The great wolf hunt.
During the closing years of The war of Western expansion when the Dercian army had driven the Clifians almost all the way back across the border reports about large dire wolves attacking soldiers began to arrive in Pearlhal.
After weeks of fighting most days as the Dercians were pushing the Clifians back, both armies were about to settle in for some rest, the Dericans waiting for their supply train to catch up and reinforcements to arrive. The Clifians whose commander would have preferred to use the hold in the Dercians advancement to get some distance between them was forced by the higher-ups to hold their position and stand their ground and hold out for reinforcements to arrive. The Clifian reinforcements did arrive after a few days but the commander had expected soldiers instead it was just kids as he would later describe them.
Some time into this stalemate, the reports of mission soldiers and messengers began to arrive and when during a skirmish between the two forces was interrupted by a pack of, if the soldiers are to be believed at least 30 Dire wolves and it was only after the two sides stopped fighting each other and focus on defending themself against the third party that they managed to stop the attack and drive the wolves off.
The Conflict
Prelude
Both sides had noticed an increase in missing soldiers, in the form of patrols that didn't return or messengers that never made it. When scouts began reporting about giant packs of dire wolves in the area, the commanders from both armies met in an open field and quickly made a temporary truce between them to kill the dire wolves.
Deployment
Both sides deployed hundreds of men to the hunt, later historians have estimated the number of involved to be close to 1000 soldiers in total.
Dercia was supplying mainly infantry and archers with a handful of mages in support roles.
Clifia was sending mainly infantry and only a handful of archers with no mages.
The dire wolf packs in the area are estimated to have been close to 400, this is calculated out from the reports from scouts and the number of wolves that were killed during the hunt.
Battlefield
The area where the two armies were fighting was a flat landscape with the river Moonia running through the middle of the battlefield with the two armies occupying a side each.
While there was a good amount of open space that would limit the possible places where the dire wolves could lay in ambush, the wolves had over the time before what would later be called the Great wolf hunt grown bolder and were now attacking in broad daylight as well as open terrain.
The Engagement
The forces were split into several groups and over the following days walked around in the area searching for tracks from the wolves, sometimes, especially during the night when those groups that didn't have a good night vision were forces to make camp they could sometimes hear the screams of fear and survival mixed in between the howls from the wolves.
Historical Significance
Legacy
In Dercia the two legions who partook in the hunt was later given the title of Legion Venator and Legion Lupus.
In Literature
Back home after the war when the history about the wolf hunt and truce began to spread in both nations as the soldiers were returning home and began telling about their experiences.
In Dercia the story inspired the play: The Hunt.
meanwhile, in Clifia the story was somewhat less public knowledge because the government tried to keep the fact that some of their forces had made a truce with the enemy a secret, yet the story did inspire several plays and a few books were written, most famous was the book the commander of the clifian forces who partook in the hunt, wrote after he retired from the military.
by Caeora
Included under Conflict
Conflict Type
Battle
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
1123
Ending Date
1123
Conflict Result
Dire wolf packs killed or driven of.
Belligerents
Strength
Empire of Dercia: 10.000 men.
Principality of Clifia: 8560 men.
In total from both sides, 1000 soldiers were assigned to the hunting squads.
Casualties
Empire of Dercia: 254 men.
Principality of Clifia: 360 men.
Objectives
Kill the giant packs of dire wolves that have been hunting and killing off soldiers in the area.
Maps
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Mirateia
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