Bobs the Bards Grand Adventure
Chapter 5
Bob had learned from previous battles that the opening act should be to deny the enemy all useful knowledge. Plainly put, destroy the scouts to blind the leaders. And so the owls had spent the night silently hunting any approaching scouts making their way in the forest before returning at first light to rest. Then the hawks went out to take their place in the forest while the falcons and eagles flew up to strike the enemy crows reported by the many small but brave scouting birds.
The trapped carts laden with poison food had worked like a charm as a few hours after daybreak the first emerging bands of enemy cavalry appeared. They moved far slower than usual with some bent over in distress or collapsing from their lizard mounts. These bandit bands must have been the first ones to come upon the freely available poisoned food and would have greedily eaten their fill so they were pretty much already out of the fight.
Our own mounted archers sortied out under Sir Jeepea's command to finish off any survivors before collecting the enemies items and tame mounts or drove the survivors into the woods for the hawks and rested owls to finish off. The next few mounted groups to arrive were more numerous but seemed to also be succumbing to the poison bait before they too were similarly finished off by Sir Jeepea's mounted archers.
By now the few enemy crows and other lucky enemy fliers to have made it past the falcons and eagles started arriving and upon seeing the naked (and poisonous) bodies lying about, many greedily swooped down for a ready feast. Those that didn't start feasting upon the poisoned bodies were bravely targeted by small birds sent from the people's army. As instructed they taunted and harassed these enemy fliers trying to anger them into pursuing the small birds towards the archer and crossbow units kill zones, making them an easy shot when the small birds dived out of the way. Soon the enemy's air force was completely dispatched by arrows or rendered ineffective as the poison took effect upon those gorging upon their supposed comrade's bodies. They were soon helpless as the eagles dived down upon the poisoned crows to finish them off.
Now groups of non-poisoned rat troops started to come up the forest trails only to be harassed by Sir Jeepea's mounted archers. Many of the mounted groups of rats (and a few afoot) gave pursuit, leading to their doom amidst the many traps strewn across the fields. By keeping a moderate amount of missile fire upon them the mounted archers would appear to be the cause of the rat's injuries and demise and not the hidden traps strewn throughout the fields. But all good things must end as the main enemy forces started coming into view.
Gradually the growing enemy groups amassed opposite them and were being bullied by the weasels that made it harder to provoke them. Soon their force grew to a thousand, then two thousand and still they came. The pursuits stopped altogether as the weasels full control was finally established over them.
Now the next stage began, to harass and taunt them, to lure them into the traps and ambushes.
The mounted archers pulled back to rest and reload while Sir Jeepea atop Sir Thumpsum and Sir Quill the porcupine joined the two largest units of foot archers as they moved into range of the foes and let loose volleys all along the enemy ranks. A company of enemy lizard riders appeared from around one enemy flank and charged for the closest unit of archers. The archers on that side switched targets to the riders while the crossbow wielders back at the people's army lines waited to add their fire as the riders passed the disguised range markers. When combined with the booby trapped field that the riders had entered the riders were quickly reduced to more dead or crippled foes.
Eventually the growing enemy army was starting to lose control of some of their more undisciplined groups of rats which had been under sporadic missile fire (or whose weasel boss was struck down by an arrow) and they charged to attack their harassers. Other groups soon followed causing the archer units to slowly retreat back to safety along the marked routes with the nearest crossbow units and the other archer unit pausing to give supporting cross fire. The field full of traps thinned the foes down as the remnants of the first charging groups died out half way across no persons land. More of our small scout birds also returned to report the majority of the enemy were present and the rest should arrive shortly.
Our own deceptions still continued apace as the free people's battle line looked like it was thinning out as our volunteer non-combatant actors started to drop their weapon and flee the line in great panic. The free people's battle line also had more and more members pretending to be sick as if affected by poison, leaving tempting weak spots looking almost bereft of defenders just begging to be attacked.
It soon seemed the weasel bosses were confident in their advantage of numbers and superior position as they started to drive the rats forwards in an ad hoc advance. Each advancing group received two rounds of missile fire from the slowly retreating archers to soften them up before the archer's switched fire to any fresh enemy unit. The crossbow units then started a harassing fire upon the advancing foes to distract them from the many traps under foot.
Now the flock of smaller birds of the free people took to the air to do their part, clutching burning torches and pots of oil. They flew past the oncoming enemy to drop their load along the line of markers placed along the far side of the trapped fields. Smokey fires quickly started up, obscuring the battle field. The fires were not meant to cause injury but to blind the enemy leaders at the rear to our actions and maybe draw them into crossbow range.
The traps grew denser and less hidden as the enemy quickly closed the distance as they broke into a charge until they were almost upon the defenders battle line. They must have been eagerly anticipating their slaughter of the weak defenders only to be shocked upon seeing the true size of the free people's army as it rose up, well rested from their hiding places. Spear walls were quickly raised and thrust forward as the rats reached the last line of traps right in front of the battle line, a long thick row containing thousands of short sharpened stakes. Now the true battle had begun.