Ruse de Guerre

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