Chapter 4: The Battle of Alnus Hill
Paris
Leaders of every member state of Europe are discussing this strange turn of event. "Today is the day the Britannians march through that structure to fight these "Saderans", what's our course of action for this conflict?" Said the representative from Belgium.
"Nothing, it's not our fight, the Britannians are well within their rights to retaliate and use military force against the aggressing nation. These Saderans launched an unprovoked attack on Britannian soil and murdered many Britannian citizens." Said the leader of Germany.
"Even so, what that man Calares did on the execution violates Human Rights, lifetime imprisonment or death by firing squad should be enough, and the castration of that man named Caius is simply too much." Said the Human Rights commissioner from Sweden. "I sincerely hope that they show much restraint in their quest for revenge."
"It's very easy for you to say that when it's not your fellow countrymen being butchered or raped by these primitive men." The Polish leader said.
"The Britannians are in a furious mood right now, it won't be a good idea to barge in and lecture them to not be so harsh on their enemies. I think you can talk to them about Human Rights once when they've finished venting their anger in this war." The French president said.
"And what about the structure that appeared near the Hollywood sign, I thinks it's fair that we can gain some access to it." The German leader said.
"Now is not the time to ask about such things, nor to press the issue of Human Rights, The Britannians are on the path to war, and we shouldn't meddle in this conflict that didn't involves us." Reasoned the man who was elected to be president of the Europa Unite. "For now, we'll watch from the sidelines."
Alnus Hill
It's been two weeks since the Fifth Legion crossed the Gate on Alnus Hill, Godasen watch the magical structure for any signs of the enemy, sixty thousand warriors were sent to conquer the unknown lands beyond the Gate and yet only a few hundred returned with a terrifying tale to tell, survivors of the Fifth Legion who return to the capital all tell the same thing: metallic dragons, iron giants, flying ships, and soldiers in grey armor using strange magic, there are many wounded with grievous injuries and some went mad because of how fast they're being slaughtered.
Four days after the failed conquest emperor Molt send the Fourth Legion to take defensive positions around the Gate, seventy thousand warriors ready to fight, though the stories of the survivors put doubt and fear in them, but some were looking forward in fighting these "Iron Giants" that they kept saying.
Godasen is not only a general leading the Fourth Legion but also a mage, though not a powerful one, and the same can be said about his tactical skills which is mediocre at best, the tactics for the defense is basic and reasonable: spike wood barricade, ballista and catapult emplacements pointed at the entrance, the auxiliary troops is stationed near the Gate, foot soldiers ready to form the shield wall formation, archers on a lookout, and the cavalry and dragon riders on the reserve.
So far, the enemy have not made any appearance yet so he return to the command tent, until one of the centurion reports to him. "General, there is something coming out of the gate!"
He turn back and look at the hill, sure enough a huge blue metallic being exited the gate. "What are you waiting for? Prepare for battle!"
The whole Fourth Legion is on alert as they get in their position, watching the giant, stared at such a strange creature. "So that's the Iron Giant." Said one archer.
Something peculiar happen to the giant, its head opens to reveal an odd looking eye. "So it's a cyclops then." A foot soldier said.
Ballistas are all prepared and aimed at the gate, shield walls are formed, archers draw their bows, they were waiting for the giant to make a move, but it's just standing there, watching them, until it retreated back to the gate.
"That's it, it's not going to fight?"
"I've never seen a cyclops like that before."
"Are we going to attack or just stay here?"
The Saderan were mystified by the giant's action, normal giants would immediately attack using their size and brute force, Godasen's second in command Fitel knew that from its action that the giant is just scouting.
"So is this it? Only sixty thousand?" Cornelia asks when report came from the scout, she is currently inside her customized Gloucester, the first they must do is to know how many enemy and what type of weapons they have, and it's the same as the first army, just swords, spears, shields, catapults, and any other medieval weapons.
"I believe they have reserves, hidden in the tree lines." Schneizel said who's sitting next to Marianne who along with other military officials are going to oversee the invasion.
"No matter how many they are, they still going to lose." Michelle inside the V-01S Vercingetorix is very confident that this will be an easy and fast battle thanks to their superior technology.
"Then let's begin." Empress Marianne stood from her seat to give a speech to her forces. "Soldiers! The wait is over, today is the day we march through this gate and take our first step in making these animals pay for their savagery! Go forth and destroy these Saderans, for justice and for our people!" She said with great authority, inspiring fierce determination for her countrymen.
"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!" The army shouted as the vanguard led by Cornelia charges forwards.
The plan is simple, sent vanguard to wreak havoc soften the resistance, the vanguard are all knightmares, twenty Gloucesters, thirty Sutherlands, one customized Gloucester for Cornelia, one Tristan piloted by Gino Weinberg, and one Lancelot piloted by Kallen Stadfeld.
They all went through the Gate and was met with the sight of the enemy. "Remember! Use explosive and chaos mines against large group, double-team the big enemy, and do leave some for the main force."
"Yes your Highness!" The Sutherlands and Gloucesters sprang into action, all armed with assault rifles, giant cannon, rocket launchers, and large lances.
The first unit to deal casualties is Kallen Stadfeld using the Lancelot's two sword to cleave many Saderans in half, archers loosed arrows but it do no harm against the Lancelot, one ogre tried to knock it down with a club but its swiftly cut off before it could hit her and in half a second the Knightmare swing it sword again decapitating the ogre's head, Kallen is reveling in the slaughter cutting every one of these savages in half, she shows no remorse nor mercy, this is revenge, for her mother, her father and her brother. "DIE!" She charges at the enemy shield wall formation without hesitance.
Gloucesters and Sutherlands massacring the enemy using assault rifle and rocket launchers, a group of Saderans quickly form a tortoise shield formation but this is a worst tactics to use since they are easy targets for the Britannians. "A gift for the savages!" Alfred Darlton said as his knightmare threw a chaos mine which it activates in mid-air and shrapnel burst from the cylinder, the shrapnel pierced right through their shields, armor and flesh, the chaos mine's devastating effect last for seconds and when it's finished the Saderans are no more but heaps of mutilated corpses.
Ogres trying to bring down these knightmares are killed swiftly, gun downed, shot at by huge cannon or rockets, or double-teamed by two knightmares that used lances. A member of the Glaston Knights David Darlton is running over many of these Roman wannabes, his face show his malice and wet with tears, these animals killed his lover, Sophie Wood a young student who aspires to be a singer and actor was horribly violated and murdered during the assault on Los Angeles. "FOR MY BELOVED!" He cried out as he impales an ogre with his Knightmare's lance then fired his gun at its head reducing it to a bloody pulp, after dealing with the beast he turn his attention to a group of enemies fleeing, he charges at them shooting and crushing these animals under his Gloucester.
Godasen is shaking right now and nearly wet himself, these enemy that passed through the Gate are slaughtering his men, they use unknown but powerful magic that reduce groups of warriors into heaps of torn flesh, arrows from archers do no damage, catapults and ballistas are useless as these giants move incredibly fast despite its size.
"General, the enemy is decimating our forces with terrifying ease, what should we do?" Fitel reports to the commander and awaits his orders.
"T-T-The reserves! Send them in now! They mustn't gain any foothold! We must stand our ground!" Said the panicking man.
Fitel signal one of his men to blow the horns, the cavalry charges from their hiding place and the dragon riders soar to the sky, he saw one of the giants retreated back to the Gate, he's a smarter man than Godasen and know that the giant is calling their own reinforcements.
The tactical plan is simple: first send a vanguard to inflict massive damage and soften the enemy defenders, second when Cornelia believe that they've cause enough damage she'll signal the main force to join the fight, and the third is simply a clean-up eliminate any stragglers and gathering any surrendering enemies.
It's been five minutes since vanguard went through until one Sutherland came out of the Gate. "That's the signal, all units! Commence attack!" Marianne ordered.
A regiment is being sent to the other side: one Gawain piloted by her son Lelouch, one Vercingetorix piloted by Michelle Manfredi, twenty Black Knights (Gloucesters painted black), one hundred Gloucesters, four hundred Sutherlands, two hundred battle tanks, three hundred APC, and a thousand infantry.
The main force have now joined the battle and the vanguard had already killed ten thousand. "One final push and this battle is ours." Michelle shouted as his knightmare galloped to the fray.
"Lord Michelle, the enemy have send their reserves, you take a handful of knightmares to deal with their cavalry, their dragon riders are mine." Lelouch ordered as the Gawain flew.
"Yes! My Prince! You heard him, follow me!" Michelle shouted.
"Right behind you." Nonnette replied as the two Knights of the Round and three dozen Sutherlands and Gloucesters charged toward the Saderan horse cavalry.
Once the Gawain have reached the same height as the dragons Lelouch activated the twin Hadron Cannons, the next moment is a large beam of black and red energy sweeping from left to right, wiping out half the dragon riders.
Michelle, Nonnette and their men have engaged the enemy, the Vercingetorix's huge halberd is making a quick work in slicing every Saderan horsemen in half, the prototype model Vincent that Nonnette's currently piloting is much faster than the previous Knightmare models, using two Vibration Swords the Vincent is killing its way through a large Phalanx with speed and grace.
Cornelia, Kallen and the rest killing thousands with swift ease, guns blazing, bombs exploding, rockets soaring, laying intense pressure on the Saderan Fourth legion until they're starting to break.
After killing a hundred with chaos mines and assault rifle Jeremiah looks up to see the flying beasts trying to evade Lelouch's Hadron Cannons and circles around him. "Prince Lelouch need our assistance! Open fire on those overgrown lizards!" The Black Knights and many regular units turn to help Lelouch by firing on the scattered dragons.
The fight goes on, tanks and knightmares destroying catapults and ballistas, Itami and the infantries decimating Saderan warriors with their guns, dragons and their riders falling like flies, a battle for the Britannians and a massacre for Saderans.
The Saderan general and other commanders are witnessing the butchering of their warriors, many of their horse cavalry are cut in half by a giant centaur, over half of their dragon riders are annhililated by the flying Iron Giant, their heavy siege weapons prove completely useless against these metallic beasts, their men are helpless against them.
Fitel turns to Godasen to convince him to retreat but it's not needed now as the general is now scared shitless. "R-Retreat! Retreat! Abandon your posts! Flee! Flee for your lives!" He pulled a man off his horse and climb up the horse, and without turning back Godasen fled the battlefield.
"Everyone, retreat! Get yourselves out of here! And regroup at the Capital!" Fitel and the surviving men all fled the slaughter. Fitel didn't know if they've manage to kill or at least wounded one of their enemies but he's not staying or looking back to find out, and he knew one thing: They suffered a massive and crushing defeat and the enemy have gained a foothold.
The battle lasted for just half an hour and the Britannians stood victorious, the Saderans are in disarray, dead, retreated or surrendered, they herded hundreds of war prisoners to the other side of the Gate. "Alright, dispose the bodies and kill any resisting stragglers." Cornelia ordered.
"Yes your Highness." A group of officers and soldiers said before leaving.
She was then approached by Lelouch. "We did great, Nellie, and it seems like we're in a good spot, we have a higher ground than the surrounding area making it easier to spot any incoming enemy."
"Yes, and it's clear too, perfect for an airfield, overall it's a great strategic position." She said as she watch bulldozers and trucks came through, the construction of a base will begin. "Even if we're in the middle of construction our entrenched units will be able to push back any incoming attacks."
"Yes, any of their attempts will be a suicide mission." Lelouch smirks already know that any battle against the Saderans in the future will be a curb stomp one. "Word of our victory will no doubt spread throughout the area."
Thanks to Colt Formal they have a list of all the vassal states, by inflicting damaging casualties to the Saderan legion they manage to make those vassal nations to doubt the might of the Saderan Empire, if they're lucky they might even support or join their side. Colt also names a few groups and faction who hated Sadera like the elves, dwarves, medusas and many more, but the most prominent one are the Warrior Bunnies, Lelouch chuckles a bit and wonders if Colt's being serious about it to which he replied that his city is a sanctuary for many humanoids.
With this is mind Schneizel is planning of sending out transport plane to drop flyers, these flyers are written in ancient Latin so the people of Falmart can understand, the flyers have information such as why the Britannians fighting the Saderans, the differences like slavery is illegal, and also tells information of their wonderous technologies.
Schneizel also plan to send out emissaries and agents to reached out to the listed factions and promise them gold or land for their assistance against the Saderans, there is also a chance that some will side with them just to get back at the Saderans for any crimes they've committed in the past.
Days later at the Saderan Capital
Molt maintained a mask of bored and uncaring look, though inside he was a bit worried and unnerved at the news that this man name Fitel is reporting. "We tried to hold our ground but the enemies we've faced are far too powerful, arrows just bounces off from the Iron Giants, our catapults and ballistas didn't even put a single scratch on it, men using the shield wall formation are butchered in way that I never seen before, the Giants used terrifying magic that tear right through them reducing them to a bloody pile of torn flesh and armor."
The court was disturb by the reports, just what kind of monsters that they're dealing with? Fitel however was not finished. "General Godasen ordered the reserve to join the battle, but at that moment more of our enemies came out of the Gate, half of the cavalrymen are slaughtered by a giant centaur, one giant even flew to the sky and use powerful magic that fires a beam of red and black that destroyed many of the dragon riders."
"And what happen after that?" Asked one senator who's both afraid and intrigue.
"Godasen ordered a retreat and quickly fled the field, I told the men to flee the massacre and regroup at the Capital." Fitel said.
Seventy thousand were sent to defend the hill and yet only twenty thousand returned, Fitel was sure that a forty thousand would make it back, guess the enemy give chase and slaughter them, capture them, or they simply deserted the army.
The ruling officials are in dismay, two Legion was basically destroyed by this unknown enemy, and they did it with swift ease, they were very disturb by the news, just who are these enemies.
"You are dismiss, thank you for the information you've shared." Said the emperor, Fitel bowed then left the room.
One man stood up from a small group of military commanders. "From what we've learn today, I think it is wise to negotiate peace with these enemy nation or at least bargain for a truce."
"Peace? You're mad, Arcturius. Why should we negotiate such nonsense to these savages, I say we should send two Legion to drive them out! And send a third Legion just to be sure." Said senator Phythian arrogantly.
A man next to Arcturius named Valentin speaks his mind. "The grim fate of the two Legions spread throughout the army, they have doubt and fear, moral is diminishing, tens of thousands of men lost in battle, we can't just send another Legion in hopes of winning without knowing who these enemies are."
"We should start conscripting and recruiting many able bodied men to rebuild our forces." Said Senator Dominicus.
"We should also hire many mercenaries as auxiliaries, making sure that they're in front of the lines so we don't have to worry of our own warriors." General Constan suggested, a lone warrior to a large band all of them will fight for gold, that is if they able to survive to which the Saderans insure that many mercenaries will die while killing many of their enemies.
"It's up to the Emperor to decide now." Everyone turn their attention to Molt who's thinking of a plan.
"We should learn more about this enemy before we strike back, I'll consider your suggestions Constan and Dominicus, we must rebuild our armies first." He then turns to his only daughter. "This will be an opportunity for you and your Rose Knights, I want you to gather any and as much information you can on our new adversary."
Pina co Lada stood up with pride. "I will not disappoint you, father. Me and the Rose Knights will do our best for the greatness of our Empire." Her voice is filled with gratitude, for years everyone looks down on the Rose Knights as nothing more than children wearing costumes and playing wooden swords, this will be great way to show that they're not some girls in fancy armor but fully capable warriors.
"And I want messengers be sent to all our vassal states, summon their army to go to Alnus Hill and drive our enemies out." A plan in mind, with the fact that his army are regaining its numbers they needed someone to delay the enemy's advance, the armies of the vassal states are perfect, they're going to be the one to fight the enemy which will result in utter destruction like what happen to the Fourth and Fifth Legion and at the same time reduce the risk of rebellion from the vassal states, he smirk at the simplicity of this plan.
Many senators and generals immediately knew what's he's planning and many agrees while some disagreed with his plot like Arcturius Maximus who's an honorable man and some senators who have friends in those nations, but Molt's the emperor and they must follow his order whether they like it or not.
Chapter End
AN: And done, next chapter could be posted in a few weeks or in January. Lelouch's knights will be called the Black Knights, mostly because I forgot about the fact Schneizel is called the "White Prince" so therefore to avoid confusion.
Battle: Battle of Alnus Hill
Outcome: Decisive Britannian Victory
Commanders:
Britannians
Marianne vi Britannia
Cornelia li Britannia (Vanguard)
Lelouch vi Britannia (Main Force)
Saderans
Godasen
Strength and numbers:
Britannians
Cornelia's Vanguard:
1 Cornelia's Costumized Gloucester
20 Gloucesters
30 Sutherland
1 Lancelot (Piloted by Kallen)
1 Tristan (Piloted by Gino)
Main Force:
1 Gawain (Piloted by Lelouch)
1 Vercingetorix (Piloted by Michelle)
1 Vincent Prototype (Piloted by Nonnette)
20 Black Knights (Black colored Gloucesters)
100 Gloucester
400 Sutherland
200 Battle Tanks
300 APC
1000 Infantry
Saderans
45000 Foot Soldiers
5000 Archers
10000 Auxiliary Troops (Orcs, Goblins and Ogre)
2000 Dragon Riders
8000 Horse Cavalry
100 Ballistas
50 Catapults
Casualties:
Britannians
Only minor injuries and damage, no fatalities
Saderans
12000+ Foot Soldiers
4000+ Archers
8000+ Auxiliary Troops
1630 Dragon Riders
5000+ Horse Cavalry
All Ballistas and Catapult
728 Captured (644 Human, 53 Orcs, 30 Goblins and 1 Ogre)
Aftermath:
Only twenty thousand men of the Fourth Legion returned, a significant number have deserted. Britannia gained a foothold and begun constructing a base of operations on Alnus Hill.