Chapter 102: Hamilcar’s Expedition 15
The next morning, the two armies that would decide the fate of the northern Murathicus lands lined up on opposite sides of the Thiar River.
The Northern Coalition’s army, with it’s hodgepodge of mismatched colours, ununiform equipment and more than five dozen flags, stood in even straight rows, creating three massive lines of military might, with few gaps between them. Though their still remained some semblance of disorganization, especially among the clans who held bad blood between each other.
Something Amhain tried very heavily to avoid, but it was simply impossible, as too many clans had too many grudges against too many other clans, so even with his best effort, more than a handful of clans had to stand next to people, who less than a year ago were considered their mortal enemies. Though, Amhain did try to mitigate this by firmly instructing their patriarchs to control their men, as well as placing with them members of his own clan, who were more than happy to discipline any fool who would dare jeopardize the army on such a climactic day.
Meanwhile the Eclipse Army faced far fewer problems as the various clans did not dare to cause any commotion, fearing the horror that would befall them and their families if they so much as thought to do so. The Murathicus clans who joined the Eclipse Empire were still not given the armaments of the rest of the army, so they too were also dressed in a blinding array of different weapons and armour, but in contrast they all carried the same flag, the black and white flag of the Eclipse Empire.
Meanwhile the regular troops of the Empire were all dressed in their usual menacing black, aligned perfectly like an obsidian black wall, without a hint of unprofessionalism in their stance, giving both the enemy and ally Murathicus Clans a chilling sense of dread and awe.
Unlike the Northern Coalition’s Army who held a numerical advantage of fifty thousand men and so could afford to stretch their lines out greatly, while also dividing their men into three columns, Hamilcar did not possess such luxury and could only divide his men into two column so that he could match the depth and length of his enemy’s formation.
The first line was mostly composed of Murathicus clansmen with Eclipse officers commanding them, while the second line was entirely composed of his elite Eclipse infantry. And finally, he kept at the very back of the formation a large contingent of cavalry, made up of his own Daiomedes Knights and Murathicus cavalry.
The Northern Coalition also did the same with their cavalry, leaving them near where all the patriarchs were sitting, though their quality and quantity was undoubtedly below that of their foes, so it was decided to best utilize them as messengers, scouts, guards for both the camp and the patriarchs, and finally and if necessary, as fast responding reinforcements wherever and whenever they might be needed.
With this in mind the armies began to take form, but it still took them hours to do so, but finally they did and it was at that point that the matriarch of the Enkada Clan chose to join the others upon the high wooden platform they built to better survey the battleground.
Tissiphina, who usually only shimmered with the sparkle of courageous heroism and unyielding spirit, now she shone with it. Radiating it from her like the scorching beams of the sun, forcing all the attention of all these proud patriarchs to become attracted to her like a moth to flame; as she ascended the wooden steps clad in heavy plate armour that was hammered thin, it’s purpose obviously being the provision of the most protection while not hindering movement and speed, encased her form from neck to toe. And on either side of her hips sat her signature weapons; two Etherus steal whips, made by lining one small razor sharp blade after another and then linking them together by a long steal thread.
Her usually loose hair was tied into a neat bun, and her cold and inexpressive face was the same as ever, with her brooding eyes staring holes into whoever they passed across. Only Amhain noticed something different about his mother, as he knew that ever since the invasion began she had been carrying a tremendous amount of weight on her shoulder, so much so that he could swear that she began to walk imperceptibly more arch backed ever since; but she seemed more relaxed now, as if that unbearable weight had lessened, or maybe replaced with another more manageable one.
"Is everything ready?" She asked as she took her place in the middle of the seated men.
"Yes, my lady." Amhain replied, bowing as he did so.
"...And have you secured the north?" She asked.
The Eclipse Empire’s army is to the east, while the south is dominated by deep marshlands and to the west of the battlefield are endless plains and grasslands, meaning the enemy could not sneak any men from those directions to perform any flanking attacks. But the north, which faces their left flank, is different.
To the north lies a large and thick forest, one that stretches all the way to the Hadrian Mountains, and if their was a place where a variable might be born on this day, it was undoubtedly in this forest. In fact, Amhain considered sending a force through the forest to attack the Eclipse right flank at one point, but he knew that a mission such as that would undoubtedly be the most dangerous, with the survival rate being close to zero. He also knew that no clan would accept such a suicidal mission, and even if he forced them to by using his mother’s prestige, he feared that they would not give their all in such circumstances. Moreover, he did not want to subject his own clansmen to this danger, so he eventually decided to scrap the idea.
"Of course. I have nearly eight hundred men patrolling the forest as we speak, and if anything were to dare approach us from there, we will be waiting for them." Amhain assured confidently.
Tissiphina remained silent afterwards, a pondering expression on her face, before commanding "Pull back the scouts you sent, my guards will take hold of that responsibility instead."
The gathered men, including her son were suddenly alarmed by her words, as one patriarch, who looked to be even younger than her son asked "Do you believe an attack will come from the north my lady?"
"This is war." She blandly stated "I believe nothing but I must prepare for everything."
"Very well my lady, I will see to it at once." Amhain quickly said, after having absorbed his mother’s wise words; all the while quietly admonishing himself that he should have been more careful.
Following this minor change the Coalition’s army was ready for battle, so Tissiphina swiftly gave the order to attack. A dozen large war drums began to beat, their booming sounds striking a perfect cord of harmonious savagery with the hundred or so brass horns and trumpets as they shrieked their high pitched roars.
Then the first column, mere mortal men, without the aid of aura or the might of magic, charged forth with an earth shaking howl. And the Eclipse Empire then responded in kind, their own men rushing to face their foes on the river bank.
The first clash should’ve been titanic, a crash of meat and steel that should’ve echoed out in the annals of history for a full millennia, yet it was little more than a catastrophic collapse, as the Epirus Cannons rung their miserable song, under Orhan’s masterful conduction, blasting wide crevices without a care, denting their formation beyond recognition, before the Hydra Cannons, these nine barrelled monstrosities, finally gained their moment to earn their glory, as they wheezed out their rotten breath of fire and metal, slashing into sieves whatever was left of their organization, forcing them to recklessly rush forward to avoid the harrowing artillery fire, only to then face the iron rain of the Eclipse archers.
Their own archers rushed to cover them, but that only served to attract the unwanted attention of the Epirus Cannons, who refocused their ghastly gaze from these desperate infantrymen and onto them, disrupting their ability to support their allies, and once again stranding those poor men to the Eclipse Empire’s ranged supremacy.
The situation grew only more tragic for the Northern Coalition’s army when they finally crossed blades with their opponents. Their ruptured formations and their cowering heats were no match for the exhilarated warriors before them, as they cut through them like a lightning through wet bark.
This was also very clear to the various patriarchs who looked upon the battle from their high seats with frowned faces.
"Seems like I underestimated the degree of their ranged superiority." Amhain accidently said aloud, with a look of surprise in his eyes.
A few patriarchs then turned to him, mostly those of the smaller clans, and glared at him with unspeakable eyes, before quickly averting their gaze for fear of his mother’s wrath.
Amhain didn’t care for their animosity though, and instead devoted himself to the task at hand and decisively ordered "Order the archers to spread out as much as they can and then recommence their attack. As soon as that is done, signal the end of the first wave and order the second column to take their place."
"But the original plan was for the first wave to last at least a full hour, but it barely been twenty minutes so far!" One patriarch argued anxiously.
"The first wave has clearly failed, and if we insist the original plan and continue to try to tire them out, we would only be paying a hefty price for mediocre results at this point." Amhain explained.
Some were convinced by his words, others were not and believed they should stick to the plan even if they had to pay a few extra lives, but the patriarchs of the small clans didn’t care for this or that now and simply breathed a sigh of relief.
A few minutes later Amhain’s orders were received and were quickly implemented, the first wave’s infantry withdrew as fast as their legs could carry them while the archers tried to cover them as best as they could, meanwhile the second column began it’s orderly march, ready to replace the first one.
Yet contrary to their belief, their enemies did not pursue them and instead began to reform their lines, and to the shock of all the Eclipse infantry that had remained perfectly still began to move, but instead of advancing to reinforce their front line, the entire force of black armoured men turned and began to head south in a great haste.
"They want to flank us from the marshlands!" One patriarch yelled half in disbelief, half in fright.
"Order the second column to speed up their attack, command the right flank of the third column, as well as half the cavalry to head to the marshlands and hold it at all costs! And someone stop the first column’s retreat and tell them to immediately join the third column’s right flank in repulsing the enemies assault!" Amhain quickly roared out, issuing one command after another.
Many patriarchs were secretly relieved that they listened to the Enkada Matriarch when she demanded that the army’s command be given to one person and that person being her son, because the boy who was nothing but a new born babe in their eyes was proving to be an excellent and coolheaded commander.
But some other patriarchs were not so happy with his command, especially those of the smaller clans, who were seething at the fact that he sent their clansmen yet again into the front lines, when they had just suffered such horrendous casualties.
But Amhain did not care for the feelings at the moment as he kept his ears focused on the persistent flood of incoming reports, and his eyes unflinchingly trained on the changing tides of the battlefield. Especially on the now red banks of the Thiar River, where his men where nearest to clash with the enemy yet again.