The End and a New Beginning
Copyright© 2025 by REP
Chapter 2
November 1, 1004
Rumors of war had been circulating for several weeks. We later learned that King Zonder’s spies had informed him that King Henn was gathering troops to invade Vroman and the invasion would occur within one or two weeks. King Zonder sent messengers to his Dukes. The messages let the Dukes know that there was a very high probability that King Henn would declare war on Vroman within weeks. King Zonder’s messages directed his Dukes to gather their Earl’s troops and prepare them for deployment to his capital.
Duke Bosa sent a message to his Earls for them to send troops to his castle. His Earls gathered their levies of troops and sent them to Duke Bosa’s castle.
While that was happening, the Duke and his Guard were conscripting people from the local area to send to the King’s army. It was similar to what my dad had described, a large number of untrained conscripts.
The Guard’s senior officers discussed who of their number should be deployed from the Guard to meet the King’s levy of soldiers. The decision was that Captain Dan Greer would command the levy of troops that would be sent to the King’s Army. The Duke’s Household Guard would deploy four 5-Horse Cavalry Units configured as a 20-Horse Cavalry Unit. I was promoted to Captain and placed in command of that Cavalry Unit. I was surprised by my promotion and being given command of our cavalry troops.
I made the opportunity to ask Duke Bosa why I had been placed in command of our 20-Horse Cavalry Unit. He informed me that my superiors had recommended me. They believed I was outstanding at managing cavalry troops on a battlefield, and with some experience, I would become an outstanding tactician.
Today, Duke Bose received a message from Zonder. Duke Bosa announced that King Marcus Henn of Fortan had declared war on the Kingdom of Vroman. The message also ordered Duke Bosa to deploy his levy of troops to the King’s capital.
November 11, 1004
Today we began the journey to the King’s castle. The weather was cold and damp with an occasional flurry of snow. The roads were muddy from the snow we had over the past weeks. They would get even worse. What was King Henn thinking of when he declared war at the start of the winter season? Captain Greer and I discussed King Henn’s decision and he believed King Henn was trying to catch us unprepared to fight a war.
As I rode through the gate of Duke Bosa’s castle, I was thinking about what I had learned during the past weeks. As soon as Captain Greer had been appointed as the Commander of our forces, he met with the foot soldiers’ Commanding Officer, and me. The subject was the logistics involved in moving all of our troops to the King’s capital city. I had no idea of what was involved, but I learned what I needed to know and got my part of the job done. Actually, many tasks were already in progress and the three of us had to periodically check the tasks’ status, and monitor the activities’ progress. We also had to fix any problems that we found.
As we moved along the path leading to the King’s Castle, our foot soldiers were followed by our Logistic Support Units. The Earls’ Cavalry Unit’s Sergeants and I deployed our four 5-Horse Cavalry Units as an advance guard, rear guard, and as flankers on each side of the column.
As we traveled, I learned the reality of moving a large group of people from one place to another over muddy roads. The first thing I learned was, a large column of people did not travel as fast on muddy roads as I thought they would. The second thing I learned was, there were problems with wagons breaking down, livestock straying, and other problems that impeded our progress.
When we stopped for the night, I talked with Captain Greer about the column’s progress. He informed me that we were making good time for a column our size, considering the muddy roads. He told me that the column would move slightly faster once they got organized as long as the mud didn’t get worse. He also told me that a very large column moved even slower than we were.
November 16, 1004
Today we arrived at Ripa, the Capital City of Vroman. Captain Greer went to check in with the Army to determine where they wanted us to set up camp. When he returned, we moved to the location that had been specified and set up camp. Our cooks started our evening meal while everyone else was busy setting up tents.
November 17, 1004
King Henn’s army was moving toward Ripa. During the week following our arrival, our superiors told Captain Greer that there was good and bad news.
The bad news was:
Some of the Dukes’ troops were still en route. Therefore, the army was not ready to deploy.
King Henn’s army had crossed the border into Vroman.
The good news was:
King Henn’s offensive had stalled just inside our borders.
His army had not been ready for the rigors of a winter campaign. His army’s commanders had planned for a short, mid-summer campaign that would surprise and roll over an unprepared Vroman. When they encountered problems during their planning meetings, the start date of the campaign shifted into September and then into November. The generals wanted to defer the campaign until May of next year. King Henn was impatient and lacked in understanding. He refused to delay the attack, and he ordered an immediate attack.
The majority of the Dukes’ overdue troops arrived at Ripa as King Henn’s troops stalled upon entering Vroman.
Our generals were finalizing their counterattack plans. The generals were predicting that our advance units would start their advance on King Henn’s army in about two weeks.
Captain Greer briefed me on the cavalry’s part of the battle plan. He said, “Vic, the generals created a relatively simply battle plan. In this weather, the simpler it is, the more likely it is that it will be successful. Half of the army’s cavalry troops will be spread out along the battlefront with the foot soldiers as a holding force. The remaining half of our Cavalry Units will be split into two groups. One group will attack the end of their left flank and the second group will attack their right flank. The intent is for our cavalry to get behind the ends of their lines and attack them from the rear in a way that surrounds two small segments of their battle line and capture or kill their englobed soldiers.
“The enemy generals will know what we are doing and they will pull troops from the center of their battle line to reinforce their flanks. When that happens, our frontline troops and cavalry will attack and englobe small groups of the enemy’s troops in the center of the battle line. Those groups will have the choice of surrendering or dying.
“Our generals believe that the battle will reach a point where the enemy commanders will have the choice of surrender or to retreat and will withdraw...”
When I discussed our generals’ plans with Captain Greer, he said, “Vic, you need to remember that no plan survives contact with the enemy.
“One of two things usually happens. The first thing is, our generals overlooked something in their planning or failed to consider something to be important enough that it could disrupt their plans. The second thing is, the enemy will do something that our generals failed to consider.
“Regardless of what happens, when our attack plans meet their attack plans, things will change. It will be up to someone like us to modify our strategy and prevent something from happening that will cause us to lose the battle.
December 3, 1004
The army Generals issued orders for our advance units to deploy. These units consisted of our foot soldiers and half of our Cavalry Units. Their main task was to hold the enemy’s front line in place, and it would take time for them to get into position and prepare to repulse a frontal attack.
Captain Greer told me that our Cavalry Unit and three others would attack the enemy’s left flank. He cautioned me about advancing around the end of the flank too far, too fast. He said that is how I could get my unit cut off and captured or killed.
During training, we had rehearsed this type of attack, but on a smaller scale. As we had rehearsed, our larger force would divide into four parts. The first part would maintain contact with end unit of our right flank and attack the end of the enemy’s left flank. The second part of our force would maintain contact with the first part of our force and curve around behind the left flank of our enemy’s front line and attack them to keep them from retreating. The third part would maintain contact with the second part, while they and the fourth part attack through the enemy’s front line from the rear, and link up with our front line. The two parts would then push the two segments of the enemy’s front line apart. Then the third part of our force would complete the englobement of the small segment of the enemy’s front line that had been cut off from the remainder of their front line. The fourth part of our force would keep the enemy’s main front line from reconnecting with the englobed portion of their front line that had been cutoff.
An attack of this type is more difficult to perform than describe. The timing of what each of our four groups was to do was critical to the success of the englobement.
Attacking an enemy’s flanks in this manner was also a very well-known tactic. The main risk in successfully accomplishing this type of attack is for your unit to initiate your attack at the same time as the enemy prepares to initiate the same type of attack on the flank you are attacking. If that were to happen to us, there is a possibility that a portion of our unit would be attacked and englobed.
According to Captain Greer, the officer commanding our force had to be vigilant to ensure that the enemy was not in a position to attack us from the rear as we attacked them from the rear.
He also said that if we happened to catch the enemy as they were in the process of encircling our right flank, we would be in a good position to attack them in the rear as they spread out and attacked the rear of our front line.
The army had selected an experienced officer to lead our four Cavalry Units in this attack. I was actually thankful that I had not been selected to command the attack.
December 9, 1004
Our force deployed to the right flank of our front line. We had to travel further than the force attacking the left flank. Therefore, the other force would depart two days later.
Ideally, the forces attacking the left and right flanks would begin their attacks at the same time. Our generals decided the two forces should be in position and then attack at sunrise of the same day. The generals believed that a small delay in one force not starting its attack on time should not have a major impact on the outcome of the battle. According to the generals, both forces should be in position by December the 13th, and therefore we would begin our attacks at sunrise on the 14th.
December 14, 1004
We ate, prepared our horses for battle, and dressed in our armor well before the sun rose over the horizon. Our horses sensed our excitement and our nervous state. We had to stand by their heads and to keep them calm. Finally, the command was given to mount and advance at a trot. The enemy’s front line was a good thirty feet deep. Each of the four Groups of Troopers were riding in a single line, perpendicular to the battle line, and the four groups were riding side-by-side with about eight feet of spacing between groups.
As the rear of Group 1 reached the enemy’s flank, Group 1 turned to their left flank and charged the end of the enemy’s flank. Groups 2, 3, and 4 maintained their spacing and remained as three single lines. About eight feet later, Group 2’s leader turned left. Eight feet later Group 3’s leader turned left, and eight feet later Group 4’s leader turned left. The troopers in each line followed their leader as they rode behind the enemy’s front line.
As the rear of Group 2 reached Group 1, Group 2 turned to their left flank and charged the rear of the enemy’s front line.
Once Groups 3’s leader was beyond Group 2, he turned left and charged the rear of the enemy’s front line. As each of the cavalry troops following him reached where he turned, they would turn and charge the rear of the enemy’s frontline. Group 4 did the same thing when they got beyond Group 3. Groups 3 and 4 charged single file into the of the rear of the enemy’s front line until the two Groups penetrated through the enemy’s front line and linked up with our front line.
Once Groups 3 and 4 linked up with our front line, Group 3 turned to their left flank and charged the enemy pushing them back and completed the englobement of a short segment of the enemy’s front line. Group 4 turned to their right flank and charged the enemy pushing them back so they could not relink with the englobed portion of their front line. After a short fight, the englobed group of enemy troops surrendered.
After our attack, Captain Greer said, “Vic, the timing of that maneuver was close to perfect. The commanding officer of our four Groups had people watching for the enemy to appear at our rear, but no troops appeared.”
“Captain, what is the counter if we had been attacked from the rear?”
“I thought you knew that, Vic. There are a couple of possible counters. The best counter is, if the enemy is discovered in time, our entire group should turn and attack the enemy troops that are attacking our rear. If we don’t have enough warning, the best counter is to rejoin our front line and reorganize.”
King Zonder’s spies later learned that the mud on the enemy’s side of the battlefield delayed movement of the King Henn’s army, and messengers could not deliver messages to their destinations in a timely manner. The result was King Henn’s army was preparing to withdraw from the battlefield and cross the border back into Fortan, when we launched our attacks on their left and right flanks. King Zonder’s army won the battle, and the commanders of King Henn’s army performed an excellent job of withdrawing and retreating with minimal casualties.
Thus began a series of battles in which Vic and the cavalrymen he led fought. During those battles, his superiors noted his accomplishments on the battlefield and tried to promote him to Major. However, Vic made it known to his superiors that for personal reasons, he would prefer that he not be promoted beyond the rank of Captain. During several of the larger battles in which he fought, he was the Commander of a 100-Horse Cavalry Unit. Due to his senior officers becoming ill, Vic was once required to command a 300-Horse Cavalry Unit, which was normally commanded by a Colonel.
June 22, 1005
King Henn announced that he surrendered and requested a meeting to discuss the terms of his surrender. He suggests July 11, 1005 as the start date of the meeting.