Battle of Brielle

The Battle of Brielle was a battle of the Great Berskin War fought on September 18th, SA 299 between the Berskin tribes of King Landen I and the Imperial army of Prince Mathieu I. The Battle was brief and decisive, and resulted in a major defeat for Mathieu I and the Arkyne Empire.

Background Edit
The Great Berskin War had begun a year earlier when, following a precipitous rise in tensions and the attempted arrest of their chieftains, the Berskins revolted against the Arkyne Empire. The Berskins invaded the Middefold, where they faced a local levy at Keln and an Imperial army at Caister, defeating their foes on both occassions on both occasions. Many towns and much of the country was also plundered and razed as the Berskins advanced.

The defeats of SA 298 made clear the severity of the Berskin rising and prompted the Imperials to raise another army to confront the tribals. The remnants of Morgen Cleland's Army of the Frontier as well as the fyrds of Harerok were hastily assembled in Stromkrop and placed under the command of Prince Mathieu as a fresh field army. The Imperials, numbering as many as 25,000 men, marched north in late July as the Berskins swept across the Middefold, plundering the country and sacking towns. Mathieu immediately sought a decisive battle with the Berskins but was unable to catch them, their pursuit hampered by their army's extensive artillery train and the Prince's own personnal baggage, which reduced their rate of march to below ten miles a day. The Berskins, on the other hand, were highly mobile, marching some twenty miles a day. By early September the Berskins, at first dispersed across the countryside, had successfully evaded the Imperials and concentrated near Broxton, from where, refreshed and under the command of King Landen I, they marched south on September 18th to face the Imperials encamped near the razed town of Brielle.

Dispositions
The march from Broxton served as a further demonstration of the Berskins incredible strategic mobility; marching for some twelve hours straight, the Berskins, numbering some 15,000, traversed over thirty miles, stopping early in the morning of September 19th only three miles north of the unsuspecting Imperial encampment. Upon hearing of the imminent Berskin approach Mathieu hastily assembled his army and drew it out for battle. Rather then form his army into the traditional two 'battles,' or lines, Mathieu, unaware of which exact direction the Berskin's would advance from, deployed his forces in a more unconventional line which, while greatly extending his front, seriously reduced the depth of his formation, a vulnerability which would prove decisive in the battle. The army was divided into two 'wings,' both positioned in a single line and facing north. On the left wing was the Imperial contingent, led by Morgen Cleland, formed into two lines with the infantry in-front and the knights in the rear. On the right wing was the Harehaldian fyrds, the cavalry on the eastern end. In reserve was Mathieu himself with a small body of knights. The Imperial artillery, which had been brought to the battle with such difficulty, formed a screen before the flanks. The town of Brielle, reduced by the Berksin's depredations to a cluster of houses, lay just south-east of the Imperial right flank.

The Berskins, after resting and replenishing in the villages north of the Imperials, arrived on the field of battle late in the morning. The battle took place on a flat, open field, the type of terrain characteristic of the agricultural Middefold. The Berskins were formed up similarly to the Imperials, with the left flank held by Berskin levies and the Berskin cavalry, the levies, contrary to convention, on the extreme end of the line. On the right flank was a strong, but relatively thin formation of Berskin pikemen. The strength of the Berskin army, however, was concentrated in the center, which was held by several dense columns of Berskin pikemen. The rest of the line had been thinned to reinforce the center, which would act as a steamroller.

Battle
The Berskins soon began a general advance against the Imperial line, marching at first before advancing at a trot. The speed of the Berskin advance was such that the Imperial artillery was only able to discharge a single volley before they were set upon. The entire Imperial line was soon locked in battle with the Berskins, who, despite the initial shock of their attack, were unable to initially gain a decisive advantage in what soon became a battle of attrition.

While on the Berskin left the stalemate persisted, the Imperials on the right, holding the high ground, soon gained an advantage and began to inflict losses on the Berskin pikemen. Hoping to prevent the attack from completely stalling Landen pulled back his right flank, which broke contact and assumed a defensive arc slightly refused from the rest of the still engaged Berskin line. Believing the Berskin's to be in-retreat, Mathieu now committed Cleland's entire wing to a general counter-attack, resulting in some of the day's fiercest fighting as the Imperials knights charged again and again into the Berskin pikes.

The decisive moment of the battle had now come, as Cleland's counter-attack opened a gap in the Imperial line between the center, held by both Imperial infantry and fyrdmen, and the left, gripped in the battle against the Berskin right wing. The central Berskin pike columns, whose attack until now had been relatively restrained, now surged forward in a renewed assault against the thinned Imperialist infantry, who were driven back in-disarray. The Imperialist center began to crumble and in the confusion Prince Mathieu was unhorsed and captured; under pressure from the weight of the Berskin attack and their commander felled, the Imperialist center and right flank routed completely, vigorously pursued by the Berskin cavalry. Cleland attempted to stage a fighting withdrawal with the relatively intact Imperial left flank, and despite heavy losses Cleland's wing was able to retire in relatively good order. By noon, after two hours of hard fighting, the battle was over.

Aftermath
The Battle was a decisive Berskin victory. As many as 8,000 Imperials were killed or captured in the battle and it's aftermath, and many of those who survived scattered across the countryside, either deserting and working their way back home alone or joining the Reamagude bands that had begun to rove the countryside. Returning to Stromkrop a month after the battle, Cleland's battered column numbered some 5,500 men, a fraction of the 24,000-strong army that took the field against the Berskins. Further, the loss of the entire Imperial artillery train, some twenty-four guns, allowed the Berskins to widen their onslaught. Berskin casualties, at around 1,200, were not insignificant, although they were nowhere near the crippling losses sustained by the Imperials.