Part 12: Battle 6: For the Queen!

Task Organization



Main Effort



Fires and Effects



Medical Services/EOD





Reserves/Flank Security

Situation



Enemy forces have occupied the urbanized areas enroute to the capital of Campbell in order to maintain control of the local seat of government.

Enemy Forces



Terrain: The battlefield is characterized by a number of structures and an interlocking network of roads. Large portions of the available space are separated by water, with narrow bridges providing the only available method of crossing. This will result in severely constricted avenues of approach on the enemy position.



Disposition: The enemy's troop presence is remarkably light in this area, and is composed of a mixture of heavy infantry troops, mages, the local commander's personal forces, and several large artillery pieces. The total strength of enemy forces in the area is slightly more than squad level. In order to compensate for this, the enemy has stationed their troops at choke points and mined the most direct approach to their headquarters.



Enemy's Most Likely Course of Action: Due to poor discipline among enemy forces, they will most likely attempt to move forward to meet us and abandon their relatively defensible positions, with the exception of the enemy cannons.

Enemy's Most Dangerous Course of Action: If the enemy avoids action, they may be able to draw some of our more impetuous forces into the mined area and detonate the gunpowder in their mines with fire magic or cannons.

Mission



The KRF will conduct an immediate attack on the enemy forces located in the vicinity of Campbell's capital in order to clear the way for the overall recapture of Campbell.

Execution

Concept of Operations: Our forces will move directly toward the enemy, defeating the small group located in the manor house and then utilizing superior firepower to destroy the mages on the bridgehead. Once across the bridge we will utilize fire magic to prematurely detonate the enemy's mines and then assault across the mine field once it has been cleared.

Scheme of Maneuver: Our primary assault will be accomplished by myself, Lukia, and Sendak with Lukia and Sendak's groups clearing the way toward the enemy command center. Matelite and Zora's group will come behind the main effort and deal with any enemies who attempt to assault from the sides.

End Order



The initial enemy forces are too far away for immediate engagement, although Sue and Pinky are within range to begin whittling down their resistance. In order to allow for faster movement of troops into the area, Lukia directs our mages to make a second bridge out of ice.



Under withering fire the enemy makes an attempt to charge Sue and engage in hand to hand combat. This goes about as well as might be expected for the enemy.



The enemy's mages begin to cross the bridge and are met by our dragons. For some inexplicable reason the dragons utilize lightning techniques on the enemy mages, destroying the bridge.



More ice magic, however, is able to fix the problem while finishing off the enemy's mages. The enemy forces are severely weakened and deprived of their ranged capabilities.



They try to engage Flammie in hand to hand combat and pay dearly for their mistake.



Meanwhile, the enemy's second heavy infantry group attempts to come at us from the east and is met by Sue's ice breath.



A structure near the end of the bridge looks suspicious and is destroyed, although this delays the crossing once more while we affect repairs to the damaged area.



While we wait, Sue and the enemy troops continue battling at a much closer range. Unfortunately the enemies are not yet close enough that any of our ground troops can meet them.



Sendak begins the business of clearing the enemy's mines so that our forces can advance. The enemy has cleverly structured their minefield so that no more than two mines can be removed at one time.



As the first mines explode, Zomberd signals for a number of troops that were hidden in the area to reveal themselves and attack.



Their numbers are fairly pitiful. The enemy has set out a chimera trap and caught a dragon.



Flammie immediately begins attacking the enemy mages. While the distance would seem to favor the enemy for long range attacks, their overall strength is so low that they are almost certain to be annihilated by the dragons before they can achieve anything noteworthy.



More enemy forces are located to the east. Matelite and Zora take their troops to deal with the threat while the rest of our forces continue onward toward the main objective.



Clyde enthusiastically persecutes the enemy troops that were already moving toward our flanks. Due to the slow and circuitous route the enemy took, they are exposed to our attacks for an unsustainable amount of time.




Working together, Lukia's forces and Inky are able to eliminate the enemy mages to the west across the water.



The enemy's mine field turns out to be more of a hinderance to them than to us. As their forces advance through the minefield the effects of our fire techniques are magnified by the exploding gunpowder.



The layout of the minefield acts is a double edge sword. While we could not previously destroy more than two mines at a time, the enemy is also unable to advance toward us without passing by at least one mine.



Pinky places himself forward, but very few of the enemy troops have any chance of detonating the mines around him.



Both of the enemy cannons fire on Pinky, slightly wounding the dragon. He's drawing most of the enemy's attention, while concentrating their forces around the gunpowder.



The enemy healers continue to be a nuisance, but the sheer carnage in the area means that their activities act to delay rather than forestall defeat.



Zomberd himself begins to advance toward our forces, while our mages explode yet another mine with fire magic in order to damage the troops in front of Pinky.



Clyde and Matelite have reached the enemy mages to the east. The enemy has a mix of mages in this battle, with both fire and blitz mages making an appearance. Luckily our dragons are for the most part able to find some viable technique to use regardless of what elements the enemies are strong against.



Pinky puts himself at considerable risk attacking the enemy infantry head on. While most human troops aren't generally a threat, the enemy troops with the small shields have a body blow technique that could kill a dragon with three strikes.



The enemy's blitz mages have an additional weapon in poison magics, although these spells are hardly a threat to our dragons.



Unfortunately, now that Byuu and his troops are near the front the enemy ignores the dragons and concentrates on the more fragile humans. Byuu himself is severely wounded, but the enemy troops pay a higher price.



Zomberd is one of the few exceptions, and given that he's chosen to attack Pinky the result is not a favorable exchange for him and his troops.



Byuu and the knights engage Zomberd's troops, using their drug attacks to replenish their health while weakening the enemy.



Matelite and the heavy knights are still working their way through the enemy troops on the eastern side of the map. While they haven't yet defeated the enemy troops, they're certainly keeping them from interfering with the rest of the battle.



Now that the enemy's troops have been thinned out, our attacks naturally concentrate on the enemy cannons in order to remove the threat of being bombarded and attacked simultaneously.



Pinky deals with the enemy's healers... personally.



At around the same time, Matelite finishes off one of the groyers with Inspiration. It's interesting that the term groyer, which we had initially assumed was a name, is actually a title of some kind.



For once, the enemy is actually responsible for the destruction of a bridge instead of our forces. Unfortunately this restricts our operations against the mages on that side, as any rebuilding attempts will be slow at best.



Since the enemy mages are out of reach, Zora's group turns its attention to the sole remaining troops within their range and rains down ice on them. While not decisive, the attack is impressive.



Having dealt with the immediate threat of one cannon and removed the enemy's healing ability, Byuu leads his knights in stripping away Zomberd's guardians. He is now virtually alone and surrounded.



Working together Clyde and Matelite's group destroy the enemy troops, leaving the only survivors from this portion of the ambush as the troops on the east bank.



Yoyo and Sendak incinerate the final enemy troops that could have come to Zomberd's aid, completing his isolation.



After Byuu personally strikes another harsh blow Zomberd withdraws from battle, leaving the field to us... given his track record, his statement that our victory won't make a difference is discounted out of hand.



The sole surviving Granbelos force, the mages across the river, turns tail and runs when Zomberd retreats. After such a narrow escape it's unlikely that we'll see them again.