Battle of Cartennae (1354)

The **Battle of Cartennae** was a famous clash near the Deltarian Capital of Cartennae in 1354 and was fought by numerous Barbarian tribes attacking the city and the Cartennae garrison defending the city.

## Overview

Despite overwhelming odds, the Deltarian Garrison was able to defend the capital from a far more numerous force. This victory was largely attributed to the leadership of the first Xenosian Emperor, Heraclius who had assumed the throne just a year earlier.

### Prelude

Following the civil war that had started 40 years earlier, tribes under the rule of the Empire rose up and over this time, the territory of Deltaria was reduced to essentially a city-state of the capital of Cartennae and the surrounding area. The many factions of the civil war were essentially all wiped out by the Barbarians. The Emperor Arcadius had been killed in combat against the Barbarians and Heraclius was offered the throne. Numerous Akhisari, Sturian and Bodajik tribes that were newly liberated decided to march on the Deltarian capital and extinguish the final flames of the Tiberian Empire. The Cartennae garrison chose to march outside of the walls in a heavily wooded area 20km north of the city. They chose to widen their force to cover all approaches from sea to sea. Confident in their superior numbers, the barbarian tribes chose to march forward and attack the Deltarian garrison.

### The Battle

The commander of the barbarian army did not have a unified commander due to it consisting of numerous tribes. As such, each chief commanded their own tribe. With no unified strategy, most of their army charged forward in an attempt to forcefully overwhelm the defenders. The first few waves were mowed down by Deltarian archers but with substantial cover from the trees and overwhelming numbers, their forces eventually reached the Deltarian lines in substantial numbers. The Emperor kept his personal guard in reserve sending them in to push back any areas of the line that were beginning to waver. For hours on end, the Deltarian troops were able to hold the attackers back with an unwavering fighting spirit however, the line eventually showed signs of breaking. Heraclius, outside of conventional wisdom, managed to take the remainder of his personal guard behind enemy lines and launch an attack from the rear. The attack caught the tribal army completely by surprise turning the battle into a mass rout. Much of the invasion force was encircled and cut to pieces.

### Aftermath

The Capital city of Cartennae was never seriously threatened ever again as the remaining tribesmen returned to consolidate their gains in the once continent-spanning Deltarian Empire. The remaining Deltarian troops were far too few in number to consider reconquest of lost lands and so the Emperor Heraclius focused on rebuilding the Capital and restoring the Empire's strength. He oversaw the construction of what is now called the "Wall of Heraclius" a series of forts, castles and other fortifications built on the former battlefield. Though many attackers tried to take Cartennae, many turned away at the sight of such fortifications and those who did attack did not make any significant progress and suffered mass casualties. The battle allowed for the Deltarian Empire to survive after a devastating four-decade civil war and the former territories were eventually reconquered in the centuries to come. Heraclius is remembered as one of the Greatest Deltarian Emperors alongside Deltar I himself and is known as "the one who saved the Empire".