The Fall And Rise Of Reggio Perino

Reggio Perino listened to his liege-lord’s demands with restrained patience and a beatific smile. Juan Batista was insisting that the fledgling rebellion needed to show its strength and that instead of picking off caravans and the occasional company, it should storm one of the Laurian castles to send fear into the heart of the loyalists and send a rallying cry to all those who wished to join his cause. The poor sod was not to know, of course, that most of the lords pledged to his banner were in it for their own riches and glory rather than a belief in the righteousness of his claim.

Reggio convinced the prince that attacking one of the strongly-held Laurian castles with their scant forces would be a bad idea, but he relented when Juan Batista pointed out the two castles near Lion Throne territory. They had both been captured from the fanatics, largely with Reggio’s aid, and defended against three overwhelming assaults with Reggio’s company forming the backbone of the meagre defence each time. Their garrisons were ever ragged and undermanned, and the arrogant princeling was right that they would make an easy target. And so, Reggio called the banners to war.

The rebel army set out, 425 men under arms all told. They travelled south over a day and a night until they reached the vicinity of Etrosq Castle, but the Lion Throne had thrown a spear into the spokes.

They had 416 men besieging Etrosq. Evenly matched, although their troops were of higher quality, but doable. Certainly doable. Their sentries spotted Reggio’s men making a wary circle of the siege camp, and as the Papal disciples formed up, Reggio ordered an attack. Neither army was entirely prepared for battle, but the Lion Throne’s readiness was lower, and the rebels were able to bring more men to bear.

Chucking more men at a problem generally helped to solve it, so Reggio was confident. He ordered the pikemen into formation, as was now customary, and kept strict command of the arquebusiers and gunners himself. The Lion Throne, seeing the danger, moved a large infantry formation to meet the Laurians.

The brigadiers and their auxiliaries kept formation well, circling around to attempt to flank the Laurians and hit the arquebusiers. Reggio ordered the gunners back as the pike tercio wheeled to face the enemy infantry. The arquebusiers fired and fell back in an orderly fashion, with the musketry and Reggio’s favoured hand cannon doing great execution.

Goaded by the hail of shot, the enemy abandoned their flanking attempt and charged pell-mell into the Laurian formation, pike against broadsword and spear. A terrible melee ensued.

The Laurians came out on top, although all semblance of order disappeared as the standard bearers were cut down in the press. The surviving soldiers of the Lion Throne fell back in a disciplined line, to reform around new standard bearers, and Reggio arrayed the rebel infantry in a ragged single line to receive the next charge.

Archers and gunners of the Lion Throne moved up to pepper the ragged Laurians at range, and a bloody duel ensued while the main enemy infantry reformed for a second charge. When the charge came, Reggio smiled, for they were mostly Ellisian auxiliaries, not the heavily-armoured Brigadiers. But among them came two Hands of the Pope, the heaviest and most dangerous of all Lion Throne troops.

These servants of the Lion Throne were rarely seen in field armies, and each was worth ten enemy soldiers.

Their halberds did fearful execution on the rebel pikemen, but luckily Reggio could easily spare twenty poor saps to bog them down. They were cut down by sheer weight of numbers, and the remaining Lion Throne troops routed from the field. The Laurian rebels cheered and shook their fists in defiance at the fleeing fanatics; over a hundred of them lay dead in the long grass, with perhaps thirty dead Laurians and as many wounded alongside them. They had won a costly victory.

And three-quarters of the Lion Throne troops remained, readying for the next attack.

Oh damn.

Butcher’s Bill: 42 men dead, 31 men captured.