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Post by Empire of Rashad on Mar 29, 2022 5:43:50 GMT
The Dukes were locked in a heated debate over the proposal while Alwyne was just growing more tired after a long night the previous day. The dukes Malabre and Pandravas had proposed an incursion into noreska complaining about the lack of military forces leaving them open to attack while Duke Vylder was fiercely against it with mention of the potential international retaliation. After 3 hours of back and forth arguing the Emperor finally stood with the room suddenly going silent and taking their seats. Alwyne then called for a vote to decide if they would launch an incursion. He went around the circle and asked for the dukes opinion. Dukes Legrass, Carvallio, Malabre, Pandravas, Rothwell and Hunzuad Voted for Invasion and Dukes Allric, Vylder, Urqhart, Oswulf and Eambald voted no. with 6 votes for Invasion plans were put in motion to begin drawing forces to the boarder regions. All houses decided to send forces except Vylder and Allric who opposed completely. In charge of the Invasion were Dukes, Malabre and Pandravas Leading the Northern and Southern attacks respectively. each attack had around 1.2 million soldiers with the Duke Malabre being supported by houses Eambald, Oswulf, Hunzuad and Aychwych with the Emperor handing operational control to his Eldest son Guthmaer Aychwych. The Duke Pandravas is being supported by houses Rothwell, Urqhart, Carvallio and Legrass. The Preparations where started and the forces began to must while Diplomats secured new artillery from the Imperium Divinian along with their Artillery focused warfare style being seen as effective during recent wars.
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Post by Empire of Rashad on Mar 30, 2022 3:45:45 GMT
The forces In Rashad were soon mobilized to the east and started bringing up artillery for a preliminary bombardment including 2 pieces, in particular, Some sample Artillery pieces from the Imperium Divinium had arrived late that month and had been moved up to the front lines to test their capabilities for potential purchase.
The forces of Rashad Stood about 2.4 Million Soldiers and Knights arrayed against the 650,000 of Noreska's Bondyr and Hyskarls. The Defense along the boarder where particularly strong on both sides having had many wars through the years. The river separating the boarder would prove to be the first of many obstacles to overcome to defeat these barbarians once and for all.
Marquess Guthmaer Aychwych stood with the northern force along with the dukes Eambald, Oswulf, Hunzuad and Malabre. This was his second military campaign but his first in charge of the forces of Rashad. The Dukes huddled around a map laid out on the table and where determining the best way to push forward. Duke Malabre was the first to speak:
"My lords we need to take this across the river as soon as possible to try and secure a beachhead that we can hold, to this end I say we should start with a week long artillery bombardment to soften the defenses before a nighttime raid with artillery cover until we take a secure beachhead."
Duke Oswulf
"You see my lord the Noreskans have grown lazy and their defences are falling apart. Their people would not have the spirit to fight such a war and would quickly surrender with a single decisive attack across the line from north to south"
Duke Hunzuad
"You underestimate our opponent, They have simply giving the illusion of disrepair to lull men like you into a sense of insecurity. Furthermore I think that we should wait until an attack has been made in the south before advancing as it would provide a distraction that would draw forces away from the north leaving them open to an attack"
Duke Oswulf
"What Rubbish, Those barbarians have no idea of strategy and zero intelligence to compete with us. They will fall tonight" Turning to the Marquess "My lord this is the perfect chance for us to gain a decisive upper hand and force them back. In fact we could even attack this moment and we could march all the way to their capital before we feast tonight and songs will be sung about the heroic actions of Guthmaer the Great!"
The arguing went on for the next few hours but the words of Duke Oswulf had impacted Guthmaer to the point that he agreed they should launch an attack that night just after sunset.
The artillery began firing as sky started to blossom into beautiful shades of pink and yellow a stark contrast to the rising clouds of black smoke constantly pierced by bright red and orange flashes. The Armies of House Oswulf and Aychwych advanced as the artillery barrage moved ever more forward revealing a cratered surface in the fields beyond along with the many hunks of shattered concrete and bits of body staining the brown ground with swirling patterns of crimson. The men advance with little resistance capturing the few who survived the initial attack for questioning. As Duke Oswulf had predicted the defenses where in complete shambles and due to the artillery barrage communications broke down and Noreskan Bondyr became encircled and surrendered in the face of overwhelming numbers.
Seeing the success of the initial attack the other dukes soon ordered their forces forward to similar results and when dawn rose the next day and the Artillery final ceased the armies of Rashad had successfully crossed along much of the river securing a line that on average was around 1 kilometer from the river. The only Duke that failed to make progress was Legrass whose forces had run into a detachment of the elite Hyskarls who held their position throughout the night and causing many casualties repelling no less then 7 separate assaults and killing around 2,800 in the process
The Casualties Suffered by the Dukes was very limited with around 4,800 Casualties mostly due to inaccurate artillery fire and the Stoic Defense of the Hyskarls. The Casualties of the Noreskans numbered in at around 26,900 Deaths and around 54,000 captured.
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Post by Empire of Rashad on Mar 30, 2022 7:11:22 GMT
Over the Next week, the Armies moved forward accepting surrender from towns as they passed and encircling areas that failed to surrender. This was relatively easy-going until they again reached a river which historically has been the furthest point any Rashadian attacks had made before being repelled. The Dukes decided that it was a good point to halt and consolidate the gains they had made so far while the encircled towns were put under siege. However, in the East, the armies of House Carvallio were slowed and in some places pushed back by the heroic efforts of the towns there successfully holding them back through a strong defensive line prepared by the Hyskarls who was proving to be the biggest factor in the invasion that was slowing them down.
Duke Astmere Carvallio Stood in the command center along with some of his most trusted knights and nobles. The Hyskarls had been a problem from the start and now they were making the house look week as the only hose that couldn't kill the barbarians or at least push them back. They emerged from the tent and looked at the town before them. The smoke rising from much of the town darkening the morning sun which glistened off the snowy mountains behind. The town had been encircled for 3 days now with the brown mud of the trenches worming their way around it like wolfs cornering their prey. The Artillery had made short work of the buildings with the buildings being reduced to piles of rubble amongst the dead and dying. They had come to the conclusion that the survivors must be willing to give up and sent orders for the men to prepare to advance and finish the job. At the same time the artillery was to be focused on the town with maximum intensity for the next 2 hours to ensure the defenders were softened up.
As soon as the artillery barrage ceased there was a unison of yelling and warcries from the trenches as the men descended on the town and the duke and his nobles advancing personally with their full war gear of the older age, decked out in shining steel and gold emblazoning with swords drawn encouraging the men forward. The attack was swift and decisive sweeping the streets and outlying buildings with almost no resistance, The inner buildings were soon breeched and swarmed where much of the civilians where hiding who quickly surrendered to prevent further bloodshed.
In the center of the town was a massive church to some foul barbarian imitations of gods that remained somewhat intact with the damage mostly being superficial. The men soon surrounded the building a called for the people inside to come out with their hands up to surrender. After a few minuets Astmere arrived with his entourage and again requested for the men inside to come out and surrender. A man soon emerged who was almost completely naked covered by a small amount of leather and on his shoulders he carried a massive Great axe. He spat at the duke and challenged him to a duel to determine the fate of the town. Astmere quickly accepted this duel eager to prove his honour in front of his men.
The pair of combatants stood across from each other with some similarly dressed and equipt men emerging from the church and crating a semi circle behind their man while the knights of Carvallio formed a similar semi circle behind the Duke. The duke closed his visor, drew his sword and grabbed his shield from his squire and took a defensive stance giving the first move to the Barbarian. The barbarian began the duel with a charge towards the Duke swinging his axe in a wide arc that the duke skillfully dodged before nicking the leg of the barbarian drawing first blood. and gaining a cheer from his men who where quite excited to see a duel. The duke then moved forward slashing the right arm of the barbarian who responded with a swing of his axe that connected with the dukes shield and shattered the wood and continued to imbed itself in the arm of the duke before being ripped out spraying the barbarian in blood glistening off his chest. The Duke collapsed to the ground with his arm completely destroyed and in intense pain. The barbarian then raised the axe above his head before bringing it down. The duke Quickly dodged and avoided another hit but his sword got caught under the axe and shattered spraying splinters of steel into the Barbarians eyes and chest. The Duke called for a respite which the barbarian completely ignored and charged at the prone duke getting his hands around the dukes neck and quickly squeezing and almost instantly the duke began to choke with the immense strength of the hands quickly drawing the breath from the Astmere. He quickly plunged the shattered blade of his sword into the side of the barbarians head who just collapsed onto the Duke caving in his breastplate which prevented his chest from rising. He quickly shoved the body off and with help from his squire took his chestplate off and started to wrap Duke Astmere's arm above the elbow down to the shattered arm and the hand.
While the Duke was being looked at the other Barbarians grabbed the body and fell back into the Church followed by a volley of rifle fire killing around half. from one of the windows a grenade flew out and landed amongst the knights who fell back as the grenade exploded amongst them although the shrapnel was reflected by the armor. The duke ordered them to slaughter the people inside the church as he was carried away protected by the shields of his knights.
The Church was soon ablaze with the flickering light dancing across the rubble. Back at the tent the duke was laying on his bed being attended to by a military doctor who insisted on amputating the shattered arm and to not wear much clothing as to keep his chest free to move for a few months. Outside his squire looked from the burning church to the night sky above which was completely covered in smoke. Down in the rubble the men celebrated in destroying the city and drank heavy and partied late into the night.
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Post by Empire of Rashad on Mar 31, 2022 3:43:38 GMT
As the Sun rose of the 43rd day of the fighting the Rashadian Dukes had pushed through much of the southern parts of Rashad and a line soon emerged running along where the snow had started falling not wanting to push further through the winter. The Dukes soon met up to discuss the plan of action. They had planned to halt at the star of winter but had wondered if it would give the Noreskans to much time to build defences. Duke Oswulf was again advocating for a big push and to try and capture the capital before winter set in. The biggest opposition was duke Carvallio who tried to reason that the men were being exhausted and a season of waiting would give them the chance they needed to recover and reinforce their lines. Duke Oswulf eventually agreed on the condition that he could have an attempt to take the island of the Coast where the great Oscarsborg Fortress stood which was the main stronghold of Noreskian arms and equipment. For this purpose Duke Oswulf was granted the use of the Imperial Navy for the Attack
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Post by Empire of Rashad on Apr 1, 2022 4:56:03 GMT
On Board, the INS Rashad Duke Daedheah Oswulf watched the sunrise silhouette the rest of the fleet against the sky behind them and gave him a sense of security. They were due to arrive off the island that afternoon where he would begin the bombardment. The Flotilla made its way up the coast watching the recently conquered Noreskan lands with Rashadian troops and flags dotting the landscape rushing to get a view of the Navy. Suddenly one of the crew rushed in from the radio room having decoded a message from Freipach, Aychwych bearing orders from the Emperor. Daedheah quickly read the letter before heading over to the loudspeaker. He began to read the message from the Emperor,
"Glory to the men of the Rashad, The people of Rashad are counting on you for this mission, and I say this if you succeed in your objective then I shall personally knight all officers, and all the men on board will receive a payment equal to 2 years pay as a bonus for this mission. I do hope you do well as I know you will."
With this announcement, a cheer went up amongst the men.
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Post by Empire of Rashad on Apr 3, 2022 0:49:26 GMT
As the Sun rose across the snowy landscape the guns fired dancing flashes of orange before being choked by black smoke. Duke Daedheah Oswulf watched the line of ships before him open fire pounding the massive fortress covering it in a thick blanket of smoke, but as he watched the coastal guns in the fortress responded in kind landing 12" shells in the side of the INS Ludvani and exploding deep inside the hull. The explosion buckling the hull plates and causing the water to rush inside the ship. In side the engine men were killed instantly by the on rushing water or masses of scalding steam. The few survivors tried to get out but they found the bulkheads sealed already to try and save the ship from sinking. Up on the bridge captain Jaruman was running around franticly trying to organise damage control parties below and he needed someone to tell him what had been hit. At that moment another shell slammed into the hull just below the bridge with similar results to the first whilst also throwing everyone to the floor. Captain Jaruman ordered the ship to fall back but he got no response from the engine room, instead he just heard rushing water. He ordered all guns to concentrate fire on the gun giving his ship so much trouble. Over on the INS Keflaholt things weren't much better with a shell slamming into the engine room in a similar fashion to that onboard the INS Ludvani, smashing the engines immobilizing the ship. On board the Armoured cruiser INS Daedheah things were running smoothly until the hidden torpedo battery unleashed its secret payload. The torpedos smashed into the bow snapping it clean off allowing thousands of liters of water into the bow before they managed to close some bulkheads and begin to limp away from the guns despite the now crumpled "bow" causing more strain on the bulkheads until the water started lapping up the front of the ship. The Captain made the decision to run the ship aground to stop her from sinking. It was at that moment a massive Explosion rocked the Fortress as the magazines for half the fortress got pierced by a shell from the INS Rashad, The explosion sent stone fragments flying all over the coast some smaller fragments landing on the decks of the ships. It seemed almost in return that one of the few remaining guns in the fortress fired a shell that pierced the armour on the bridge of the INS Rashad, The resulting Explosion killed everyone inside in mere moments spraying limbs on the deck outside. The men on the ships almost stood in silence not quite believing what had happened, before quickly resuming fire. As the sun set the gunfire ceased as both sides had run out of ammunition. The Engineering officer on the INS Rashad soon discovered he was the highest ranking man on the ship after the gun fire from the fortress completely destroyed the majority of the ships superstructure. He ordered the ship to set sail and managed to tow the heavily listing INS Keflaholt while the INS Daedheah was well stuck on the beach and the Captain decided to send the marines from his ship to asuult the Fortress at night to prevent the men in the fortress doing the same to his ship. On board the INS Ludvani the list had reach a near 35 degrees and everyone was unable to walk properly with the waved crashing onto the Starboard deck which was a meter from the water. Around Midnight the water was to much for the INS Ludvani and the Captain ordered abandon ship and managed to save the majority of those who survived to that point before the ship completly capsized and sank around 0127.
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Post by Empire of Rashad on Apr 3, 2022 11:08:25 GMT
The Captain of the INS Daedheah ordered his men along the beach and soon recovered many of the survivors from the sunken INS Ludvani and the men who weren't too injured were given weapons to help support the fortress assault. The Captain led 380 armed and angry sailors, marines, and 5 knights from house Oswulf, up the cliff face while the others gathered inside the Armoured cruiser for shelter and medicine for the wounded. Climbing the cliff face was soon made impossible by a gathering storm that completely drenched the entire area. The party made it around to the base of the fortress around 3 am with many of the men tired from the day's fighting but eager for revenge for the death of their Duke they charged the gate and quickly overwhelmed the guards. The men emerged into a scene of complete destruction with a massive crater having consumed half the fortress and the citadel itself had slid down into the crater breaking apart as it did. The Fort defenders quickly rushed into the remaining armory and barricaded its door whilst the Sailors ran for cover behind chunks of the fortress. Meanwhile, the knights charged the door at started hacking it down, encouraged by this the rest of the men moved up and started firing through windows shooting anything that moves. The Knights led by Sir Wigstan of Balthwaite hacked through the door and stormed inside cutting apart the helpless defenders with swords and maces while the sailors followed behind shooting anything that moved and at some points using the knights as mobile shields.
As the Sun rose on the second day of the battle the Rashadian flag flew over the remains of the fort and the captives were rounded up and used as physical labor to patch the bow of the INS Daedheah and dislodge it from the beach. Meanwhile, the INS Rashad and the INS Keflaholt were experiencing difficulty with the storm having forced more water abord the Cruiser and despite a valiant effort from the crew slipped beneath the waves like her sister ship.
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Post by Empire of Rashad on Apr 3, 2022 15:44:26 GMT
After the Battle of Oscarsborg Fortress, the Norekskians began to sue for peace after seeing their great stronghold be crushed in a 2-day battle. The peace arrangements were made with the Emperor himself traveling to the meeting with the Noreskian leader Kern Jan Wigdahl II to discuss the fate of Noreska. The treaty was presented to the Kern and read as follows:
The Treaty of Trondheim
1. The Treaty will bring an end to the Hostilities between Noreska and Rashad.
2. The Rashadian Dukedoms of Malabre and Pandravas will gain the lands between the Hveraneyri and Kipää Rivers.
3. The Rashadian Dukedom of Oswulf will gain the Oscarsborg Fortress and the island it is on.
4. The Kerndom of Noreska will pay a yearly tribute to the Rashadian Empire to the value of 1000 Sadaler Trade Guilders through coinage or equivalent value in Trade goods.
5. The Kerndom of Noreska will follow any political Decision made by Rashad unless Directed otherwise by the Emperor.
6. The Army of Noreska will be able to be called upon in its entirety to fight alongside the Armies of Rashad.
7. The armies of Noreska and Rashad will hold annual military exercises to increase Coordination.
8. The army of Noreska will be disbanded and reformed under the direction of house Carvallio
9. All Rashadian Laws will be followed in Noreska
10. Both Nations will be expected to fight if the other is attacked.
11. Noreska will hand their navy over to Rashad and will never have a navy, Instead they will send funding each year to fund 1/3 of the Rashadian navy which in return will protect the Waters of Noreska.
12. Other than when stated above the nation of Noreska will be allowed to run with its current system.
13. The Hyskarls will be limited to acting as bodyguards to those whom they are assigned and are not to be in the military.
Signed by
-Emperor of Rashad is Alwyne III of Aychwych, Duke of Eazoya, Lord Protector of kšena, Warden of the East, Defender of the Faith, Bearer of the Crown and Blade of Rashad
-Kern Jan Wigdahl II of Noreska
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