Road to the Crown

22nd-23rd September 1574

The sound of the constant artillery exchange between the two sides was the only thing that accompanied my troops when the sun started to set. 

At first, it was hard to say which side had the advantage. Due to their elevated positions, Ostros cannons managed to overcome the qualitative difference between themselves and my own big guns, forcing me to go with the mortar tactic. And that meant, that for the most of the time before all the preparations would be done, my tanks only pretended to aim at the enemy, adhering to the old military rule.

The man shoots, but it's the God who carries the bullets.

The groundwork necessary for the first step of the plan was far greater than I initially imagined. Rather than just riding at high speed against the enemy embankments after the angle of approach would be softened a bit, my soldiers had to basically dig up a special line of small trenches, in which my artillery would be able not only to ride all the way up to reach the necessary angle but also making its foundations strong enough so that additional support that prevented the tanks from sliding down could be mounted.

And with that said, only right before the midnight, all five of my artillery positions were finally ready.

Four of them were split to both wings, easily capable of wreaking direct havoc all the way up to seventh or maybe even eight trench as long as the spacing between them was more or less even. That allowed me to push those work-hardened soldiers to start creating the proper groundwork for the attack that would come soon.

Only by the dawn of the twenty-third of September did I finally receive the report that I waited for.

"Sir, the gatehouses are finished, the scouts reports the huge casualty rate in the enemy lines. While it's not yet confirmed, it seems like Ostros moved most of their troops to the third line of defence, leaving only the skeletal crew in the current artillery target!"

This was perfectly reasonable. That is, in the situation when both sides could only shoot properly for as far as the nearest trenches go. In my case, just by wasting a few rounds of artillery, my tank crews could fix their calculations and wreak havoc on the third, fourth or sixth enemy line. The problem was, once they would do it for the first time, the element of surprise would be gone!

"Good, move the troops and light carriages into the position. They won't expect what hit them."

At the current rate, this battle would come to an end only when either side would completely run out of the supplies. That's why I couldn't afford to show my cards for the slight price of just a single trench! Rather than aiming to take a few meters more of the current no man's land, I had to make the ongoing ploy count!

The gates that the report spoke about were nothing else but holes in the premade trenches, that were invisible from the other side. Made by stacking the proper support and special roof just under the thin layer of the ground below the surface of the embankment. By collapsing the support with either a few swings of an axe or just a single proper cannon shoot, a part of the embankment would collapse, opening a way for the light carriages to pass without actually hitting the main road.

But that didn't mean I wouldn't use it at all!

Right now, the enemy tactic relied on amassing most of their forces at a single spot, keeping the cavalry in the reserve with hopes of using it for a shock charge, and keeping me from ever using the main road. The last point could be easily achieved by keeping just a few artillery pieces fixed on the thin bottleneck between the two wings of embankments, making sure that any attempt at crossing it would turn the road unusable.

That's why my current manoeuvre had to be executed with perfect timing!

"Sir, we are ninety percent sure that our shoots will land directly on the target!"

That was the last element that I was waiting for. Giving the entire night and nearly half of a day to the artillery squads to work out the distances, range and angles that would let them yield the most precise first salvo, I hoped to use them as the paralyzing factor for just a single moment.

Because there was one flaw in what we currently knew about Ostros detachment. And using it up properly could secure my ass in case of even greater forces waiting in reserve far behind the current battlefield!

"Everyone, take positions!"

Rather than shouting this order directly to the soldiers, I simply said it in the headquarters tent, allowing the mass of adjutants to instantly vibrate before collapsing into a sea of individuals that chased to their designated units. Within less than ten minutes, those messengers came back, confirming that the order was relied upon and confirmed.

"Sir, are you sure about that plan?"

Looking at the enemy positions, the officer that dared to stop my earlier attempt at advance allowed this murmur to escape from his mouth. And while I could act as if I didn't hear that, it still hurt me quite a bit.

While common soldiers could think that while they were sleeping on the hard ground with barely any cover due to being right on the frontline, I would be using all kinds of luxury back in the camp. Yet, this single field officer that I held due to the disciplinary reasons back, was perfectly conscious of the fact that forming the plan of the next advance took me the entire night, during which I didn't catch even a wink of sleep!

No, I wasn't sure about it. During the war, when I lacked information about the enemy plans, positions, detailed number of troops, state of the morale and many, many other things, I could only try my best to create a scenario that would put my soldiers at a great advantage, while nullifying all the preparations Ostros made to switch the situation around.

There was simply no other way, and the reasons that made me go to this war forced me to hurry up.

"Signal the attack."

As if this was the time or the grand battles of the high medieval period, with the sound of the horn, everything moved forward.

At first, all the heavy war-carriages of mine lined up in front of the prepared gatehouses, only for the first one in line to cut through the supporting structures with a quick series of its frontal reaper gun. Before everything even managed to collapse, as if the sound of the firing was another signal, my artillery started to fire. This, in turn, resulted in the drivers of the heavy carriages pushing the steam engines to the limit, forcing their way through the light, wooden rubble directly on the surface of the first line of embankments. 

At first, all of them rode forward in a straight line, but once they crossed half the distance that separated them from the bottleneck of the second embankment line, they suddenly turned towards the middle!

It was like if every single action was just another piece of a perfectly composed symphony. Right when the enemy had to react in order to bar the entry to the third plateau for my heavy carriages, the artillery shells shoot just a moment ago finally landed. 

This was all that my carriages needed. A moment of confusion, shock and dust, covering the view of the enemy cannons. Before Ostros fire crews could react, all of my heavy carriages burst through the bottleneck, racing towards the next one.

It was also the moment when all of my light carriages moved forward, once again packed to the brim with soldiers. While the entire plan was great and complicated, their task was to do exactly the same what they did during the first attack.

Then, the heavy carriages passed through the second bottleneck, instantly taking a light turn to the sides, escaping from the potential fire of the artillery fixed on the road. Even though it would be the first time when those war machines of mine would participate in the battle, they served the core purpose of my battle plan!

On the other hand, when there was only twenty or so meters remaining before the light carriages would reach the second embankment, they stopped. Pouring the soldiers out of their insides, each of them equipped with nothing else but a neatly packed bag of earth, the reaper gunners at their back made the short work of the enemy units that remained on the second plateau.

"Keep going…"

This was the most vital part of the attack, yet, it was the most prone to failure. In just a few moments, all of the earthbags that were kept inside the light carriages were stacked into two thin ramps, just wide enough for the light carriage tracks to fit on it. Not even waiting for the soldiers to get back inside, the drivers instantly pushed forward, using those ramps as the convenient way to get on top of the second line of embankments!

"Now… Hurry up…"

Moving to the third plateau once again, the heavy war-carriages of mine continued to make a short turn, lining themselves upright at the foothold of the forth line of enemy fortifications. Shielded from the enemy artillery by their own defensive setting, the firing holes in the sides of the carriages opened up, allowing the multiple gunners stuffed inside to start the carnage.

Yet, while the heavy carriages managed to reach their target perfectly and do exactly what they were supposed to, the same couldn't be said about the light carriages.

Out of twenty that were sent to the attack, only twelve managed to make it on top, with entire eight of those expensive machines of mine slipping of their ramps and falling to the side. 

This was the reason why the footmen had to wait for their machines to climb before they would be allowed to once again seek safety in their insides!

"Now! Everyone, press the attack!"

Unable to stop myself from shouting, despite knowing that not even a single man at the frontline would manage to hear me, I tightened my grasp on the head of my cane to the point where my knuckles turned white.

But it seemed like outside of the loss of about two thousand pieces of hold in the machines, the rest of the casualties would limit itself to the normal fighting.

With the footsoldiers taking less than two minutes to man the light carriages that remained, before the heavy carriage gunners could finish their ammo, they were already climbing on top of the third line of embankments, taking the enemy forces from behind!

Once again using the enemy fortifications as the cover, this time hiding away from the fire from the friendlies, my soldiers began to massacre the bulk of the Ostros forces, not pincered between constantly reinforcing line of footmen, and the heavy, machinegun suppression from the heavy war-carriages!

No matter the casualties created by the slip, this battle was all but won!