Battle of Southbridge

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Battle of Southbridge
Part of the Sedan Rebellion

BattleofSouthbridge.jpg


Date: 13th of the Amber Cold, 1811
Place: Southbridge, Holy Orenian Empire
Result: Decisive Orenian Victory
Belligerents
Holy Orenian Empire:
Empire of Alty.png Holy Orenian Empire
Principality of Sedan & Allies:
PrincipalityOfSedan.png Principality of Sedan
metinancompany.png The Metinan Company
Commanders
susa.png Iskander Basrid, 2nd Count of Susa
vidaus.png Erik var Ruthern, Count of Kositz
DarkentSudholt.png Caspian d'Arkent
PrincipalityOfSedan.png Alexander de Joannes, Baron of Ponce
HouseCastile.png Lukas Castile, Count of Castile
House of Bishop.jpg Henry Bishop
metinancompany.png Bernard de Salier
Strength
~1,700 Infantry ~1,200 Infantry
Casualties
~200 Dead or Wounded ~800 Dead or Wounded

Prelude

After the first initial skirmishes between the Principality of Sedan and the Holy Orenian Empire, Sedan leadership sought to score a victory over the forces of the Imperial State Army. It was soon discovered that a force of imperial infantry had been stationed at the imperial town of Southbridge near Eastfleet. Eager to engage the imperials in combat, the Sedanian leadership called a rally that was roughly two-thousand-strong comprised of the Goats of Sedan with contingents from House Bishop led by Henry Bishop and the Metinan Company led by Bernard de Salier. With the army assembled, they began the march to Southbridge. This force was placed under the command of Alexander de Joannes, who sent scouts ahead to evaluate the overall strength of the imperial garrison. After receiving word on a rough estimate of imperial numbers, Alexander concluded that an assault of the town itself would be unbeneficial and he would then draw up plans to lure the imperial army out of Southbridge and onto a nearby field. Unfortunately for the de Joannes rally, eight-hundred of Alexander's men faced various sicknesses which forced them to return to Sedan to recover. Despite this numerical loss, Alexander pressed on with the men he had.

Within the walls of Southbridge sat the imperial force, comprised of fifteen hundred soldiers of the Imperial State Army, two hundred men of the Rangers of Eastwood & a hundred auxiliary reinforcements from Redenford. The combined military force was led by the dual leadership of Iskander Basrid & Erik var Ruthern, both counts of the Empire. In addition, Caspian d'Arkent, a young ensign from the Imperial State Army was tasked with counter-spying on the location of the Sedanian force leading up to the battle. Approximately two hours prior to the start of the battle, Caspian took a small detachment of four-hundred men to Redenford in order to watch for movement from the Sedanian. Unfortunately for the detachment, a teenage Elven Sedanian spotted the imperial forces & was assumed to then alert Alexander and the other Sedanian commanders of the imperial secondary location. After being spotted, Caspian ordered his detachment to return to Southbridge to await the main Sedanian assault. On the march back, one hundred of Caspian's forces were lost, bringing the total count of the imperial rally down to seventeen hundred.

Battle

The battle began when Caspian stepped out of Southbridge for a moment to gauge the surrounding countryside. He caught the Sedanian forces attempting to launch a surprise attack on the men who had rallied for the Orenian side. The Orenian forces were quickly alerted and prepared for a battle, with the opposing forces lining up opposite each other. At the beginning of the battle, the Sedanian force intelligently attempted to feign a retreat into the surrounding fields but the Orenian forces continued to bite at their heels, slowly whittling them down. The Sedanians then turned on the Orenian host and a long and ferocious engagement ensued. It was there where the battle was decided, as the more organized Imperial infantry managed to turn the tide of the battle in their favor.

The Imperial captains, Iskander Basrid and Erik var Ruthern led the forces masterfully, as they ordered the Orenian infantry to continue chasing down those who straggled behind. With Sedanian lines broken the victory was well within the Empire's grasp. Several hundred more Sedanian soldiers were killed during the onslaught and eventually a full retreat was called. At the end of the day, eight-hundred Sedanians were killed or wounded with the Orenian side suffering approximately two-hundred casualties. The Orenian force emerged relatively unscathed and with a decisive victory under their belt for the first engagement of the Sedan Rebellion.

Aftermath

Once the battle had come to a conclusion, the Imperial forces returned to Providence & the Sedanian back to Sedan. Not even thirty saints minutes later, Sedan published an international missive, declaring independence from Oren [1]. In retaliation, the Director of the Orenian Secret Service, Anthony Basrid published a letter [2], telling of the battle that had occurred through the Orenian perspective.

Battle of Southbridge Video [3]