THE BATTLE OF THE AAVELDROP FIELDS
The first battle fought between the sons of Salmarik was
the Battle of the Aaveldrop Fields, which was named after
the location on which it took place. The fields of the
fertile lands known as Aaveldrop were the richest farmlands
in all the Realms, at least before the wars ended. In the
first battle of the sons' armies, the fields would be
irrigated by the blood of thousands of men. In the second
and last battle, the fertile lands would be laid waste.
The battle was to be quite a rout, or at least, so thought
many of the wise men of the time. Too many people favored
Frodo, and thus, he would have a decisively larger army
which would simply overpower the army of Orfod. There were
some wise men, however that thought Orfod would be the
victor due to his skill with battle tactics. Long had Orfod
studied tomes of knowledge regarding the tactics of battles
and great historical battles. Frodo was not so wise to the
ways of war, yet many felt numbers alone would give him the
necessary advantage.
The two forces met, finally on the large expanse of the
fields of Aaveldrop. The winter had been devastating to the
fertile fields, but once spring returned, the lands would
live once again. As they were, however the fields were dry
and dead.
Orfod's army was first to arrive at the future battle site,
realizing that being their first and fortifying his forces
would give him the advantage of the terrain as well as
supplying his army with the feelings of protecting their
territory. Orfod realized that a defensive posture would be
necessary, at first in any case when confronting such odds
as he knew to be inevitable. Drawing up defensive plans
immediately, Orfod began the preparations for battle. Frodo's
forces would be there within a day or two, and Orfod knew
that in order to have any chance, he had to rely on the
unorthodox.
The first thing Orfod had done would turn out to be the
decisive action of the battle. Orfod had trenches dug in
a semi-circle, with the high point of the arc being the
location of his main forces. The trenches were nearly
invisible on the flat area, but were large enough for the
large force of Orfod's footmen to sequester themselves,
each armed with a claymore. Orfod had learned that Frodo's
prominent force was his cavalry, so he planned to defeat
Frodo's cavalry in this manner.
Orfod also had his men gather as much dead straw and grass
from the fields. With this dead vegetation, Orfod's group
made blankets that matched the ground, making anything lying
under it invisible for all practical purposes. To his archers
did Orfod give these blankets, and he spread his archers on
both sides and the full length of the fields.
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-- x = Orfod's main army / = Orfod's footmen trenches --
-- * = Orfod's disguised archers --
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-- o = Frodo's main army OO = Frodo's cavalry --
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Frodo's army arrived sooner than Orfod had expected, but Orfod did
have the time he needed to complete his preparations. Frodo's army
was indeed much larger than Orfod's, but Orfod's men were in no way
discouraged. The sun set just as two armies were able to see the
others' full compliment, and both knew that in the morning, they
would all see each other much closer.
The sun arose on the battle field to find both armies still at
rigid attention, eying one another over the vast expanse. Frodo's
cavalry stood at the ready, preparing to charge right through the
apparently feeble line of Orfod's men, and completely oblivious the
the trenches before them. Orfod's archers were all in place, some
no more than a few yards away from Frodo's men.
Frodo, greed-ridden and blood thirsty wasted no time and quickly
gave the order for his cavalry to begin what he felt would be the
slaughter. The rest of Frodo's men prepared to follow in the wake
of the charge and massacre the rest of the hapless little band.
And so began what is now historically referred to as "the footman's
charge".
The cavalry charged swiftly with their spears and lances lowered
towards the unmoving line of Orfod's men. As they neared their target
they were suddenly made aware of the folly of their confidence. As
the line of horsemen reached the trenches, out sprang the claymore
wielding footmen of Orfod. A cavalry is nothing without their horses,
and so the orders of the footmen had been made clear, remove their
horses. Each passing horse in turn was dismembered, legs lobbed off
at the knee with one clean swipe. Many of the cavalry died in the
fall, having their neck broken or by falling under the weight of
their legless horse. The rest were summarily killed by the footmen.
Frodo and his army, now in a state of disbelief committed their
second mistake by sitting there watching the misfortune of their
prized attack force. The only thing that gave the archers away
was the twang of their bow strings. Frodo's army dropped like
flies, and without much hesitation, Frodo called retreat and
the remainder of his forces fled.
It had truly been a one sided victory, but to many's surprise
Orfod was victorious. None of Orfod's main fighting force had
been killed, but a few footmen had been crushed under horses,
and several archers had been killed during the fighting retreat
of Frodo's army, but all in all Orfod was very pleased. He knew,
however that Frodo would be back, and the second battle would
hold far fewer surprises.
The Battle of the Aaveldrop Fields [ Q to quit ] |