three more invasions occurred,
though with less significant forces each time by Nawatli kings and Dukes who
were more patient than Bornbazine. Vassiliev managed to turn back each of these
invasions, though he died from an arrow to the shoulder at the end of the third
invasion, as the wound became septic. While the Slovan Tsardoms and Eparchies
remained disunited, the Nawatli did not attempt to invade the sub-continent for
another century, rapidly turning their attention elsewhere.