Chapter 19

Coup de Grace

Korelia Plains

Noon was yet to come when the skirmish between Sir Arius’ column and Hugo ended. The battle was brief and ended inconclusively. Earlier, the Korelians had resorted to fire-tactic to break the engagement.

Both columns withdrew to lick their wound. The result didn’t prevent the Coalition from claiming it as their victory. Sir Arius was paraded by his knights in celebration.

This victory helped stabilize the Coalition's shaken northern column which endured heavy casualties from Lansius’ cavalry attack.

The fire that Hugo started didn't last long.

The blaze smoldered once the strong southern wind blew them into the foot of the hill. However, the fire had served its purpose. Hugo and his troops now took shelter in the surrounding ditches around town.

Inside the forest, the result of Calub's ambush remained unknown. While it was decisive, the Korelians committed almost all their forces. What left uncommitted was only Audrey’s one-hundred light cavalry.

Currently, the strength of the Coalition was more than five-thousand-and six-hundred troops.

On paper, the Korelians' one-hundred wouldn't stand a chance. Especially against Korimor's troops which were still fresh, ready, and willing.

The southern wind blew fiercely toward the Korelia plains.

Midday was yet to come, but hundreds already paid the ultimate price.

***

The Korelians

Lady Felis knotted three strands of her hair into Audrey’s headband.

“I wish you the greatest of luck," Felis whispered as she completed the knot.

“Gracious, Lady Felis," Audrey replied with a smile. Afterward, she wore her helmet and gave her command.“Open the gates!”

“OPEN THE GATES!" the guards mimicked her order and swung the sturdy gates open.

The two friends looked at each other. Many things were conveyed without words.

“Be safe," the blonde said.

The brunette gallantly rode her horse toward the gate.

Cheering poured from the townsfolk as the cavalry sortied out.

Once outside, Audrey led her cavalry in a westward direction.

This late in the fight, their presence and intention were shrouded in mystery. They aimed to capitalize on that aspects.

A hundred light cavalry couldn’t do what Lansius had done with his knights.

With only their brigandine and ringmails, they dare not hope to charge into a column of two-thousand men and survive.

Among them, only Audrey was furnished in plate armor. But this arrangement was not by accident. Speed was commanded to them.

They rode lightly. Only five carried lances. But almost all carried torches.

They weren’t interested in charging a column. As they sprinted across the southern part of the plains, they burn the wild grass that grew freely on the plains.

Audrey kept her gaze sharp. She was under immense stress, even more than should be.

She had deviated from Lansius’ plan. Just a little, but because of that, the risk of failure multiplied.

***

The Coalition

Drunken from victory, the Coalitions put little thought on Viscount Jorge’s and the cavalry's whereabouts.

Many even assumed that another victory would surely arrive soon. Things were looking promising and discipline was relaxed.

However, they were in for a rude awakening. While Lord Jorge and the cavalry remained missing, the scouts spotted another cavalry.

It was coming from the far south and it didn’t fly their colors.

Baron Omin, the leader of the southern column frowned at the report. He was the closest to this new threat. Nobody assumed that Lansius still had cavalry at his disposal.

“How the hell-“ one of the staff grimaced.

“Not, now! Get the captains and form square formation,” Omin ordered his staff.

They readily went into action.

Omin too was surprised but had it concealed.

The Korelians are greatly outnumbered. And they had launched a reckless charge against the northern column...

Surely, they needed everything they’ve got to make every chance of success?

Tried as he may, Omin couldn’t fathom the merit of why the Korelians split the cavalry.

Why not use the entire cavalry and go all out? That way they'll get a better chance to score critical hits, may even enough to rout the northern column outright.

He put aside that train of thought. Around him, the troops had assumed a square formation.

It was a good formation as it got all its flanks covered. However, it made them slow and unable to focus their strength.

“Where are they?” Omin asked the scout as he lost sight of the opponent's cavalry.

“My Lord, the Korelians cavalry doesn't seem to head here," the scout reported with doubt hung on his face.

Omin felt something was wrong. In a spur of a moment, he pulled the reins of his horse and rode off southward. He gladly took more risks to learn about the Korelians’ intention.

Eleven riders followed Omin. They got no more horsemen available.

The horse traversed through the yellowing wild grass. They were barely two hundred meters away when Omin noticed something.

Smoke.

White puff came from multiple spots on the horizon.

Omin reined his horse and came to a stop.

“My Lord, fires! The Korelians are burning the wild grass.” The accompanying riders noticed it as well.

Omin quickly dismounted. Once he was on the ground, he found himself surrounded by grass taller than his knee, almost to his waist.

He suspected something. So, he drew his knife and cut the closest bunch of grass. The husks were yellowing from the summer sun. As he ripped it out, he found that it was sturdier and thicker than usual.

Still, he surmised that the grass wasn’t old enough to be harvested for hay.

He discarded the grass and started to look around. Something began to dawn on him: the evenness of the grass was too natural.

“Scouts," Omin called.

A man quickly dismounted and showed himself.

“Why are the Korelians didn’t graze their livestock here? All these grass are full grown!”

The scout looked perplexed for a moment. He then quickly knelt and searched the grass near the roots.

His eyes were wide and Omin knew he was right.

“My lord, the fire is getting bigger," one of the riders reported without any urgency.

Omin quickly mounted back his horse again. He saw the horizon filled with smoke and then the wind blew past his face.

The scent of burning was heavy on the nose. That was when he realized the real scope of the threat.

Southwind. The wind from the south and blew to the north.

His face turned mad while his shoulder shook with rage.

“Lansius, Lansius, Lansius!” Omin cursed the name three times. Each time he slammed his right fist into his thigh making a dull clanking sound as he was fully armored.

Fire and flammable materials were an avoidable threat. However, when mixed with a favorable wind, it could be a catastrophe.

“My Lord, is the fire making you mad? But they tried fire before against Sir Arius with little effect." The captain tried to dissuade his Lord from anger.

Omin had no time to explain, he was calculating his next move.

“My Lord, should we move the column south and try to put out the flame? It may reach our position?” his captain asked.

“There's no time to explain! Don’t you fools get it? The Korelians are trying to burn the whole plains!”

Omin’s outburst did little to his staff. The Korelia plains were so vast that to think somebody was going to burn them was bound to be taken as a joke.

“Go now! Ride to the column and bring them back to the encampment immediately. Sound a retreat if you have to," Omin ordered.

His staff nodded but thought differently. Many saw the smoke with apathy, thinking it was probably a distraction.

“My Lord, where are you going?" one of the staff asked as Omin steered his horse away from them.

“I’ll head to the encampment and alert them. We need them to start packing before the fire reaches them,” Omin said as he rode away.

Accompanied by only his Nicopolan bodyguard and four horsemen, he raced westward toward the encampment.

***

Audrey

Since winter, Lansius had consulted with various records and eyewitnesses he could find in Korelia. He learned that in summer, the wind blew consistently to the north.

He hesitated to use the information. Nature was unpredictable, he often said.

Still, as early as spring, Lansius had started to stockpile flammable materials as a precaution. Furthermore, he persuaded the shepherds to graze only on the eastern side. Because of that, the western plains were left untouched.

When the Coalition came in massive numbers Lansius gave up his main plan and revealed this one to his inner circle.

Long before Audrey or anyone learned about this, this emergency plan had undergone several tests and revisions. Lansius was remarkably open and chatty in person but kept a secretive side.

The guy was a bit clumsy and unassuming, but when war knocked on the door, he was the one who had all the tactics and strategy at hand.

For Audrey, this side of Lansius was the coolest.

To prepare for war, the flammable materials were spread out and carefully hidden in hundred of spots along the southern part of the plains.

Composed of hay mats drenched in animal fat, they were covered by layers of dried grass on top. From afar they were hardly conspicuous to even the most experienced scouts.

Apart from the flammable materials, most of the plains were fire hazards.

Ungrazed pasture, fully grown, and yellowing dried from summer’s heat, they were perfect for wildfire.

Lansius didn’t merely want to start a series of bonfires; he was setting the entire plains into an inferno.

The whole strategy culminated in this.

Hugo’s morning attack tied down the Coalition’s column. Lansius’ cavalry charge tied down the Coalition’s reserve. And finally, Audrey’s cavalry could deliver the coup de grace.

With the Coalition cavalry ambushed by Lansius, the Korelians cavalry could do anything with impunity.

Riding unchallenged, Audrey's cavalry burned every cache of flammable they could find. The cache burned hot and brightly.

The surrounding grass readily caught fire from the fiery blaze. Soon, the hundred of fires became uncontrollable wildfires.

Like riders from hell, Audrey's cavalry left a trail of wildfire in their wake.

Almost the entire southern horizon was burning. The strong southern wind raged the wildfire and pushed the inferno northward.

***

Baron Omin

The Korimor column was en route to camp. But along the way, as the fire was gaining strength, their retreat became a rout.

Nearly everybody fled westward with total disregard for order and formation.

The northern column soon followed. Already wrecked by Lansius’ charge, chaos quickly ensued after they saw the billowing smoke from afar.

As the vast plains caught fire, everybody ran and the commanders were helpless to stop them.

The men had a good reason to desert. For levied troops like them, to be captured meant servitude.

Ironically, their best chance to escape from slavery was to outrun their fellow comrades.

A trail of body armor, weapons, and helmet littered the plains. Everybody tried to be as light as possible to outrun anyone in front of them.

Like ants, the thousands of Coalition men fled from the burning plains.

The last column that remained was Sir Arius’. The encroaching fire, along with the sudden collapse of the southern and northern columns, demoralized his men.

Sir Arius wanted to march into the forest to regroup with Lord Jorge’s cavalry. However, his knights forced him to retreat.

Sir Arius eventually relented as fire threatened to cut their retreat.

After his column's retreat, the entire might of the Coalition was reduced to a shambling mess of an army.

Things only looked better on the western part where the encampment stood by.

Baron Omin had reached the place and tried to organize a retreat.

His fast reaction by abandoning his column paid off. The smoke and fire had reached the outer part of the encampment, but there was enough time to prepare.

“Find your lieutenants, tell them Baron Omin of Korimor summoned them!" He rode around camp to establish a working chain of command.

With great effort under the heavy smoke, he organized a fleet of baggage-train. Each cart was full of war funds and valuables.

He knew he could rebuild the army if he could secure the supplies. Through honeyed words and bribes, he also convinced Jorge’s baggage guards to join his rank.

Lastly, he gathered as many horsemen as he could find and fled westward.

More than sixty carts under Omin exited the camp. Twenty cavalrymen escorted them.

Behind them, many used horse-drawn carts as transport and followed. In total, close to one hundred carts were making a beeline to the west.

Earlier, Omin had traded his horse with a fresh one. Now he was matching speed with the baggage train.

His Nicopolan bodyguard rode calmly beside Omin, giving him some mental support.

Time passed and the Great Lowlandia plains loomed on the horizon.

"Split up! Split up," Omin commanded.

The convoy split into three directions. This was his masterstroke to foil capture.

With Jorge's baggage train in his hand, even if he could only secure a third of the convoy he would still come out way richer.

The battle of Korelia had ended in a disaster. But for Omin, the war also brought forth a great opportunity.

***