Battle of the Sheilds

The Conflict

Prelude

A month passed after the Second Battle of Acci and neither side made a move on one another, waiting to see who would make the first move.

Deployment

The Citizen’s Alliance makes the first move to take the city Carboren due to its strategic value on the Bato River.

Battlefield

Antrinii Plains

Conditions

Cold cloudy day

The Engagement

Marius' camp is attacked by artillery fire as in kill a few dozen men and forces him to push his forces back to avoid their range. By morning he leads his first assault withe the majority of his forces and is meet with several thousand men from Patricio's army. A few hours pass and he is forced to with draw due to artillery fire sustaining casualties from behind the front lines. A few hours later he does it again and sent a small detachment of calvary to charge one of the artillery pieces and are able to destroy it before retreating. Then next attempt would happen two days later with several waves attacking the fortifications. Each one would relieve the other when they were exhausted and continue fight and the defenders losing troops from exhaustion. The artillery was ineffective as well since the lines were thin out to avoid bunching together. They would be forced to retreat once more when Patricio attack from behind with his calvary, wiping out the troop exhausted from the fighting. The next day would been seen as a large assault on the fortifications and Marius would have his calvary attempt to burn some of the walls of the fortification with oil with a large portion of it burnt before the defenders could stop it. An artillery piece would be destroyed by the flames as well. A day after Marius would order a two pronged attack on the damaged walls and the main gate. The defenders had difficulty holding their ground since their forces were spread thin and as a result the main gate was destroyed before the alliance forces retreated once more several day past of Marius' force to rest from their constant fighting. A small detachment of Patricio's best troops sneak into his camp setting fire to their supplies before treating back to their base. Much of the alliances food supplies is destroyed in the flames. Marius knew that had to end this quickly or his forces would starve and desert from hunger. He leads his final assault a few hours before dawn, catching them off guard since they were unable to see them due to the new moon. Fighting ensues as the alliance forces manage to take control of some of the fortification from the enemy and destroy another artillery piece. but are unable to push forward due to defender refusing to retreat. Their moral to waver and Marius head to the front lines to keep moral up. It starts to work, but Marius is hit with an arrow and is killed. His troops then route seeing that he is dead and many are cut down by the defender as well as cavalry attacks the camp soon after. the rest of the alliance are in full retreat and Marius' head is immediately sent to the capital as a trophy of success to Alexios. The defender immediately start rebuilding soon after in case another army shows up to attack them, but never comes.

Outcome

Alliance forces are forced to retreat back to Calinfas

Aftermath

The Imperial Royalists would launch attacks on alliance controlled areas and

Historical Significance

After the Second Battle of Acci what was left of the 6th Legion mange to head to Calinfas to meet up with the rest of the forces that joined the Citizen’s Alliance that were able to reach them. After hearing the loss of Acci the alliance leaders quickly want to end the war as quickly as possible before more lives were lost. After some time debating what would be the right target for their next attack. They decided to attack the city of Carboren since it was on the Bato river which could be used to send their troops straight to Vatia, via river and capture it ending the war with Alexios being captured since he did not leave the capital since the war began. The problem was that Patricio Tullius Augustanus was stationed in the north with much of the northern army due to his actions at Acci. Since they had been preparing their armies for the last month, Patricio was fortifying his postion in case of an attack. Several attempts were made to try and lure him out with troop movements on the edge of the northern province and a few skirmishes to boot. But he knew that they were planning an attack on his position since he knew how valuable the city was to them. Knowing that they were wasting time, the alliance leaders decided that reward was greater than the risk and launched an attack lead by General Manius Diduis, a seasoned general to to be in charge of the attack. After a few day he reach the fortified position that was made on the Antrinii Plains early in the morning and wanted to make camp in order for his men to rest for the morning battle. What he failed to notice though was that Patricio had made ballista fortifications and began to open fire on him as much of his army was sleeping, causing chaos with some minor losses and had the camp move farther way from the ballista's range. As soon as morning came the had his force ready for battle believing he would over whelm the Patricio's fortifications with overwhelming force. This would not work since Patricio would send out his own troops to meet him and hold them back as the ballistas caused more harmed to his forces. That and both sides were mostly using their shields to much one another back side they had trouble with hitting one another due the side of them and the same formations that they were in. With several attempts being made and many of them failing with only minor success. He finally having enough of this and believed that Patricio had sent word for reinforcement for the capital to help him, since they have been battling one another for several day now. On the ninth day he would lead an all out assault before down, surrounding the fortifications while the enemy was still asleep. But due to the fortifications, it made it difficult for his forces to rush in. The defender on the other hand were making easy work of them being able to push back every wave with their shield walls. Then finally after a few hours the battle finally end with Manius being killed my an arrow to the throat, making his forces route and abandoning the battle. Manius's head would be deliver straight to the capital to Alexios as a sign of his victory and would remain in the north for several more months until he was order to move. As for the remaining alliance forces they soon return to Calinfas with the new of their defeat and forcing the alliance to switch their choice of attack.

Legacy

The battle prolonged the war for several more years since the alliance would not launch another attack to claim Carboren due to their casualties inflicted there.

In Literature

The battle is often referrenced in military books in how fortifications can be used to help repel larger forces than your own and using defensive tactics to your advantage. It is also used to help teach officers what happens when ones own hubris can get in the way of victory.

Technological Advancement

The battle proved that the ballista could be used a defensive weapon in the right circumstances, since it as often used in only sieges. Many of them would later be mounted on ways to attack enemy forces trying to invade.

Included under Conflict

First Vatian Civil War

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

11/25/1247 BCA 3:20AM

Ending Date

12/4/1247 10:53AM

Conflict Result

Major Royalist Victory

Belligerents

Royalist forces

• Imperial Royalists

Led by

• Patricio Tullius Augustanus

Alliance Forces

• Citizen’s Alliance

Strength

9,600 Legionaries

• 400 Calvary

• 10 Catapults

• 15,500 Legionries

• 500 Calvery

Casualties

• 3943 Legionaries

• 231 Calvary

• 3 Catapults

• 7845 Legionires

• 334 Calvary

Objectives

Protect the the city of Carboren from being captured by rebel forces.

Capture the city of Carboren and wipe the Royalist forces in the area