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Post by Admin on Apr 9, 2016 23:19:30 GMT
BATTLE OF KAORI
Belligerents
-- Empire of Zellonia: 60,000 Regulars (Emperor Ze Li [1]) [4,500 have Voskyan Flintlock Rifles]
-- Kingdom of Henang: 3,500 Regulars (Sadhma Kitt [5])
The Battle of Kaori was a strategic ambush of the marching Zellonian Army. General and former bandit Sadhma Kitt had been in the capital city of Yelang while the Zellonian Army feasted and relaxed. He realized that when half of the Zellonian Army had been sent back east, they finally had a chance to win. Sadhma Kitt returned north to the Henang Army, encamped along the coast north of Yelang and ordered the Henang Navy burned. "It's here we will fight and win, or it's here we will fight and die," he allegedly said. The Emperor's decision to send the majority of his forces with Centran weapons back East was a strange one, but one that Sadhma Kitt would take advantage of.
Marching north through the Henang jungle, the Zellonian Army would pass through a small dip in the terrain and from there Sadhma Kitt would stage his attack. Using mostly native bows, with a handful of 17th century Voskyan pistols, the Henang soldiers began their assault from both sides. The battle was on. The Zellonian Army was caught in column formation, with weapons still across their back. The thick jungle made it hard to see from where the attack was coming from, and a third of the army had already descended into a steep jungle valley when the attack started.
The rain did not let up and in fact helped to conceal the Henang guerrillas during the attack. Arrows and musket balls rained down on the marching column, while a great many shouts emanated from the jungle. An arrow intended for Emperor Ze Li struck instead one of the bodyguards who yanked the Emperor from his horse to protect him.
-- Empire of Zellonia
-- Moderation Mark |
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Post by Empire of Zellonia on Apr 10, 2016 0:45:38 GMT
Battle of Kaori (November, 1836)
As the Emperor was pulled from his horse and the battle continued he order the men closest to the front and where the fighting was to take positions on both sides. He called up for the new flintlock musket men who would take positions and begin firing upon the tree line. Meanwhile those in the further back would smash outward and go into the tree lines to flank the enemy. All the while he would stay at the front and with his men inspiring them.
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Post by Admin on Apr 10, 2016 1:58:54 GMT
BATTLE OF KAORI
"Attack! Attack now!"
The calamity of battle made the ready identification of friend and foe a laborious act. The jungle and wild downpour of rain made this distinction an even greater difficulty. But the bannermen of Henang wore wild emerald scarfs that helped meld them into the thickets of jungle that they attacked from. Bows sang and the occasional puff of smoke from atop the rocky crags and the treeline indicated the presence of a Henang gunner. Too crowded to effectively fight, Zellonian soldiers--58,200 in all--spent more time positioning themselves than they did fighting. Zellonians in the rear attempted to push to the front. The Emperor attempted to command his troops whilst avoiding being killed by enemy fire. The fighting was tenacious, and the Henang were outnumbered 30 to 1.
The Zellonian musketmen finally managed to push through and set up a firing line. They raised their rifles--Voskyan flintlocks--and fired, right into the treeline. The smoke, the rain and the fact they were firing into a long belt of thick trees meant they had no idea whether they had hit home or not. The men lowered their rifles and started to reload, an equally laborious process to many of the men performing the robotic motion. Infantry pushed up through the ranks while rocks, arrows and muskets pelted them. Brandishing sword and spear, the infantry of Zellonia threw themselves into the treeline. The battle had moved to close quarters, and Zellonia's riflemen made useless, lest they shoot into their comrades back. From his vantage point, the Emperor saw only chaos. |
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Post by Empire of Zellonia on Apr 10, 2016 3:46:15 GMT
BATTLE OF KAORI When the enemy raced down to attack in hand to hand combat he knew they enemy was done for some 50,000 men would easily wipe out such few numbers he pulled back the musket men and had those in the forest flank behind the charging Henang Soldiers. Yet the Emperor himself having been trained in the art of combat himself pulled out his sword and with his men fought side by side with them. |
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Post by Admin on Apr 10, 2016 17:45:37 GMT
BATTLE OF KAORI
The conflict ebbed and flowed, but it was apparent that due to the overwhelming numbers of Zellonian soldiers, the Henang simply had no chance. However, the tactical surprise and better fighting positions had allowed the Henang to inflict brutal casualties on the overwhelmingly distorted and crowded Zellonian Army. The torrential downpour failed to abate, much to the chagrin of the Zellonians, who wanted nothing more than a single moment of respite from the Henang elements. After over five and a half hours of brutal combat, the Henang withdrew. The battle was over. The Emperor himself miraculously survived, but his honor guard had taken tremendous casualties. The Zellonian numbered more than 6,000 dead. There was no information on the amount of Henang killed, for many of the dead bodies had been dragged away, or simply taken by the thick jungle mud.
Though victorious, the men were bloodied and sullen. The Emperor's tent was the only dry place in all of Henang, the men figured. The jungle fought them, just as the men of Henang. They set up camp for the night, but the Emperor could give the order to march at any time. Many of the men felt they were being watched. Not just by scouts of Henang, but by the jungle itself. Imperial scouts wagered that the army had marched about a third of the way up the peninsula and another two months march would be required to reach the northern shores.
CASUALTIES
-- Empire of Zellonia: 6,200 men.
-- Kingdom of Henang: ? men. |
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