The Battle Commences
It didn't take long for the week to pass by, as the day of the mock battle came close.
On the day of the battle, in the main hall of The Church of Lugus, Andreas stood in front of one of 4 Archbishops of the Church, Archbishop Morris.
A man in his mid forties, Archbishop Morris had a sturdy frame, due to him being a Paladin before entering the upper echelons of the Church.
Holding on to his sceptre, he gazed upon Andreas and the man who stood beside him, Herab, the Desert Star.
"Paladins, today is an important day for the Church, the day we test the might of two of our mightiest battalions. The Gimense and The Centauri, home of the sharpest swords of our Lord. To the victor go the spoils, but remember it is still but a mock battle, killing each other is not at all permitted!" The Archbishop said, and the two paladins nodded.
"The battle is to be held outside the walls of Lughana, in the clearing near the Eastern Gate, I alas won't be able to judge this battle, but I have requested Cardinal Silas to be present in my stead. He is a good man, but be wary, he does not take kindly to the flouting of the rules of engagement" his gaze turned to Herab, as he said the last part.
Herab was a man of a short stature, and a wiry build, he wielded a shamshir, which lay sheathed on his hip, as he turned and bowed to Andreas, "May the stronger man prevail."
Andreas wished him the same and proceeded to walk out of the Church, eager to bury the shame and redeem himself of the loss they faced last year.
At the mouth of the forest clearing near the Eastern gate of Lughana, a massive camp was set up, hundreds of spectators walked into the camp eager to witness the battle between the strongest barracks of Lugus.
Both battalions assembled side by side, surrounded by spectators sitting in a makeshift amphitheatre made out of wood. In front of them was an empty stage, atop which stood a podium, the battalions waited in formation, with the only sound being the waves of cheering spectators.
Andreas and Herab waited at the heads of their respective battalions, gazing into space, while their minds came up with endless scenarios of what the other might throw at them, Andreas clutched his sword in excitement.
In a few moments, a man walked on to the stage, he looked old, yet his eyes held an unmatched vigour, his statured was hunched, and he donned scarlet robes with white trim; as Cardinal Silas approached the podium, he looked upon the participants and then the spectators, gesturing them to quiet down.
He then spoke, "It is a rare honour for all of us to spectate as the lord's mightiest swords clash, to claim the title of the strongest. The rules of the battle are simple, one camp is to takeover the other. Killing and taking hostages are forbidden. Participants, upon losing consciousness, will be teleported to the healing camps, any battalion to lose more than half of its fighters will lose by default."
After listing out the rules, the Cardinal introduced each battalion and their leaders, as the crowd burst into fanfare, holding deep respect for the men of cloth. After silencing the crowd again, he spoke, "Let us draw inspiration from these valiant men, for our lord wishes all of us to be strong, for only the strong are personally embraced by him upon death!"
The audience applauded the words of Silas, and hoped to God that the respected Cardinal, would shut up and start the battle already.
"Now without further ado, let us cast the scryers and commence the battle! May the strongest prevail!" The Cardinal announced, the men entered the forest clearing as the Cardinal and subordinates cast the scrying spell, to monitor the battlefield & enable the soldiers to fight and deploy tactics without any disturbance.
Andreas and his men got into formation, the main squad and two flanks quickly set up camp, and set out as planned.
The main squad marched straight ahead to attack the enemy base, the flanks stayed at the side albeit lagging a bit behind the main squad; detaching small 5 man units into the forest as they progressed.
Only a few minutes of marching was all it took for them to notice the enemy. "CHARGE!" Andreas yelled to the vanguard as they broke from formation, rushing towards their enemy at breakneck speed.
Andreas always preferred to lead the charge and be in the thick of battle, he took the initiative as both parties clashed, Andreas mowed down soldiers like they were grass, his wooden Zweihänder making short work of soldiers and their steeds.
In the heat of battle Andreas and his men glowed with radiance as Patrick cast a mass buff spell, 'Bull's Strength'.
The Gimensee soldiers, with surging morale started to push the Centauri battalion back, cutting their way through the army. It was too easy!
Andreas knew it was too good to be true, and his suspicions were confirmed when he noticed a small wisp of blue smoke rising from the left part of the woods. Where Jann and his flank squad had broken into smaller guerrilla units to counter any sneak attacks, their plan to stall Herab and his sneak attack seemed to be working, for now. Yet the rising smoke could only mean one thing & Andreas knew this signal all to well.
"AMBUSH!" He yelled to his men. "Consolidate ranks! Shields out! Antlion tactic!" He ordered his men.
The offensive Vanguard quickly retreated and joined back into formation, as the Bastide units, heavy armoured shield bearers took the the front. Their formation conveyed only one message, they refused to give up on any ground gained!
Like clockwork, Herab and his ambush squad charged at the Gimensee men, only to be hopelessly repelled! Only Herab managed to knock down a Bastide unit, but alas their hit and run tactics couldn't allow them to take advantage of the crack in formation.
Andreas roared in laughter seeing his rival's plan go up in smokes, "Herab you sneaky bastard, you don't surprise me anymore! Patreus! Execute Star-splitter protocol!" He yelled at his most trusted subordinate.
Patreus and a unit of elite soldiers charges out of their ranks and pursued Herab's Ambush Squad.
Patreus, on his steed, managed to catch up to the rear of the squad and take down two enemies, before they managed to escape back into the woods, he then re-joined his unit and led them back into formation.
Outside the clearing, the spectating camp, broke out in ruckus, some cheering their favourite battalions on, others worried about the bets they placed. Silas, looked at the spectating screen in a mix of awe and satisfaction. This was the strength of his God's men!
Back to the battlefield, both sides met again in a fierce clash, The Centauri men giving their all against the rival Gimensee soldiers. Alas, Andreas' battalion proved too strong for them in an open field, like a godly object that no mortal could stop, the Gimensee men marched ahead, cutting through wave after wave of enemy.
Seeing his formations working, Andreas could focus his attention elsewhere, as he contacted the heads of the Flank squads, a figure emerged from the bushes, leaping out towards Andreas!
Andreas couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw! The figure was none other than Natasha! Her usually calm eyes reddened with anger, she looked very unkempt with grass sticking to her torn robes.
Yet what shocked him the most was the news Natasha carried with her, both the flank squads were wiped out!
"How did this happen? Did you not follow our plan?" Andreas asked
"My Paladin, it all went according to plan, we just weren't a match to Herab's ambush squads. They are too agile! Splitting and uniting almost instantly! They are around 500 in number, we only managed to knock out a tenth of their strength."
Andreas did the math in his head, "The main squad has managed to obliterate more than half of the 500 men open field squad, and the flanks managed to fell another 50. Considering that they wiped out the flank squads, around 300 in number, and a few ten odd men from the main squad; we stand at around 690 and they at 700, we're almost equal in strength!" he wondered, how to draw this battle to a close without falling into more of a disadvantage.
He was sure that Herab was going to lead his men to attack the rear of the main squad, splitting the squad to attack and defend at the same time, even if he managed to set the defence in time; Herab would just switch to hit and run tactics.
Andreas was truly stuck in a conundrum! How would he manage to get himself out of this quagmire?