Chapter XXIX: Order of Battle and Plans for 1112

Army Dispositions and Front Lines, January 1112

As the new year rolled around, the Imperial cause looked like it was in dire straits. The Dragoons were ready to make the final push to drive the Syrenian forces into the sea, and if nothing else, they would take all of the west. In the north, the fertile regions of Uppland and Ingria had fallen into Pomeranian control and would be a major issue for the Imperials if not addressed. One more defeat there would spell the loss of most of Eliria. The only saving grace for the Imperials was that Pomurans made no ground in 1111 and that they took some ground in Selenium. Morale was low across the front and Pomerlane knew that he needed to take decisive action this year in the North if he wanted to end this war, and hope that Cato could hold on in the south.

Allied War Plans

Allied War Plans

Dragoonian War Plans

Because of the lack of coordinate between the Allied forces, each camp had devised their own plans for their campaigns during this year. Magnus had tried to get the rival Pomeranians to work together but by this point, gave up on such grand ideas. As far as he was concerned, as long as they tied down Pomerlane in the north and had some success, it was just fine.

The Dragoons had a simple plan for this year. Drive the Syrenians into the sea. A Four-pronged offensive launched by 3 separate armies aimed to utterly crush the Syrenians in both numbers and quality. The Syrenians had fought well all things considered against the best army on the continent, but Magnus was growing tired of holding back.

The Army of Venusia, formerly known as the Army of Syrenia, would launch itself first against Neapolis and then capture the rest of the west as Pomerlane had done during his campaign a decade earlier. The west simply could not be held without Neapolis, and this was understood by both sides. "Old Cranky" was more than ready for this campaign with his 26,000-man army, which dwarfed anything the Syrenians had in this sector.

The Kungesland Army, which had been held in reserve and was training last year, was finally ready to be committed to the Syrenian front. Its objective was Syrenia's second capital and a city of great symbolic importance to Pomerlane and the Grand Duchy itself, Aquileia. The fall of Aquileia, the city which loved Pomerlane as its own son and was the symbol of Pomerlane's conquest itself would be a major morale blow to the Imperial cause. Prince Haakon was an experienced commander, highly trusted by his brother, and he had more than enough to see this through, with his army of 32,000 men.

Magnus's own army, the Army of the Vesta, would be the main thrust that the Dragoons launched this year, and he would launch it towards Cumae and also use it in support of his brother's army if need be. Magnus's goal was to reach the sea with this army, but more importantly, utterly destroy the army of Cato in the field. Cato had fought against him well despite the lack of quality and numbers previously and Magnus grew to greatly respect him. However, Magnus needed to win a decisive victory here before things turned into a stalemate. He knew that the Syrenians were raising more and more reinforcements every week that would make his task much harder as time went on. He regretted his previous strategy of trying to place the role of a liberator the previous year because it not only didn't work, but it delayed him from dealing a finishing blow rapidly to Syrenia. This wasn't a mistake he was going to make twice, and despite reports of another army gathering at the Proserpina River; he couldn't play cautiously this time. The longer the war went, the more men the Syrenians and Elirians could raise, and his army's quality would only grow weaker. The time was now to seize the moment and finish this war.

As of January, Magnus himself was meeting with the King of Pomerania at Pomura, trying to negotiate his full entry into the war. This would be a game changer in Magnus' eyes because it would allow the King to get his vassals to coordinate together and bring in the Royal Army of Pomerania its and the Pomeranian Fleet, which would cripple the Imperial cause. He would be ultimately unsuccessful, for the Pomeranian King did not want to join a war he considered to be unjust in his own eyes. Pomeralius IV may be a drunkard and sleeze, but there was still some sense of honor in his mind.

Pomeranian War Plans

Prince Pomulius had found himself in a wonderful position as the new year rolled around. He had been mauled at Schwarzbach by Pomerlane but as the energetic commander he was, bounced back and pounced on a golden opportunity in the north by conquering all of Uppland and Ingria. He now had two armies in this vital region and was ready for a rematch with Pomerlane, realizing his own mistakes from last time. This time, when he struck at Lillehammer with the full force of the Army of Lesser Pomerania and the Army of Mansfeld, he would be the one to inflict defeat on his wily opponent whom he admired. A total of 66,000 men would come under his command for this operation and he couldn't be more eager to get his revenge.

On the other side, the Duke Pomuranus had been humiliated by Pomerlane outmaneuvering him right after he captured Diamond City and had to abandon all of his gains aside from border towns because he wasn't willing to fight Pomerlane with an equal army on unfavorable terrain. This time, he wasn't going to waste time at Diamond City in a normal siege but take the city by cannonade and force if he had too. The great loot the city would provide for his cause was inticing, and it could potentially allow him to raise an even larger army filled with mercenaries that could crush Pomerlane. He also knew that sacking Diamond City would be be quite shocking to everyone, and he believed it would cause major unrest in Eliria and major morale problems for Elirian forces. He saw what Pomerlane had done in Syrenia ten years before and how well it worked for him. If he did the same now, he believed he would have equal success if not more. With 38,000 men of the Army of Pomura, he planned to put out the Diamond City lights forever.

Imperial War Plans

Imperial War Plans

Pomerlane had made major changes to the leadership and organization of the Imperial Armies during the break in the fighting. He first relieved Prince Nicephorus his command of the Archducal Army, who had proven to be an overly cautious commander and replaced him with none other than Count Friedrich-Pomu von Quedlinburg, "Der alte Feldmarschall" himself. Though in his mid-70s, the old man was still one of the greatest commanders in the world and even amongst the Elirians inspired great confidence. He managed to instill greater discipline and drilled the men of the Archducal army to perfection in just two months. Many officers were discharged and replaced by more competent subordinates by Quedlinburg, including some of his own sons. They still were not equals of the Black Army, but they could more than hold their own against any enemy in battle.

Pomerlane also was ready to commit the Army of the Proserpina into battle as well. This army of 28,000 was made up of Elirians and Pomeranian troops that were under the overall command of Archduke Demetrius von Antigoneia-Oxenstierna, someone who had impressed Pomerlane at Schwarzbach and was one of the few commanders in the north that showed the aggressiveness and initiative he desire from his commanders. The 34-year-old had successfully prevented the total collapse of the Archducal army at Landsholm the previous year and was responsible for preventing Tammerfors from falling with a successful campaign in Early November that halted a Pomeranian force of 15,000 from taking the important city with a force of around 5,000 levies by daring maneuvers and skirmishes that convinced Pomulius to call back this late thrust back. With Demetrius was Sigismund Pomeranius, Freiherr von Eppingen, another skilled and experienced general that Pomerlane also trusted greatly.

Cato had also been reinforced over the winter with more recruits and though still outnumbered, Pomerlane still had a great amount of confidence in his friend's skill that he had shown repeatedly over the years. Cato had shown great tenacity in his defense of Syrenia thus far, preventing a much larger army from overrunning the Grand Duchy even if it was at the expense of many men. Many of the battles he had fought were not victories, indeed he had only won two battles against Magnus's Army at Antium and Utica, but he had not been badly beaten yet either. Cato had bloodied the nose of Magnus in nearly every defeat he suffered and also fought him to a standstill in several battles too. His army had been nearly depleted by the end of 1111 but with the many newly trained recruits joining him, he had 38,000 at his disposal.

The overall Imperial plan was to go on the offensive in all fronts, indeed all major field armies except for Cato's army and one of the Territorial Corps would be used offensively. If they were to beat defeated, they would go down in a blaze of glory instead of the meek groans of resignation.

The main offensive was to be launched by the Black Army and the Archducal Army together in a preemptive strike into Uppland and Ingria. Both armies had been reinforced to 37,000 and 34,000 men respectively, which amounted to 71,000 overall: outnumbering locally the total strength of the Pomeranian armies. This offensive would be launched in the middle of February, with Pomerlane focusing on defeating both of the armies in detail. While Quedlinburg tied down the Army of Lesser Pomerania by delaying actions in Ingria with part of his army, he and Pomerlane would surround Mansfeld's Army in Uppland and annihilated it completely. Once this was accomplished, the two would turn north and defeat Pomulius should he be dumb enough to engage them both while outnumbered. Whether or not Pomulius fought them, the next part of the plan was to invade Pomerania itself and take the war to Pomulius. Pomerlane had secretly met with the Count of Glückstadt-Schwerin in Early January, where he revealed his plans to him, and the Count assured him that he would raise his army and be joined by neighboring Princes of Jascke and Zirchow. Once Pomerlane crossed into Pomerania, the Count would march south with his army towards Mansfeld and hopefully trap Pomulius somewhere between his own lands and Frickenberg.

The other major offensive would be conducted by the Army of the Proserpina against Magnus. The goal was to capture Luna and put pressure on Magnus's northern flank while relaxing pressure on Cato from Magnus in turn. Cato was advised, under his own discretion, to launch his own counter offensive against Magnus if he found it practical but to overall stop Magnus from advancing towards Cumae and prevent the fall of Neapolis if possible. Pomerlane had accepted Cato's concession that it was unlikely that the western Syrenia could be held without diluting the main army too much and allowed Cato to pursue the path he thought the best in this region. If nothing else, Pomerlane advised him that he should at least not allow the Dragoons to take the region without a strong fight. However, he did not accept any concession about abandoning Aquileia. Aquileia, while not strategically significant, was too important to lose because of the exact reasons Magnus pointed out in his own plans. The city must be held, or at least not be conceded without a hard fight. Cato was forced to send 7,000 men to Aquileia under his skilled lieutenant, Sextus Cornelius Agrippa. Agrippa was truly one of the most promising young Syrenian officers, having distinguished himself at Pappenheim at the age of 21 and thus far under Cato's command. He was the perfect man for the job, being a charismatic, brave and rather clever man with a great understanding of engineering. His skills would be soon put to the test with a much large force coming to meet him.

The other offensive was much smaller in scale that was to be conducted by the Skåne Territorial Corps, which had been placed under the command of one of Pomerlane's more promising lieutenants, the Prince Otto von Lindenberg. Lindenberg was a Lucanian by birth but as a younger son, sought out command opportunities elsewhere, which he found under Pomerlane. He was only 27 but showed great promise in divisional command during the prior year's campaign. His objective was to invade Selenium with his territorial corps, directed at Långshyttan. His goal wasn't necessarily to capture the important city but draw attention away from other sectors and possibly force Magnus and the Duke of Pomura to direct their attention to him. He was to be reinforced by 10,000 men in May, which would bring his force to 27,000 and make it a proper army.

Two other forces of note include the 12,000 men of the Diamond City garrison, which was to hold out as long as possible against the Pomurans should they decided to attack. Since last year, Diamond city had been heavily fortified and was given a large stockpile of provisions and munitions for the potential siege. Pomerlane hoped the city could hold out as long as possible but recognized it would likely fall at some point during the year. But the belief was that the siege would consume so much time that the Pomurans wouldn't be able to capitalize on its fall the longer it held out.

Secondly, was not a force that Pomerlane considered personally as important but would prove to be important as the year unfolded. The so-called Mountain Corps, which was based out of Bellona, had seen some great success the year prior under Gaius Aetius Nero. Nero, tragically, had died of a dysentery during the fall of that year when he was called personally back to Cato's main army. Now command of this force fell to a Rosenknospe émigré, by the name of Hyazinth de Maizière, Ritter von Westerwald. Hyazinth was born in Pomerania but at a young age immigrated with his mother to Syrenia after his father was executed by an overzealous Dragoonian commander during a short border war between Pomerania and Selenium 3 decades ago. This gave him a lifelong burning hatred of Dragoons, that many of his men shared as well.

Hyazinth de Maizière, Ritter von Westerwald

The now 32-year-old had grown into somewhat of a local folk hero to the mountain men of Bellona with his excellent skills as a hunter and a warrior. It is said that he personally was able to destroy a band of 12 highwaymen with his rifle and axe when he was only 18 by sneaking up on them one evening. When Pomerlane invaded, Hyazinth was quick to pledge his loyalty to him and served him with great distincition as a scout and later as a local commander in Bellona; where he was able to destroy quite a few bandit groups in the region. The Mountain Corps had been formally disbanded upon the retreat of the Dragoons from the region, but the paramilitary force that it had become still very much existed and it was natural that Hyazinth would be the leader of them. These Gebirgsjägers as they would soon be known as popularly under their soon to be famous leader would prove their worth to the entire world.