Upon entering the conference hall, Ryan saw that a sand table had already been set up on the meeting table.
The kingdom's regent, Duke Lawn of Connet, Duke Bohemond of Bastogne, Duke Bodrick of Bordeleaux, Duke Adalhard of Lyonnais, along with Duke Mousilon and Duke François of Winford, were all present in the room. When they saw Ryan enter, Duke Bodrick, who had the closest relationship with Ryan, greeted him, "Problem solved?"
"More or less. What's this?" Ryan looked at the sand table. "Care to explain? You're using my conference room to play without my consent?"
"Haha, someone has already given their consent. We all know whose word carries the most weight in this ducal castle." Duke Lawn, who had recovered his humor and optimism after the turmoil of the Matthew Bard rebellion, patted Ryan on the shoulder. "It was Sulia who agreed."
"Well, if she agreed, I have no objections." Ryan shrugged, acknowledging that his wife held the final say. The conference room burst into laughter, clearly aware that Ryan's reputation as a man who defers to his wife was spreading. "Alright, someone explain this war to me. Why are you all so interested in it?"
"I'll do it," Duke Bohemond began recounting the Winter War. "The cause of it all stems from the death of Tsar Boris Bokaha during the final stages of the Great Purge campaign, and your slaying of Egil Red-Eye."
"Uh-huh." The six dukes gathered around the sand table, which depicted the northern terrain of Kislev. The northernmost city of Kislev, one of its three major cities—Prague—was located at the southern end of the map. North of Prague was the Troll Country, and beyond that lay the Mountains of Mourning. North of those mountains were the lands of Norsca and the Chaos Wastes.
The Kislevite forces were marked with red flags and lines, while the Norscan Beresung tribe was marked with black flags and lines.
"Boris Bokaha's death in the Troll Country, north of the Linsk River, at the end of the Great Purge campaign had a severe impact on Kislev's overall strategic layout and future national policy direction. At the time, Kislev had already established several fortresses and castles in the northern part of the Troll Country, near the Mountains of Mourning. The death of the Tsar forced these critical strongholds to be abandoned, and Kislev's borders retreated south of the Linsk River." Duke Bohemond explained, "This poses a grave threat to Kislev's defensive line."
"Ryan, look, the distance between Prague and the northern Beresung and Aesling tribes is guarded only by a few strongholds manned by Boyar nobles. If the barbarian armies suddenly march south, they could almost immediately reach the walls of Prague, and the Boyars with their hundred-strong garrison couldn't hold back the Chaos hordes."
"Indeed, there's no strategic depth at all," Ryan nodded in agreement.
"Therefore, ever since ascending to the throne, Tsarina Katarin has been contemplating recapturing two crucial strongholds in the Troll Country: Ostrosk Fortress in central Troll Country and Slagov Fortress in the north, near the mountain passes." Bohemond pointed to locations north of the Troll Country.
"If they could reclaim these two fortresses and put them back into use, the barbarian armies would find it much harder to reach the walls of Prague directly. Kislev's strategic depth would be greatly expanded, and the area north of the Linsk River could become somewhat safer." Duke Bodrick added, "More importantly, if they could reclaim these fortresses, Kislev could open up trade routes with the Norscan dwarves. The jewels, weapons, and various minerals from Zharr-Naggrund would flow continuously into Kislev, then be sold to the Empire, the Knight Kingdom, and other places."
"I see. Was Kislev unable to send troops before because they were held back by the Skalding tribes to the west?" Ryan leaned closer to the sand table.
"Exactly. After Egil Red-Eye's death, it took the Skalding tribe five years to recover, giving the Kislevites time to build up their strength. This September, under Tsarina Katarin's orders, Marshal Voroshilov led an army of over twenty thousand, equipped with numerous firearms and artillery, to reclaim Ostrosk Fortress and Slagov Fortress." Bohemond continued the briefing. "Marshal Voroshilov launched his campaign from Prague in October, targeting the Beresung tribe entrenched in the northern Troll Country."
"Wait… Kislev's army was over twenty thousand strong, and they suffered over twenty thousand casualties?" Ryan suddenly noticed a discrepancy.
"Hold on, let us explain the course of the war first," Bohemond coughed, indicating Ryan should listen.
Marshal Voroshilov, upon receiving Tsarina Katarin's orders, immediately began assembling a massive army in Prague and launched the campaign in October, indicating a sense of urgency. According to Lawn and François' analysis, Voroshilov was eager to make a name for himself since he hadn't achieved any notable feats after the Great Purge campaign, unlike the Winged Hussars who served the Empire. Additionally, Kislev's material shortages likely prompted the hasty military action.
The war can be divided into two phases.
The first phase lasted from early October to mid-November. Upon learning that the Beresung tribe had only about five thousand men, Marshal Voroshilov took the initiative, relying on superior numbers. He used Ungol horse archers as scouts and the Bear Cavalry as the main assault force to launch a direct attack on Ostrosk Fortress in central Troll Country. The campaign started smoothly, with the Bear Cavalry quickly penetrating deep into the Troll Country.
Olaf Simmason, the Beresung chieftain and Chaos Champion, knew the Kislevites were a formidable force. He chose not to face the powerful Bear Cavalry head-on. Instead, he leveraged the frigid environment of the Troll Country to hinder Kislev's advance, covering his forces' positions in narrow mountain passes, hills, and snow-covered forests. His small raiding parties continually harassed Kislev's rear and supply lines, exhausting the Kislevite forces and causing intermittent disruptions in their logistics.
As the Kislevites neared Ostrosk Fortress, the Beresung tribe concentrated over a dozen warbands into three war cohorts, totaling more than three thousand warriors to defend the fortress. Voroshilov remained confident in the power of his Bear Cavalry. He cut off the Beresung tribe's retreat and surrounded the fortress, relying on his superior numbers and heavy artillery imported from the Empire to launch a full-scale assault. However, the chaos forces, naturally adept at concealment and avoiding traditional defenses, rendered the siege artillery less effective.
In October, the Troll Country experiences only five hours of daylight, and under the cover of night, the fierce and frenzied Chaos forces, empowered by the blessings of the Dark Gods and the harsh environment, launched counterattacks. The extreme cold, high winds, and deep snow posed severe challenges. No matter how resilient the Kislevites were, they couldn't match the barbarians who lived their entire lives in the extreme cold. Some Chaos Champions and Warriors even led their men across frozen lakes and through mountain cliffs. With their supply lines under constant threat, the Kislevite forces suffered heavy resistance and continuous harassment. Several Kislevite regiments were isolated, surrounded, and cut off from supplies, leaving them without proper clothing or food. Thousands froze or starved to death. After losing nearly ten thousand men in just one month, they managed only to reclaim Ostrosk Fortress. Marshal Voroshilov was forced to switch to a defensive stance and request reinforcements.
The war then entered its second phase.
His request for reinforcements was quickly answered by Prague, sending another ten thousand troops, along with substantial artillery and siege equipment.
Bolstered by these reinforcements, Marshal Voroshilov regrouped his forces and, despite their fatigue, pushed north to launch a fierce assault on Slagov Fortress. After several days of intense fighting, the Chaos forces, vastly outnumbered, were forced to abandon Slagov Fortress and gradually retreated toward the mountain passes. However, by this point, the Kislevite forces were exhausted, their logistics depleted.
But Marshal Voroshilov was unwilling to give up. He sent another request for reinforcements to Tsarina Katarin. In response, the Kislev court dispatched another ten thousand troops from the capital, along with several Ice Witches and Tsar Guard Kremlins to join the war.
With sufficient reinforcements, Voroshilov led the Bear Cavalry and Ungol horse archers as the vanguard, with infantry following behind. Through forced marches, they caught up with the Beresung tribe at Kolvozer Ice Lake in the mountain passes of the Mountains of Mourning.
A fierce battle ensued on the frozen lake. The determined Kislevites, supported by elite infantry and the Tsar Guard Kremlins sent by Tsarina Katarin, along with substantial artillery and firearms, finally crushed the remaining three thousand Beresung warriors after a full day of brutal fighting on the ice, leaving only a hundred or so barbarians to escape. Chieftain Olaf Simmason was killed in a volley of musket fire.
For this victory, the Kislevites paid a devastating price. Out of the more than forty thousand troops involved in the entire campaign, fewer than twenty thousand remained by the end. Marshal Voroshilov was demoted to major general in the aftermath by an enraged Tsarina Katarin, and his position as Bear Caval
ry Marshal was taken over by General Konstantin Rokossovsky.
"Losing over twenty thousand men… I recall Kislev's entire army numbering less than eighty thousand. To merely push the barbarians back beyond the mountains, what a costly endeavor." Ryan, having listened to the whole campaign recap, could imagine the brutal nature of the war. "The elite forces left by the former Tsar Boris Bokaha were almost entirely wiped out in this battle."
"After this disastrous defeat, the Kislev kingdom sent us and the Empire a detailed account of the war, acknowledging the massive losses." Lawn gazed at the war map. "Clearly, the Tsarina is showing weakness. Her message is that..."
"She's seeking our support," François added, frowning. "I wonder how Kislev will defend its newly acquired fortresses after suffering such heavy losses. How could the Tsarina allow such a military action, and why did she keep reinforcing despite the unfavorable situation, leading to such a pyrrhic victory?"
"Losing over twenty thousand men to eliminate five thousand barbarians—what a foolish fight!" Bohemond chimed in. "It was nothing but brute force!"
"The reason is simple," Ryan waved his hand. "Gentlemen, have you forgotten that Katarin is a sorceress, not a general? War is not her strong suit. You can't expect an Ice Witch to be as skilled in command as the Empire's military nobility or our knightly lords. Some wizards may excel in warfare, but those are rare cases. Most wizards aren't adept at war."
At this, the others nodded in agreement.
"Katarin doesn't enjoy leading from the front like her father, Boris Bokaha. She rarely even leaves her palace, preferring to shut herself in and conduct research. This war shows that Kislev's military capabilities are declining year by year, and they lack capable commanders." Ryan furrowed his brow. "Kislev has suffered such massive losses. This is bad news. As the northernmost bastion of order in the Old World, if Kislev falls, both we and the Empire will have to face the Chaos threat directly."
"So, should we assemble the knightly armies?" Lawn asked, eager to act.
"No, the Empire will move before us. Karl Franz will be more anxious, and we're too far from Kislev. At least not until Kislev is besieged down to its capital. Besides, this was still a victory. What reinforcements are we sending after a victory?" Ryan signaled that it wasn't necessary, still closely observing the map. "Gentlemen, have you noticed that the northern barbarian activities have become more frequent lately?"
"Indeed," Duke Adalhard of Lyonnais finally found his chance to speak. "Now, the seas of Chaos and Claws are swarming with Norscan longships."
"Something doesn't seem right."
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