My 30 thousand men were in position, divided into squares of 5 centuries each, in the front there were 5 squares of infantry and behind them there were another 4, positioning themselves as if it were a chess board, in front were the auxiliary skirmishers. My cavalry was divided in two, 3 thousand on the right flank up the hill which was visible, and the other 3 thousand hidden in the wheat fields on the right flank. The archers were in a line in the center of the formation, having the high ground will allow them to shoot without hurting those in front, the rest of the troops were in reserve and on the flanks.

On the Gali side I could see the large number of soldiers approaching and lining up for battle, most of them were infantry, which seemed very strange to me because the Gali had very good cavalry.

"Your highness, it seems that the enemy is going to try a frontal charge." General Servius said when he saw how 10 thousand began to advance.

"We will continue with the plan."

I watched as the 4,000 skirmishers began to throw their javelins along with the archers, causing thousands of casualties in the center of the forces and then quickly retreating behind the line soldiers, they fired four times, 16,000 projectiles were fired at them causing a estimated several hundred dead and wounded, but thanks to the Gali shields they prevented a one-sided massacre.

The Imperial legionnaires were also beginning to throw their pilums at the great mass of meat, two each, with a total of another 10,000 projectiles. Those pilums were made to pierce barbarian wooden shields making them unusable. now added to the arrows of the 3 thousand archers who continued to shoot no matter what made it impossible to climb the clone without having a large number of casualties.

When they finished throwing their pilum, the imperial soldiers drew their swords and placed their shields to resist the onslaught, but this never came. The enemy, seeing that a quarter of their troops fell wounded or died by projectiles and that the archers were still shooting, decided to go down at full speed.

"Look at those barbarians run!" A Imperial soldier celebrate.

"We should go down and finish them all!"

The soldiers and centurions seemed to agree, but here Captain Cornelius calmed everyone down.

"The orders are to defend this place! Are you defying the Prince by disobeying his orders?"

Remembering what happened to those who disobeyed, they decided to stand their ground.

As I watched what was happening from the command post, Servius asked me, "Why not let those who are in retreat pursue?"

"General... you must know that the Gali cavalry is one of the best in theregion, however I can only see 2 thousand from up here even though we fight against at least 6 tribes at the same time.

"I understand. Do you think they are hiding in the forest?"

"Exactly, besides, we have no reason to leave the hill, up here we have water, food and shelter, and with the rest on the flanks we will know if an unknown force tries to climb on the other side." I Answered. "By the way, the equipment winter that I ordered has not yet arrived."

"According to my reports, it would arrive in a week."

"Perfect, in that case we will only have to wait for winter to arrive early in the north, so they will have to withdraw. While we get strong here to continue in spring."

/

Gali Camp.

"Why didn't those useless reach melees?!" Harngeil complained. "With the glare of the battle, surely the imperials would have started to chase them downhill."

"Because our soldiers are not idiots, Harngeil." King Picton answered. " It was quite obvious to them that you sent them to sacrifice them, they are not chess pieces, they are people who want to return home alive. We have to find a way to bring them down without killing half our forces in the process."

"What happened to the forces of the other tribes? Why don't they come to help us?" Asked the Helvetian king tired.

"Because the winter will arrive before and then they will need the men for the harvest before it is too late." King of the Redons spoke.

"That means that if we stay here too long we'll run out of food." The king of the santonos said concerned. "And we don't have equipment for the winter!"

"I have an idea." King Aulerco spoke. "My explorers have found the river that feeds the town or rather a stream, if we poison it not only will they be left without water to drink, we will also kill a good part of the crops of that town. It is a few kilometers to the east and is defended by a small garrison of Imperials, although they are up the hill a night attack will work."

"That does sound like a plan instead of sending our troops to die." King Krurr said, something that annoyed the Parisian king because the Helvetic ruler had agreed with his plan.

That same night, two thousand Gali went east, up the hill, there was a small fortification with at least 100 soldiers.

"We are under attack!" A lookout warned but it was too late, they were on top of them.

They quickly formed up, they didn't have the time or the distance to throw their Pilum, so they formed up and drew their swords, resisting the barbarians' onslaught.

"Resist! Kill those barbarians!" Said the centurion.

Thanks to their quick thrusts and their great shields, they managed to wound and kill several enemies each, they knew that they would not get out of there alive even if they surrendered, there were those who could not even peek even a little without receiving an ax or sword blow, for what they fought hitting with the shield.

But they couldn't stand for long, the great mass of people crushed them, even several who were in the center of the formation suffocated to death. Those in front were soon exhausted, some Bold Gali rushed at them and stretched out their arms to stab them in the neck with a dagger, others hit their heads with a hammer, other Imperials lost their footing due to not being able to get into a firm position anymore and the Gali took his shield with his hands to pull forward so that it falls and thus finish him off or end up crushing him.

Within an hour they were all dead, and they quickly began to poison the creek.

Imperial Camp.

The next day we realized what had happened, we saw how the Gali soldiers now controlled sections of the right flank of the hill.

Reports also arrived from the town that when they irrigated the fields, the water damaged the wheat and made it unconsumable, until we found out what was happening, 20% of the harvest was lost.

"Damn! Hadn't Didn't I put at least three thousand on the right flank?! And the cavalry?!" He exclaimed furious.

"I'm sorry your highness, but the attack was at night and when we found out they had already reinforced their position." Cornelius replied.

The situation had turned bad, even with 5 thousand enemies on the right flank and with the thousands we killed yesterday, there were still 70 thousand on the front, they were definitely hiding more soldiers in that forest.

"Servius, take everyone on the right flank and retake that stream crossing immediately." He said without thinking things through for fear of running out of water.

"But sir, if we do that, it is certain that thousands of enemies from the front will go to reinforce that flank, and we cannot do the same with our front, we are very few. Nor can we take much from the left flank for fear that they have hidden a army in the forest." Said my captain, coming to my senses I realized that doing that was a suicide that would leave the rest of my flanks weakened.

"You're right... How much water do we have left?"

"Enough for four days, but if we count the horses then we won't even have enough for one day."

Seriously thinking what it was going to be, this was a complicated situation and he was not in a position to attack, but now he was also not in a position to wait for much longer, so after ordering that one should not drink from the stream and that animals had to be kept away from there, I began to plan what I would do.

Throughout that day, the battle remained static, no one launched an attack and no one tried to provoke the enemy, but they did, starting to drink water and bathe in full view of my soldiers, to ensure that there is no more night attack. I ordered that everyone should sleep with their armor on and with the equipment at hand, in addition to ordering about a thousand soldiers on each flank to sleep during the day and to watch during the night, so in case of a night attack they could resist the attack while the others regroup.

My plan was carried out in the night, some scouts carried a lot of straw into the forest at various points in it under the cover of night.

At that moment I was awake, watching the forest and waiting for the moment.

"It's time to get the rats out of their hiding place." I said giving a signal, so several of my soldiers began to play a battle horn that was heard throughout the battlefield.

After a few moments, an orange light began to shine through the shadows of the forest, then columns of smoke rose in the sky, it didn't take long for those glows to expand through the forest thanks the cold wind had dried the leaves, the temperature increased quite quickly, so much so that not even the scouts who were sent into the forest were able to escape the flames that they themselves caused.

The Gali, seeing this, quickly began to go from here to there to look for buckets of water to prevent the fire from spreading to their camp, I also saw how several began to leave the forest, fleeing from the flames and smoke.

From the top of the hill we could see everything, so seeing the chaos I ordered the cavalry to charge them, the one on the left flank went for those who were trying to put out the fire, and those on the right flank went for those who were going to fetch water, followed by the infantry to retake the stream.

Like lightning, the horses crushed any gali that was in their way, while the horsemen decapitated anyone in their path, it took them all by surprise, the survivors of the charge began to flee in terror in the confusion, the knights pursued and massacred them.

Meanwhile, the Gali who were on the hill were debating whether they should go down to help those who were surprised or continue protecting the stream, but it was not long before arrows and javelins began to rain down on them, so they quickly They began to defend, then receiving the Pilum from the infantry and then advancing towards them.

The Imperial legionnaires began to advance with their shields in front, rapiers and stabs decimating the front line Gali, until a fireball suddenly arrived and burned an entire line of legionnaires.

"MAGE!" Those who were in the second line warned.

An elderly man on top of a rock with a cane began to charge a spell, runes began to materialize.

"I'll see you in hell, imperial dogs!"

Raising the staff, the magician Gali began to launch several spears of fire at different formations of legionnaires, in a radius of five meters from where the spear fell, it was consumed by fire, beginning to create chaos in the formations, which was aggravated by the cries of pain of Zorzal's soldiers being burned alive.

"Let's go, old man! Teach them the power of the north!" The gali soldiers cheered the magician as they began to charge now against the disorganized ranks of the imperials, who began to retreat when they were outmatched, it would have been a massacre if they had not had the archers and skirmishers to cover their withdrawal.

For their part, the knights, seeing how the Gali horsemen were coming towards them, decided to leave the carnage and retreat back to the hill.

Thus ended the second night of hostilities.

/

Gali HQ.

The Gali coalition was in big trouble, about 13,000 soldiers are dead due to the cavalry charge and the fire, and to make matters worse, that forest was where their large army foraged for food. , and now it was reduced to ash.

Of the 100,000 soldiers they brought to the battle, they had already lost 15,000, plus another 8,000 wounded who are no longer capable for battle anymore, a quarter of his forces are gone. The only good news was that they managed to defend the stream, so the water continued to be poisoned. all thanks to that wizard.

"We must attack now! Don't you see that we can overwhelm them if we attack from all directions?!" Krurr shouted completely anguished by this situation. - With our 80 thousand we can defeat them!

"And then what?" asked the Parisian king dismissively. "Even if we win this battle we will lose almost all our strength to fight against the rest of the empire. What do you think will happen when they bring their own wizards and wyverns?"

"You say that because it's not your lands that are in the hands of that damned prince!" He answered hitting the table. "Do you think I didn't realize your intentions?! You try to use us as cannon fodder to wear them down and when we are finished you will retreat with your army intact to your own territory"

"That's a lie! slander!" Harngeil stood up furious, although yes, that was what he really wanted to do, besides taking Zorzal's head.

"Of course! That's why your soldiers are always in a safe place, while we take all the casualties!"

Of the 100 thousand Gali, 40 thousand were from Parisia, and most of these had not seen combat in this battle.

"Calm down Krurr!" King Picton said. "We left our lands unprotected to go to help you at the risk of them falling into the hands of imperials. Can you stop thinking about taking back your kingdom for a moment to find a solution to this?!"

The four small tribes decided to side with the king of Parisia, not because they didn't think he was using them, but because they knew that if they somehow won this war, Parisia would become the most powerful tribe, so they decided not to challenge their king.

/

Imperial Camp.

I was reading the report about last night's combat, we lost 2,000 on the right flank because of a magician. "Could a mage really be able to do so much damage?" I asked myself, although I knew that magic was very important in the war, I didn't think it would be something so... decisive.

Although a single magician would not decide this battle, it left me in a difficult situation by not being able to capture the stream.

It's been 6 days since our water supply was cut off, and we haven't had a drink for two days, however we don't have to worry about that anymore, the icy wind from the ice and snow mountain range brought... well, guess... .. snow. So I immediately ordered them to put it in the saddlebags to melt and thus have water to drink, I didn't allow him to eat snow because I knew it was harmful.

This was also good news, now the enemy doesn't have to eat and doesn't have to dress for winter either. So they will have to withdraw.

/

Right flank: creek, at night.

The Helvetian soldiers had gathered at the fortification at night, with at least 20 thousand men to make a night attack, this was not something of the coalition, it was King Krurr acting on his own when he learned that what remains of the forces were going to go to the Parisian territory to continue the defense there.

"Proud brothers of Helvetii!" The king began to give his last speech. "I would love to talk about victory, about the honor and glory that the gods would give us by finishing off those damn imperials... But I can't lie to you, there will be no victory or glory in this battle... No reward, just fury. Our allies turned their backs on us even though we came to their aid, now that the enemy has entered our home killing our parents, raping our wives and daughters and enslaving our sons, they show their true colors and leave us to our fate ... The gods will punish them later, but now we have the one most responsible for all our ills... The empire! Our enemies who have taken everything from us and left us without a home to return to, who left us with no children to hug or wives to love... Are we going to leave them alone after having done that to us?!" All his soldiers shouted with a loud "No!"

With that, the last charge of the Helvetii begins, both horses and infantry began to run towards the imperial camp with the intention of taking the most they could.

They were met head-on by the three thousand awake night fast-action soldiers, who quickly began to form up to bear the charge, the unlucky ones unlucky enough to face the furious cavalry crushed.

The Gali soldiers equipped with masses and hammers punished the surprised soldiers who even ended up with a broken arm due to the multiple continuous blows, although there were some who were able to fight back by taking advantage of dodging the attack thanks to the fact that it was very difficult to control a mass or hammer that already it had started with the rocking. They were easy to predict, but because these Helvetian soldiers were in a savage rage, they continued to attack even though they were wounded, smashing the skulls and bones of the Imperial soldiers.

For their part, a thousand knights continued to advance almost unopposed to Crown Prince Zorzal's tent, passing over anyone, but when they were about to arrive they managed to see that in front of them was a large group of legionnaires forming a phalanx.

Seeing his fate sealed in stone, King Krurr raised his sword and extended it forward in one last suicidal charge, giving a deep war cry.

The result was clear, the great wall of imperial spears impaled the knights along with their horses, including the king, who was the first to crash into that impregnable wall.

Meanwhile, most of the 3 thousand rapid response soldiers were brutally killed, but not before taking at least as many enemies, so they began their suicide charge again, but this time about 10 thousand legionnaires were formed and waiting for them when they heard that the horde was approaching, they began to launch their two pilum together with the projectiles launched by the skirmishers and the archers, hitting and killing at least a thousand before reaching the melee, the soldiers doing their best to keep the wall of shields while their skirmishers and archers continued to launch projectiles, however the Gali began to push with an almost superhuman strength, even among the mortally wounded they pushed, something that began to scare the legionnaires, until a moment, troops began to come out to help the imperials attacking the gali from the flanks, these reinforcements were not Saderans, but the Gali auxiliaries who They had been subdued by the Helvetians, and seeing the corpse of their king in the camp, they offered to go to fight, and Zorzal thus gave his permission.

Now being overwhelmed from all sides, the brave soldiers fell one by one, but not before cursing those of the lesser tribes for supporting the imperial dogs.