Second Salamanderian War

The Second Salamanderian war was a major conflict between the Council of the Horselords under Gekke I and Tardia under Diktator Octavian. It would escalate in the later stage of the war and at its height the countries of Trinsulae, Laurelorn, Kartaga, Tir and Tabard were involved too. The war was a decisive Tard victory and established that Tardia was the major land power, whilst simultaneously establishing Tabard as the leading naval power.

Background
The western Salamander Strait had been a hotbed for conflict ever since the Roperian Revolt of year Zero and the consequent First Salamanderian War. In this war the Tards under Labienus had beaten Gekke I in the battle of Chaemeolonia and peace was made soon after. In here it was established that the Salamander Strait was to be 'rented out' to the council of Tards in exchange for tribute. This did not satisfy the Horseking enough as he viewed the Salamander Strait as an integral part of the Steppe, which he saw as rightful Horselord territory and as the great uniter of the prophecies of the Kindarin faith he was expected to unite the entire Steppe into his realm. The very presence of the Tards in the Salamander Strait was thus a slap in the face to the Horseking's presige, both at home and abroad.

Nothing could be done against the Tard occupation as Gekke I had been bested in battle against them before. Especially under the ironfisted but brutally intelligent commander Sulla, the first diktator of Tardia. When he died in 12 a.Z. however, Gekke I saw his chance. Secretly an invasion force was prepared whilst a power vacuum in Tardia emerged, only to be completely dominated by Sulla's posthumously adopted son Octavian. It was then after careful preparation that the Horseking decided to invade and reclaim the Salamander Strait in spring 14 a.Z.

For the Tards the Salamander Strait was a second home. Many of the inhabitants were of the Izeran faith, especially after the purges of the Roperian revolt. The Salamander strait was also a strategically important location as it was the only access point to the Midsea, bringing with it wealth by imposing tariffs on passing ships. This cultural, economic and strategic position made a hard response by the Tards not only natural, but absolutely necessary. Octavian saw this as a great opportunity to unite his people as well, giving him legitimacy whilst sending his main political opponent, Labienus, away. Labienus was the victor at Chaemeolonia and as such was experienced with the Horselords, making him an excellent choice to lead the troops, two birds with one stone.

Battle of Gila
Gekke I invaded the Salamander Strait without warning or declaration and panic struck the local population. Those living on the countryside fled to Chaemeolonia, capital of the region and Gekke's advance was extremely fast. Unfortunately for the Horseking Labienus managed to ship over his troops just in time. He landed in Gila, the biggest city on the southern part of the strait whilst the armies of the Horselord could be seen in the distance. Labienus, confident in victory and reinforced by the Company of Honour, sallied out of the town to meet Gekke I in open battle.

The two sides were completely different types of armies. Where the Council of the Horselords relied on maneuverability, speed and devastating charges, the Tards relied on strong disciplined infantry formations, reinforced by the elite Silver Guard and the Company of Honour. The Azat knights who were deployed in the early phase of the war were stronger than the average rider in the Horselord army, but they were outmatched against the Camel Cataphracts, the hammer of the Horselord army. To counter the infantry based army of the enemy Gekke I decided to have a center of highly experienced but dismounted riders, there to hold the enemy in its place whilst the cavalry, in which the Horseking held a significant advantage, would swing around and break the enemy apart. The battle started with a Camal Cataphract charge on the Tard right and Horselord left. A unit of Azat knights was pressed hard but another unit of Azat knights and a contingent of light infantry came to its rescue. A group of riders was caught as well and destroyed when it tried to flee. The Silver guard was deployed to deal with the Camel Cataphracts who had lured the enemy into chasing them only to be charged and destroyed. Another unit of Camel Cataphracts swung around the left of the Tards and tried to cause a rout amongst the archers that were positioned behind the main line of infantry. Labienus had anticipated the move however and placed a unit of infantry between the camels and his skirmishers. This proved to be the right decision as the cataphracts got shot to pieces whilst inflicting minor damage to the Tards. The camels were forced to retreat.

In the second phase of the battle Labienus decided to push the advantage. First the infantry center of the enemy was softened with archer fire after which the Company of Honour would charge the enemy line. Simultaneously a trapezoid formation was formed behind the company to shield them from cavalry charges from behind. The charge was devastating but it was the little cavalry the Tards had left that swung around and finished off the mainline. All this whilst multiple cavalry charges by the Horselords were fended off. A last mass charge by the Horselord riders did manage to penetrate the formation but soon found themselves trapped within it and destroyed. Leaving only Gekke I and his guard as an effective fighting force. Any other remaining forces were quickly overrun and destroyed and the Horseking left the battlefield to regroup.

Tard initiative
The battle of Gila had been a disaster for the Horselords. The entire army had been destroyed and only a couple hundred riders had returned. Quickly Gekke I had to gather new recruits because Labienus pushed on relentlessly. In a lightning campaign he had retaken all of the Salamander Strait and now he pushed into the Steppe itself, marching with speed. Labienus knew that a prolonged war in the Steppe-desert would not only hurt morale but would be a drain on resources, the only way to conclude the war swiftly was to occupy the Citadel and force a surrender. Another battle was fought but the fresh recruits stood no chance against the experienced and disciplined armies of Tardia, details on this battle of Bakan are lost. The large swaths of land were hard to traverse however and the speed of the army was faster than logistics allowed and thus there came to be a halt in the rapid march to the capital. This gave Gekke I enough chance to regroup and prepare another assault to drive the enemy from the Steppe. The quick advance also led to a diplomatic incident involving the island nation of Trinsulae. The Trinsulaeans had provided the Tards with food, armour and weapons to assist them in their campaign, this to honour the treaty of Attia. Trinsulae had also signed the Steppe Accord however and The Republic of Tabard and the Horseking now argued that supplying the armies of the Tards now they had pushed into the steppe was a breach of this treaty. Trinsulae backed down but was allowed to keep selling food to the Tards. Octavian now had to divert more of his resources to obtain weapons and armour somewhere else.

Battle of Hakath
Gekke I now approached with a new and trained army to regain the lost territory. This time he dismounted only a handful of men to force the enemy into holding formation whilst his riders would tear it apart. The steppemen circled around the enemy and completely surrounded them. Labienus reacted by forming a triangle formation. He had left his Azat knights in his camp to rest and during the battle he used native Salamanderian cavalry and relied on Salamanderian Izerans on infantry support. His elite Silver guard was expanded and now counted 640 men, double the size it had earlier. Gekke I tried to break the formation with continuous charges, but it had little effect. A big push on the rear forced Labienus to pull in his reserves and create a circle formation, the cavalry became more of a threat as the charges started to wear down the Salamanderians and light infantry. The Silver Guard held the line however and not a single detachment of cavalry could penetrate them. Where ever the Silver Guard went the enemy was driven back. A stalemate ensued, neither side willing to push, but the Tards were in a desperate position as they had nowhere to go but their defensive circle. Eventually Gekke I gave the order for yet another mass charge, but this time it would seem the right flank of the Tards would break. Gekke I saw no opportunity in it however as he could see the Silver Guard reinforcing it yet again. The one-eyed commander would then attempt an attack on the other flank whilst barraging Labienus himself with arrows. This proved unsuccessful when a unit of the Company of Honour together with Salamanderian archers inflicted casualties on Gekke I's bodyguard. Continued charges kept hurting the Tards and eventually they broke off their formation. Unfortunately for him Gekke I's own troops had been depleted too and he lacked the numbers to finally push his breakthrough, after a while the Tards reformed again. They could not fill all the gaps however and repeated penetrations wearied down the defending Tards. The Salamanderians had been driven of the battle field earlier but now the Company of Honour had been almost completely wiped out, luckily, their leader Veronix had another detachment with his troops back in the camp. Labienus knew that he had to break through to reach his camp as the night had almost fallen, staying in this position while it was dark would surely mean defeat and thus at the sound trumpets his Silver Guard (The last group of men still standing) charged into every direction, catching the enemy by surprise. The Bathierans were forced off the battlefield but had inflicted major casualties to the enemy. In the end the Tards remained in control of the region and they had beaten the Horselords in battle but it was a narrow defeat. After this battle the term of a destructive victory would be called a Hakathan victory, in remembrance to this bloody battle where 76% of all those present had vanquished.

Race for the Citadel
It took Labienus 3 seasons to replenish his army. His Azat knights were replaced by Attican Cataphracts, able horsemen with armour inspired by the Camel Cataphracts employed by his enemies. The Silver Guard had been beaten up in the battle of Hakath and was once again reduced to 320 men. More reinforcements from Tardia had come too and the famous light armoured Tard infantry was present in large numbers again, even though Salamanderian spearmen and archers remained present in the army. This was the army that marched upon the Citadel to enforce a grand victory. The war was getting expensive and the Company of Honour, having lost incredible amounts of manpower, were discontent. Furthermore there was the ever looming danger of another country joining in on the war, Labienus knew he had to strike as fast as possible. Another Horselord army lay waiting between the Tards and the Citadel however and another battle commenced. Labienus had now fought the Horseking 4 times and had realised that he was learning and adapting to his defensive strategy. Having become more confident Labienus decided to add a more aggressive element to his normally defensive strategies. He still formed a defensive square but on either flank a unit of phalanx pikemen (an invention Labienus had made earlier) protected by regular infantry was placed. The Attican cataphracts were placed in ambush but were quickly ordered to move to the front as the experienced commander of the Silver Guard saw an oppurtunity. His cavalry and infantry on the flank charged simultaneously, breaking through the center of the Horseking, spitting his forces in 2 as the rear of the Tards was protected from cavalry charges due to its steepness. All wasn't hopeless however as the Silver Guard and the enemy elite troops had been involved in the push, leaving the protective square unprotected from cavalry charges, and this is what Gekke I did. The initiative was lost, however, when the Tard center returned. Atticans and Silver Guard units poured in and dealt with the remaining army of the Horseking, although some isolated Tard forces were attacked and almost destroyed by the ever mobile Bathieran riders. When the battle was over it was clear that Labienus had won a decisive victory and the path to the capital lay open. His casualties could mainly be found in the Salamanderians and light infantry that formed the square.

As soon as the Tard commander arrived he put the Citadel under siege, importing wood to craft great siege engines, the likes of which the world had never seen before. But then what Labienus, and Octavian, had feared the most happened, the war escalated.

Motivations
The Republic of Tabard, and most importantly their strongman Polleander, had viewed the war with suspicion. They had good relations with the Council but had not become involved due to the distance of the war and the nature of the conflict, the Horseking had attacked first. Now that the Tards had advanced on the Citadel and put it to siege with remarkable speed the situation had changed however. The Tabardans feared that if the Horselords fell there would be no lid on Tard expansion. If the Steppe would fall their natural border would be endangered, the greatest fear of the maritime and mercantile nation. After the defeats at Gila and Bakan the republic had already supported their Bathieran friends with enormous amounts of food for their armies but to no avail. The only possible action to influence the outcome of the war was to join it. At first Gekke I had refused, but when Labienus was preparing to assault the Citadel he changed his mind. He also asked his father-in-law Orion I of Laurelorn to come and attack the Tards, opening a second front. Tabard issued a formal declaration of war first, after which Laurelorn did the same. The Eonirs (people of Laurelorn) had plenty reason to attack the Tards. Not only did they border each other and did the latter occupy a piece of the forest the Eonirs called their home, the Tards had also invaded and burned part of their homes during the Alexandrite war. Now with 2 strong allies the morale of the Bathierans went up and preparations were made. Preparations include an episode of Gekke I entering the enemy camp to have a drink with some Tardian soldiers. The enemies, now temporary-friends, had great respect for each other as the Tardians had treated the dead Bathierans with great respect and had proven themselves great warriors. They drink and sing songs together until the day breaks again, Labienus tried to attack the Horseking when he heard the news but he was too late, and furious too.

Now that Laurelorn had joined the war Trinsulae had found a reason to enter the war as well. The Treaty of Attia had been a defensive alliance, thus far Octavian had not seen a reason for the Trinsulaeans to be called in but now that he was attacked on two fronts he could use the help. Trinsulae had bad blood with Laurelorn as the latter had claimed the island of Svean, which was essential for the Trinsulaean fleet and the Trinsulaeans considered the island theirs. This was not the only island causing the war to expand as Tir joined the war to gain control of the island of Ynys Haern, in front of their coast. The Tirians and Trinsulaeans had made a deal about this island, the important iron in the mines there would go to the Tirians in times of peace, but Trinsulae had not honoured this agreement. Tir even claimed that the Trinsulaeans had sold it to Tardia at one point, this was backed by Tabard but no proof could be found. The nation of Kartaga saw this as an opportunity to conquer the island of Tongaal (Dongal in Karteese) which was of religious importance to them. Arturo I de Léon of Kartaga was also married to Gekke I's sister Chimeg and joined in to help his brother in law.

The second battle of the Citadel
Now the war had escalated and morale had increased Gekke I had decided to try and break the siege. He left the capital and raised an army once again, the biggest the Steppe had ever seen. For the first time during the war the Bathierans outnumbered the Tards and Labienus would be tested once more in the second battle of the Citadel. The Tards brought a similar army as they did before, reinforced by some fresh Tardian infantry and an extra detachment of Salamanderian archers. Gekke I brought his camel cataphracts, a good amount of riders but most of his force consisted of dismounted troops that had eaten their horses to make the march in time for the battle. Labienus intended to use a nearby treeline to deter the enemy cavalry from charging in but he had abandoned his defensive square and lined up in a more regular manner, with the pikemen and Silver Guard up front, the company of honour in reserve, and the light infantry behind ready to come forward to unleash javelin fire upon the enemy. The battle opened on the Tard right flank with the cataphracts charging one another. The experienced camel riders had the upper hand but the Tards had infantry support nearby. This infantry was charged by Bathieran riders but the sheer amount of infantry and another unit of Attican cataphracts nearby made it nearly impossible for them to make a breakthrough. the horses had to retreat, isolating the camel cataphracts who were slaughtered. An attempt to save them came to late and these riders were beaten back as well, giving the Tards cavalry supremacy on the right flank whilst being outnumbered and outclassed initially. Now the Bathieran main line advanced and attacked the Tards head-on having a numerical advantage. The infantry swung around on the left flank of the Tards to support a cavalry charge that had completely disoriented the light infantry there. In the meanwhile the line of Salamanderian spearmen wavered and the Company of Honour was deployed in the center to turn the tide. On the extreme left the Tardian line was breaking and Labienus himself got involved to save the battle. In the centre and right things were going better. Veronix and his men has broken the Bathierans and now started to envelop the enemy lines whilst the cavalry and the pikemen on the right had isolated a couple of units, slowly destroying them. The situation was saved when troops from the right flank came pouring back in, pikemen and cataphracts. A Company of Honour unit also broke their enemies and flanked around the remaining Bathierans. But even with this help the situation was not saved yet. It were the Salamanderian archers and Veronix guard that really pulled through and won the day. Gekke I was involved in some intense fighting but was forced to flee as his army was beaten once more. Labienus had won a victory against the largest threat to his expedition as of yet.

First assault of the Citadel
Having gained complete control of the Citadel region once again Labienus decided to push his advantage and take the Citadel by storm. He places his forces on the southern side of the walls, barraging the walls with powerful siege ballista's. He also places a battering ram on the extreme left to break down the gate, supported by some Attican Cataphracts. A sally-out of Bathieran riders worries the general however and he orders more Tardian infantry to protect this piece of siege equipment. The Horselord troops retreat however, giving the ballistae the chance to create a breach in the powerful walls. The Tards then scale the wall and throw themselves at the breach, supported by the expert Salamanderian archers. A group of riders sally out of the breach but get caught by the Tard phalanx and some Silver Guard, they retreat but cause havoc amongst those Tards approaching the wall, sawing chaos and confusion. The day had started badly for the Tards (The company of honour was about to mutiny, it was only when Labienus threatened to bombard them with the ballistae that they got back in the fold), but now they had pulled through, pushing their phalanx in the breach whilst simultaneously seizing the walls. This did not last long however and fierce archer fire and fighting on the wall caused tremendous casualties on the Tard side. The fighting was intense and brutal, even a unit of Silver Guard was beaten back and Veronix' bodyguard was almost completely destroyed by archer fire, his wounded body being saved by some of his countrymen. The walls were only won when Labienus himself joined the assault but down in the breach it had been too late for victory. The Tard forces were spread out and the Bathieren encircled and destroyed them. All the while arrows fell the victorious Tards on the wall. The day was lost and Labienus gave the order to retreat. The Tards had lost their first battle.

Trinsulaean peace treaties
The failed assault on the Citadel spread as a shockwave throughout Adonatus. Not only had the Tards failed to capture the Citadel, they had lost for the very first time in decades. Morale in the Horselord camp was restored and it's allies were on the offensive. In the meanwhile Tardia's ally Trinsulae began to waver. They demanded Tabard withdrew from the war, calling upon the Treaty of Utrond, but Tabard refused, stating that this intervention was not against Utrond at all. Faced by this Trinsulae lost heart and they approached Kartaga and Tir for peace. Negotiations with Kartaga were swift as Tongaal was transferred to Kartaga, only to be given back later when Trinsulae had conquered vast territories for them in exchange. The Treaty of the Lions was a great success and Tir was pressured to negotiate peace too. The situation at Yn Ys Haearn was more complex as Trinsulae had not honoured the agreement the two empires had made about the island. Thus Tir saw total victory and ownership of the island, as well as Trinsulae giving up any claim to the island. As this was against the Treaty of Utrond, and since their navy was the only reason the Tirians would be able to even reach the island, Tabard intervened. They stated that since without their navy Tir would stand no chance they should have a say in the negotiations. Tir then gave in and the island was split, in exchange Tabard had to promise not to aid Trinsulae in case of a future conflict between the two powers. The peace of Yn Ys Haearn was signed and Tir left the war. Trinsulae then paid a minor fee to Laurelorn and the Horselord and officially left the war.

Laurelorn plans
With Trinsulae gone the allies used the momentum to open up a second front against Tardia. Laurelorn under their king Orion I sent in Chiron under an army to conquer the forestland owned by the Tards. The Eonirs viewed this as their ancestral homeland and this ownership was unacceptable for them. During the Alexandrite war Tardia had handsomely beaten the forest kingdom and its confidence had been shattered. Over time the kingdom had re-found itself however and it was now an economic powerhouse, considered to be among the great powers of the south. It had expanded its borders exponentially and its manpower pools had increased greatly, enabling Laurelorn to field larger armies than the Tards could. On top of this Orion I had hired the Eagle Company from the north. Highly trained and well equipped troops that could go par to par with the strongest units Tardia could bring. Laurelorn's objective was not to destroy Tardia however. They merely wanted to distract the Tards from the Horselord front and gain their forest province. Nothing more.