“Sometimes people tried anyway even when they knew they had lost. Many were simply too stubborn to accept defeat.” - Old military saying.

“Looks like you snatched a good chunk of their rations indeed, Captain Edelstein,” stated Andrea Utghwes, heir to the Duchy of Dvergarder, as she stood on one of the large watchtowers behind the earthen ramparts to the eastern side of Fort Kuzi.

“They’re desperate, all right,” replied Dame Jaime Illasvey from beside her. The other mercenary Captain and Reinhardt had accompanied the young Duchess on top of the watchtower, together with a couple Knight-Captains of hers. The ongoing battle below was ferocious, but it was not to the point that they needed to be there personally. “I’d never have my people do some of that shit down there regardless of the pay.”

Indeed, the Bostvan forces had attacked the next morning after Reinhardt’s talk with the young Duchess with a ferocity unseen in their previous attempts. Unlike before, where their assaults were measured and tactical, this one was launched with full ferocity, an all or nothing attempt to grasp victory from the jaws of defeat. Most likely, this one battle would be the last and decisive one for the southern front.

“Guess we inadvertently set their asses on fire,” said Reinhardt as he pondered the battlefield below. The Bostvan soldiers attacked the ramparts viciously, exhorted by their commanders and sergeants, who bellowed commands loudly.

What amused him was how the southern flank of the Bostvan forces still maintained a distance from the forest, despite how his troops had moved back to the main encampment yesterday. Of course they had not shown themselves yet either, and even Salicia still kept herself hidden, waiting for a juicy target to venture closer.

“Think we can abuse that southern flank of theirs?” asked Dame Illasvey before he could. The middle-aged woman’s forces were mostly harassers and skirmishers by nature, so she often thought of similar tactics as what the Free Lances used. “Gotta say that your sniper sure put the fear of god in their commanders there, Edelstein.”

“We’re planning to, not now, though,” replied the young Duchess with a nod. She pointed down to the mobs of Bostvan soldiers with one hand to underline her next words. “They’re still high in morale at the moment. Let’s wait until they tire themselves more first. Also, I’d like both your forces there when the time comes, ideally fresh.”

“You can count us in, ma’am,” said Dame Illasvey. Besides her, Reinhardt gave a nod to signal his affirmation of the command as well. The small group stayed on the watchtower a bit more as they kept an eye on the battle, before they descended around noon.

When they descended, they adjourned the meeting to a safe area further behind the ramparts, where the group supped on a sumptuous lunch - a donation from Reinhardt’s side from the luxurious foodstuffs he had plundered during the night assault - which were cooked on open fires. Some mages even directed the winds to blow towards the Bostvan forces to taunt them with the aroma of good food.

They were joined by a middle-aged dwarf in their feast, one Edwina Horst, niece to Stefan Horst and one of the higher ranking officers of the Hellraisers. While the archmage himself stayed and built defensive measures around Jonkver to prepare for the worst case scenario, the majority of his forces, four thousand men under his officers, had joined the detachments headed to the forts, two thousand men on each..

The earthen ramparts were their work, as the many combat engineer mages in their forces helped them build the structures rapidly and efficiently, while they also hid some tricks inside them. It was one of the main reasons why the Bostvan forces had been stymied time and time again over the past few days, as the earthen ramparts they thought weak turned out to be nearly as sturdy as the fort’s walls itself.

“Oh, aye, easy enough to get your troops out while keeping things safe,” said the dwarven woman with a nod as she crunched on the leg of a large crab - shell and all - and chewed happily. “You wanted it for today? Give my boys a couple of hours and we’ll have it ready.”

“Very good,” nodded the young Duchess as the engineer’s words. Their group of commanders had a relaxed meal of luxurious fresh meat and seafood, almost as if they were not at war. “We will count on your engineers then, Miss Horst,”

Several hours later, when it was late into the afternoon and the sun already came close to setting, a strike force mustered behind the southern end of the ramparts. Over five hundred cavalrymen - with the young Duchess herself in the lead - was gathered, together with a couple thousand infantrymen. The infantry were the elites from Dvergarder, together with Reinhardt’s Free Lances and Jaime Illasvey’s Janissaries put together.

They had waited until the Bostvan forces tired themselves out against the solid defenses, and the young Duchess had decided that it was time to strike. Normally the Bostvans would have already began to retreat around that time of the day, but probably due to their desperation, they had kept up the assault today.

Several of the combat engineer mages of the Hellraisers - Edwina Horst herself included - stood ready just next to the ramparts, to the sides of the mustered forces, and awaited the signal. When the young Duchess gave a nod and raised her sword, the engineers went to work.

To the surprise of the Bostvans, the southern end of the ramparts opened outwards towards them as if they were a pair of double doors. Many of the nearby commanders naturally noticed it, and had just begun to order their men to abuse the opening when the forces inside rushed out and struck them from the side with utmost ferocity.

The flank attack had surprised the Bostvan forces, and caused a momentary lapse in their assault. That momentary lapse cost them dearly, as more and more such “gates” opened up along the ramparts as prepared Dvergarder forces rushed out to attack, and even the Jonkver soldiers from Fort Kuzi sallied out in offense for the first time.