Fourth Year/War in the north 2

At the siege camp of Averom, there was a dejected mood upon the camp; just days ago, these soldiers lost their commanding Legate and 1000 soldiers within 10 minutes of an enemy attack before he cowardly ran away.

The Marshal-General was now personally leading the 2nd legion until a new Legate was appointed by the King. Helvius was deeply troubled by the news of the enemy High Chieftain coming out to the battlefield personally and wondered what his next move could be.

While Helvius was deep in thought, the sound of the siege engines never stopped. They constantly fired into the city of Averom's stone wall and attempted to destroy the enemy's high morale. Unfortunately for Helvius, the city of Averom was commanded by a rich and powerful tribe, which allowed them to build their walls of stone rather than wood.

Suddenly, Helvius saw flocks of birds taking flight from the trees two miles away from his siege camp towards the east on the right side of Averom. Upon Helvius noticing the birds, immediately blaring war horns rang out from the trees, startling Helvius as he saw thousands of barbarians emerging from the trees covered in blue war paint.

Helvius, upon seeing the enemy, promptly ordered his legions into battle formation in front of the siege camp and siege engines. Sitting in shield walls were the swordsmen and spearmen in front of the vulnerable archers and mages, ready to meet this new threat with steel and determination. Currently, Helvius commanded 9500 swordsmen, 7500 archers, and spearmen, as well as 200 mages and 1800 miscellaneous soldiers, all ready to give hell to the enemy.

While the legions were getting in position, the side gate to the east of Averom opened and out walked the High Chieftain, whose muscles were brimming with power and ready to end the intrusion into his land. Also with the High Chieftain were 10,000 men from the local tribe, including their Chieftain, ready to defend their homeland from invaders. High Chieftain Vercencalt felt emboldened by his new reinforcement totaling 30,000 men, mostly infantry, making a total of 40,000 men, all barbarian axemen ready to charge.

He quickly met up with his reinforcements at the edge of the trees and turned towards Helvius, taunting him by giving him the finger clearly visible from two miles away. High Chieftain Vercencalt quickly ordered a slow march towards the outnumbered enemy legions, planning to distract the onagers and ballistas with his archers on the wall.

Marshal-General Helvius kept a clear mind, ignoring the obvious provocation aimed at distracting and enraging, and focused on the enemy troop movement. He immediately reangled his troops, stretching them on a slight diagonal, facing directly to the currently walking barbarians, with 6000 swordsmen in the middle and 3500 spearmen on the flanks. This left 3500 swordsmen ready to fill in the gaps or react to enemy movements, also in the rear was the 4000 archers 10 paces behind the front line ready to fire.

The Marshal-General also knew that archers would probably appear on the walls as a distraction, so the long-distanced weaponry focused on hitting them instead of the advancing barbarians. To counter this, he ordered his onagers to reengage the enemy walls, hoping to hinder the enemy archers from raining death from above. This worked as the enemy archers were forced to stay off the top of the walls or duck behind them, not being able to get any shots off. Helvius also deployed the ballistas with the same tilt as the infantry in front, ready to fire when the barbarians came within range.

When the barbarian army reached 600 yards away from the legions' positions, High Chieftain Vercencalt, with a war cry, ordered an immediate charge. As the lowest power rank was 2 within the army, charging this far with full gear was easy and would work up a light sweat, much more beneficial than walking under ballista fire.

After the barbarians crossed 500 yards, the legions 15 ballistas opened fire, cutting down multiple tribesmen with their thick, powerful arrows, some even skewering them with the same arrow. Archers also opened fire after the enemy crossed 400 yards, causing the enemy to take more damage.

At 200 yards, the legion mages started raining down destruction spells, taking out many more filthy barbarians. The combined might of the ranged units managed to wipe out over 4000 barbarians before they reached anywhere near the legion's lines. 

As Vercencalt charged at the front in the middle of his army, Helvius positioned himself opposite to meet his charge with his shield and sword. When the High Chieftain was 10 yards away, Marshal-General Helvius proceeded to charge at him.

Boom! sounded in the air as Vercencalt smashed his axe against Helvius's shield, creating a shock wave that knocked over several weak soldiers around them. Quickly, Helvius counter-attacked with his sword, creating a slight gash on Vercencalts right thigh, before being blocked by the enraged barbarian.

"GRRR, how dare you, Romanium scum." Growled Vercencalt mid-battle.

"First blood, you weak barbarian. Give back what you stole, barbarian, and then I will return to my glorious kingdom," said Helvius.

"What did you ca." Helvius quickly shut Vercencalt up by swinging towards his head but was blocked by the strong shield of the barbarian. The now enraged Vercencalt used his strength to push against the sword on his shield, pushing Helvius off balance and cutting him across his lower sword arm, causing blood to drip down to his hand.

Meanwhile, a screaming barbarian army smashed against the stretched legions' shield wall with enough force to force them back a step. Centurions on the front line were immediately ordered to hold the line and remember their formation training, greatly stabilizing the Romanium forward line.

This highly trained Romanium legion stayed in formation upon the onslaught of 36,000 axemen, immediately filling in the positions of fallen comrades. But still, the sheer force and weight of the enemy pushed them back in ever-increasing numbers.

This also left the barbarians' flanks vulnerable, as they were grouped up behind. They could not use their full might and received no orders, as the High Chieftain and Chieftain of Averom were both preoccupied with fighting.

Upon noticing this, Centurion Cassi ordered 2500 swordsmen and 100 mages to follow him and flank around, the right-hand side leaving 1000 swordsmen in reserve to fill in gaps when they open.

Centurion Cassi went unnoticed in the chaos. He led his troops back through the siege camp and exited on the south side. He then proceeded to move quickly around the siege camp and emerged on the enemy's left flank. Catching them by surprise, the mages under his command smashed many types of destruction spells into their flanks, causing chaos among the barbarians' ranks.

Unfortunately for the barbarians, the 2000 swordsmen then proceeded to smash into the side of the disorganized troops, turning it into a slaughterhouse. Centurion Cassi struggling to stand from all the blood on the floor, kept the pressure on the enemy, staying in formation with his troops constantly pushing deeper and getting support from the mages behind. 

Elsewhere on the left flank of the legion, the Centurion was having a tougher time with his men getting pushed back further than the troops next to them. This caused the line to go out of shape, forcing the 1000 swordsmen in the reserve to move in to fill the gap. Upon plugging this gap, the line was misshaped but still strongly holding.

The swordsmen in the middle training were kicking in, and they were holding the line, covered in the blood and gore of the enemy and surrounding fallen comrades. They were fighting with ferocity and were glad that the army's training and techniques were superior, allowing them to survive this long.

Simultaneously the battle between the High Chieftain Vercencalt and Marshal-General Helvius was heating up, both combatants were covered in bruises, cuts and blood their own and the enemy's. Vercencalt, with a cut just above his left eye, had blood obscuring vision in his left eye and was looking around in a brief moment of rest, reveling in the chaotic atmosphere around him. He couldn't admire for long as he soon had Helvius breathing down his neck, bashing him with his shield, and then proceeding to smash his sword hilt into Vercencalt's nose, breaking it.

Vercencalt was immensely enraged by his moment of lax judgment and went berserk, attacking Helvius like a wild animal with renewed force, impossible to predict. Unfortunately, the battle was turning against him at every passing moment, with the legions holding their ground firmly.

The chieftain of Averom had just lost his head to a centurion from the swordsmen unit, causing the remaining tribe troops that came with him to waver. There was more unfortunate news for the High Chieftain as his bodyguard unit, which was fighting Helvius's bodyguards, had lost, with the final barbarian getting stabbed through the heart. Thus, the three remaining heavily injured subordinates joined Helvius in besieging the early rank 4 Vercencalt.

Upon seeing his left flank collapsing, Vercencalt knew it wouldn't be long before his men broke. He believed he was no coward, but he could see when a battle was lost. He decided to live to fight another day, ordering his remaining troops, while cursing, to retreat back to the woods under heavy fire from Romanium ranged units. 

"Do not follow. Pick up the wounded and retreat to the siege camp!" bellowed out the voice of wounded Marshal-General Helvius.

Upon arriving back at the siege camp, Helvius was horrified to learn how badly the 2nd legion had been damaged. The 2nd legion started this battle with 19,000 soldiers, but during this bloody struggle, the legion was decimated, with only 8,000 soldiers remaining.

"What's the damage to the enemy?" Asked Helvius.

"Our initial calculation is at least 20,000 soldiers dead and many more lying on the battlefield injured." Said an energetic Centurion.

"The losses were heavy, but luckily, the enemies could barely be called an army, a bunch of ragtag disorganized barbarians. Firstly, let's pick up the bodies of our dead and give them the burial they deserve. Also, gut any injured barbarians. Secondly, send scouts to the woods to see if the enemy is still hanging about or if they have fully retreated.

Lastly, send a messenger to the capital to inform His Majesty the King that we need urgent reinforcement if we are to take the city of Averom and proceed to their capital," ordered Marshal-General Helvius.

Thus the first battle of the siege of Averom ended in a pyrrhic victory for the Kingdom of Romanium.