Battle for Clemmensen

The Battle for Clemmensen was a major battle in the Second Lorenzen War between the Lorenzen Kingdom and the Nirvan Republic. It was fought due to the Nirvan invasion of the hold and the Lorenzens effort to keep it, thus the name.

## 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. Confident in victory but tactical, 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, still not losing a single man. 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 to meet them, dealing with growing pressure from the nobles. He did so without getting the armies from Laurid and Melgard.

## Location

When Vibius heard reports of the armies advancing towards him he began scouting for a suitable battleground. He decided with a hill near a plains, planning to use the hill as a good base of operations and place to withdraw too if the battle began losing his favour. The plains would let the Nirvans fight evenly and flank with their extra troops.

The location is now known as the Plains of Sanguis.

## Command

### Lorenzen Kingdom

The Lorenzen Kingdom was commanded entirely by King Lukas Bundgaard, one of the few Kings that had managed to get the Lorenzen nobles together in an alliance for longer than a week.

On the left side there were two types of commanders, the cavalry were commanded by Julius Ludvigsen, expected to be their key to victory. The infantry command was held by Ejnar Dalsgaard with his personal bodyguard by his side.

The right side cavalry were led by William Clemmensen, a hot-headed individual who was exceptionally good in battle and thus influential over the other nobles. Lukas originally didn’t want William in this position but risked more infighting if he chose anyone else. The infantry command went to Alan Bundgaard, Lukas’s Uncle.

### Nirvan Republic

Just like the overall command of the Lorenzen Kingdom was handed to Lukas, the Nirvans handed it to Vibius. The more experienced and well-known commander, Vibius in the position gave many of the Nirvans confidence, raising their morale.

The right side of his army was commanded by his brother-in-law and great friend Gallio Aebutus, giving him his own legion to directly command. In this position, he commanded two legions led by Caius and Galerius. Caius held the more experienced troops, called a Triarii Legion, and was a veteran of the Thurim War.

The left side of his army was commanded by Decimus, someone who had shown good initiative and skill during the Zelan Campaign, enough to be personally advocated for by Gallio. Vibius had heard of his exploits and decided to give him a chance, gaining a powerful ally. Gallio commanded 3 legions, one led by Lucius, his friend in the Zelan Campaign and Oppius, another veteran of the Thurim War who held a Triarii Legion.

Tullus was not commanded directly by anyone, though was to follow the army and resign his position to Vibius if the situation called for it.

Knowing the Lorenzens to be primarily cavalry, he had made sure before the battle that the legionnaires all had an extra javelin. A small group of slaves would provide more javelins during the battle, mainly for the wings.

## Battle

Lukas’s plan was to wait and see what the Nirvans would do, being only somewhat familiar with his opponent Vibius. Using his cavalry, he intended to ignore the enemies numerical advantage with good mobility while his centre held on. Instead, William Clemmensen, furious that the Nirvans were in his hold, began advancing.

Before Lukas could send his messengers to stop the advance, the rest of his army followed, Alan lagging behind a little. Already, the battle was onto a bad start for Lukas, who proved to be a capable commander and King but unable to control the other nobles.

Vibius decided to be content and see what the Lorenzens could offer, never facing them in a proper battle before, only the occasional raid.

### William Charges

Advancing slowly at the enemy, William decided to give a speech to the cavalry beside him, hoping to improve not only his own standing by the end of the battle but increase their morale and eagerness to fight an enemy that outnumbered them.

“Men, it is today that we become heroes of the Lorenzen Kingdom. Today, we shall go down as the greatest fighters in the history of man. For we, oh we, we will be the ones who send these barbaric swine straight down to hell. We do god’s work today, so follow me men, for we shall become legends.”

William waited after the speech ended to hear the response of his troops. When he heard their roar and eagerness to fight, he brought out his longsword and charged.

The charge met immediate chaos for the moment they got into the range of the Nirvan elite, they were hit with two volleys of javelins, breaking their arrow. William continued his charge ahead but the soldiers behind him lost some of their momentum, scared to be hit by one of the javelins. When they hit the line, they were met with more javelins, this time being used by Oppius’s men as spears, proving more effective than their shortswords against the cavalry.

### The Rest Follow

Seeing the chaos on the right wing, the rest of the Lorenzens charged into battle. Eager to kill the Nirvans and end the war here. Alan decided to take it slower, baiting out a volley of Nirvan javelins thrown by Lucius before charging.

Now that both lines were committed to the battle, it turned into a fight of grit. The Nirvans, disciplined from all their training, struggled initially but found their footing, using great stamina management by swapping their lines in and out. The Lorenzen infantry found it much more difficult to fight the Nirvans, while their spears were good, it only hit the Nirvan shields, and their light armour only made them easy prey for the Nirvan shortswords.

On the left, Julius made his charge into the enemy, meeting a similar fate to William. Though this time he was able to hit the enemy before the second volley of javelins were thrown.

### Chaos Erupts

Throughout the battle it was chaos. Bodies from both sides were flung and the ground slowly began to turn red with blood. In the centre, where the Nirvans were winning, each soldier had killed at least one Lorenzen, finding it difficult to push ahead due to the bodies that littered the field.

On the wings, the Lorenzen cavalry were forced into melee combat, no longer able to withdraw for a second charge without taking heavy casualties. The commanders Julius and William simply called for them to push ahead though the spearmen weren’t having it.

Soon an opening was found by the Nirvans. Seeing that their cavalry were barely in the battle, they commanded them to ride out and hit the Lorenzens from behind, effectively trapping them.

### Vibius Enters the Fray

Bored knowing that Decimus and Gallio had things under wraps, Vibius took his horse and rode to the left side of the battle. He had seen the impact of Williams' charge and knew if he entered there, he could make a bigger difference.

Seeing their general arrive, the Nirvans opened their lines and allowed Vibius to enter. Immediately he found the action he craved, cutting through the enemy and making his way to Clemmensen. There he decided against a duel, flashing back to the fight against Urmbrek that almost cost his life, and instead used his magic to sway the field, getting down from his horse. Just like in the Battle of Steen, Vibius exploded the Lorenzen Knights with a series of fireballs. Though the high nobles had some magical armour, their horses did not, vaporising much of their mobility and strength.

Somehow, Clemmensen was still standing though his horse dead, avoiding the blast and now focusing his rage on Vibius. Gripping his longsword, he charged at the Nirvan general. Distracted by the fires, Vibius barely managed to dodge out of the way of the sword, cutting him across the chest. It seemed he would not get his wish and be drawn into a duel. On the field, both sides gave room for the two to fight.

Furious, Clemmensen didn’t even wait for room, instead lunging at his opponent. This time, Vibius was aware, and blocked or dodged most of them, cutting the nobles heel with a counter. While he shouldn’t have been able to walk, William ignored the pain and kept on the pressure, swinging wide and low to stop the Nirvan from ducking under his attacks. Using only a shortsword, Vibius was outranged by William and had to think of something different. This time, he chose the risky approach. Timing his attack, Vibius lunged at the Clemmensen immediately after his swing missed, thrusting his sword through his chest and dodging out of the way of the Lorenzens counter. Now without his sword, Vibius could only stand surprised by the sight of William still standing, acting as if he shouldn’t be dead right now.

Cursing the gods, Vibius grabbed his knife and lunged again, reaching William before his sword and getting harmlessly struck by his forearm instead. Now on the inside, Vibius struck Clemmensen for a final time, stabbing him through the eye and forcing him to fall over. On the ground, Vibius stabbed him again with his dagger through the head, finally killing the enraged Lorenzen. Looking back, Vibius was able to realise that if he didn’t stab William a second time he would’ve been impaled, watching as his longsword hit the ground.

### Lukas Withdraws

Seeing the battle was falling out of his favour, Lukas called for his troops to withdraw from the battle. This time, they listened. Leaving a line of troops for sacrifice, most of the remaining Lorenzens were able to escape the battle, avoiding the Zelan archers.

It was only after his troops retreated that Lukas found out that Clemmensen had died in the battle, cursing a little but thanking the gods that the rebellious lord was no longer his problem.

## Aftermath

Lukas struggled to keep control of his troops after the battle, being blamed for their loss and the loss of Clemmensen and later reports of Dalsgaard’s capture. Instead he turned their anger around on them, blaming the nobles for not listening to his commands and watching as Clemmensen was killed by the enemy general. Gaining the support of the people, the nobles and lords stopped complaining and continued on their march to return to the Ludvigsen hold.

Vibius chose to celebrate the victory, hosting a feast with the stolen Lorenzen supplies. During the celebration he held his own ceremony, giving the Calenus Award to every commander and the Clemmensen Honor to every legionnaire. He would later ransom Dalsgaard and Clemmensen’s body back to their family.