Raid on Southbridge
| Raid on Southbridge | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Part of the Tenth Norlandic War | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Raid on Southbridge also known as the Looting of Southbridge was the first engagement of the war between the Kingdom of Norland and the Holy Orenian Empire. The Raid was meant to demoralize the Orenian population and hoped to score a decisive victory against the Orenians early on. The Raid was a Norlandic victory and boosted Norlandic morale significantly.
Prelude
At the immediate outbreak of the War, Donovan Freysson was tasked by Sven Edvardsson to begin waging war against the Holy Orenian Empire. Donovan rallied a force of roughly 900 men, including contingents from The Ferrymen and Clan Kvitravn as well as a good portion of his own Clan's bannermen. With this assembled force, Donovan marched his army to Southbridge where he intended to cross into the Empire and begin a series of raids along its borders. Unbeknownst to Donovan, a force of roughly 1,000 soldiers of the Imperial State Army were stationed at Southbridge and were preparing to head south to begin talks with the City-State of Luciensburg. Upon reaching the settlement, Donovan's army spotted the ISA garrison and prepared to raid the fortified settlement.
Battle
The battle itself was quick and mostly bloodless. Donovan ordered his soldiers to fire arrows inside the Settlement, which wounded and killed roughly 100 Imperial soldiers. Despite the superior numbers of the Imperial garrison, the order was given to withdraw from the rear gate. In a mostly orderly fashion, the garrison routed from Southbridge and made its way to Providence. Donovan ordered his forces to pursue them with minimal arrow fire being exchanged from both sides as the chase ensued. The Imperial forces were able to make it into the City with Donovan's army hot on their tail and the gate was closed before Norlandic forces could enter the city. Donovan quickly ordered his Army to withdraw back to Southbridge in order to avoid conflict with the main Imperial army.
Aftermath
Immediately following the small scale battle, Donovan ordered his soldiers to occupy and loot Southbridge. The Ferrymen were tasked with breaking into the Barracks to loot supplies while the Kvitravns and his own Bannermen were tasked with causing as much damage as possible. After the majority of the settlement was looted, the Norlandic forces occupied it for roughly three days before being ordered to withdraw back to Varhelm to not be surrounded by Orenian territory. A majority of the actual defenses were left in tact however a good portion of the settlement's supplies was taken by the Norlanders in the withdrawal.
