The Third Peninsular War

## Causes For War

On the *Kleines Peninsula* after 2 decades of relative peace the King of *Brandergen* died without a clear heir. *Julian* pounced on the opportunity and declared that *Fabian Kuttner* was the rightful heir. Fabian had made an agreement with Julian that in exchange for support he would become a vassal of Julian. Their efforts would not be unopposed however and the nobles of Brandergen would elect *Emmanuel Kuttner* instead. *Alfred Odenburg*, King of *the North*, *Torgeir Mosgen*, King of *Flawmen*, and Vihelm Eklund, King of *Niedersen* would back Emmanuel.

## Creating the Coalition

While the Three Kings would eventually come to an agreement to help Emmanuel this decision wasn't immediate. Alfred was the most anti Staren of the Coalition, however his own Kingdom was split, in the *Northern Gressen* the lords of the Pollin Valley, and the lords West of the *Blood Mountains* in Karsich were largley anti war due to them being removed from the conflict and with there economic intrests lying in the West they saw the war as pointless projection of Royal power south into the Peninsula. The Eastern Lords however were pro-war. The Calastar Empire was slowly moving further north and they feared that Julian may continue his march northward. Eventually a compromise was reached in the Gressen and the Pollin and Karsich lords would agree to a tax increase for the duration of the war in exchange for a tariff on foreign finished goods. Vihelm espesially was hard to convince to join the Coalition, he was conserved with the economic impacts of his Kingdom if he went to war with the Calastar Empire, they were the largest market for Nieder furs, lumber, and iron. 40% of the King's revenue came from those monopolies selling to Staren Merchants.

## Early Stages and Mobilization

### Coalition Plans

To back Fabians claim Julian would mobilize his army of 50,000 to force the Brandergen Nobles to kneel. The North, Flawmen, and Niedersen would form a Coalition to counter the Callastar Empire. The Coalition could muster 45,000 men and they would split them into two groups, 15,000 would go south to occupy the lands of Beckenstein, *Kunenburg*, and *Alfstein*, this group would be led by Torgeir Mosgen. The second group of 30,000 would be led by Alfred Odenberg and would try to halt the Calastar advance into Brandergen.

Torgeir Mosgen would march his army south to capture Faldebeck, the seat of power for the Haukgard Kings of Kunenburg. Faldebeck was an important city to control as it was necessary if the Calastar Empire wanted to campaign in the Western Kleines Peninsula. He also laid out plans to conquer the rich province of Alfstein for himself.

Torgeir had no love for his fellow Coalition members and had disputes with Karsten Enevold over the region of Talenfeld but the growing power of the Callastar Empire was a threat to them all. He agreed to put aside their petty rivalries to halt Julian and his ever growing ambitions. However he wanted something out of this war for himself in case they tried to backstab him during or after the war.

When he first heard of Julians’ intentions to conquer Brandergen he already knew that he and the other Kings would be forced to work together once again. He would send his master-at-arms to gather his own personal retinue and would have his steward send pigeons to his lords to raise their levies and to join him at Gofenrode, the largest city of Flawmen and his capital.

He had 3,500 men loyal to him, most of which were well equipped heavy infantry or light cavalry. He also had archers and some peasant militia but they were only 600 put together. The first of his lords to arrive was Thorsten Mosner, he was a descendant of a cadet branch of the Mosgen Dynasty. Torgeir had always had good relations with this distant cousin of his and was happy to see him once again. His lands were to the west of Gofenrode and he was the lord of Frommerdorf Castle

Next to arrive were Erwin Schonheit, lord of Heidel Castle, Karl and Friedrich Potthast, lords of Stutgen and Offenburg Castles, both of them lords of their own lands that were split by their father between the two of them. Then there were Bernhart Kissling with his large host of 3,000, lord of Marstadt. Helmfried Stromburg lord of Medegart Keep, and finally Ludolf Rahmer, lord of  Lippdorf Castle.

This was far fewer than he hoped, he had many more lords who swear fealty to him, however with the Callastar Empire already on the march he had no time to deal with unruly vassals. To welcome each lord Torgeir held a feast to make sure they each felt honored. Together with all of their forces combined his army numbered 12,000. He and his lords would then start drawing up plans for the Invasion into Kunenburg.

### Torgeir's Invasion

After 3 days of drawing up plans and arguing on how the army should be arranged the host set off. On the march they would force some lords who didn’t send any soldiers to join the host, finally reaching a total of 15,000 soldiers. After 3 weeks of marching in friendly territory they would eventually come to the Brown River, the dividing line between Flawmen and Kunenburg. The army would cross the river and would now be in the Calastar Empire.

#### Kalebs' Resistance

South in the province of Beckenstein the Governor, Kaleb Oppenheim receives news of the Flawmish forces and sends word to Julian who is campaigning in Brandergen. Knowing that Julian is too far to send a timely response and his own desire to increase his standing at court Kaleb decides to raise an army to counter this threat. The local lord's of Beckenstein are unruly and it is an open secret that they plan to rebel, however despite this Kaleb calls upon them for aid. In exchange for a portion of the plunder and greater autonomy some Families such as the Ubberroths, the Ehlers, and the Ludeckes decide to send some soldiers. This however was not enough and would only numbered 4,500. Kaleb then made the decision to fund the creation of an army out of his own pocket. He would send recruiters to the major cities and villages promising any who join to be armed and paid well, this made the nobility mad but they were not willing to do anything major to hamper him. Over a month and a half period an additional 7,500 men were recruited and mustered in Pelenberg.

He did not have the time to train them in a traditional matter of the time and would you instead train them as pike infantry akin to the phalanx's of old. Such tactics had not been used in millennia and such Kaleb had to rely on old books describing them and his own instincts on how they should be. The basics were taught in a fortnight but discipline among the soldiers would be much harder to instill, for this the veteran soldiers would be tasked with leading and training these recruits.

Kaleb was blessed with good subordinates to help him lead the army as he had very little experience in leading an army. Kaleb with an army large enough to fight Torgeir set off from Beckenstein to Faldebeck to relieve the coming siege. The ballif of Faldebeck, Oskar Kaulner, hearing of Torgeirs coming army would start to conscript young men from the city and the surrounding countryside into an impromptu militia to defend the Capital. He would muster together 2,000 men to defend the city, he had very little time to assemble this milita as within 2 weeks Torgeir and his 15,000 men were at the city.

Faldebeck was at the convergence of the Brown and Muigphen Rivers, the two rivers carved out the Muigphen valley from the rugged hilly terrain around it. Faldebeck, along with other Cities on the Kleines Peninsula were relatively small compared to the Southern Cloridean Cities of Liria, Mydsmy, Kalvita, Diserach, and others. Faldebeck only had a population of 40,000 and for defenses it only had one surrounding wall, with towers every 40 yards. The city luckily on 2 sides had a river to block any attacking force leaving only one side to be under significant threat.

#### Siege of Faldebeck and the Battle of Jorgend Forrest

##### Siege of Faldebeck

Torgeir Mosgen after finally arriving would command his lord's to lead their forces and burn the surrounding valley to the ground, refugees from the raids would flee into the city. After this was complete they would start making siege camps around Faldebeck. The construction of siege ladders and a battering ram started immediately as Torgeir wanted to be swift to prevent Julian from sending reinforcements.

Torgeir had unreliable reports on the size of the garrison and did not believe that it had swelled to 2,000 men so he believed an assault would be more feasible than it really was. To make sure his army was mobile he had his army forage and pillage the land for food. The sacking of the farmland served two purposes, to send refugees into the city and to supply Torgeir's men with food. Over the next week progress on the ram was coming along better than expected and would be done within a few days, however a sortay consisting of 50 men from the city would raid the camp where it was being built and was partially destroyed. It would take another week to finally finish the ram and with it complete an assault on the City could finally take place.

Torgeir would personally lead the charge and vowed to be the first one over the wall. The sight of Torgeir’s army mustering for an assault was an obvious sight and all of the 2,000 men would be stationed on the walls and at the gate to counter the coming attack. Torgeir and his men would charge towards the wall shields raised as enemy arrows pelted their shields and the earth around them. The ram was slow to reach the gate but arrow fire did little damage, instead many men died trying to push it to the gate. When it finally reached the gate it took 8 men to lift the ram and while this was happening defenders in the gate house above were dropping boulders on the ram. The gate started to show some wear, men could fit spears in the cracks and started to stab at the other side. With a constant barrage of boulders hitting the ram it was also starting to break down

The ladders would finally reach the wall and men started to climb, boiling water was poured on them and the ladders would be pushed off. Many men died in the attempt but eventually a few men were successful in scaling the walls and fighting began. More and more soldiers started to reach the top and fighting was fierce, many men died on both sides but eventually Torgeir and his men were pushed off the walls suffering heavy casualties. The ram too was destroyed and they were also forced back from the walls. In the attempt Torgeir lost 2,500 men while Oskar only lost 500 men.

While Oskar may have only lost 500 men it was extremely demoralizing to the men and with the intake of refugees the food supply was starting to disappear and starvation was on the horizon. Oskar was  getting ready for terms of surrender when news of Kalebs Army reached them, all plans for surrender were scrapped and efforts to hold the town were redoubled.

##### Battle of Jorgend Forest

4 days after the failed assault Kalebs army reached the Muigphen valley and under the cover of darkness crossed the Muigphen River. He would send forces to hold any fords and bridges in the valley to prevent Torgeir from escaping. Kalebs small cavalry detachment was sent to harass Torgeir’s foraging parties to force an engagement with Kaleb.

Torgeir realizing the situation he was in realized he had to break out so he wouldn’t starve to death. At the end of the valley Kaleb positioned his army in the Jorgend Forest, close to the bridge back to Flawmen. Torgeir would command his army to march towards Kaleb’s army and on the next day they would make battle.

In the morning both armies would form ranks across from each other knowing of what would soon happen. Torgeir made the first move, his crossbow men would loose bolts into the enemy formation but the combination of trees and the thick forest of pikes which Kalebs men used made this largely ineffective. Next he would command his infantry to advance, clashing with the Pikemen of Beckenstien, the Phalanx like tactics had not been used in Millenia and such Torgeir and his generals did not know how to combat them. The pikemen even with their short amount of training proved effective against the more disciplined force. Keeping the opponents back with the long pikes meant they could easily attack Torgeir's men without fear of getting stabbed.

Erwin Schonheit seeing the situation would take his cavalry and would charge into the right flank to try and break the formation, predictably this would only have the cavalry impaled on the pikes. Erwin would die in the attempted charge with his son and heir being captured. The Cavalry that did survive were routed and broke into a full retreat with the death of their lord. Kalebs left would utilize the situation to flank Torgeir’s men. The rest of the men would also begin to route, but when they turned to run they saw the Garrison of Faldebeck behind them.

#### Torgeirs' Defeat

Surrounded, many men began to surrender to Kaleb and Torgeir’s army began to disintegrate. Torgeir and his son Lorenz would be captured along with many other nobles. His entire army was either dead or captured, very few were able to escape. Kaleb on the other hand lost only 600 men in the battle. Torgeir with his army destroyed and him and his son captured he would talk terms of peace. Kaleb would take the initiative and would demand the Country of Relden to be transferred to the Callastar Empire and his son would be a ward of Kaleb to ensure no further conflicts. Torgeir had no bargaining power and would accept the humiliating terms.

## Kales Invasion

The most powerful of the petty Kingdoms has now been drawn out of the war, the southern front was a complete victory for the Callastar Empire. The situation looked dark for the Coalition forces, however for them they had a miracle, Kale Bastian would declare war on the Callastar Empire for Alfstein. Kale had already carved out a small Kingdom for himself on the Pilstein Peninsula. However he wanted one last conquest before he would die so he swore to conquer the rich province of Alfstein and sack Disserach. His army consisted of Balanite men who would inherit little to no land from their fathers; they were highly motivated and disciplined from the martial lifestyle in Balanal. This army was 20,000 strong and it just landed at Markus Point in Alfstein.

### Invasion of Alfstien

The small castles of Markus Point were quickly taken as pre-made war machines were quickly deployed and carved holes in the walls. The castles were stormed and taken, the garrisons that did not surrender were slaughtered, those that did surrender were however shown mercy. This greatly encouraged other petty lords of the region to surrender without a fight, in 3 weeks Markus Point was under firm control of Kale Bastian.

When news of this invasion reached Kaleb he saw another opportunity to prove his worth and crush another enemy of the Empire. Liam Rosenstien, the Governor of Gladenstien was dispatched by Julian Reitter with the command of 20,000 to help Kaleb in repelling the Balanite threat. Liam was a seasoned commander and his 20,000 men were veterans of the Peninsular Wars, Julian saw this upstart, Kaleb Oppenheim, was getting in over his head and sent Liam to take command of the army. This infuriated Kaleb and left without the reinforcements, departing Faldebeck and moving to fight Kale.

Kaleb and his 11,400 men would begin to march into the Duchy of Einwald, Kaleb would recruit the forces of the Karstens, Othmars, Giselhers and other minor nobility to help defeat the heathens.  His army would now number 15,000 when he crossed the Kalmak river, he would get reports of Kale besieging the city of Dornstad. He and his men would continue south to relieve the siege in the hopes of cutting off supply lines and forcing an engagement on favorable grounds, just like he did with Torgeir.

#### Battle of Hossler Hill

Kale was not as arrogant as Torgeir and had scouts regularly recon the surrounding lands, he would get word of Kalebs approaching army and would start to formulate a trap. He would have his men make camp in the path of Kalebs army but would only have enough men to man the camp to make it look as if the whole army was there. The camp was overshadowed by Hossler hill and is where Kale would position his army for the ambush.

Kalebs scouts would report the location of Kale's camp and he would start to make plans to ambush it during the night. He would have his cavalry storm the camp first then his pikemen would surround the camp and kill anyone remaining. He was over confident in his abilities and was so engulfed by the idea of greater prestige and glory at court that he would not send out scouting parties as they were needed for the attack.

During that night Kaleb would execute his plan, the small detachment of  300 cavalry would charge the Balanite camp. They would notice the apparent lack of men in the camp but simply assumed it was because they were still in their tents, the infantry would also start to advance on the camp.  Kaleb would only keep a small reserve force with him to prevent any Balanites from fleeing the field.

Kale would then launch his attack, 2,000 heavy cavalry would charge down the hillside and would crash into the flank of the infantry. The pikemen didn’t have enough time to respond to change their formation, the charge smashed into the infantry like a hammer smashes clash. The formation shattered and the infantry was useless when not in an organized formation. They lacked training in one on one combat and were easily cut down by the heavily armed and armored horsemen.

Kalebs reserves would move to help the quickly shattering right flank when they too would be attacked by the elite Balanite infantry, led by Kale’s son and heir, Corrdell Bastian. Kaleb was once again taken by surprise and his reserve would also begin to break, to save his skin Kaleb would flee the field, leaving his army without a clear leader. Once the reserves broke and ran the Elite infantry would attack the rear of the pikemen. Most of Kalebs army was killed or taken hostage, though a small number would be able to escape.

Kaleb’s army was shattered, 9,000 layed dead or captured, 2,000 of his remaining men would desert the army while the remaining 4,000 would only follow his to be able to mount a defense of Beckenstein. Any hope of recognition that Kaleb hoped to achieve was shattered, he would return to Pelenberg in shame. When news of the defeat reached Julian he would brand Kaleb a traitor to the Empire for disobeying orders and would send word to Liam to arrest the governor while on his way to fight Kale.

Julian from the beginning  of the war was besieging Ordmark, the Southern Twin cities of Brandergen. He was left with only 30,000 men at his disposal compared to the 35,000 of Coalition forces. To make up for this loss in manpower he would conscript the entire Kunnenburg army of 6,250. Even though he now had the numerical advantage he would still fall back to Castle Balberg and assume a defensive position.

In these more Northern lands the cold winds of winter start to become more ever present. The summer heat begins to fade and the colors of autumn begin to glow once again. The campaigning season for Julian and Alfred starts to wind up, but in Alfstein and other southern provinces the warmth can still be felt for a few more months. While in Brandergen the two sides start preparing winter camps Liam is marching south while the weather still allows to quickly knock out Kale before he has time to entrench his forces.

Liam would meet up with the remnants of Kalebs forces in Faldebeck and would also be surprised to find that Kaleb was brought before him by Beckenstien lords. Liam was within his full right to execute Kaleb for treason against the crown, but his merciful side would shine that day and he would only be sentenced to 15 years of prison (house arrest is a more suitable way to describe it). Kaleb, while a hot head had taken the initiative to defend the empire and financed it out of his own pocket and this Liam could admire in him for.

He would forcefully recruit the remaining 4,000 men and added them to his army of 20,000, most of the 4,000 being pikemen. He would then march another week and a half to reach Einwald, the northern territory of Alfstien. Liam would have a large detergent of cavalry screening in front of  the army to find Kale's army to prevent him from falling into a trap.

Over the weeks of siege Dornstad was beginning to run out of food, the supply routes by sea were cut off by the large Balanite fleet. The morale was low and the populace was becoming unruly, news of a relief army brought little hope as the previous army was shattered and this army was expected to be slaughtered too. The besiegers of Dornstad did not come out unscathed as through a combination of attrition and sortie they were whittled away, losing 1,500 men.

Kale now had about 18,500 men under his command; he was outnumbered by 5,500 men, not an insignificant number of men. He was confident however in the ability of his soldiers and the incompetence of the Callastar leadership. During previous raids and the preceding battle the Callastar Empire and other Kleines Kingdoms proved incapable in stopping him. He had little doubt in his mind that this would be any different, he had won battles with worse odds before. Kale would leave 3,000 men behind to man the siege to prevent men and supplies from reaching the city and left them commands to start digging spike trenches to lessen the odds of a sortie.

Now with only 15,500 men he would have to be careful in his positioning to maximize his strengths of heavy cavalry and his heavy infantry. This was the last army between Kale and Diserach, Julian was too far away and tied up in Brandergen to prevent Kale’s march. To prevent Alfstein lords from joining Liam Kale would start marching north to meet him, taking minor  fortifications along the way.

Both sides would be marching towards each other and eventually they would be within miles of each other in the territory of Delmenwald. To find a more advantageous position Kale would march east but would come at the convergence of the Fluden and the Lagmar Rivers. A bridge spanned the Fluden and Kale was marching towards it, however Liam would send light cavalry to reach the bridge first and burnt it before Kale could reach it, forcing Kale into a position with no retreat.

Liam would take position on Mathias Hill and neighboring Stosch Hill. There was a small valley between the two hills in which Liam would position his pikemen. At the foot of the hills he would place his infantry with his crossbowmen on top of the hills giving them clear lines of fire. His heavy cavalry would be kept in reserve to plug any holes which may open during the course of the battle.

Kale was on the opposite side of the field, he placed his heavy infantry in one long line with the heavy cavalry opposite the valley. His small archer division would advance in front of the infantry to pelt the enemy lines with arrows and then fall behind the infantry. He had no reserve forces as all of his men were needed in the battle line to prevent an encirclement. Kale would personally lead the cavalry to help with their morale and determination.

Kale would not wait but would instead turn his army around and got into position, waiting would only benefit Liam. His forces would advance, the infantry getting pelted with bolts from the Crossbows. The heavy crossbows proved to be able to punch through the weaker parts of the armor and felled a few men in the advancing army.

Kale’s archers would begin to loose arrows at the pikemen, proving largely ineffective. The two infantry lines would soon clash, neither side having the advantage but with bolts falling on the Bastian forces with greater effect than before. The Heavy cavalry would then crash into the Pikemen, this was a terrifying sight but with strong leadership beside them and some veterancy they stood their ground. The charging cavalry skewered themselves on the long pikes and those who did not die immediately had to fight on foot. These now foot soldiers proved much more effective against the pikemen as they could not easily pierce the armor, though some of the infantry was equipped with Halberds which were able to pierce the armor. Most soldiers did not have Halberds however and lacked any major ways of piercing the armor so they began to fall back.

Liam seeing his men starting to falter would lead his own heavy cavalry into the fray and charged. The commanders of the pikemen saw their cavalry coming into help and opened a passage for them to charge through. Through this gap Liam charged into Kale’s forces with devastating effect. Many of these “Knights” would begin to surrender to Liam; Kale Bastian and his son Corrdel would be captured as well. The center of Bastian lines now collapsed allowing Callastar forces to split the enemy lines in two. The battle was then soon over, with the rest of Kale’s forces dead or captured.

In a similar position as Torgeir was he was also given similar peace terms, leave and agree to a truce for 20 years, pay for all of the damage caused by there attack, his son would be kept hostage for the extent of time to ensure Kale kept up his end of the bargain. With no leverage he was forced to accept. The forces at Dornstad would soon flee back to the Pilstien Peninsula and Liam would be welcomed as a hero. Among the local nobility that he freed he also became a trusted figure.

Back in the North the Coalition Army led by Alfred Odenberg would advance south and assume a position on the opposite side of the Jalfmen river from Julian. He would also start hiring mercenaries to bulk up his army, this was expensive and nearly bankrupted the North but he planned to remake his money in war loot and pay the mercenaries in said loot too. The mercs were pikemen, like what Kaleb had armed his men with, they had gotten a bad reputation due to Kalebs defeat but they were also shown to have some effectiveness such as when Kaleb won the Battle of Faldebeck and Liam's victory at Mathias Hill. Alfred would take the risk and higher these experimental forces and made sure they were also armed with halberds.

Even in the southern lands of Alfstein the cold winds of winter now blew and Liam had to wait it out in Dornstad. The winter was particularly harsh for Julian as his men were not accustomed to the cold conditions as they were natives to more southern lands. Alfred Oddenberg and Vihelm Eklund fared well and did some limited scouting of the lands in Kunnenburg.

When spring finally started to show its face once again the three armies on the Peninsula came to life. Julian would begin to move further south to Castle Halenworf  as reports of the great northern force came in so he could safely muster a larger army. He would even start to hire mercenaries of his own to bulk up on his numbers. Initially they were to be paid out of the Imperial coffers but this soon proved expensive and thus a similar arrangement as was made with the Mercs under Alfred was made. The high discipline and training of the soldiers meant they coul;d demand a large sum in exchange for their  services. The Mercenaries were also armed with pikes and halberds, similar to the composition that Alfred highered, likely due to them all originating from the Beckenstein province. The hardy mountain men of that province were apt to join the military as they lived hard lives.

News of Julians' march south spread to the Coalition army; they would utilize the opportunity to cross the river and to besiege Balberg Castle. With a continuous bombardment from Trebuchets for a week the southern wall began to crumble. The prefabricated trebuchets were easily assemblable and portable rather than having to make new trebuchets each time and so more could be assembled and a larger bombardment. After another 3 days of bombardment the wall fell and a storming of the castle commenced. Alfred would lose 3,000 men in the storming and would garrison another 1,000 to the castle and had then start building makeshift battlements to fill in the gap in the wall.

With the fall of Balberg Castle all of northern Kunnenberg was open to Coalition forces. There was no significant resistance to the march as the entire Kunnenberg army was conscripted by Julian. The Northern Lands of Kunnenberg were pillaged by the advancing army, they burnt farms and stole any valuables, this was to be part of the soldiers pay and to hamper any taxes that may be collected from the region. The small city of Salzwick in central Kunnenberg would be besieged, taken within a week and sacked. Vast swaths of land north of the Galsfried river were burned and pillaged, all of this happening in a month.

Liam now was marching back north to meet up with Julian to crush the Coalition army; he was however slowed down by spring flooding of the Brown River. Alfred was no fool so he knew that if the two armies were to meet he would stand no chance and thus he started to march south to Gladenstein to defeat Julian's army. The lack of any proper supply lines also meant that whether he wanted to or not Alfred would have to plunder the land to feed his army.

In Castle Halenworf Julian was mustering his mercenaries when news of Julians march south reached him. He would leave the castle with 40,000 men to face Alfred's army of 43,750. He couldn’t allow Alfred to keep devastating Kunnenberg and didn’t want to get caught in Halenworf Castle and cut off from supplies. His supply lines going north were slow and greatly slowed him down.

Alfred and Vihelm would utilize this and send cavalry detachments to pester the back of Julians marching column, being out of position and surprised the cavalry charges killed many men and severely weakened morale. He also sent out hundreds of cavalry to counter any scouts that Julian may send out to leave him at least partially in the dark.

Near the town of Linshaggen (Lins-ha-gen) in central Kunnenberg Julian heard word that Alfred and Vihelm’s army was near, he would send more scouts than usual and would keep marching North. After several hours of marching he had still not heard from his scouts when he saw his family crest come over Navlein hill, he thought this was the scouts so he would continue. They then got in view and the sight horrified him, his scouts’ heads were mounted on pikes while the horses were in a large pile where the Reitter Crest was being flown.

Julians would begin calling up his men to make lines when Alfred and Vihelm’s army came over the hill down towards Julian. Men were rushing into position to make battle lines but they simply weren’t fast enough. Coalition forces marched down the hill with Heavy cavalry striking into the unprepared pikemen of Julians right flank, shattering their formation and routing. Soon Coalition pikemen reached the main line and with opposing forces still rushing into position were disorganized, the thing needed for pikemen to be effective.

When the two armies clashed Alfred and Vihelm had the advantage from the start. Alfred's left flank would utilize the opportunity opened up by the cavalry to attack the side of Julians right. This led to a collapse of the right and subsequently the rest of the line. The rest of Julians soldiers were in disarray and eventually they too would route, Coalition cavalry would chase down thousands of men before they would return to Alfred and Vihelm. Coalition forces would only lose 500 men while Julian lost 7,000.

This defeat of Julians forces bought Coalition forces more time and some allies, some noble houses in Kunnenberg which didn’t have their land raided would side with Coalition forces. The Galbecks and the Trendhals being the most willing to join Alfred and Vihelm. 2,500 of the Kunnish soldiers conscripted by Julian would desert and join Alfred. An additional 2,000 from Kunnenberg would join, meaning Coalition forces now numbered 47,750.

With the news of treasonous Kunnish lords reaching Liam he would put 1,500 of his own men to reinforce the garrison of Faldebeck. With the flooding subsiding Liam Rosenstein would prepare to march north once again, Coalition forces being a mere fortnight away from him he was eager to end this war once and for all. He was however running low on men, Liam would be forced to turn south to Beckenstein instead. The province was still relatively untouched by the war and had ample manpower to be recruited and conscripted.

Liam would send out recruiters to the major settlements to get young men, drunks, and anyone else they could get to sign on. He would also send out demands to the nobility of the province for men but few responded and even fewer sent any men. Liam would do what many would consider treasonous and forcefully conscript men from villages to serve in his army. He would cite his power and a general in a time of war and as a representative of the Emperor, this would anger the already upset nobles of Beckenstein and would create a hay pile ready to catch up in flames.

This process would take weeks and during this time Coalition forces would not just stand idly. The capture of minor castles in Central Kunnenberg would take place and would further secure their position in the Kingdom. A Kunnish noble named Hans Lansgard lord of  Malstem by the Sea, a cousin of King Jorglien Haukgard would claim the throne of Kunnenberg saying its title is forfeit as Jorglien bent the knee and thus no longer a true King. The young man was a deft politician and rallied many of the NorthWestern lords to his side. He would amass an army of 13,000 and would de facto join with Coalition forces. Jorglien would withdraw the remaining 3,750 soldiers from Julians army and would attempt to march back to Faldebeck to reorganize with other loyalist forces.

Julian, now with an army only numbering 26,750 was in a dire position, his men questioned his ability and legitimacy as the Ruler of the Callastar Empire. He was now stuck in Gladenstein where the population was more loyal to Liam than to him. Julian would find it difficult to conscript the population without the express permission of Liam, which was now an impossibility as Liam was on the other side of the imposing  Quelberg Mountains. If he wanted to recruit further cohorts he would be forced to retreat even further into Schlenstein which was ruled by his son Jannick.

He was also becoming an old man, now 56 in 2714 he had to think of his successors. Being only the second Emperor and the only child of his father, Philip, there was no formalized line of succession. He had multiple capable sons, eldest of which was Philip II, during the war he was the man in Diserach which ran the Empire while his father was away. He was a politician first and foremost, he knew how to travel through the muck and mire of Imperial politics. His second son was Jannick, he was granted the Governorship of Schlenstein and ruled from Obengraz Castle in the Territory of Rotterwald. Jannick was ever in the shadow of his older brother and would grow to despise him, he would try to win the favor of his father to be named heir instead of Philip II.

Ernst was the third son, he was granted the Governorship of Upper Praha, a province which has to deal with constant orc raids. Ernst had requested the province specifically in order to secure this unstable frontier, which he has succeeded in doing. Ernst had always felt more distant from his family and when he had the chance would always go to the garrison, there he found a new family. When he came of age he would join the military as an officer, the old brass expected him to be a good for nothing posh city boy that knew nothing of leading men. To their surprise he showed remarkable leadership in the face of the enemy and quickly went up the ranks until he became the general of the Southern Legions. He had then requested a more permanent position and Military Governor of Upper Praha, this was granted and he quickly started reorganizing the local army and brought them up to standard. With persimmon of his father he would begin constructing new fortifications on the border and turned Praha into a fortress.

The fourth brother was Moritz, a loyal friend to Jannick and was granted Arkwald under Jannick. Moritz as he grew older had a growing respect for Jannick and would eventually become his friend. This caused him to also despise Philip but not to the extent of Jannick, Moritz being a younger son would not receive a whole province and so he requested to serve under his brother and friend Jannick. He would rule Arkwald from Wasen Castle. The last and youngest brother was Oliver, by this point in the war he still had not come of age and thus not granted a territory of his own.

Julian had not officially declared an heir as of yet, it was presumed that Philip II was the heir but until his father proclaimed it his brothers could challenge his potential rule. Julian was also in desperate need of experienced soldiers to fight against Coalition forces, the conscripts simply lacked the discipline needed for a push of pike, veterans were expected to train the conscripts but battle after battle the number of Veterans decreased. There were only two large concentrations of veteran soldiers in the Empire, one was in Beckenstein under Liam, which was not accessible to him and the other was under Ernst in Upper Praha.

It would take time for any message to reach Ernst and even longer for him to muster the men and march to North to Schlenstein. Ernst had under his command 15,000 men, these were the forces that guarded the Callastar Empire from the Balanite warparites from the south and the Orc raids to the east. Recalling them would leave the entire south vulnerable to foreign attacks. If Ernst left there would only be 10,000 men left to guard the vast border forts and territories. Despite the risks Julian would send the letter south to his son.

Hans Lansgard, the Kunnish Usurper by late summer has mustered his forces in and around his Castle of  Malstem by the Sea. The army of  13,000 goes east to meet up with Alfred and Vihelm to negotiate the return of Kunnish castles to him. After two weeks of marching the two sides met outside of the village of Odemar and came to an agreement; Alfred and Vihelm would return the lands to Hans in exchange for support in the larger war against Julian and for a lump sum of 2,000 talons of gold. This was an extremely small price for all of the land to be returned but it was important in ensuring that Hans would continue to fight by their side even if/when he captured the rest of Kunnenberg.

The nobles in the returned lands were hostile to Coalition forces as their fiefs and personal holdings had been burnt and sacked by Northern forces. They would at least for now swear fealty to Hans Lansgard as he had the option to grant the lands to other nobles instead. There were other nobles who were still loyal to Jorglien but were surrounded by rebel forces, they dared not attack Hans but they would also not send any of there forces to aid him and would bar him from taking there serfs for the war effort.

Now that Hans had solved that problem he would join the Coalition host, increasing the army to a total size of 60,750. The size of this army would be a problem and with winter soon coming they would have to split the army into two halves, 30,375 led by Alfred Oppenheim and the other 30,375 by Vihelm Eklund and Hans Lansgar. Vihelm and Hans would go to Castle Halenworf in the south and Alfred would go north to Balmberg Castle for the winter.

Ernst a month after his father sent the letter would finally receive his orders and would start to assemble his forces. Then in two weeks he would set off, the southern summer lasted longer than that on the Kleines Peninsula and he still had time to advance further north before the first frost set in. By the second month of marching Ernst had reached Diserach when the frost would finally reach him, during his time in Diserach he would see his brother for the first time in years.

They would not talk of any love for each other, this was a purely political visit. The two would talk well into the night and Philip II would tell Ernst of the dire situation of the treasury, the large armies being fielded by the Empire was draining the imperial coffers and the lack of raiding and war loot from Julian to help pay for the soldiers. He stressed the need for a win so they could prevent going bankrupt. If this wasn’t achieved then a debasing of the currency may have to happen to keep paying the troops.

The winter was once again long and cold, the war in Kunnenberg left the population starving and many thousands fleeing for better pastures. The armies were unable to make any significant military operations in the cold and the frontlines stayed stagnant until mid spring of the next year when once again men on both sides began to conduct raids and skirmishes.

Jorglien was however able to sneak past enemy lines in the cold winter and make it back to his capital of Faldebck. The winter march did see him lose 1,500 men but he would start to rally his lords to his side and raised an army of 12,000, not nearly enough to counter Coalition forces on his own but would join Liam and his army, similar to his enemy counterpart. Liam after the recruiting, conscripting, and with Jorglien joining him now had an army of 43,000.

Liam then moved from his winter camp and would go north to destroy a Coalition army to revitalize the war effort. His sight was set on the Army led by Vihelm and Hans, if he could capture Hans it would end the civil war here and now, it would also give him the chance to destroy half of the enemy army. Due to the desperate times he would force march his army to attempt to reach the enemy army before they knew he was coming.  To make sure he could move fast he would live off the land and confiscate food to feed his army rather than depend on a long slow supply line. This did nothing to help the poor food situation that was plaguing Kunnenberg.

Castle Halenworf was soon within a 3 day march and from his spies inside the enemy army they had no knowledge of his army. The castle had used much of its food stores to feed the army and the villagers had little to give, a long supply line from Eastern Kunnenberg was all that was supplying the Castle. The supplies came up the Galbein River which would then dock and give the food to the garrison and the army. Most of the army was stationed outside the Castle and beyond the moat, they set up in a large camp of tents with a makeshift wooden wall around it. Only the high born nobles were at the castle, the rank and file and the low born officers slept outside.

Liam rather than fighting a drawn out siege preferred fighting a pitched battle to defeat Coalition forces in a quick decisive battle. To achieve this goal he would make his army seem smaller than it actually was, draw them out then reveal the rest of his army and crush the enemy.

Liam would soon make it to the castle and made sure his men had ample rest before the battle. He would then have 10,000 of his men hide in nearby woodlands and to be as hidden as possible, while the remaining 33,000 he allowed enemy scouts to find his army and report it to Vihelm and Hans. The two fell for the trap and would prepare their army to crush the other Callastar army and finally be able to make peace. Due to their distance from Alfred they made no attempt to get him to come south to defeat Liam and were determined to end the war here and now.

The two sides consisted mostly of pikemen, halberdiers and men with great swords. Liam had a larger Cavalry force but Vihelm and Hans had more archers, however the archers would do little in the upcoming battle.

Liams trap worked perfectly, the two men were hungry for glory, Vihelm to escape Alfreds shadow and make a name for himself and show that he is an equal of Alfred and not the junior partner. Hans needed to prove to the men that put there faith into him that it was not a mistake, Hans had to have a major victory and with one at the beginning of his reign would set a trend in the eyes of his nobles that he will be a good King