Vener, Year of Severus, 16, I.R., the 5th day of Winter, Great Dunes

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Dawn broke the night sky like a chick emerging from its egg. Lord Prestonheim and the rest of his allied commanders, set-up their formations from the stratagem they made all night. There were black circles on the bottom part of their eyes, a sign of the sleepless night they had to conquer in order to execute the proper counterattack against the sly Ardant tactics.

Lord Prestonheim rode his horse and went into the protruding sandstone overlooking the sandy plains. He saw both his allied commanders and the younger commanders formed their formations. The younger and feisty commanders followed the stratagem laid out to them by Senator Lucresia.

He looked at the foolish commanders with disdain. He knew that these young commanders and their allies had just signed themselves to their deaths. Lord Prestonheim knew that even if Senator Lucresia was a brilliant tactician that won many decisive battles, he knew that his stratagem had already been figured out by the enemy.  It was clear since the beginning of the week how their enemies were luring them deeper and deeper into their trap.

Nobody wanted to mention it, but since the previous day, their battalions were missing important officers. Some dismissed it as a natural occurrence since there was a war. Some even argued that the missing officers were deserters. It was impossible. If they were deserters like the other claimed, they would still easily spot them because of the terrain that they were on. The mountains of sandstone surrounding the battlefield meant that every little movement would be visible from where he was looking. Aside from that, the confined space of their battle meant that there was no going out of there.

The jagged sandstones were difficult to climb and there were no crevices for them to hide either. It was the primary reason why the Arterian forces wanted to fight there, the sharp and jagged rocks became a natural fortress for them to take the higher ground advantage all the while controlling their opponent's movement—or so they thought.

Lord Prestonheim always had a bad feeling about the entire situation. He tried to warn the others, but the younger generals were too proud to listen at the rambles of an old man. An old, battle-tested veteran of a man.

The battalions were marched towards their mark. The vanguards were on the front row. They wore a lighter kind of armor made of linked chains to fight off the excessive heat from the unforgiving dessert sun. The next row was followed by the spearmen that they separated in units. Each unit was composed of 150 men. The first two units in the front formed a tight square formation that allowed them to attack on all sides while the unit behind them formed the delta formation.

The basic triangular formation that Lord Prestonheim implemented to break their ranks easily while also giving them an easier way to disperse whenever necessary. The formation also prevents the deadly Ardant Cavalry and battle chariots from breaking their defense. It would easily trap the attacking forces and give them the advantage.

The row behind the spearmen where the footmen unit of 150 men fashioned the same way as the spearman except the backrow had chain nets and short blades along with them, instead of the usual sword and buckler. Lastly, the cavalry was placed at the last row to properly support the other rows in case there was a need for back up or entrapment.

The formation wouldn't look anything different from the one, Senator Lucresia planned for them. However, the major difference came in the backrow. Lord Prestonheim prioritized the cavalry's mobility for their multiple angular attack.

The younger commanders were already in their positions and was about to begin the battle. Lord Prestonheim sighed for the last time and hoped that they survive this day's bloodbath. But he doubts it. After a careful consideration, the older commanders came up with an agreement that in the event of a commander getting captured, he must face death on their blades rather than be milked out with information from the opposing side.

The sun had fully shone in the sky when their battery units dragged out the cannons into the battlefield. On the other side of the battlefield, the Ardant were already finished with their preparations. The sound of marching men stopped and all of the sudden, there was only dead silence.

The warm desert air blew on his face. Lord Prestonheim knew that it was going to be another bloodbath, but he was confident about his victory this time around. He looked towards the horizon and whispered a prayer or two, before signaling the start of their attack.

The war horn sounded and echoed from below. Cannons from the opposite side boomed like thunder clashing in the heavens. The sky began to darken as a hail of arrows rained down on them. The younger commanders' forces rushed their advance, ignoring the projectiles falling down on them. While Lord Prestonheim and his allies marched slowly towards their opponents, blocking the incoming projectiles and magic with Aetherite infused thick shields, piled against each other creating a solid turtle defense.

As the attackers clashed with the vanguards, the first row of defenders pushed back the attackers into a compromising position just in time for the spearmen to lunge their spears in between he spaces of the vanguards' shield.

The spearmen stabbed as much as they could as the vanguards pushed and opened up a space for the reserved units to dash into the center and plough everyone in their tracks. No number of men and beasts were able to stop them on their tracks. They continued pushing their way in, until they were met by the cavalry units from opposing side.

The spear unit immediately went to the side and let the delta unit handle the beasts. The cavalry was immediately stopped on their tracks and was immediately leveled down by the spearmen, stabbing the cavalry in all sides.

The tides of battle were getting into their favor. Lord Prestonheim checked on the young commanders and saw them taking the same position as they were yesterday, however, he still felt uneasy with their formation.

"Arrows!" Lord Prestonheim's ward shouted and pointed at the blanket of sharp projectiles descending upon his men.

The vanguards were quick to respond into it, however, some weren't so lucky than the others. A few arrows managed to pierce their defense which costed a few lives on the vanguard and spear units. Nonetheless, the formation was still intact; the young commanders' formation, however, was breaking apart.

Lord Prestonheim had no time to salvage the other broken formation. He might've, but only if they'd listen to his stratagem. Unfortunately, the audacious greenhorns were now seeing the consequence of their blunder.

As the other formation broke, Lord Prestonheim's knights managed to hold their positions and retreated deeper into the vanguard lines, collapsing the formation as planned. The pursuers pushed a little more to the inside of their trap and was far too late when they realized the ensnaring lure.

As the Ardant pursuers came to the designated spot, the Principalian cavalry leaped into action. Like herding sheep, they immediately established their dominance and pushed the pursuing barbarians into the center of their formation, trapping them.

The footmen then emerged from the dusty air and threw their anti-magic nets around the Ardant invaders sealing and binding them into submission. As Lord Prestonheim's unit retreated with their haul, a few of the invading warriors shifted their direction of attack over to them.

The Ardant warriors took it upon themselves to attack the outer vanguard defense, trying to overwhelm them with their numbers and magic. The poor outer defense stood no match against the relentless warriors from the west. But as their defense crumbled, Lord Prestonheim was already prepared for the counter measure.

"Fire the cannons!" The silver-head commander yelled as the cannons were perfectly aimed at the direction of the outer formation.

The cannons boomed and sounded like a giant toppling down. The exploding projectiles easily hit its target at the outer area of the vanguard formation hitting the Ardents with iron and fire. The barbarians weren't able to follow through with their counterattack after the heavy bombardment.

Lord Prestonheim's plan worked like a prophecy fleshed out. Soon, his knights were hauling prisoners from the Ardent empire in droves. It was a clear victory for him and his allies. But it couldn't be said the same to the younger commanders.

With their lines broken and their men killed or captured, the commanders made their last-ditch effort to fight the overwhelming forces, but they were far too few of them left. Lord Prestonheim pitied them.

"If only they've listened." He massaged the bridge of his nose as he watched the feisty Mauritious and Varatella were taken by the enemy warriors. Their necks were tied into a chain as they were mercilessly beaten by some Ardent grunts.

"W-what should we do from here, Lord Commander?" His ward asked.

Lord Prestonheim looked back at him in a stoic look, "We follow the plan." He went back to looking at the events below before ordering the final command for the day. "Cannons be ready! Scorched the earth and turn it to hell!"