All is going according to plan so far.
The Lorates are proceeding the way we
predicted, and if they continue in the present course we will have
victory.
Our first encounter proved successful
and had a strong impact upon the battlefield, though at first glance
was a discouraging and gruesome sight.
As I rode up to the crest of the hill
my heart caught in my throat as I saw the wreckage and chaos that
laid upon the Kordana valley before me.
Lorate siege towers gathered close to
the walls of the royal Kordana castle, thousands of arrows issuing
forth and peppering the battlements, and at the same moment a
battering ram was leveled upon the main gate in an effort to
breakthrough to the inside.
Roughly a thousand feet from the castle
walls lay Mangonel catapults, towering menacingly in front of their
army of foot soldiers and horsemen, hurtling large stones and
boulders from the bowl-shaped bucket at the end of the long arm of
the apparatus.
The damage it incurs is horrendous and
devastating, sometimes bringing down a whole portion of a castle
tower in one hit, and sending chunks of stone in all directions.
I took a deep breath and steadied my
nervous steed with a rub to it's neck.
The strong stench of fire and smoke
assailed my nostrils.
Gruesome ordeal, indeed.
We then went into action, we divided
our horsemen into two groups and positioned one group at the rim of
the Tristan forest, sheltered from view by the trees, north of the
Kordana Valley, and the other group at the edge of Kruhn Ridge, south
of the valley.
Further east of where the second group
was situated on the Ridge was our foot soldiers.
When the order was given they raced
from their positions and onto the valley plains.
The group from Kruhn Ridge descended
and ambushed the Lorate catapults and foot soldiers from the rear
while the horsemen from the forest attacked the left flank of the
Lorate camp, positioned behind the battlefield some thousand feet
away.
Our intention for this movement was to
drive them to the western side of Kruhn Ridge, and so far the plan is
successful.
They are acknowledging that they are
being overwhelmed, and are starting to retreat.
And to prevent their escape to the
west, the horsemen will intercept and drive them to the ridge.
Once they begin ascending into the
rocky terrain of Kruhn Ridge, archers will assault them from behind
boulders and a battalion of horsemen will surround and constrain the
army.
Then their only alternative would be to
surrender.
That is the whole of our scheme, and
many hours was spent in producing and perfecting it to it's flawless
state.
Let us just pray that the Lorates
follow along with our ruse.
-Emerald de Gavrillac
Queen of Krespania
