First Battle of Louisville
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| First Battle of Louisville | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Part of Oisin's Rebellion | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The First Battle of Louisville was the first large-scale battle between the forces of the Oisinite Rebels and the Rozanian Loyalists. The battle began when Loyalist forces, backed primarily by the Rustlers, assaulted the Sedanian stronghold of Louisville in order to either take captive or kill Oisin Roza, the rebel leader. the Oisinite force, primarily backed by Sedanians and Savoyards, were positioned inside the main Sedanian Keep.
Prelude
Just a few Saint's Hours prior to the initiation of the Battle, the Sedanian forces had already raided and slaughtered a good portion of Rozanian citizens in the capital of Roza. Despite Oisin outright ordering for no Civilians to be harmed, the Loyalist population sought to place the blame on Oisin and mobilized their forces to attack and either capture or kill the rebel leader. Meanwhile, the Oisinite forces had already mobilized the defenses of the Sedanian capital of Louisville immediately following the mass slaughter a saint's hour prior. The Oisinite Army consisted of around 300 Oisinite Rozanians, 300 Savoyards, and 1,000 Sedanians. The Loyalist army consisted of about 400 Loyalist Rozanians and 1,000 Rustlers. With their armies prepared, the Loyalists marched to Louisville.
Battle
The Battle commenced with the Loyalist forces bypassing the main town of Sedan (which was disconnected from the Keep) and approaching the Royal Keep full of the Oisinite and Sedanian defenders. The Loyalists, led primarily by Brawly Scath and Elsiimah'Ceru, levying demands upon the Sedanians to hand over Prince Oisin to be arrested and tried for treason. When the Sedanians, led by Prince Leopold de Joannes, refused the Loyalist demands, the two sides began to exchange arrow fire. Prince Leopold quickly took control of the Sedanian-Oisinite army and, after a few saint's minutes of back and forth arrow exchanges, Princes Leopold and Oisin led a sally out of the Sedanian keep and into the unsuspecting lines of the Rozanians.
The two armies fought for several saint's minutes, with the Rozanians taking the brunt of the casualties. Realizing their unfavorable position and fewer numbers, the Rozanian commanders ordered for the Rozanian army to retreat down the hill the battle was taking place on to lure the Sedanians into the more open farmlands surrounding Louisville. However, this decision would bring about the end of the battle much quicker as the retreat soon turned to a full-scale route. The Sedanians, better equipped and more experienced, kept the pressure on the Rozanian forces and decimated the Rozanian army as it attempted to retreat to a more favorable position. Cohesion amongst the Rozanians was lost, and by the end of the battle only 100 Rozanian loyalists survived the battle.
Aftermath
The First Battle of Louisville was a sweeping victory for the Sedanian-Oisinite forces. It boosted the morale of the Sedanian-Oisinite forces and cemented Sedan's status as a nation of formidable warriors. Sedanian recruitment efforts were increased as more Sedanians joined the army after the attack and successful defense of their homeland. The Battle also cemented Savoyard support for the Oisinite-Sedanian cause, leading to them partaking in the war on the Oisinite-Sedanian side. As for the Rozanian Loyalists, the defeat battered the morale of the Loyalist cause and led to gradual decreases in military participation to the point where most of the fighting was done by the Rustlers.
