Chapter Summaries

The Carnford army advanced toward Tyrol while Lyon and Thorsten’s cavalry concealed its movements by striking Sauron outposts. As Karl received new intelligence, he learned that Harald had sent a smaller force than expected to oppose them.

• Lyon and Thorsten’s cavalry raided Sauron villages and outposts to keep word of Carnford’s advance from spreading.
• Two thousand rescued Broomflower slaves served as transport soldiers, hauling supplies for the army and hoping to avenge their loved ones.
• Karl rode beside the Main Force Infantry Regiment’s rear flank while Richter stayed with him.
• Richter reported that scouts Lucas and Felin had found Harald had sent two thousand cavalry and two thousand slave soldiers.

Karl learned that a large Sauron cavalry force was approaching the Carnford Army’s southern flank and prepared to meet it in the open. The army began forming for battle as Karl rode to the right wing, leaving the clash imminent.

• Karl ordered light cavalry to search for the Sauron cavalry’s main force while the army marched toward Tyrol.
• A scout reported that at least a thousand Sauron cavalry were approaching the army’s flank from the northwest.
• Karl judged that the Sauron cavalry intended to surprise the marching army and disrupt its baggage train.
• Karl ordered Kellan, Lyon, and Thorsten’s scouts to harass the enemy and sent the other cavalry to assemble behind the right wing.
• Karl rode toward the right wing as the infantry tightened its formation and Carnford and Fran City cavalry gathered for battle.

Karl assembled the Carnford and Fran City cavalry as the Sauron main force approached, while the infantry formed a defensive line. With the combined cavalry ready to charge, Sir Kylan and Lyon both asked to command the frontline.

• Karl observed Carnford's Light Cavalry holding its own against Sauron scouts and Light Cavalry.
• As the Sauron main cavalry approached, Karl's infantry formed a tight defensive formation.
• Karl gathered the Carnford and Fran City cavalry into a broad offensive formation, placing Sir Kylan's heavy cavalry at its center.
• Sir Kylan asked Karl to let him command the frontline cavalry, citing his knowledge of Fran City's knights.
• Lyon also asked for command, saying he had led Carnford cavalry against a large Sauron force at Black Forest Valley.

Lyon took unified command of the allied cavalry after recounting how he had defeated Thorsten at Black Forest Valley, while Karl and Sir Kylan prepared for Sauron’s approaching main force. As the battle drew near, Karl learned from Thorsten that the enemy cavalry belonged to the Horse Corps, led by the Skarn commander Domenic.

• Lyon told Sir Kylan and Thorsten how he had routed Thorsten’s larger force at Black Forest Valley and urged Kylan to trust his experience against Sauron’s cavalry.
• Sir Kylan gave Lyon command of the allied cavalry, and Karl approved the decision and ordered Kylan and Thorsten to support him.
• Lyon rode to the flank of the cavalry formation to assess the battlefield, while Karl reassured Kylan that the infantry and artillery would help create an opening.
• Carnford’s scouts and Sauron’s mounted archers fought a bloody skirmish as Sauron’s main cavalry advanced in a broad assault formation.
• Karl asked Thorsten to identify the Half-moon Horseshoe Banner, and Thorsten explained that it marked the elite Horse Corps, commanded by the Skarn warrior Domenic.

Karl prepared the infantry to shield the cavalry while Lyon arranged the joint forces of Carnford and Fran City for an attack on the approaching Sauron Horse Corps. The cavalry formed a layered War Saber, poised to break through the enemy as the battle neared.

• Karl saw that the infantry had formed a defensive square and sent word to Lyon that it could cover the cavalry’s retreat.
• Lyon rallied the joint cavalry of Carnford and Fran City and arranged nearly thirteen hundred riders into ten ranks.
• Sir Kylan’s heavy Plate Armor Knights from Fran City formed the first three ranks to spearhead the charge.
• Fran City’s Chain Mail cavalry and Carnford’s shock cavalry took the middle ranks, ready to exploit a breach and spread disorder.
• Carnford’s lightly armored cavalry filled the rear ranks, prepared to use bows, carbines, or pistols against the enemy during the melee.

Lyon positioned himself at the center of the allied cavalry formation as the Sauron Horse Corps approached. Though the Sauron commander recognized the enemy’s strength and considered retreat, he chose to charge, and the armies prepared to clash.

• Lyon rode to the center of the Third Platoon of Plate Armor Knights from Fran City to command the allied cavalry from its most dangerous position.
• Sir Kylan watched the orderly formation and grew confident in Lyon’s command.
• The Sauron vanguard commander realized Carnford’s cavalry had formed up quickly and outnumbered his expectations.
• The Sauron commander rejected retreat, fearing its effect on morale and the consequences from Harald.
• The Sauron commander raised his scimitar and urged the Skarn warriors to charge the allied cavalry.

Lyon led the Carnford Allied cavalry forward to meet the Sauron Horse Corps, carefully balancing speed with formation discipline. As both sides accelerated toward battle, officers worked to correct disorder in the advancing ranks.

• Lyon ordered the buglers to sound the advance, and the Allied cavalry began moving toward the Sauron forces.
• Lyon monitored the formation, relying on Fran City’s disciplined heavy cavalry at the front while worrying that the Carnford ranks were less steady.
• The Sauron Horse Corps accelerated toward the Allies, and Lyon focused on the approaching enemy, aware that the battle’s outcome could decide the Tyrol campaign.
• The Allied horns signaled the cavalry to advance faster, making it harder for the ranks to maintain their formation.
• Company and squad officers rode behind the ranks, shouting orders and correcting soldiers’ speed and positions.

The Carnford allied cavalry and the Sauron Horse Corps charged toward a decisive collision as Lyon led the Third Platoon. Lyon sounded the charge horn, and the allied ranks lowered their weapons and surged forward, leaving courage and endurance to decide the clash.

• Officers restored order in the Carnford formation as the Sauron Regiment Commander ordered a full charge.
• Scouts and Light Cavalry fought at close range, then broke contact as the main formations neared each other.
• Sauron Light Cavalry harassed the allied flank, but Fran City's Plate Armor Knights turned aside most of their arrows.
• Lyon watched the Sauron cavalry approach and lowered his lance toward the densest part of their formation.
• Lyon called for the charge horn, and the allied cavalry roared and advanced with lances, javelins, and sabers ready.

Fran City's allied cavalry collided head-on with the Sauron Cavalry and broke their charge through superior armor, formation, and coordinated platoon attacks. The Sauron formation collapsed, leaving the battlefield covered with casualties.

• Peter watched from the Carnford infantry square as the two cavalry forces charged toward each other.
• Lyon struck an enemy with his lance during the first collision, broke through the Sauron front line, and endured a barrage of blows against his armor.
• Fran City's Second and Third Platoons smashed into the disordered Sauron ranks, inflicting devastating losses.
• The allied Fourth through Sixth Platoons hurled javelins into the scattered Sauron cavalry and further broke their formation.
• The final three platoons swept in from the flanks and rear, routing the remaining Sauron cavalry in a bloody charge.

The Carnford cavalry shattered the Sauron Cavalry with a rear-flank volley and relentless harassment, leaving the wounded Horse Corps commander unable to restore order. As the allied cavalry prepared another charge, he ordered the survivors to rally beneath his flag and break through the enemy.

• The Light Cavalry fired pistols and bows into the exposed Sauron riders, killing dozens and worsening the rout.
• Carnford scouts harassed the fleeing Sauron Cavalry and targeted soldiers trying to regroup around their officers and flags.
• The wounded Regiment Commander of the Horse Corps realized his force was defeated and decided to fight through the enemy rather than retreat with its back exposed.
• The Regiment Commander ordered the bugler to sound the rally-and-attack horn and called the survivors to charge beneath the Half-moon horseshoe battle flag.

Lyon’s Carnford Allied cavalry defeated the Sauron Horse Corps and let its remnants escape through an opening rather than risk further losses. Afterward, Lyon calmly ordered his troops to regroup and prepare a report, no longer seeing the Sauron as invincible.

• The Sauron Regiment Commander rallied several hundred survivors and led a desperate charge at the Carnford Allied cavalry.
• Lyon recognized that the Sauron were trying to break through and ordered his cavalry to open a gap while attacking them with javelins and firearms.
• The Sauron remnants broke through and fled toward Tyrol Fortress as Carnford scouts pursued stragglers and the army cleared the battlefield.
• Lyon ordered his troops to count spoils, treat the wounded, gather warhorses, and prepare to report to the Lord.
• Lyon surveyed the battlefield and regarded the Sauron as enemies who could be defeated and made to flee.

Karl's forces won a decisive field battle against Sauron's cavalry, and Karl ordered the army to march on Tyrol at dawn. At Tyrol, Bragi learned that Hakon's cavalry reconnaissance force had returned far sooner than expected, raising fears about what had happened.

• Lyon reported that Carnford had killed roughly four to five hundred Sauron cavalrymen, captured more than three hundred horses, and suffered over one hundred and twenty killed or combat-disabled.
• Lyon credited Sir Kylan and the Fran City knights for spearheading the victory, while Kylan expressed shock that Carnford had routed Sauron's main cavalry in a field battle.
• Karl warned that the victory would escalate the war with Harald and ordered the army to camp nearby, care for the wounded, summon supplies and reserves, and march on Tyrol at dawn.
• At Tyrol, Bragi oversaw hurried fortification work after Harald sent reinforcements and ordered him to prepare for a Carnford attack.
• Bragi's guard reported that Hakon and his cavalry had returned less than a day after setting out, and Bragi demanded to know what had happened.

Bragi learned that Carnford's cavalry had routed Hakon's force outside Tyrol, leaving the fortress facing a stronger threat than he had expected. He found Hakon and the surviving wounded in a pine grove and arranged aid while planning to bring them into the fortress discreetly.

• A guard reported that Carnford's cavalry had routed Hakon's thousand riders, leaving fewer than half to return and Hakon wounded.
• Bragi questioned the guard, learned Carnford had a large force of heavily armored cavalry, and hurried to see Hakon.
• Bragi found Hakon and several hundred exhausted, mostly wounded survivors camped in a pine grove outside Tyrol Fortress.
• Hakon explained that he had kept the survivors outside to avoid damaging the defenders' morale, and Bragi approved his decision.
• Bragi ordered physicians, stretchers, food, and hot soup, then arranged for the survivors who could walk to enter the fortress secretly in batches.

Hakon recounted how Carnford’s disciplined, ferocious cavalry shattered his force, convincing Bragi that Tyrol faced an unprecedented threat. With reinforcements unlikely, Bragi questioned Hakon about the enemy’s infantry, and Hakon estimated it at two to three thousand soldiers.

• Bragi escorted Hakon to his command post and asked him to describe the day’s defeat.
• Hakon described Carnford’s coordinated cavalry, Fran City’s heavy cavalry, and mounted musketeers overwhelming his charge.
• Bragi concluded that Carnford had become a dangerous enemy and that Tyrol would have to rely on its unfinished fortress without prompt reinforcements.
• Bragi asked Hakon about Carnford’s infantry, and Hakon estimated that two or three disciplined formations contained between two and three thousand soldiers.

Bragi learned that Carnford's approaching army likely had artillery, making Tyrol's unfinished defenses untenable. He decided to attack before the enemy could encircle the city and bombard it, and Hakon reluctantly agreed that it was their only chance.

• Bragi calculated that Tyrol could muster nearly three thousand defenders and hoped to hold the city until reinforcements arrived.
• Hakon warned Bragi that he had seen covered gun carriages behind Carnford's formation, likely carrying artillery.
• Bragi recognized that Tyrol's low walls and flat surroundings left the defenders exposed to bombardment, and he dismissed an ambush as impossible.
• Bragi chose to attack Carnford's army before it could complete its encirclement and deploy its artillery.
• Bragi argued that Sauron's battle-hardened infantry could prevail in close combat, and Hakon reluctantly accepted the plan.

Bragi ordered Hakon to rally the Sauron cavalry and prepared Tyrol Fortress for a dawn assault while urgently requesting reinforcements from Harald. As Carnford approached, Karl realized the Saurons intended to fight in the open rather than defend Tyrol’s weak walls, and he ordered his army to form ranks.

• Bragi sent Hakon to restore the cavalry and issued orders to ready the army, clear the ground, and send word to Harald for reinforcements.
• At dawn, Carnford’s army advanced toward Tyrol as its scouts repeatedly clashed with Sauron cavalry scouts.
• Karl examined Tyrol Fortress through a Monocular Telescope and recognized that its unfinished walls could not withstand the Cannon.
• Karl concluded the Saurons planned to fight in the open to avoid being destroyed by cannon fire behind the walls.
• Karl ordered Carnford’s army to form ranks for battle.

Karl arranged the Carnford Army into a layered defensive formation designed to absorb and trap the Sauron army’s assault. After identifying the enemy’s heavy infantry and Berserker spearhead, he issued orders for the coming battle, which was about to begin.

• Karl deployed the Militia Camp at the center of an inverted V formation, with the Main Corps on its wings and behind it.
• Karl observed the Sauron army’s formation and spotted its heavy infantry and roughly two hundred Berserkers beneath a black wolf-head standard.
• Karl judged that the Sauron commander intended to break through the center and envelop the Carnford Army with both wings.
• Karl ordered the army to hold formation, check weapons and ammunition, and wait for his signal to fire.
• Karl warned Brendan, Roland, and the Militia Camp about the Berserkers and ordered the rear Musketeers to concentrate their fire.

The Carnford Army and Sauron Army advanced toward each other across the Northern Territory, while both sides held their cavalry in reserve. As the infantry prepared to clash, Sir Kylan watched Lord Karl and waited for the moment to charge.

• The Sauron Army sounded its war drums, and Karl fired his Flintlock Rifle pistol to signal the Carnford Army's advance.
• The Carnford Militia Camp, Brendan and Roland's Main Corps, and the Sauron infantry marched toward each other in disciplined formations.
• Lyon and Sir Kylan held thirteen hundred Carnford horsemen in reserve, while Hakon kept five hundred Sauron cavalry ready behind his flanks.
• Kellan admired the Carnford Army's discipline but worried that the infantry could break during the coming clash.
• Kellan watched Lord Karl and waited with Lyon and Thorsten for the cavalry's chance to attack.

Bragi and Acton assessed the approaching Carnford Army and recognized its discipline, weapons, and artillery. Bragi overcame his doubts and prepared to fight, while Acton watched the enemy advance from the Sauron Army’s right wing.

• Bragi built an observation platform and studied the Carnford Army’s disciplined formation, realizing its strength surpassed his expectations.
• Bragi briefly doubted his ability to defeat Karl’s army, then regained his confidence by thinking of his Sauron warriors and Berserker guards.
• As the armies closed to within a kilometer, Bragi fixed his gaze on Carnford’s command banner and challenged Karl in his thoughts.
• Acton examined Carnford’s musketeers, armored troops, and three Eagle Cannons, viewing the enemy’s equipment with contempt and greed.

Acton dismissed the advancing Carnford Army and its cannons, confident that Sauron would crush them in open battle. Roderick trusted his experienced troops but worried about the militia holding the center, then concluded that their determination to protect their homes might make them dependable defenders.

• Acton judged the Carnford Army’s armor and musketeers as plunder waiting to be seized and prepared to lead his warriors into a charge.
• Roderick stood with the Carnford Army’s left wing, calm from his past battles against Sauron and confident in his side’s formations and firearms.
• Roderick worried that the inexperienced Militia Camp might fail at the army’s critical central position and allow the line to be broken.
• Roderick recalled Oliver’s account of the militia’s strict punishments and realized their land and families gave them powerful reasons to hold their ground.