Chapter XXV: Will you love your own people or send them to destruction?

June to Early-August, 1111 VTE

After his great victory at Schwarzbach, Pomerlane's army spends the rest of the burying the dead of both sides with honors on the battlefield and recovers the wounded to be treated. The following day would be a day of rest before Pomerlane planned to force march his army to Diamond City to relieve the siege.

Pomerlane himself had come out of the battle with several conclusions after seeing his new tactics used. First, the tactics absolutely worked well, and they would have been even more successful had either his cavalry won their engagement, or the Elirian Infantry had kept pace. Knowing that his Cavalry was evenly matched by the Pomeranian Cavalry, the best in Ninisani, he came to the conclusion that the main reason he wasn't able to turn this into a greater defeat was because of the Elirian troops not being disciplined enough or trained in "blitz". Furthermore, he believed holding some of his veterans in reserve instead of using them to make a whole line was a mistake. Thus, he decided to abandon his plan to have the Archducal army march with him to Diamond City and left them at Lillehammer, where Pomerlane ordered them to be brought up to scratch by one of his own commanders and friends, Sigismund Pomeranius, Freiherr von Eppingen. Furthermore, the 10,000 prisoners were impressed into Pomerlane's service and were sent on a march south towards Helsingfors, where they would be integrated into an army being raised there.

As Pomerlane departed Schwarzbach, he sent Theophylactus Makrembolites with his Winged Lancers and some hussars, totally 6,000 to raid into Salzwedel before meeting him near Diamond City. Theophylact, with great zeal, rode into the Principality and devastated some of the border lands before he ran into a Pomeranian Cavalry force outside of Altendorf on July 3rd. Outnumbered nearly two to one, Theophylact managed to trick into thinking his force was much smaller than it actually was, and used his hussars to bait them into an all-out attack that would result in Theophylact launching a devasting countercharge with his Winged Lancers, which soon routed the Pomeranians with great losses. The Pomeranians would lose some 2,000 to only 98 losses to Theophylact. It was a brilliant victory that showed the genius of Theophylact to the world for the first time and started his rise to become a legendary figure for his exploits.

Battle of Altendorf

On the march to Diamond City, Pomerlane would receive two important letters, both from important men in Pomerania. The first was from the Count of Glückstadt-Schwerin, Count Pomeralius-Karl IX. The Count expressed to Pomerlane that he and many like him utterly despised the ruling triumvirate and found his cause to be just. He told Pomerlane the loss of his principality and the slaughter of his family was such a vile act that it he could never personally forgive those who did it. He may have been only 10 at the time, but that didn't matter much. His outrage was just one of many, and he assured him that he and others would rise up to join him.

The second letter was from one of the most famous living men in all of Pomerania, the "Alter Feldmarschall" himself, Friederich-Pomu von Quedlinburg. Graf Quedlinburg was the greatest commander Pomerania had seen in generations, and famously defeated the Great Schizo Invasion of 1064 at Haßfurt and Wagenhausen. He then led a punitive expedition into the bad lands, destroying many bandits along the way before return in 1066. He had also defeated the Lucanians at Pfarrweisach in 1097, driving them back into Lucania. He had retired in 1099 at the age of 64 but was still greatly involved in the army to this day, currently being the chief military advisor to the Crown Prince. Pomerlane idolized him and was shocked that such a living legend would get in touch with him. Unlike the Count of Glückstadt-Schwerin, the "Alter Feldmarschall" was much more cryptic with his letter.

"To the rightful Prince of Greifswald, Grand Prince of Syrenia and the Imperial Consort of Ninisani,
You stand as one of her most esteemed sons, worthy of great praise yet also great condemnation as well. You are a man unequalled in brilliance yet also savagery. Your glory shines brighter than all of the suns yet your crimes blot out the sky. Men like you come into our mortal realm once every few centuries and are either remembered for their greatness as Princes or they're for the wickedness of their transgressions. Many remember Pomeranius for his greatness but also forget the brutality of the same man. However, as the old man I am, I know the verity of it all and in my discernment know things that many will not grasp. I have loyally served three Kings over my life, fought in 30 campaigns for Pomerania and spent 7 decades on this earth serving her. Yet Pomerania is dying and will cease to exist unless action is taken. My son, I ask you this: Will you save Pomerania or destroy her? Will you love your own people or send them to destruction? Consider these words carefully, and come meet me one day so that I can see the man whom I believe Pomerania's fate lies in the hands in.
Graf F-P von Quedlinburg

Der Alte Feldmarschall

Pomerlane understood what the old marshal was saying but was unsure what he meant by some of the things mentioned. Eitherway, meeting his idol was something he definitely wanted to do and resigned himself to doing it under cover after campaigning season was over. Was he calling for Pomerlane to take up the Crown himself or pledge himself to the King? Those answers were unclear.

Pomerlane made it to Diamond City in Mid-July, to find it captured by the Pomurans. Over the next week, he would fight a series of minor skirmishes and maneuvered himself into a position by July 21st that would force the Duke of Pomura to either fight him or retreat and abandon the city he had just taken. The Duke made the easy choice, he would retreat back to his duchy and abandon his conquests. Pomuranus was a vain, conceited asshole but he was also a smart man who understood that he would not be able to defeat Pomerlane in the field without a larger army than he currently had. He hated the idea, but knew it was the correct one. Pomerlane was just too dangerous right now for him to deal with.

Pomerlane sent Theophylact to harrass the retreating Pomuran army, with mixed success and entered Diamond City, where he planned to give his men a two-week break. Not long after he had recaptured the city, another letter arrived this time from the King of Pomerania himself. The King expressed to Pomerlane that he sympathized with Pomerlane but that it was his duty to protect his lands from foreign invaders. Should Pomerlane enter Pomerania, he would mobilize the full power of the state against him and would not hold back against him. But he told Pomerlane that if he kept his end of the agreement, he would try his best to reel in his vassals and end their affairs in Eliria. He also made the empty promise of restoring Greifswald to Pomerlane.

Pomerlane took some time to consider what the King was saying. Pomerlane did not want to bring more enemies into the fight he was in, but at the same time did not believe the King would uphold his end of the deal regarding his vassals nor Greifswald. If he agreed, he really didn't have much freedom to work with. He had just found out that Pomupius was defeated at Nyborg and lost the important border city, and he knew that the situation in Syrenia would become worse if Trinatas fell to Magnus or Cato suffered a major defeated. Eventually, he came to the uncharacteristic decision to go on a great raid into the Duchy of Drachin, where he hoped to capture or burn most of its valuable grain crop and take some border fortress. In his mind, this would at least cause the Pomuran army and possibly Magnus to respond to this. With this decided, in Early August, he set forth towards Drachin.

While all of this action was taking place along the battlefield, from the beginning of the war, the Empress doing her best to try to tip the scales in favor of her husband. Almost immediately from the very start of the war, she had been in contact with both Magnus and the Pomeranian King about peace. She first met with Magnus near the captured town of Luna but negotiations between the two went absolutely nowhere. Magnus would only accept her husband's unconditional surrender to him, while he would be kind enough to leave her and the children alone. Furthermore, He promised to give her husband a traitor's death. To be hung, drawn and quarter in the center of Kalmar for all the world to see. Absolutely disgusted with Magnus, she ended any talks there and vowed to him that her husband would not suffer that fate so long as she lived. Naturally, Magnus laughed this off as a pathetic gesture by a young Empress in over her head.

Realizing Magnus was not going to negotiate, the Empress, knowing of the many discontent subjects in Pomerania sent letters to many of the Princes asking them if they would be willing to back the Empire for the sake of overthrowing the despotism of the triumvirs. Many Princes sent letters back that were somewhat positive about it but offered no help, the one exception being the Count of Glückstadt-Schwerin, who vowed to rally the support of the princes himself to such a plot and said that those who doubted right now would flock to the banner as soon as Pomerlane entered Pomerania in force. The Empress was happy to know that one of the more powerful lords in the Kingdom wanted to join their side but did not believe that his promises about the other Princes were something she could trust given the large amount of information she had collected over the years about these Princes via her spy network.

Hoping to make something happen, she sent a letter to the "Alte Marschall" whom she knew was no fan of the King asking him to send her husband some advice about the war, and also ventured to Pomerania to meet with the King himself in August. She never liked the King of Pomerania, whom she felt was a weak, disgusting man who failed his people more often than not, but she hoped her charms would win him over into stopping his vassals. Using her feminine charms to her advantage, she did convince him to at least try to stop his vassals but because she refused his advances for sexual gratification, she left Pomerania feeling as if she had accomplished nothing. Things weren't about to get better for the poor Empress or Pomerlane as the year continues...