Battle of Chegorsk Forest

The Battle of Chegorsk Forest occured during The Human Rebellion between the Alerian Rebels and an army of the Kingdom of Lorintha. It is widely considered one of the most important battles of the war and often pointed to as the moment that the Humans gained the upper hand.

The Conflict

Prelude

The Kingdom of Lorintha dispatched a large force to Chegorsk in an attempt to seek out and destroy a hidden rebel stronghold in the region. Alerio ordered a band of rebels to raid a nearby lumber worksite and liberate its slaves in order to lure the Lorinthan force to the area. General Orrist of Lorintha, commander of the Lorinthan army obliged, marching his force to the worksite at the edge of the Chegorsk Forest.

Deployment

Alerio deployed a small force of archers and infantry in the open near the lumber worksite as bait. The rebels main force was deployed in the forest south of the smaller force, with infantry in the centre and archers behind them with their position fortified with wooden stakes. Mixed units of archers and infantry were deployed on both flanks to create a killzone in front of the infantry. Further on each wing, Alerio deployed his cavalry.
Upon sighting the force, General Orrist of Lorintha deployed his force to their north with his infantry and archers at the front and infantry reserves on the wings. Due to the apparent size of the human force, and believing the forest behind the humans would make a charge during a rebel rout ineffective, Orrist decided not to deploy his cavalry largely composed of Lorinthan Nobles, keeping them in reserve.

Battlefield

The Battle took place at the edge of the Chegorsk forest near the lumber worksite.

Conditions

Morning, Light Fog, Cool

The Engagement

Orrist intiated the battle by ordering his archers to begin loosing volleys at the human bait force. The smaller force of human archers returned fire, but began to suffer casualties. After exchanging a number of volleys, the bait force retreated to the trees to the south. Orrist ordered his infantry to pursue, believing the forest to be too dense for the effective use of cavalry.
As the Lorinthan infantry approached the edge of the forest, the units on the wing began to converge towards the centre, with the commander of the infantry believing that they would likely hit the flanks of the human force. As the Lorinthan troops entered the forrest, they were hit with an arrow bombardment from the dug in human archers from the rebel main force. They continued the advance under arrow fire before being engaged by the bulk of the human main force's infantry.
The Human mixed archer/infantry units on the wings flanked the Lorinthan force, with the infantry protecting the archers and allowing them to fire accurate volleys into the Lorinthan flanks. As this occured, Alerio's cavalry on each wing burst from the trees and charged the Lorinthan archers in the open, Alerio himself fighting in the left wing, catching them in the flanks unprotected by infantry. After a few minutes of intense fighting in the centre, the Lorinthan infantry began to rout, retreating back towards the archers now engaged by Alerio's cavalry.
Responding to the charge, Orrist personally led his cavalry in reserve to reinforce his archers and engage the enemy cavalry. By this point however, routing infantry had begun to stream through the archers, triggering routs amongst the units of archers also, slowing down the Lorinthan cavalry's advance.
The rebel infantry continued to advance towards the Lorinthan archers, with the human cavalry and infantry converging on the routing troops. Soon after, the Lorinthan cavalry was enagaged by human cavalry on its flanks and were drawn into the melee. It was around this time that General Orrist of Lorintha was skewed by the lance of an unknown human cavalier and killed.
As the last of the Lorinthan cavalry and archers were killed or routed, the rebel cavalry swung south and attacked the remaining Lorinthan infantry that were now caught between the advancing rebel infantry and the cavalry. Encircled, the Lorinthan infantry units that remained cohesive conducted a last stand. After 15 minutes of fighting, the last of the Elven infantry were slain.

Outcome

Death of General Orrist of Lorintha
Destruction of General Orrist's Army

Aftermath

Significant blow to the Kingdom of Lorintha's total military strength.
Allowed the Human Rebels to commence The Novayan Campaign (Human Rebellion).

Historical Significance

Legacy

The Battle of Chegorsk Forest is widely regarded as a pivotal moment in The Human Rebellion, serving as a major tactical, strategic and propoganda victory.

Included under Conflict

The Human Rebellion

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

3rd of Kaisihatch 4007 EA

Conflict Result

Major Human Victory

Location

Chegorsk Forest

Belligerents

Human Rebels

• Alerian Rebels

Led by

• Alerio

Kingdom of Lorintha

• Kingdom of Lorintha

Led by

• General Orrist of Lorintha

Strength

8000 Infantry
6000 Archers
3000 Cavalry

7500 Infantry
4000 Archers
1400 Cavalry

Casualties

1800 Infantry Killed
92 Archers Killed
421 Cavalry Killed

5400 Infantry Killed
1600 Archers Killed
600 Cavalry Killed, General Orrist of Lorintha killed

Objectives

Destruction of the Lorinthan Army

Destruction of the rebel warband that attacked the lumber worksite.