The Battle of Stænan - Fall, 545 A.I.Stænan is the name of a stony peninsula on the shore of Entshire on the Western Groenesee. Underpopulated, with hard terrain. In the Fall of 545, the Halig Frecan reinforced their troops headed for Gourdham through the narrow valleys of northern Sæppebeorge by landing on this stony peninsula. The deep waters off of its western shore provided the longship soldier carriers of the Östfleot ample room to land longship after longship of troops from the Eastern Groenesee.
Cerdic’s spies - a growing number with word of deadly suppression of dissent in Acholm - reported to him at his base in Sæppedun of troop movements in the north. His council of advisors (knights and commanders from the Imperial forces) all agreed - it was now time to face the Halig Frecan in a pitched battle.
The winter winds were already blowing fierce from the deep mountain valleys. The oaks had already lost their leaves, leaving the tall spruces of the region as the lone shreds of green. The coast was sure to be cold - surely the signs of an early, and harsh winter.
The Halig Frecan had relocated some troops from Wiccaweald to attempt to deal with issues in the southeast. Troops from Acholm moved north to find the location of hidden raiders harassing their troop movements. 17,000 were already present in Sæppebeorge, with an additional 12,000 arriving from from Acholm Farthing - a fearsome total of 29,000 Knights, professional troops, and massive numbers of militia.
The Halig Frecan made their camp on the stony peninsula, and set up temporary watchtowers on the coastal hills and small mountains. Their plan involved entering the northern-most east-west valley that runs through the Sæppebeorge, and proceed to Gourdham Farthing - hopefully to fight what they considered an inferior and scared Östronweard
The Östlond Östronweard moved into this same valley from the south. Recent arrivals of Imperial Forces came from the west (mostly additional troops from Casadia and Ardol). Reports of the massive size of the Halig Frecan sparked much dissent in the Imperial Camp - what were they to do? How could they possibly defeat this force? They were outnumbered by over 10,000. Cerdic revealed to them a secret about the Halig Frecan, a secret that would hand them this battle.
The Halig Frecan’s scouts spotted the movements of the larger contigent of the Östronweard/Imperial Forces. Their commander ordered a temporary retreat back to the stony peninsula - they did not want to get ambushed or outflanked in the tiny northern valley of the Sæppebeorge. The Östroneweard moved forward, and four days after the reinforcements of the Halig Frecan arrived in Stænan, the battle appeared to finally be at its starting point.
Positioning themselves on the hills to the south, the Östronweard fired ballistas and trebuchets into the Halig Frecan. The Halig Frecan returned fire with an enormous amount of the same kinds of weapons. Cerdic’s scouts spotted strange dispensers that had long tubes, which the Halig Frecan knights of Acholm appeared to be loading with - fireworks?
Cerdic fetched one of his informants and asked him what these new weapons were. His informant explained that they were a kind of weaponized firework rocket, capable of limited range, poor accuracy, but concussive damage similar to TNT. Soon came the minor explosions, not capable of killing men with one hit; the sheer number of them fired at the Östronweard however, were. According to the informant, he had heard rumors of such a weapon, but very few knights had been trained to use them. They would not change the course of the battle in the end.
Heavy mounted knights from Gourdham and Acholm engaged in fierce fighting after huge arrow volleys from crossbows and longbows. The Knights of Wiccaweald in particular fielded their latest ballista designs, capable of rapid firing groups of arrows intended to give accurate, but wide spreading damage. Both sides lost several hundred men by this time during the battle. Pikemen from Acholm inflicted heavy damage on a Gourdham cavalry group.
Cerdic’s advisors and Imperial allies were becoming nervous. They knew the secret, but not when it would be sprung. Cerdic became nervous too - why wait this long? Simply, the secret was in the making of an even greater plot.
The aforementioned fireworks rockets were stored in simple stone barriers, but close together. Militia and knights from Grestanhlith, a mining village surrounded by Westmæd had conspired to rebel during the battle. After witnessing what knights from Westmæd had rolled out, they hatched a plan.
Cerdic was growing ever more impatient. The heavy knights of Acholm were the most fearsome fighting force he had ever seen, and it was not until this battle that they had arrived in such great numbers. Over 600 of them, accompanied by heavy Acholm cavalry, were forcing the battle to become an all out melee.
Cerdic witnessed the expansion of air push the Knights of Acholm to the ground, horses with them before he heard the sound of the huge explosion. The forces from Grestanhlith had lit each of the firework rocket piles to explode in sync. Nearly a thousand men were killed in the huge explosions - mostly militia - and thousands more were knocked off their feet and wounded. Suddenly, the rallying song played with horns and drums of Östlond was heard playing in the Halig Frecan camp. In various places throughout the Halig Frecan forces, members of the Grestanhlith militia, soldiers, and Knights began to attack their fellow Halig Frecan. Cerdic couldn’t believe what they had just pulled off - a sudden gain of several thousand men on his side, the death of mostly Östlæd loyal soldiers, and the incapacitation of thousands more.
The Heavy Knights of Gourdham, along with elite units from Pyrencia, surged into the column of Halig Frecan knights in the center of the flank. Many more died over the next hour, as the Östronweard forced the Halig Frecan to retreat. Despite the sudden change in numbers, most the Halig Frecan made it back to the shore and made their way back to Acholm Farthing.
This was the great victory Ealdorman Cerdic Accynnafon needed. With winter setting in, he intended to make his way to Wiccaweald and secure forts on the border with Östlæd. Tales of this betrayal would make it back to Mark II - thankfully much of the Grestanhlith militia and even Halig Frecan stayed home to protect Acholm. He would need to arrive as soon as he could to prevent the death of their families.