Grand Campaign - War in the North

Season: Summer-Fall 942 YP (Turns 5-6)

Weather: Although temperatures rose as Spring bloomed into Summer, the region has continued to experience heavier rainfall than normal, though not overwhelmingly so. Conditions are better than they were in Spring, but still less than ideal. Armies march more slowly and suffer slightly more attrition.  Without regularly-maintained Highways, supply trains and heavy equipment have small chance of accidents.

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After a phase of slow movement and sporadic skirmishing, the duel between the Two Esharas quickly turned into a game of decisive maneuvering.

Upon receiving an ultimatum from the Esharan 2nd Army demanding his army's retreat from their home province of Pavil, the Sefti Duke Faolan resolved to make the first move rather than await the enemy attack. After a week of preparation, the Ducal Army of Pavil moved in force to overwhelm the enemy vanguard's positions...only to find them abandoned!

Indeed, in the time the Sefti army had spent preparing, the Union was carrying out a swift deployment of the entire Esharan 2nd Army not to Pavil, but to Dunmore! The Sefti forces missed their targets narrowly, but unfortunately not so narrowly that they could pursue in time to prevent the vanguard from rejoining with the main army. Rather than give chase and risk confronting a much larger and better-equipped enemy force in its entirety, Duke Faolan withdrew back to his province, essentially leaving Dunmore to its fate.

With a mere two brigades guarding the province, this fate was sealed in a matter of weeks. The defenders of Dunmore showed impressive resolve and discipline initially, trading fire with the superior army in lines from their earthworks and block-houses. However, in the clear plains of the Sefti Empire's Northwestern edge, the Union's artillery and cavalry could work unhindered. Fortifications were battered by thunderous barrages, positions flanked by the sheer extent of enemy lines, and escape routes but off by thousands of disciplined riders. Furthermore, rumors spread that the Union was advancing with the aid of local scouts and guides, a saying that seemed to be confirmed by the “unnatural” speed of their advance. After the first defensive positions were overwhelmed, the rest, knowing encirclement and defeat were imminent, either deserted or surrendered only a few gunshots after the first sight of enemy troops. On the twelfth day of the offensive, the Ducal Army of Dunmore was no more: Duke Ambrose of Dunmore, after fleeing from garrison to garrison, finally lost his last horse. He surrendered his sword to Ex-Recimir Hairuwulf Theudis while standing a wounded foot, though common rumor would hold that he had inflicted the wound on himself to save face.

The rest of the invasion was simply a matter of covering territory and raising flags. Much to the chagrin of Sefti administrators, though not to their surprise after the rumors of collaborationist locals, the Union found many residents chanting in support of the “invaders” as they entered villages and towns. Indeed, the northern frontier of Aeron's Empire still remembered traditions of paganism and freeholding that had been interrupted less than a century ago by the double impositions of serfdom and Orthodox Aedak. Some Sefti tax collectors and minor nobles were even executed by mobs, and ironically many others were saved only the presence of Union troops, who treated them with far greater dignity and principle. Aedakom clergy were not targets of this violence, perhaps because of the substantial convert populations that were earnest in their belief even as they suffered alongside the pagans, but many Priests still chose to flee rather than take their chances.

With Dunmore secured, the Esharan 2nd Army re-consolidated itself over the next few weeks. Its next target, Pavil, would be more difficult: The army there was much larger and better-prepared, the province was much more vast, and the more uneven terrain in much of the province would be less favorable to the Union's cavalry and artillery. Yet, the army pressed on. Here, progress was much slower, as towns resisted for days or even occasionally weeks as artillery struggled to position appropriately and cavalry found it difficult to maneuver in formation.  More often than not, enemy forces were able to escape losing battles rather than forced to surrender.  In towns that were captured, although there were some who welcomed the “True Esharans,” there was less in the way of obvious hostility towards the former regime, not because the pagan population was smaller, but because the Esharan victories were less spectacular and gave less hope that they would surely triumph at the end. Or perhaps they were simply just as mistrusting of the new invaders as the old.

As Fall began to fade into Winter, the Union would find itself only in partial control of the province, with much more bloodletting ahead and much less in the way of open support from locals. Adding to their problems was that reinforcements from the North sent to garrison Dunmore had not arrived in time to stop Sefti reinforcements from Powys; the province was no longer firmly in Union hands, though the Sefti had occupied only its Southernmost township.

For their part, the Sefti seemed to be fighting a losing war to hold onto their Northern frontier, but they had not yet lost decisively; the enemy did not fully control either province, and common soldiers and officers alike held onto the hope that some kind of relief force might yet aid them.

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SUMMARY
-- Ducal Army of Pavil attempts to attack vanguard of Esharan 2nd Army but narrowly misses it as it moves to join the main army.
-- Esharan 2nd Army quickly invades the province of Dunmore, overwhelming the small garrison. Province is CAPTURED for a time, and local support allows for a relatively easy occupation (annexing province in peace will impose a smaller Order penalty). Now, however, the province is CONTESTED (½ income and production for Sefti) as the 2nd Army left before reinforcements marching from the North could arrive to stop a Sefti counter-attack from Powys.
-- Esharan 2nd Army enters province of Pavil and encounters heavy resistance in mostly rough terrain. Army is advancing slowly but steadily. Province of Pavil is CONTESTED (½ income and production for Sefti).