It took a few months to recover from the capture of Tulifurdum, during which a fresh army, led by a relatively young, but very skilled, general came to reinforce: Nevelung. He was not born of my family but he showed a great deal of skill in the commanding of men, so I adopted him into my family. He didn’t seem to have much ambition, but what he lacked in that area he made up for it with intelligence and capability. It wasn’t long before he became my second in command.
It was not long after that we received word that the Helvetii had declared war on us.
We were not worried though. The Quadi sent an army through our lands towards Helvetii lands, as they were also at war with the Quadi. While we had to keep an eye out towards our southern border, we could rest easy for now that the Helvetii were tied down and would not bother us too much.
Back to where all the action was going on, the Cherusci, the Frisii, and the Rugii were mixing it up in the north, making for an interesting spectacle.
Eventually the Frisii were driven off by sheer numbers, and a single Rugii army camped near Tulifurdum. We denied them any food around them so slowly they are starving as they entrench their positions. We will deal with them soon enough.
Nevelung and I were on the move. We took our armies and headed north, to the capital of the Semnones. Our scouts initially told us that the battle would be easy, as they did not have a large army in the area. But we were wrong, and we soon found ourselves facing a combined Semnones force of over 7,000. We had only one thousand fewer men, but it would still be a tough fight.
Yet again we were facing a battle by a river. Since Nevelung and I were not marching in lockstep, we had to combine our forces before the Semnones were able to overwhelm one force by sheer numbers.
The Semnones deployed very effective tactics against Nevelung’s men. Using light cavalry and select heavy infantry, they managed to stall his men from reaching ours for what seemed like the longest time.
With the reinforcing army held up, the main Semnones force charged towards our comparatively thin lines like a battering ram against a thin wooden wall.
Our men fought very bravely, fighting tooth and nail to hold off the Semnones horde as long as they could, even against overwhelming numbers.
Our skirmishers tried to help but a contingent of Semnones cavalry charged them. I had to come to their rescue before the skirmishers were completely wiped out.
With Nevelung’s reinforcements held up, the Semnones were able to send units around to our side, threatening the entire battle.
But luck was on our side. One of their commanders was struck down, panicking many of the lower-quality enemy units, and they ran.
At about that time Nevelung’s men reached us. They stopped the enemy flanking maneuver, and blocked off the river crossing, hitting the enemy slingers who rained death upon our men, killing them with a vengeance for all their fallen comrades.
The battle was turning in our favor. But even with enemy units beginning to rout, it did not stop lone groups of enemy soldiers from wreaking havoc on our lines. One group managed to inflict heavy damage on our skirmisher wing, forcing me to charge in with my bodyguards to save them. We got there in time— barely.
Semnones units were routing at a regular pace now. But yet reinforcements still came, even as they passed by streams of routing men. Their determination was admirable, though it was to be a wasted effort on their part.
Our lines were thinning. We had no fresh reinforcements like they had, and it showed. A few of our units began to fall back, as other exhausted units from wherever I could spare were sent to take their place. They fought hard. They fought like wolves in a pack, tearing at exposed flesh whenever the opportunity arose. And this was how our men held the line with tenacity against a brutal foe.
Eventually the Semnones reinforcements ran out, and the remaining enemy soldiers broke, and our exhausted men gave chase.
Nevelung and his men chased down any enemy units they could find, though they took heavy losses in the process. The Semnones had great bowmen who were able to struck down many of Nevelung’s men, but they too were caught and routed.
It was a gory day. Thousands lay dead, soaking the ground in Marcomanni and Semnones blood alike.
We had won, but at great cost. A third of our men had fallen, though they did take over five thousand Semnones with them, and another one thousand prisoners, who we executed. Two of our units had been completely wiped out, and another eight units were decimated. Recovering from this loss will take some time.
Hot on the heels of our victory, we marched victorious and unopposed into the Semnones capital, Calancorum, that very day. There was still one more Semnones army out there, but we would deal with them later.
With a brief calm, my commanders and I sat down to discuss the recent battle. Recent battles showed us that we need a better, more well-rounded force to deal with our enemies. Our skirmishers were next to useless. They had less than one hundred combined kills last battle. Pathetic. We had to replace them with something else, something better, and not just more swordsmen. We would have to solve this problem soon, because the heavy casualties we have sustained in our wars until now are unacceptable.
And now we turn our attention to more pressing matters…
Re: Reunification: a Marcomanni AAR
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