Folly of Philip III

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Folly of Philip III
Part of the Urguani-Orenian War

BattleOfEastfleet.jpg

Date: 6th of The Sun's Smile, 70 S.A.
Place: Eastfleet Borderzone
Result: Decisive Tripartite Victory
  • Imperial offensive repelled
  • Tripartite Forces recover in Urguan
Preceded by: Siege of Haverlock
Followed by: Battle of Ferry's Folly
Belligerents
Holy Orenian Empire & Allies:
OrenianFlag.png Holy Orenian Empire
GaspardVanAert.png County of Blackvale
Tripartite Accord:
Urguan Emblem.png Grand Kingdom of Urguan
BackgroundHaenseCoatBiggerCrown.png Kingdom of Haense
ReclaimersWheel.png Vale of Nevaehlen
Savoy.png Principality of Savoy
Commanders
OrenianFlag.png Philip III, Holy Orenian Emperor
OrenianFlag.png Ivan var Ruthern, Duke of Reutov
OrenianFlag.png Anastasios Basrid, Viscount of Susa
Urguan Emblem.png Bakir Ireheart, Grand King of Urguan
Urguan Emblem.png Kronk Stormheart, Grand Marshal of Urguan
Urguan Emblem.png Durorn Ireheart, Field Commander of Urguan
BackgroundHaenseCoatBiggerCrown.png Sigismund III, King of Haense
BackgroundHaenseCoatBiggerCrown.png Johann Barclay, Lord Marshal of Haense
BackgroundHaenseCoatBiggerCrown.png Grigori Vyronov
ReclaimersWheel.png Miven Caerme'onn, Matriarch of Nevaehlen
Savoy.png Lucien I, Prince of Savoy
new sedan2 .png Frederick I, Prince of Sedan
Strength
~11,700 Infantry & Calvary ~18,100 Infantry & Calvary
Casualties
~11,600 Dead or Wounded ~8,400 Dead or Wounded

The Battle of Eastfleet, called the Folly of Philip III by the Tripartite, was a Land and Naval battle that had a significant impact on the Urguani-Orenian War. Following the successful Siege of Haverlock, both combatants took time to recover from the losses sustained during the siege while Orenian leadership made preparations to advance into Urguani lands. As a result, Four of the Tripartite's Seven signatories quickly sent their armies to the Urguani borderlands in anticipation of the renewed Imperial offensive. After a long and brutal clash in the borderlands between Oren and Urguan, the Imperial State Army and its allies were forced back into Imperial lands, and the Tripartite emerged victorious in the battle.

Prelude

After the disastrous Siege of Haverlock, Tripartite forces withdrew from Lower Petra and re-entered Urguani lands. As a result of their victory, Emperor Philip III began planning a renewed offensive into Urguan in order to punish them and the other Tripartite signatories for refusing to sign a peace treaty that would end the war in Oren's favor. Yet, as planning went on, The Ferrymen were insulted by the Orenian populace's treatment of them and so deserted back to the Tripartite with no monetary costs.

This desertion, unexpected by both sides, greatly decreased the Emperor's available manpower and skilled warriors due to the Ferrymen being a sizeable organization and very well-trained in battle. Yet, Emperor Philip remained confident in the skills of his Imperial State Army and his vassals within the County of Blackvale. Blackvale itself had a very well-trained Levy, and many believed that their skills could counter the Ferrymen in combat.

Regardless, Emperor Philip ordered the mobilization of his soldiers towards the non-aligned border zone of Eastfleet, which served as a Monk controlled port that was freely accessible to anybody regardless of affiliation and sat right on the road between Urguan and Oren. Despite its non-aligned nature, Imperial soldiers had stationed themselves right outside the borderland in anticipation for a further push into Urguan. Once this was discovered by Urguani scouts, the Dwarven nation quickly sent letters to all members of the Tripartite Accord to warn them of the incoming attack. All signatories received and answered the call yet only the armies of Haense, Savoy, and Nevaehlen were capable of reaching the border with Eastfleet on time. While Norland and Krugmar did mobilize to join the Tripartite defense, Krugmar was too far for their warband to make it in time whilst Norland suffered logistical issues amongst its Ashguard and could not proceed. The Ferrymen, while available, were still situating themselves in Urguani lands and were unprepared to answer the call to arms yet.

Despite only having Four of the Seven signatory's armies present, the Tripartite Army still numbered roughly 18,100 Warriors. On the opposing side, the Imperial Army was not as numerous due to their loss of the Ferrymen, and so numbered around 11,700 Soldiers.

The Battle

Fighting commenced in the afternoon of The Sun's Smile, with both side's soldiers being awake and highly alert. Emperor Philip III, who was present with the army himself, advanced alongside his soldiers into the Eastfleet borderzone to try and catch the Tripartite off guard due to their numerical disadvantage. The Tripartite, which had made camp at Waystone Tavern, was quickly made aware of the Imperial Army's presence in the borderzone and quickly mobilized its numerically superior army to intercept the Orenians.

The Imperial plan consisted of the majority of their Army boarding Rowboats and small to medium sized sailboats that could fit in the channel in order to sail across from the Imperial side of Eastfleet to the Urguani side, while a small contingent of Cavalrymen went down the Eastfleet path to harass the Tripartite's army to buy time for them to land. Using their rowboats, the Imperials managed to sail half-way across the channel until they were intercepted by the Tripartite Army.

The Tripartite plan consisted of the bulk of their Army remaining on the beaches overlooking the Channel and using their Bows to halt any Orenian attempt to land. Meanwhile, they kept some of their better-trained men on the Left flank in order to deter any Imperial land force. The Tripartite had also made sure to bring along small sailboats in anticipation of the Imperial naval assault.

The Battle began when the bulk of the Imperial forces were spotted sailing along the channel by the Tripartite Bowmen, who began opening fire upon the Imperial Army. Once being fired upon, the Imperial ships halted their advance and moved most of their men onto the medium and smaller sized Sailboats. Once their ships had halted, the Imperial bowmen atop their fleet returned fire while also signaling for Imperial Cavalry to begin the flank around the Tripartite forces. Not expecting a cavalry force to be present, many of the Tripartite's flank guard had a hard time intercepting the Imperial Cavalry, which caused minor chaos within the Tripartite line. Yet, under the steady leadership of Grand King Bakir and his kin Durorn Ireheart, the Tripartite forces reestablished discipline and forced the Imperial cavalry to withdraw.

Once the Imperial Cavalry had been dispersed, Tripartite Commanders ordered the Army to board their ships and sail to meet the Imperials in the channel to engage in close-quarters combat. The Imperial and Tripartite ships engaged, and the melee fighting had began. While at first it seemed the Imperials would be able to hold their ground, the Tripartite quickly gained the upper hand due to the numerical size of the Tripartite Army. At some point during the battle, Emperor Philip III was struck by a Warhammer and was quickly withdrawn by his Forces back to shore, where he was quickly rushed to Providence in order to recover. With their Emperor being wounded on the field, the Imperial Army began to break and began trying to sail or even swim back to the Imperial side of the Channel. The Tripartite pursued, and chased many of the retreating Orenians into the mountains surrounding Eastfleet or even as far as the ruins of Southbridge. By the end, only 100 Imperial men remained alive from the battle.

Aftermath

As a result of the battle, Tripartite morale skyrocketed. The Battle proved that the Tripartite still had a chance to win the war, and so morale rose to a height not seen since before the Battle of Lower Petra. On the other hand, Imperial morale dropped considerably, with many Imperial Soldiers laying dead at the bottom of the channel or around the mountains of Eastfleet.

The Tripartite Armies returned to their respective lands, and each celebrated the victory despite the significant casualties that both sides took. Much of the Tripartite's leadership would later convene in order to plan the Tripartite's next moves in the War against Oren.

Those who survived on the Imperial side of the battle quickly made their way back to Providence with their wounded being transported to the hospital. The Emperor himself was escorted to the Palace, where his personal doctor saw to his wounds. Despite falling in battle, the Emperor was expected to recover quickly from his wounds, which helped Imperial morale knowing that their leader had survived the battle.