Battle of Dalsgaard

The Battle of Dalsgaard was the final decisive battle in the Second Lorenzen War, fought between Vibius Calenus leading the Nirvan Republic and King Lukas leading the Lorenzen Kingdom. It would effectively end the Lorenzen resistance in the war.

## Background

In **491PR** a Nirvan army led by Vibius Calenus and Gallio Aebutus crossed the Junak Stream into the Lorenzen Kingdom, specifically the hold of Steen, officially declaring war. The army contained 7 Nirvan legions and allies from their previously conquered nations.

After crossing the river, Vibius split up the Nirvans into two forces, the smaller would be led by Gallio and push up the Eastern side of Steen, conquering the land and retreating if they came in contact with another force large enough. Vibius took the Western side, aiming for the large town of Steen where the hold was governed.

King Lukas of the Lorenzen Kingdom called for all nobles and their armies to gather in the hold of Ludvigsen so that they could face the enemy together. While the other nobles supported the act, Eskild Steen was the only who remained in his hold, upholding his oath to defend his lands and marching out to meet Vibius.

The Battle of Steen was a major defeat for the Lorenzens, losing 1,500 troops and a hold for nothing, the Nirvans taking not a single loss. Vibius and the Nirvans slowly pushed into the hold of Johansen, fearing that the Lorenzen army from Ludvigsen could come down at any moment.

By the end of the year, the Nirvans had managed to take the hold with little to no resistance.The Lorenzens on the other hand were finally united, dealing with heavy infighting at the camp, blocking King Lukas from ever marching out.

The next year in **492PR**, Vibius made a move for Clemmensen early, forcing Lukas and his army to march out early to meet them, dealing with growing pressure from the nobles. This was known as the Battle for Clemmensen, resulting in a major Nirvan victory.

At the start of **493PR** the Ilakans got involved in the war, launching an invasion of the Lorenzen Kingdom. Concerned he may be facing two armies, he sent a third of his army to claim the lands West of Asger Lake while he began conquering Busk, East of Asger Lake. Kristoffer Busk and his loyal followers rode out to meet them.

Again, Vibius was able to prove himself immensely capable and powerful in the Battle of Asger Lake, pretty much single-handedly stopping the army with his own skill.

When Gallio was able to make an agreement with the Ilakans in Caesan, Vibius and the Nirvans marched out to meet the Lorenzen Army, aiming to end the war.

## Command

### Lorenzen Kingdom

Other than a stretched line, the Lorenzens kept the same command structure as before, other than the right wing of cavalry that was once led by William Clemmensen. Julius by this time had proven himself a strong warrior and leader, feeling confident that he could deal the decisive blow.

The Lorenzens' goal was to break through the Nirvan right wing and surround their army. The stretched line was to hold for as long as they could.

### Nirvan Republic

The makeup of the Nirvan army was a bit different this time, accounting for their losses throughout the war. This time they extended their line out as much as they could, holding a second line and two legions in reserves. The cavalry were hidden on the right, planned to be used later in the battle.

As always, the full command of the army was given to Vibius, who chose to lead from the centre, taking over the legion there. Below him were Decimus and Caius, commanding the right and left halves respectively. The rest of the legions were commanded as normal by Galerius, Oppius leading the Triarii legion, Lucius also leading a Triarii legion and Tullus.

The goal of the Nirvans was to use their superior numbers and battle strength against the Lorenzens, expecting them to put everything into their cavalry charge. To provoke the Lorenzen commitment of their cavalry, Vibius was to enter the battle in the centre.

## Battle

Readying his men, Vibius chose to ride out the front of his soldiers and give them a speech, boosting their morale and hardening them for the fight to come. While he had the numbers advantage, he felt that the Lorenzens were about to fight tooth and nail, meaning he needed his soldiers to be the best they could be. The speech went as such:

“Men, today we stand together as one. No matter what stood in our way, we fought to get to this moment. When we win here, we will no longer have to worry about the Lorenzens coming over and raiding our lands, killing our people and salting our farms. Today, we honour our ancestors by defeating our greatest foe. Today, we become legends, heroes, carving our way in the history books of not only Nirva, but the world. They will know our names. Our descendents will tell our stories, the story of how we won here, how we defeated the Lorenzen Kingdom and their grand Monarch.

Out there stands your legacy, now, let’s go and fucking take it.”

Then, the Nirvans advanced, roaring and screaming profanities at the enemy.

When they got close enough, the Lorenzens also began their advance. Different from normal, likely due to a new sense of vigour, the Nirvans decided to charge after throwing their javelins. Meeting them in their energy, the Lorenzens called for a charge as well.

The two sides hitting caused carnage all over the lines. Like before, men went flying and it quickly turned into a bloodbath. It was only the centurions that managed to calm it down, bringing the battle back to normal.

### The Lorenzen Left

The Lorenzen Cavalry led by Julius met quick success this time around, avoiding their disaster from before. Unlike the rest of their army that was getting pushed back by the superior number, they were instead pushing against the Nirvans.

This came down to two major things, firstly was the experience of the troops. The Lorenzen Knights were much better trained and had fought many battles before, mainly containing nobles from various families that could afford better equipment and teaching. Next was the experience of the commanders. Julius had spent most of his life fighting, whether it be other Lorenzens, Nirvans in a raid or the Ilakans. Galerius was the opposite. He was a senator fighting in his first war. While his troops maintained their discipline, the lack of adequate commands was becoming a problem.

### Advances on Both Sides

Near the centre, Lucius began to push ahead with his Triarii legion. Forcing the enemy to give ground. The right side of his legion was not having as much success, fighting against Ejnar and his loyal bodyguard. Unlike before, this was Ejnar’s land that was being taken and he was willing to fight for it. With his bodyguard, he ignored all care for his own life and fought like a beast, causing Lucius to act more tentatively.

Julius and the left continued their push. Forcing the Nirvans to give even more ground and now swaying the infantry nearby. As a reaction, Decimus called for his Equite to move around the Nirvan line and hit the Lorenzens from the flank.

### The Right Struggles

While the Nirvans found success on the left wing, their right was struggling. Losing a large amount of their number to the superior Lorenzen Knights. The flank from the Equites only managed to slow the bleeding but it was turning into a problem. To deal with their advance, Decimus began committing his reserves to the fight, trying to stop the momentum that his enemy was gaining.

A little later on, the Equites and infantry managed to capture a good chunk of the enemy Knights, surrounding them nearly on all sides and removing them from the battle.

### Vibius Enters

Vibius noticed that his right was struggling but felt confident that Decimus could deal with it. Now that their plan had somewhat worked, it was time for him to enter the field. Pushing through the middle, he reached the front in no time, bringing out his shortsword and breaking the enemy line, with help from his magic.

With the line cracked a little, Nirvans poured in, backing up their general.

Leading the way, Vibius continued to break the enemy, cutting his way through the centre and separating the forces. After taking a quick breath, he moved to deal with Lukas, sending his cohorts to deal with the exposed flanks of the enemy.

Concurrent to this, Decimus managed to finally stop the Lorenzen Knights but committed the entirety of his reserves after losing almost all of Galerius’s legion.

Now that the enemy was split, Vibius found it easy to approach the enemy King. Content with his fate, Lukas and his small bodyguard rode out to meet him, wishing to kill the Nirvan at least. Unlike the battles before, Vibius truly was not interested in a duel this time. Remembering the two times he almost died. Instead, he responded with magic, blasting the King’s bodyguards off their horses and vaporising them on the ground. Then, as the King was distracted with the fire, he charged, tackling him off his horse and capturing Lukas.

### The Lorenzens Fight

Fighting continued for the next few hours, the Lorenzens ignorant or rather indifferent to the knowledge that their leader had been captured. Some tried to surrender, but the rest would continue their battle.

By the end the Lorenzens that were captured only totalled 500, including nobles such as Alan and Julius. The rest lay dead on the battleground. Vibius actually entered the battle for a second time to take out Enjar, who refused to go down despite his many fatal wounds.

## Aftermath

The end of the battle effectively ended any major resistance from the Lorenzens for the rest of the war. The rest of the time was spent capturing the different holds. The only place that was not captured was Nylev, the capital of the Lorenzen Kingdom. Reason being that the Nirvans had taken too many losses and Vibius was beginning to grow exhausted of war.

Lukas and Julius would later be taken to the city of Nirva, the former being held captive for Vibius’s triumph while Julius would be freed to give advance and help improve the Nirvan cavalry. Alan was the only one who returned home, ransomed back to his family to later become King.