Battle of Vanderbilt Pass
The single greatest military loss the Afrington Empire has suffered in its long existence, this battle proved the right of the Claydor's to stand on the world stage, and ended a decade's long territory dispute.
The Conflict
Prelude
The Clayden mountains, the range separating the Claydor Kingdom and Afrington Empire, had long been a stable border, but upon discovery of valuable metals in the mountain, the Afrington's claimed they owned the mountains, while the Claydor's refuted the claim. War eventually broken out, being known as the Mountain War, the Battle of Vanderbilt's Pass was the final battle, and the single greatest military loss of the Afrington Empire.
Deployment
1,000 men and women on the Claydor side were equipped with whatever arms and armor they could get their hand on, and spread out across the mountain pass.
6,000 Afrington Empire soldiers were equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and armor, and marched down the valley and through the pass.
Battlefield
Vanderbilt's Pass is a flat, yet narrow valley where the Clayden mountain range is cut in half, and the only way by land in or out of Claydor territory. This pass has seen endless bloodshed in its time. The flat grassy plains make marches easy, while on both sides, pale and dusty cliff-sides slope up and away from the pass, to the cloud-piercing mountains on either side
The Engagement
In the early morning, Afrington Troops began the long march down the pass, knowing they would meet resistance, they expected it to be a direct battle at the end of the pass. As they neared the end, the machinations of the Claydor's came to be known to them. The Claydor's had used magic to dope blasting powder, and used it to trigger a cascade of landslides over a mile stretch on both sides of the pass, effectively drowning a better part of the Afrington army in a sea of rocks. Immediately preceding this, Claydor troops, equipped with spiked shoes to make traversing the rocky landslide remnants easier, charged what was left of the Afrington Army, who were panicked and retreating against any given orders.
Fleeing soldiers were cut down, shot, burnt, and bludgeoned. Once outside of the landslide, the Afrington soldiers managed to get ahead, but the march was long and they could not maintain pace for long.
Colonel Philarion Pendleton commander of the troops, stayed behind all his men in attempt to tarry Claydor troops. It was near an hour later that he returned to camp. No Claydor soldiers are known to have survived encountering him that day, and Philarion himself has not spoken of it, but his soldiers that managed to return to the Forward Operating Camp, along with the Medicals and Apothecaries that treated him that day, have spoken of his gruesome injuries sustained. In a book written by one of the Medicals, his injuries were summed up as thus:
• Fractures, Compound and simple, of 47 bones of the arms, legs, and chest
• Complete flagellation of the majority of skin and flesh uncovered by armor
• 3rd Degree burns on roughly half of all flesh
• Left eye missing, presumed burned
• Left arm missing, trans-humeral amputation by method of cleaving
• Tendons severed in right arm, by method of slicing
• Tendons severed in both legs, seemingly by one singular slash or cleave
• Flail chest, by cause of 6 broken ribs (separate of the earlier fractures)
• Acute hemorrhaging of internal organs
• Disembowelment by stomach laceration
• Fractures of the L2 and L3 Spine Vertebrae
Among a plethora of other injuries. However, he did tarry the Claydor soldiers, yet to little effect. After the troops retreated back to deeper territory, even more Claydor troops began spewing out from the pass, and claimed every inch of territory they could put their feet on. Miles of land past the pass's northern mouth fell into the hands of the Claydor Soldiers, who not only defended it in further attacks to reclaim it immediately after, but have held it for decades without losing any territory.
The loss of men was immense, and Colonel Pendleton was out of service for 2 years recovering from his injuries. The war effectively ended with this battle, leading to a complete Claydor Victory.
Outcome
In the short term, the land that was taken was not exceptionally meaningful for the Afrington's, or so they thought. Something few thought about were the small farming villages in the area. While the food grown there was not particularly consequential to the Empire at large were it to be lost, the foods grown there could only be grown in the climate brought about by being near the southern mountains, a great deal of the empire's fruits and more exotic vegetables were grown here, and come harvest, it was then that the Empire realized the losses. Sickness spread, called Potato-Blight, which was the result of a massive overconsumption of potatoes. Sailors have long referred to the sickness as Scurvy, caused by lack of certain nutrients, now missing due to a large lack of fruit. For a few years, until more farms could be opened to grow fruits, the blight was seen each winter, and thousands died in the following decade.
Aftermath
In the long term, the loss of territory brought great morale to the Claydor troops, and harmed morale in the Afrington Empire at large. Many soldiers of noble bloodline who fled instead of staying to fight were beheaded for treason, and their families lost their noble status. A complete reorganization of the military was instated, and training, warfare, and tactics were put under immense pressure to be refined so that a failure of this scale could never happen again.
Historical Significance
Legacy
There have been two legacies birthed from this battle. The first is Pendleton's legacy as one of, if not the single greatest warrior alive. This would later go on to be one of the main causes of his selection as the next emperor. The second is the Claydor Kingdom establishing legitimacy on the world stage as a power not to be messed with, despite their smaller and lesser-equipped forces.
Start Date
2nd Festdas, Verdun, 792
Ending Date
3rd Wasdas, Verdun, 792
Conflict Result
Loss of land for the Afrington's.
Belligerents
Claydor Kingdom
Strength
6,000 soldiers
1,000 Soldiers
Casualties
5,500 dead, 500 injured.
700 dead, 200 injured
Objectives
To secure Vanderbilt's Pass and enforce their claim to the territories of the Clayden Mountains
To repel the invading Afrington forces and safeguard their territories
Comments