Chapter XXIV: Slaughter at Schwarzbach
June 19th, 1111
On a misty June morning along the Lillehammer-Dübendorf Road near the small village of Schwarzbach, both armies arrayed themselves for the battle that was to come. The ground was relatively flat, and Pomerlane chose to stand and fight here as it would allow him to see how his new tactics would perform in an ideal situation for both armies. He drew up his army into two lines, with the second line being reserves to be used to plug gaps in his first line. On the flanks of his first line, he put the Elirian Infantry and in the center, his own. Cavalry was organized into three wedges on each flank, and he put his guns into two main batteries in the front. Knowing that the Pomeranians would likely not expect it, he planned to attack them head on in their center with his own infantry while using the Elirians to cover his flank. His cavalry was to tie down the enemy cavalry and if possible, rout them from the battlefield. It was a rather simple plan, but Pomerlane was confident that with his new tactics, it would result in a great victory.
Pomulius on the opposite side of the field drew his army up into two infantry lines with Cavalry on the flanks. He knew that Pomerlane was a dangerous opponent that would try something that would be out of the box, so he held the second line in reserve in order to counter such a potentially. Taking a long look at Pomerlane's formation, he did not see anything out of the ordinary. But he held his men back until he first could see what Pomerlane was going to do.
The battle started at 800hrs with Pomerlane ordering his artillery to begin a bombardment of the Pomeranian Second Line and their artillery as well. A artillery duel would begin that would last for an hour and a half, which would see the Pomerlanian artillery triumph over the more numerous Pomeranian guns, thanks in part to Pomerlane's artillery reforms. With their ammo low and the enemy guns largely silenced, Pomerlane ordered a general advance.
Pomulius in the meantime is disappointed at the results of the artillery duel but also order an advance a few hundred paces forward in respond. He doesn't see anything out of the ordinary but still wants to be cautious at this point. Still, Pomulius understands that Pomerlane's cavalry must be dealt with and around 1000hrs, a cavalry battle breaks out on both flanks that would neither side would emerge victorious from.
It is now 1025hrs and within roughly 120 meters, Pomerlane orders his veterans in the center to commence "Blitz". Double timing, Pomerlane's center distance themselves from the flank and take a volley at 100 meters, which is largely ineffective. Pomerlane's artillery opens back up on the second line at this time as well for 5 minutes. Closing to 50 meters, the first volley from Pomerlane's veterans is devastating to the Pomeranian ranks in front of them. Now sprinting forward to 20 meters, the second volley rips large whole in the Pomeranian line, who is still reloading from their first volley. They do not even get a chance to fire this volley when Pomerlane's veterans fall on their disorganized ranks with great fury. They completely break under the pressure and flee the field. This forces the Pomerania Cavalry, now under fire from the Elirians to fall back in good order, but also causes the rest of the first line to fall back in a panic towards the second line, further adding to the confusion.
Pomerlane's veterans press forward, and no organized volley can be delivered by the second line. Pomulius keeps his calm and orders a retreat. It is now 1045 hrs. The second line panics in the center but the flanks hold strong and deliver a volley while falling back. Pomerlane's veterans are forced to stop their charge at this point to allow the Elirians to cover their flanks. Pomulius orders the flanking troops to fall back at a steady pace and form a rearguard. A few minutes later, Pomerlane tries to land a knockout blow by leading his cavalry on the right into the second line. The Cuirassiers punch through the left wing and send it fleeing but the rest of the line holds and forms a square formation while falling continuing to fall back at a steady pace. With the Pomeranian cavalry now in position to stop any attempts to break the square, Pomerlane calls off his attacks and allows the Pomeranians to withdraw in order. It is now 1135 hours and the battle is over.
The Army of Lesser Pomerania took quite the beating, with reports of 2,200 dead 5,500 wounded and up to 10,000 captured, a third of its pre battle total. Most of the men were lost, as Pomerlane predicted, when the lines broke. But Pomulius had managed to withdraw the bulk of his army in good order, a result of Pomulius' wise generalship and Elirians lagging behind. Pomerlane himself reported losing around 364 killed and 1,453 wounded, a far cry from the losses suffered by the Army of Lesser Pomerania. The Army of Lesser Pomerania was now in full on retreat, back to the border. Pomulius had suffered a major blow and admittedly, was too passive in the battle. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
Notes
Pomerlane has adjusted his policy towards POW's during this war, reflecting the quality of troops. He will gladly impress these captured men into his army, a common practice during this time. The exception to this comes to Pomurans, for obvious reasons.
Furthermore, unlike with Ryuguards, He will not be using fear tactics against his own people because of his own personal biases.