Battle of Mentanon

The Battle of Mentanon was a major pitched battle of the Six Years' War and the bloodiest of the conflict. It resulted in a heavy loss of life for both sides, and by battle's end there were hills of corpses littering the fields outside Mentanon. A force of 40,000 men-at-arms, knights, and levies under King Charles III defended the village from a force of 43,000 Imperial soldiers under the command of Marshal Erwin Mueller. The battle ended in a close Stahlheimian victory, preventing Almeron from turning the tide of the war and forcing King Charles to continue to wage a faltering defensive campaign.

Background
Following a costly Almeronian victory at the Battle of Saint-Jean, King Charles aimed to gather more soldiers and keep the invasion force living off the land for as long as possible. Several patriotic militia forces banded together, defending individual farmsteads from the Imperial soldiery and slowing their advance down to a crawl. To combat this, Mueller took a harsh stand against individual resistance in a series of executions that humbled the militias and urged the King to respond to such brutality. Though a large amount of troops were making their way from the south of the country to reinforce him, he gathered the men he already had available to him and determined he would make his stand at the village of Mentanon. He hoped that the flatlands would serve his superior cavalry well and allow for maneuvering if the tide of the battle was against him.

As the Almeronian forces reached the village, Mueller assembled his men and took up position across from them. He offered no surrender so as not to insult the Almeronian King, instead simply sorting his troops and waving the Imperial banner high to inspire them.

The Almeronian force was composed of perhaps 20,000 levies, 15,000 men-at-arms, and a combined group of 5,000 knights and mounted men-at-arms. The Stahlheimian force was composed of some 25,000 footsoldiers, 10,000 marksmen, 2,000 cavalry, and 8,000 levies.

Course of the Battle
Though Charles wished to wait for the enemy to reach him, the relatively poor quality of his foot troops in comparison to the enemy's and his cavalry superiority convinced him that he had to act offensively. A mix of men-at-arms and hastily trained levies made up his front ranks, while mounted knights supported the flanks of the army and a mixed force of crossbowmen provided ranged support. The King ordered his men to advance thirty yards and for his cavalry to keep a steady pace.

By contrast, the Marshal's forces were composed almost entirely of footsoldiers. An impressive force of halberdiers and spearmen supported by arbalists and handgunners gave Mueller confidence, and even as he saw the enemy willfully advancing he pushed his own men onward. His front line was organized into a slow moving spear well, intended to deter and punish any sort of mounted retribution on the part of the King. The small force of some 2,000 cavalrymen available to the Marshal was kept in reserve.

A cacophony of trumpets sounded and battle was met. King Charles waited for the Stahlheimian spear wall to reach his men, his crossbowmen firing volleys of fire into the unshielded men as they slowly moved forwards. He moved his cavalry to the Marshal's flanks on either side though did not attack, holding his knights steady as the front lines clashed. The Stahlheimian halberdiers caused heavy casualties among the men-at-arms of Almeron, though once the distance was closed between the two forces the fighting became more even. The bloody clash became a push for both sides, the mass of each man contributing to the struggle to overwhelm the other. Morale was kept tenable with banners waving high and trumpets sounding.

Charles found no openings in the Marshal's flanks, for whenever he seemed to have outmaneuvered him and find an opening a reserve of pikemen filled the gap and left no easy path. He resolved to change tactics, moving his crossbowmen to Mueller's right flank and firing at his reserves. Simultaneously, he moved his cavalry wholly to the left flank and had them dismount. Now consisting of a force of elite heavy infantry, the knights and men-at-arms rushed the Marshal's flanks and pressed it hard. Mueller struggled to deal with his left flank, busy using his reserve cavalry to chase away the marksmen at his right flank. He barely managed to hold the line, relying upon the quality of his soldiers to push through the center of the King.

The fighting lasted for several hours, both Mueller's left flank and his reserves almost completely depleted. Similarly, the King was holding his center together seemingly by magic, urging his men on to greater glory in his royal armor and pressing the enemy's flanks harder and harder. In the end, however, the levies of Almeron broke first. Charles' center collapsed and any semblance of order was lost, and regardless of how bloodied the enemy was there could be no victory. Charles did his best to rally his men, using his reserves to protect the retreat of those men who had not already broken. By a stroke of luck the knights and trained soldiers at the left flank maintained coherence, some returning to their steeds and others simply running towards the King. This preserved an important body of the King's force, though it did not make the defeat any less bitter. Mueller had found victory, albeit at a cost, and was now free to continue his campaign with an even weaker opponent.

Aftermath
The battle served to slow the Stahlheimian war machine but brought the Almeronian cause even closer to defeat. Nearly half of the forces King Charles had brought to the battle were killed or captured, a majority of the levies he had mustered evaporating completely. Some 9,000 Stahlheimian soldiers perished, a number of deaths not seen in the Empire for decades. The battle ended up being deemed worthy of direct interpretation of the Emperor. He ordered(quite controversially) the Marshal to avoid any pitched battles, commanding him to attempt to break the fighting spirit of the Kingdom by targeting smaller provinces. This also served the purpose of allowing reinforcements to gather within the Empire. A secondary force under Grand Marshal Frederic Richter, head of the Imperial Army, was assembled and made ready to march to Mentanon.