Battle of the Egatl Tun

*Battle of the Egatl TunPart of the War of Joran Succession and the Böhmist Wars*

It is mid-spring of 614. Albrecht of Taepe, Duke of Karred, rides in the van of his army as it marches toward the town of Názáda. He is in thought, when a scout rides up to him and reports a large, unknown force is occupying the field opposite the Níza Ridge. Albrecht rides to the ridge to inspect the enemy himself. Guns are being rolled into position, and on their banners, he sees the sigil of the Böhmists of Toradzland. Swearing, he orders his columns into several battle-lines. The Battle of the Egatl Tun is about to begin.

### The Background

Following his crushing victory at Hrad Tøndor, Albrecht swiftly subdued all resistance among the Joran lords of the Tøndormark, replacing them with his Tøndarr allies. As the harsh winter of 613-614 came to a close, he had consolidated his position to the north of the river Orat. However, the south of the river, and the Tandemmark, were still havens of opposition. Thus, he crossed the Orat to the south of the Serpent’s Gate, and landed in the territory of the western Johannist alliance.

Defeating a combined Johannist force under the Margravine Karolina Molansky at the town of Kołerecik, Albrecht pressed his advantage, driving a wedge south between Kredewe and Ishtar. He now set his sights upon the castle of Kredewe, seat of power of the House of Molansky, Margraves of the region.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the Jorans engaged in their own petty struggles, the Böhmists of Toradzland are launching their own foray into the western marches. Opecz Rikhter has usurped Lämarr Telbach, the most obvious successor to Böhm, and imprisoned him in the castle at Hrad Ostrovbaronstejn. However, this move was unpopular, and Rikhter’s faction of extremists had only very loose control over the country, with factions such as the Wêborites and Telbach’s own followers preferring a different leader. Thusly, Rikhter began a number of campaigns, both to put down his enemies and to prove he was fit to lead.

The most important of these campaigns was one into the Silver Hills. Rikhter appointed Yauchim Gêzar as captain general of the campaign, and tasked him with subduing the mining towns of the Silver Hills, and to seize all their silver to fund his war effort in Beruvia. Gêzar took 4,000 men and several guns with him through the Silver Hills, and sacked several towns. Eventually, Rikhter ordered him to the Free Barony of Lustenbach, the wealthiest of the Free Lords, due to the large silver mine the barony sat upon. However, to get to Lustenbach, Gêzar would have to detour through the war-torn marches of Joraje, as there was no road from his position in the north of the Silver Hills to his destination.

Thus, the two armies were fated to meet, though neither side yet knew.

### The Battle

While the Böhmist army camped on the southern slopes of the Níza Ridge, a pair of scouts reported to Gêzar their sighting of a large, unknown army moving south on a direct intercept course for their position. Gêzar accordingly ordered his host into three orders of battle, arrayed east-to-west between his camp and his ridge.

Albrecht, on the other hand, hearing of the unknown force of enemies, organized his men into five battlions, with three wedges of horsemen in front, covering each gap. When Albrecht finally came within sight of the ridge, the knights of his army suddenly charged without orders, and Albrecht, unable to halt them, sent the rest of his men forth at a more sedate pace.

Just as the horsemen were about to crash into the Böhmist lines, a series of booming cracks sounded, the houfnice entering the fray. The charge was completely broken up by the big guns, those who successfully made it to the lines being killed with ease, and the rest of the survivors fleeing back to Albrecht’s lines.

Seeing this display of devastating gunnery, Albrecht changed his strategy. While previously his battalions had been dense and thick, he ordered his men to adopt a loose formation to lessen the effect of the houfnice. With this accomplished, he rode to reform his cavalry. Albrecht had superior numbers to Gêzar, and intended to make the most of them. He had reordered his men into a single line of battalions, keeping only his household soldiers in reserve, with the order to envelop and destroy the Böhmist army, which was holding a defensive stance.

The order given, the Joran force advanced once more, slowly closing the distance between themselves and the revolutionaries. Finally, when they were within 100 meters of the enemy, their guns sounded again, and while loud, the houfnice were mostly ineffective against the loose formations of Albrecht’s army. Now that their hand had been played, the Jorans closed the distance between them, charging into Böhmist lines and enveloping them on all sides save the rear.

The battle raged for some time, the Böhmists stubbornly refusing to give ground, their morale bolstered by the weight of their close formation, while the Jorans slowly whittled them down, and took casualties in turn. However, while the Böhmists had their trick, Albrecht had one of his own. The newly reorganized cavalry he had so nearly lost rode around the left flank of the Böhmists, and struck the infantry there. Realizing they were surrounded, the left flank broke almost immediately, and began to route. This was rapidly followed by the center and the right as well, leaving Gêzar shocked, watching his army fall from the Böhmist camp.

Seeing the Böhmists flee, the Jorans took heart and began to follow after them, though they stopped their advance for an unknown reason. Much has been made about why this occurred, many theories presenting a supernatural cause. Whatever the case, there would be no pursuit of the fleeing Toradzmen.

The Böhmists would flee the field, leaving behind their wounded, their camp, their baggage, and almost everything they weren’t carrying into the fight originally. This included several wagonloads of silver which were meant to go to funding Rikhter’s other campaigns.

Albrecht’s army had won the day at Níza Ridge.

### The Aftermath

Following the Battle of the Egatl Tun, the Böhmists would flee in disgrace. Their campaign in the Silver Hills was ended, would prove a massive embarrassment to Rikhter’s regime, fostering support for the imprisoned Telbach.

Meanwhile, the victory there would prove to greatly boost the confidence of Albrecht’s army. They had defeated a great foe, and opened the way to Hrad Kredewe.

Albrecht also captured all the Houfnice used by the Böhmists, and would capture several wagonloads of Grimmau gunpowder left behind in the route. These would be used to great effect in the following battles, and the gunpowder would prove to be the most useful resource to his wars. The quality of the powder would later influence his decision to march south to battle the Zegets in the following year, for they threatened the town which produced it.

The battle would take its name from one of the items found among the baggage train, a tun (a barrel of extraordinary size) of Egatl, a Toradzish alcohol popular for its qualities as both an effective painkiller and a flavored drink.

The stolen silver found in the baggage train of the Toradzmen would go on to finance many of Abrecht's future campaigns for several years as auxuliary funding. The last would not run out until the start of the Khoortish Phase of the War of Succession.

Returning to Strovau to report his failure, Gêzar would be publicly killed for his embarrassment on Rikhter’s order. This would further increase opposition to his regime.