Battle of Rzymski road

250 ulhans

600 line infantry

3200 militia

8 cannon

500 horse

2400 line infantry

1200 irregulars

1000 pikes

8 cannon

The **Battle of Rzymski road**, known also as the "battle of Warsaw", was the first and final battle of the short-lived Polish civil war of 1701. In it, revolutionary forces under the command of Lew Prazmowski fought and defeated the royal army of King Augustus, forcing the monarch to flee and leave the revolutionaries in command of the country. In history books detailing the events which happened on Earth, this battle often is used to date the birth of the Commonwealth.

The name "Rzymski", is used to refer to the road which led to Warsaw from the West, a road first build by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire. Thus, in Polish territory, it was known as the "roman road", or "Rzymski" road.

## Prelude

### A time of chaos

Poland in the early days of the 18th century suffered from a large number of problems. Not only was the nation surrounded by a high number of foes, many of which held grudges against this nation. Within its own frontiers, nobles ruled with an iron fist, each one the governor of its own little realm and able to tax the peasants and merchants under his role as much or little as he saw fit.

Unlike the Enlightened Monarchies of the age, the power of the king (at that time a monarch from Saxony by the name of Augustus) was not completely absolute. Even as war began against the Holy Roman Empire, it came down to the nobles (each of whom had the right to vote in state matters) to decide what men to send and what resources would be available for the war. Well led Polish armies managed to capture territory from their foes, even the great city of Berlin itself. Still, outnumbered and outmatched, they soon realize peace was the only way out of a combined invasion from every front.

In this climate of opression, high taxes and wars beyond the nation's borders, a clandestine group of merchants, intellectuals and army officers schemed in the shadows for a change of government, one which (they hoped) would bring glory back to their besieged nation.

### The Assembly

While war raged across Eastern Europe, agents of the secret Assembly began their preparations for a revolution. With the king's gaze busy in other matters, and the armies of Poland to busy with outside foes, this process was an easy matter, with merchants secretly coming in and out the border to buy and bring back weapons and equipment from other nations to arm their growing army of volunteers.

Able officers to command this force were easy to find as well. Many soldiers who had rose through the ranks found themselves unable to rise higher due to their common birth, while nobles allowed their sons and cousins to get important positions in the army, no matter the lack of exprience or talent. Lew Prazmowski, a promising officer in his early 30's and veteran of many campaigns in the last century, was quickly chosen as the commander of this new force. Accepting his new duty, he began to drill the army in secret, all the while waiting for the perfect excuse to rally the people of Poland against their tyrant king.

### Students shot

The tale of the massacre of the university students in Southern Poland is a controversial story, constantly embellished by the Commonwealth's propaganda to enhance the brutality of the Ancient Regime. While royal exhiles spoke of "only" half a dozen dead and twice that number in wounded students, and the revolutionaries insisted on nearly a hundred bloodied corpses, the truth is the number must have been somewhat in the middle. Either way, the tale of militia forces firing on protesting, unarmed students, sent shock waves across the nation. Many who had been doubting wether to join the uprising or not took arms and cried for the death of the old regime. Nobles and priests fled, hunted down by their previous servants.

The uprising, had finally come.

## Road to Warsaw

### Stanislaw waits

One of the most important figures of the Battle of Rzymski road, and the early history of the Commonwealth for that matter, was one who did not take part during that battle. Stanislaw Poniatowski, the dashing, young cavalry commander who had managed to defeat the forces of the Holy Roman forces several times, capturing even Berlin itself, kept most of his army in camp as the forces of the Assembly rose up against the king.

Those regimetns who did leave the camp did not join Augusts, but instead Pramowski's own, growing army as it marched to the capital, crying for justice and blood. Most of these reinforcements were made of cavalry, some armed with long lances for brutal, sudden charges, other wielding swords to hack and slice the foe in close range. Companies of riflemen, well-armed and trained, marched at the sound of the drums in dense columns of infantry, followed close by horse-driven cannon and bands of irregular forces from the South.

Knowing that speed would be the key to a clean victory, Prazmowski did not wait for further reinforcements, taking his more than 5000 men to the capital through the Rzymski road, already thinking plans of how he would face the king's answer.

### The gates of Warsaw

   As the "rebel" army marched towards the capital, the King of Poland demanded his army to rally and meet the traitors to crush them in a proper, field battle. Pride was not the only factor which motivated this choice, but fear as well, fear of what the citizens of Warsaw would do if the capital was besieged. Already, there were riots in the streets, with hundreds of people fleeing to the countryside to avoid the battle or instead join the incoming army.

Kazimierz Potocki, commander of the loyal forces still remaining in Warsaw and its surrounding towns, also agreed that a swift and sudden attack would be the royalist's best hope of victory. An experienced and able general, he had managed to acquire support and extra forces during Poland's war against the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia. More respected by his forces than he was beloved, he managed to create an army of militia, with a few regular forces of horse and line. Difficult to find, and thanks to the sabotage of the Royal Armory, his army could only count on eight cannons, the rest being to old or damaged to be used or repaired on time to face the rebels.

Waiting until the incoming army was almost at the gates of Warsaw, Kazimierz sent his army forth. Believing that Stanislaw would come to their aid, the general believed he could at least hold back the enemy forces, then join the other loyal commander and crush the Assembly once and for all.

No matter how much time he waited though, the conqueror of Berlin would not come. Instead, banners of red and white began to be seen near the forests and fields just ten miles from the capital. Explorers arrived, speaking about the regular troops who marched alongside the rebels. Knowing there was no way back, the royalist general rose his blade and told his men to form ranks, with Prazmowski doing the same on the other side of the field.

## Battle

### Charge of the royalist horse

Despite the slightly higher numbers of foes, the royalist commander hoped the long march and lack of training would have damaged the attackers cohesion and morale. Turning to the captain of the royalist ulhans, a noblemen by the name of Jan Unrug, he ordered a surprise charge to be made while his militia and regulars advanced at a slow yet stead pace, trying to keep formation while they came closer to enemy lines.

Wearing the same, blue uniforms and carrying the exact, long lancers wielded by Kazimierz's own cavalry, the royal ulhans advanced at full gallop to the right of the enemy line. Rising their rifles, lines of regulars fired alongside the cannons, the long range making it so only a few riders were sent off their saddles. Still, knowing the fire would only grow deadly as they closed the range, Jan told his troops to ride through the nearby forest, using it as cover to then fall upon the unprepared line infantry.

   Had those forests been empty, the captain and his horsemen might have well achieved their objective and turned the battle in favour of the royalists. However, as they began to move across the trees, a new, previously unseen force appeared from within the bushes, with pikes far longer than the ulhan's spears on their hands. Stunned by the sudden appearance of pikemen, many riders halted or slowed down, with those who did not soon being pierced by an incoming wall of spears several meters long. Captain Jan Unrug, at the head of his regiment, was dragged out of his horse alongside many other riders and stabbed to the death by the pikemen, some of whom just happened to be the brothers and cousins of those students shot by royalist militia just a few months ago.

The strenght of their charge gone, the royalist ulhans quickly fell back through the trees, with many meeting their end not at the hands of a pikemen, but the iron shot of a musket instead as the line infantry nearest to the forest unleashed volley after volley on the fleeing horsemen. Bloodied and shattered, less than half of those who had gotten into the forest fled back to royalist lines, their standard and a good number of their horses now on the hands of the rebel pikes.

### Swift vengence

Advancing towards the rebel left, the militia regiment who had shot at the students now found itself surrounded and attacked from all sides by all of Prazmowski's horsemen. Dozens of militiamen fell, pierced by lances or sliced down by saber blows. Still, to the surprise of the riders, they held their ground, even as they fell in droves at the hands of the rebels.

Knowing well what fate awaited them if they were captured, the royalist militia force then tried to sell their lives dearly while waiting for relief. Several times, the standard of the regiment fell to the ground and was once more taken as the militia used the bodies of their friends and fallen enemy horses as improvised barricades to hold the attack. In the end however, as nearly half the regiment was wiped out or crushed under the hooves of the riders, the wounded and terrified miltia finally broke, running away from the battle. Exhausted, and knowing there were still other foes to take, the cavarly turned and allowed them to run away. Once the battle was over, there would be more than enough time to get revenge.

### The royalists are forced back

   The firefight which ensued between loyal and rebel soon became a one-sided affair, the royalist militia lacking the training and experience of some of the troops in the rebel army. Firing in more organized volleys, Prazmowski's line quickly repelled all militia assaults sent towards them with little loss of life. Having a better position and time to prepare, the rebel commander made sure every enemy regiment would have to face the concentrated fire of two of his own, a battle not even trained regulars could hope to win.

General Kazimierz, commanding his horseguard, tried to break this line several times, yet the heavy fire of the rebel guns forced his guard to fall back. With his forces at the breaking point and the enemy horse only minutes from enveloping his flank, the royalist general managed to direct his horsemen through a small opening on the enemy line, one he used to attack the rebel general and his guard. Without him, the royalist believed the attackers would lose heart and be easy prey for his men. Instead, Prazmowski rose his own blade and sent his own guard to meet the royal charge, a move which made Kazimierz's men pause and even turn back. Angry, the royalist shouted at them to turn and face the enemy. But by then, it was to late.

### Death of Kazimierz

Still covered with the blood of enemy forces, the rebel pikemen came from the woods, just in time to join Prazmowski and turn the tables on the cavalry battle. Surrounded by pikes and rising dust, royalists and rebels struck at foe and friend alike, yet it was clar for Kazimierz who would be victorious in this battle. Ordering his men to retreat to the capital, he rode back, followed by the remains of his guard. The rebels however, did not allow them to run away, hacking many of them down, including Kazimierz himself as he tried to turn around and face the incoming mass of horses and men.

By then, the battle was already lost. Cavalry had sent nearly all the royalist militia fleeing, its only regiment of line now surrounded and suffering heavy casualties against the advancing revolutionaries. Soon enough, after a bayonet charge by conscripts, they too ran away, leaving no-one between the revolutionaries and the very gates of Warsaw.

## Aftermath

Knowing he had lost, King Augustus secretly left the capital with some of his treasury, his Saxon guards protecting the palace from the rebels, completely oblivious to their monarch's intentions. With no king to stop them, the Assembly took power, turning the Kingdom of Poland into the republican Commonwealth, the father of the later Commonwealth hundreds of years afterwards, in a planet many light years from Earth.