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
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