The conquest of Altamura

A fortunate change of circumstances

The campaign to approach Altamura started without the support to the Dragon Empire army of the elite cavalry unit constituted by the Order of the Dragon. The grandmaster felt that he could not justify a conflict of invasion of territories historically belonging to another people, despite the historical tensions between Kharmian and Ahrmur , therefore he used his prerogative of indipendence to keep the Order neutral in the conflict. The effects of this choice were evident at the outset of the military campaign, for Ahrmur army, much better suited to hide in the undergrowth to set up ambushes and retreat quickly, had taken full advantage of their better knowledge of the terrain to slow down Kharmian army, resulting in a trickle of human losses, that crippled the advancing battalion.

A stroke of luck or poison

It seemed very lucky that, when the Kharmian forces were struggling the most, discouraged and bleeding, because of the guerrilla strategy of the defending army, the Gran Master started to suffer of a sudden disease. In a short while, he passed of what seemed to be a urinary blockage. The Order elected a new Gran Master closer to the king that in opposition to his predecessor decide to join the units of the Order to grant the great prize, the conquest of Altamura.

The tipping point

As the knights joined the rest of the army, the disheartened units regained their morale, pushed forward toward the renewed objective that up to a few moments before seemed unreachable. New strategies were experimented to reduce the risk of exposing their flanks while advancing in the woodland, using a small vanguard skilled in camouflage to understand in advance where the enemy could strike. This approach allowed the army to surround the embankment on which the city of Altamura stood proudly. Barhart tried to break the siege with some sorties, but to no avail, therefore elected to negotiate a safe harbour for the elderly, women and children to retreat in other settlement in the Ahrmur inland. In a dramatic