The following is an excerpt from the fifth volume of the /Cedonian Codex/. Written in the year 800 during the Golden Age of Cedonia by a Lucian cleric named Rhys Gathen, the Codex is perhaps the most important history of the rise of the Cedonian Empire. The Codex's objectivity makes it unique among histories. For this reason, it is an invaluable tool for scholars. The fifth volume discusses the Cedonian's conquest of the southern and eastern coasts of the MidSea. The excerpt describes the Empire of Torphan's response to Cedonia's invasion and conquest of East Torphan, Larasia, and Parglug. * * * * * * * * * * * * * In the year 690, the Cedonian Empire invaded the Torphani Shore of the MidSea. Emperor Arden wished to create an overland link between Tanimbar and Junder. At the time, it was believed that Torphan consisted solely of the lands bounded by the River Uns to the west, the Riven Jundara on the east, and the Torphan Range to the south. The Torphani restricted trade and travel in their lands, being very unfriendly to foreigners. Foreign traders were essentially limited to the port cities along the MidSea coast. A favored few foreign travellers penetrated into the interior; they brought back reports of a great wall, running the entire length of the Torphani Range. When asked the purpose of the wall, the Torphani always replied, "Protection." The Legions attacked by sea, making landings at the major Torphani ports: Unster, Fauve Monde, Aseria, and Parmouth. The attacks were swift, sudden, surprising, and supremely successful, taking the Torphani completely by surprise. Within a month, the costal regions were completely under Cedonian control. When the Legions began to push inward, however, a shocking discovery was made: The Torphani Shore was only a fraction of the true Empire of Torphan. In the fall of 690, Cedonian forces had managed to capture a provincial governor's palace before the staff had time to begin destroying documents. In the palace, they found a map showing the true size of the Empire of Torphan, and a set of dispatches ordering the provincial governor to fall back toward the Great Wall, where he would be joined by the main army of 100,000 men under the command of the Torphani Emperor himself. This was nearly shattering news to General Torren, the overall commander of the Cedonian invasion forces, as after allowing for garrisons, security, supply lines, and casualties, he could only field about 64,000 men, and those only if he had time to concentrate his forces. And time might be critical, for the date on the Torphani orders was only a week past. General Torren immediately issued orders for his forces to concentrate in and around Valas, a small village about 130 miles south of Aseria, and located near the gate in the Great Wall through which the Torphani Emperor and his army would be marching. Then, he turned to the priests accompanying the Legions. To Marmdal he prayed for rain; to Mithrak he prayed for inspiration. He received both. The southern part of Qaiyore often has considerable rain in the spring and fall; through the divine intervention of Marmdal, the area to the south of the Torphani Range was hit by a series of long-lasting late autumn storms which turned the ground to mud, slowing the Torphani advance, and buying General Torren the time he needed to concentrate his Legions and prepare the plan that Mithrak had inspired in him. Even Marmdal has his limits, however, and after a week, the rains stopped. Two weeks later, and the Torphani Army was marching through the Valas Gate of the Great Wall. General Torren had pulled his forces back twenty miles from the Wall to a range of low hills forming a semicircle around a grassy plain, with a gap near the center of the arc. He drew up most of his archers, infantry, and engines on the reverse slope, so that the Torphani could not see them; deployed about 10,000 men on the hills where they *would* be visible; and then sent his 14,000 Selarian cavalry out to goad the Torphani. The Selarians attacked the massive Torphani host with their mighty compound bows, sending flights of arrows into the mass of men, then wheeling away before the Torphani could respond. The sheer size of the Torphani army made it nearly impossible to control effectively. It took over an hour for the Torphani Emperor to gather a cavalry force of some 20,000 to pursue the Selarians; when he had gathered them together, he obligingly gave chase, and the Selarians began to retreat back towards General Torren's prepared position. It took about three hours for the Selarians and their Torphani pursuers to reach the location where the Cedonian Legions were secretly positioned. Both sides had been sparing their horses during the long pursuit, but the Selarians began to spur their horses to a gallop, forming into a long, narrow column, and heading straight for the gap in the low hills. The Torphani cavalry also sped up, and began to spread out into a line in preparation for charging the Cedonian infantry. Despite their best efforts, the Torphani were still 150 yards behind the last Selarian when the Selarian column passed through the gap in the hills. And then, disaster struck the Torphani. During the three weeks of time brought by Marmdal's divine rain, the Cedonian Legions had dug a great ditch across the plain before the hills, a ditch eight feet wide by six feet deep, with two-foot-long stakes at the bottom. They left a gap in the ditch big enough for four horsemen to ride abreast in the section in front of the gap in the hills, and then covered the remainder of the ditch so that it could not be seen. When the front line of the Torphani cavalry hit the ditch, they plunged right through the coverings and onto the spikes. Many of the horsemen behind the first line were moving too fast to stop, even through they knew the ditch was there, and they piled in on top of their compatriots. It was at this point that General Torren brought up the force he had hidden on the reverse slope of the hills. The archers fired four volleys of arrows, as fast as they could, and then the infantry charged into the muddle. Under ordinary circumstances, infantry have no business attacking cavalry, but when that same cavalry has lost its mobility advantage and become bogged down, the situation changes. The Legions waded in and began butchering the Torphani trapped in the ditch, while the Selarian cavalry wheeled around to cover the flanks. It was all over in an hour, by which time the sun was setting. Only 7,000 Torphani cavalry managed to escape the massacre, the remainder either perished in the ditch, or surrendered. The Tophani Emperor's body was not found until nearly midnight; it had been at the very bottom of the ditch. The next morning, under a flag of truce, a small party of surviving Torphani officers returned to the main Torphani army. They reported the death of the Emperor to the generals there, and then committed suicide out of shame and grief. The whole Torphani army was thrown into great disarray, and the host began to fall apart. It was learned from captives that the Torphani regarded their Emperor as the living avatar of their primary god. The Emperor's death in battle at the hands of "barbarians" shocked them and their beliefs to the core. When the Cedonians attacked the next day, the Torphani broke and routed, being unable to organize any kind of defense. The Cedonians pursued across the Wall and the Torphani Range, breaking off only due to the onset of winter. In the end, General Torren lost 15,000 of his 64,000 men; the Torphani lost over 50,000 of their 100,000. Reports in the spring of 691 revealed that the Empire of Torphan was embroiled in a Civil War, with the various Noble Houses of Torphan claiming that the former Imperial Family had lost "the Mandate of Heaven." However, none of the Noble Houses could agree on which one of them the Mandate should pass to. Emperor Arden took advantage of the turmoil in Torphan to seize Sebush and Solbania. ************** Here ends the excerpt. Andrew ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
