The Bermianese Wars: Battle of Ravenhearth, central Bermian, 1427.
Opposing Factions:
HAELMAR
Magnus XI
15,000 men.
Around 2,500 Bermianese allies, mainly of communal peasants.
LAURIA
Jose "The Mallet" Encerferzada
32,000 men.
Around 5,000 Bermianese allies, mainly of aristocratic entourages.
The Battle began with the famed artillery of Halmar bombarding the slopes of the hill the Laurians were on. They caused much death among the Laurians, until they pulled back behind the hill. On the Halmarian left flank was a large mountain crag. There was a small path around it, but could not be climbed. This path was guarded by a Halmarian force mainly consisting of men from the newly raised Finni regiments, a race of people living mainly in the territory of Nordland, and some Bermianese allies. However, unknown to the Halmarians, two squadrons of Laurian heavy cavalry, mainly of knights, and a contingent of Bermianese heavy cavalry were coming towards them. The doomed Halmarians and Bermianese formed a square, but the mass of plate and horse rode the Halmarians and their allies into ruin. The commander there sent a messenger for aid when the enemy were spotted, and so the messenger, exhausted and shot at by Bermianese mounted crossbowmen, slumped his way to his King, told the message, then got thrown off his horse and died as a Laurian Field Mortar shell exploded nearby.
The brash king of Halmar decided to re secure the pass with his bodyguard and the remainder of the Halmarian cavalry which had arrived. II Corps had yet to arrive, and III Corps' cavalry had lost all their horses during a raid. And so, the King of Halmar rode to the pass, and was never seen alive again. Without a leader, the Halmarians were plunged into disarray, when the Count Fernstaag, chancellor to the King and former general, ordered a general advance. And so, with artillery support but no cavalry, I and III Corps advanced up the hill. The Laurians stepped up and formed up on the ridge. They pounded and pounded the Halmarians. Then Fernstaag deployed his trump card. Jaegers, the Light Division and Irregulars had formed up in a nearby forest, and poured a hail of fire onto the exposed Laurian flank. Instantly, half of the Bermianese on the Laurian side fled. The Laurians advanced down to meet the Haelmarians. Then the clash of pike and shot began.
After some time, the balance was even, but the superior armour of the Laurians appeared to pay off, but the Laurian arquebusiers stood little chance against the musketeers of the Haelmarians. The superior Haelmarian artillery fired and fired until a Laurian field mortar shell blew up right above the battery, killing everyone except the Lieutenant, who was badly wounded. He was Lieutenant Anders Harnstaag, ancestor of Colonel Harnstaag. Harnstaag, covered in shrapnel wounds, limped over to a loaded cannon, and fell on it. Striking a light, he placed his burning tinderbox over the fuse of the gun, and it recoiled back, throwing the man to the ground. Harnstaag began throwning up the remains of his lungs, and died. However, the gun hit the Field Mortar straight in the barrel, breaking it and causing the shell inside to explode, shredding the Laurian battery. For his gallantry in the face of the foe, Lt. Harnstaag was awarded the Military Cross for Valour in the Field and brevetted posthumously to Lt. Colonel.
The remaining Bermianese infantry on the Laurian side charged the Haelmarians in the wood, and there was a great melee between the two sides. The returning Laurian cavalry pressed the Haelmarian left hard. The depleted Maelstrom company under the Jarl Furgilforson, which was advancing towards the wood, swung round and hit the Laurian cavalry. The surprising attack caused the Laurians to loose momentum. The lightly armoured Bermianese cavalry, which had slowly advanced towards the Haelmarians, dismounted and fired their crossbows into the Nords and charged with their cut and thrust swords. Militia were sent up from the reserve, and in a skirmish line, fired their blunderbusses, carbines and muskets into the melee, killing both allies and foes.
Eventually, the Light Division broke free from the Bermianese in the woods, routing the Berminese. The pike and shot formations of both sides began to withdraw, and the Light Division, Militia and the Bermianese defended the rear. The two sides withdrew, the Laurians without their cannon, and the Haelmarians with their cannon, but they had lost their King. Haelmarian Hackapells from II Corps, newly arrived, brought the King's corpse back, and the Foot Guard carried the King down from the plateau of Ravenhearth, and began the long trek back to Haelmar, struggling against raids and the weather, loosing their artillery and wheeled transport, the army limped back home. Fernstaag had preserved most of the army from defeat and annihilation. The abandoned artillery were spiked, and the transports had their wheels removed. It had been an unsuccessful and indecisive battle for both parties, but the Haelmarians had suffered the most. Less than half of the men present at the battle returned, and many of their nobles, and their King, lay dead on the field.
Jose Encerferzada was shot by Gutenviem during the battle, and two of the Laurian Grandmasters that rode to battle lay dead. The patriarch of a Bermianese family was dead, as was many a Laurian lord. Two Laurian generals lay dead, along with around 15,000 men. The Laurian baggage was plundered by Bermianese locals, and the starving Laurians trudged back to their depots.
Extract from "The Bermianese Wars", Haelmar Press, Second Edition 1479.