Battle of Carenton

The Battle of Carenton was the first major battle of the Six Years' War and gave the Stahlheimian Empire an immediate advantage over the Kingdom of Almeron, allowing their forces to move past the border and into enemy territory. It occurred in the province of Carenton, a Stahlheimian border province that had been contested and ultimately was one of the main factors for the war's beginning. The Massacre of Carenton proved to be the catalyst for the war's start, pushing the King of Almeron to declaring war and marching his assembled forces to the village. The battle occurred on the 28th of Flower's Bloom, 975 4E.

Background
Following a declaration of war by Charles III, both Almeron and Stahlheim began rallying their forces in preparation for war. With the banners raised and levies gathered, two sizable armies marched directly for the Stahlheimian border. An Almeronian force of nearly 40,000 marched under the command of the King himself, while a reactionary force 34,000 strong opposed them under the command of Marshal Erwin Mueller. Mueller's forces had the defensive advantage and arrived at Carenton three days prior to the Almeronian army, allowing him to set up defensive positions and let his men rest. The predominantly Almeronian-blooded locals offered some resistance and sabotaged Imperial supply caches but ultimately were not numerous enough to adversely affect them.

King Charles' force was composed predominantly of soldiers and levies from the Almeronian capital, few from the outlying provinces having time to gather in time for the army's march. In not waiting for a larger body of troops Charles took a large risk, gambling that by moving quickly his men would be more energized and his enemy less prepared. The nature of his country's claim to the province and the massacre that occurred there called for hasteful action, and so he marched with a force composed half of levies and half of elite troops hailing from the capital. Mueller's force, by contrast, was composed mostly of soldiers from the Empire's standing army repositioned and reorganized under the Marshal's command. While few of the 34,000 men could be considered elite, they were all well trained and experienced.

Upon arrival, King Charles noticed that the Imperial forces had deployed directly in front of the village on a slight slope. They were three ranks deep, the first being composed of spearmen at the bottom of the slope, the next rank composed of halberdiers, and the third rank composed of a mix of handgunners and crossbowmen. He positioned his infantry into two distinct battle lines: the first was composed almost entirely of levies, while the second line was composed of veteran soldiers and foot knights meant to steel them and do most of the difficult fighting. He kept his heavy cavalry upon the wings of his formation, hoping to use them to either roll up enemy lines or chase after fleeing opponents.

Course of the Battle
Knowing that Mueller had no reason to attack his superior force, King Charles was forced to make the first maneuver of the battle. He ordered his first rank of infantry to advance but not engage, covering their approach with volleys of crossbow fire that he hoped would slow down any enemy response. He next repositioned his cavalry, moving them from the wings to a third rank behind the footmen. When the Stahlheimian forces only held fast, he ordered his levies forward to meet the first ranks of the Imperial forces.

Mueller ensured that his first rank was his most veteran, hoping to quickly cut through the levies and force them to a retreat in a way that would dishearten and inconvenience his enemy. He used his superior elevation to his advantage, a wall of spears making any advance up the slope a deadly one for the assailants. Despite assistance from ranged soldiers and reserve soldiers thrown into gaps, the levies began to rout bit by bit. When Charles saw his levies fleeing after causing minimal harm to the Stahlheimian ranks he wisely did not send his next rank of men forward, instead blowing the trumpet for what seemed to be an organized retreat.

Not trusting that such a prideful man would give up so easily, Mueller grew suspicious of the reetreat and ordered his men to hold. The orders never reached the ranks, however, as a volley of crossbow fire caused the trumpeter to fall dead. The Imperial infantry began to charge at the retreating Almeronian force, and Charles quickly turned to face them. Just as the Marshal had feared, he ordered his cavalry to move from the flanks, charging into the unprepared ranks of soldiers as his heavy infantry engaged them. Robbed of his superior position, Mueller could now only rely upon the fact that the majority of the enemy levies were fled or in the reserves and he held the numerical advantage. Despite heavy casualties, the veteran Imperial spearmen managed to hold their position and ground the battle into a stalemate.

Seeing that victory in this battle would mean no capability to fight another, the King gave the true call for retreat and had his men leave in an organized manner, using maneuvers from his force of knights to prevent further Imperial retaliation. Though many more had died than expected, Mueller was victorious and the province of Carenton remained in Imperial hands.

Aftermath
Though the battle proved a humbling defeat for Almeron, it went far less poorly than it would have under an inferior commander. Though a large amount of levy footmen died or deserted, a good body of professional soldiers remained to ensure that any immediate Stahlheimian offensive would face resistance. The battle reinforced the idea among both sides that a quick victory was not likely. Charles III's force suffered nearly 16,000 casualties and 7,000 deaths(almost entirely from levies), while Marshal Mueller's force suffered only 8,000(with perhaps 2,000 deaths). Initial failure to capture the province opened a path for the Empire to begin a campaign to enter the Almeronian heartland, wherein they would initially face little resistance while further forces rallied under the banner of the King.