Rout of Brielle

The Rout 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
The Great Berskin War had begun a year earlier when, after a precipitous rise in tensions, the Berskins revolted against the Arkyne Empire after the attempted arrest of their chieftains. After ravaging the Aranieul valley and destroying the host of March-Lord Magnus Carilen, the Berskins invaded the Middefold, where they laid waste to many towns and routed Imperial armies at Keln and Caister. After coronating their lead chieftain Landen Carelain in the aftermath of the Battle of Caister, the Berskins quartered in the town for winter.

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.

Battle
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. The Imperials deployed in the standard line of 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 thin single line which, while greatley extending his front, seriously reduced the depth of his formation, a vulnerability which would be decisive in the battle. On the ends of both wings were the Imperial cavalry, commanded on the left by Morgen Cleland, while in the center were the Harehaldian fyrds and the Imperial infantry. In reserve was Mathieu himself with a small body of knights.