The Height of the Battle
During the night, 2000 legionnaires had stumbled upon the camp of the 4th Legion, which was within sight of the ruin of the Antonine Gate...and the tens of thousands of corpses around it. With this infusion of men, morale went up and the legion's consular decided to make an organized foray deeper into the city. A contingent came upon 100 Xivilai, and with the help of cavalry managed to destroy many.
The Praetorians were ordered by their captains to move into the palace and fortify it while 3 conscript legions headed to the Choril Gate, and the remaining 3 legions (1 conscript and 2 regular) went to the Jejunal Gate. Only the conscript legion was close enough to get there fast enough to attack.
The Attack on Jejunal Gate: The green, untrained 15th did spectacularly against the demons - at first. Although a third of the legion was lost, thousands of imps and archdemons were slain. Then, the Xivilai appeared and stalled the assault just short of the walls. After the legion withdrew in a fighting retreat, 3000 men were counted missing.
The Attack on Choril Gate: Before the attack on the Gate itself, the 11th Legion secured the flank by driving away some Xivilai. 500 men died for 20 Xivilai.
The 12th and 14th Legions attacked soon after, supported by catapults still on the walls. It was a great victory - great numbers of demons were destroyed, but once again the ferocious Xivilai stopped the legions in their tracks.
The demons were stunned by the sudden resistance, but they quickly recovered. The humans lost the initiative.
The 14th Legion was beset by thousands of zombies.
The catapults were also attacked, but a few hundred brave men held back the demons long enough for the catapults to smash them to pieces. None of them survived.
The 11th fell back in disarray.
The 13th's position was untenable and it too fell back.
The 11th had retreated into the camp of the 12th, and there they spread panic and disorder. They were completely unprepared for the demon assault, and few escaped alive.
Demons surrounded the 4th, but were soundly defeated. The legion's consular was unfortunately killed in the last minutes of the battle.
Fighting was still going on as dusk fell.
Re: And Now For Something Completely Different
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks