The Fate of the Archangel [Chapter I]

[Greek Phalanx]

Chapter IV

Halus the Iron Fist was already fighting in the heart of battle, on the right flank of the enemy army. His knights and him had already shot several volleys of bolts which attracted a large part of the main army out of their initial position. For now, the combat between the Iron Hand and the Rebels were more some kind of skirmish. Halus gave a quick look to see how the battle was going on, and he saw that the infantry had already taken great losses… from the very beginning of battle. He ordered his men to ride back to the mountain with all their speed. Arrows whistled near him, but Halus rode back to the rocky pass which led to the mountain. Some of his knights had already fallen in battle, their body crashing hard on the cold ground. Halus’ axe had inflicted several mortal wounds to rebel soldiers, and he kept striking with a demonic frenzy. He followed the last men that were still on the battlefield to reach the other knights. The hoofs of his heavily armoured horse made the ground rumble, but suddenly several arrows fell near him. Several of the nearby knights were taken down of their horse, rolling on the ground. Halus felt a sharp pain in the back, and he felt a second one. He felt that he didn’t control anything, and he felt as if he was a rock being thrown down of a mountain. He fell on the ground, and despairingly tried to get back on his feet. While, one of his lieutenants, a man called Mercutio, saw his leader being almost killed. He felt as if he was himself being hit by these deadly arrows, and he screamed at the nearby knights around him to follow him. He rode and roared with all his strength and might, and his group rapidly crushed several enemy formations. He reached his beloved leader (who was almost dying) and ordered one of his men to take him on his horse. Other arrows whistled around him, 2 knights died as quickly as they had charged forth. He then rode back with the rest of his men to reach the rest of his “regiment”. This “skirmish” had indeed cost the life of 56 of the 500 brave knights, which was a huge amount of casualties for soldiers who had fought during all their lives. Each of these knights were at least worth 15 standard soldiers, and some were surely worth a whole army!

***

On the center, the infantry was already falling back! Hoemir was lost among the melee, and there were no orders given in the chaotic battlefield! Where was the colonel? Everyone had known that the result of this battle would be a defeat, but was Hoemir about to bring the Grand Melken to its biggest defeat?

***

-Nel Parmeo’s Throne Room-

The King was already waiting for the last “guest” to enter the Throne room. He severely frowned as he was growing impatient. Polyön II was already feeling old, tired of politics. His long grey hair showed that he had too much important matters to take care of for a man of his age.

Suddenly, the last guest arrived, panting as if he had run from Vandera to Nel Parmeo. He heavily breathed and sat on a chair, slowly recovering his strengths. This man was General Satcha Beg, who came from Perdica. Immediately after Satcha sat down, the King began the meeting.

“-Noblemen and great ones of the Parmeonian Kingdom, greetings. I call a Council today because we must discuss of an important matter: war.
-Yes, milord. I believe that the attack wasn’t properly prepared… I --- (the Minister of War gets interrupted by the King)
-I know, I know. Someone here didn’t do his duty well. And I shall find him! For now, let’s just stay on the topic. Today, I want you to tell me what how the war is going on. The people of Nel Parmeo grows anxious because of the lack of informations!
-A convoy of supplies was sent a few days ago and we still do not have any news,” said Satcha Beg. “Some messengers told us that the Grand Melken was split in 2, but we don’t know anything more.
-I have an even greater project than uniting the Parmeonian Kingdom, my friends. I suggest that we apply “Conscription” through all the kingdom, to help the Grand Melken. I also think that Lessarium, with its population of 800 000 people, should be able to give us at least 80 000 soldiers by itself, as they had openly refused to send any volunteers. Every man of the Kingdom between 17 and 35 years old not doing any administrative work will have to join the Second Grand Melken.
-We could barely give a sword and an armour to each soldier of the first Melken, my King! How can we supply such an enormous army?
-Our industry will simply focus on doing weapons, my dear Hermius. The men in the mines will have to work twice as hard and their effectives will simply be doubled, or even better, tripled. The whole people of the Kingdom love their country, right? Well, they can give their lives for it, no? Anyway, the soldiers will take care of those who don’t want to take the arms, trust me. Also, your Praetoria (he pointed at Hermius) will lead these men. We wouldn’t want any conscripts to run away or disobey, no?
-I doubt that conscription is the solution… it’s a bit harsh---
-In war, we must take harsh decisions during harsh times, which is the case right now.
-No one has told you since the beginning of the meeting, great one, (Hermius took a deep breath) but the people is not so happy about this war! Nel Parmeo is rioting! 10 civilians were killed during an ambush in the streets! And I lost 2 of my Praetorians! We placed iron gates throughout the city near the barracks, the temples, the palace, and many other places. Nel Parmeo’s heart is getting corrupted, your highness!
-Well, you are here to bring back order. Even if Nel Parmeo is one of the less populated cities, it is the most beautiful one! Conscription will take part everywhere, have you heard me? Assemble the army at Perdica. Hermius and half of his Praetoria, Satcha and his army, Marfirius Agnorium and his 3 militia armies, will train this army and I give you a whole year to make it ready and well-supplied. Carry on!
-But, Welzassil is almost out of reinforcements!
-If it falls, we’ll simply re-take it, Satcha! Stop bothering about such annoying matters! Apollodrus is doing a well job even without the reinforcements I provide him, so he will certainly survive without any! Come on! The Grand Melken needs help! Use anything in your power to get as much conscripts as possible! Use propaganda, use this patriotism, use cleverness, anything!”

So ended the meeting, which ended in a terrible decision: Conscription.

***

Mercutio rode in the mountains for a whole hour, accompanied by a few men to try to find if the infantry had reached the mountains. But instead, he saw with surprise a gift from the Winged God himself! The convoy was going to Trondforge by the mountain pass! He rode as fast as his horse allowed him to go to order to place artillery pieces on the high plateau to provide heavy support to the weakening infantry!

-15 minutes later, in the heart of the battle-

Hoemir had succeeded in rallying the rest of the army to a nearby hill. His army had sustained heavy casualties, but at least, the infantry had made a solid block formation, heavily covered with hundreds of crossbowmen. Hoemir had already killed several men by himself, but he saw no way to beat the rebel army which was more trained, experienced, and numerous after the hours of fighting. “Stand your ground! Stand firm!” yelled Hoemir to his men. Suddenly, a long and sharp sound broke the sound of the shocks of swords, shields, bolts, and spears. The long whistle continued during 5 everlasting seconds, and then a terrible explosion tore apart a rebel regiment. Other whistles continued, and several other explosions were seen. Hoemir looked up and heard the sound of the Iron Hand Order’s horn. He saw men cheering on the top of the plateau, and he knew that they had found artillery pieces. Hoemir and his men watched the sad show of the Rebels being heavily bombarded with the cannons and artillery pieces that were supposed to be sent to the besiegers of Trondforge. The Rebels rapidly fell back, being literally defeated by the artillery. When the rebels were out of reach, the artillery ceased to fire and Hoemir met up with the supply convoy and the rest of the Iron Hand knights. The battle wasn’t over yet, as there were still thousands of Rebels to defeat before reaching Trondforge safely.

Hoemir cried when he saw the unconscious Halus, but he was glad to see that he hadn’t lost as much men as he had thought. He had 32 000 volunteers left, 9 000 standard soldiers left, and 320 Knights of the Iron Hand left. But 7 000 volunteers were wounded and unable to fight for at least a whole week and 4 000 experienced soldiers were wounded too. So, the Grand Melken had to inflict a major defeat (as this victory was only a minor one) to the Rebel army before going back to Trondforge. Though, the soldiers had a few hours of free time to rest and recover. After, they would prepare themselves for the greatest hunt in the Parmeonian History.