If those brigades were actually sent, since they'd arrive about the time DE sallied out of Fort Tairys and mopped up the AoS, they free him to march to Thesmar to reinforce Hanth and drive the Dohlarans completely out of Siddarmark. (And they'll kill some TLs who really need killlin'!) I'm sure a few galleons will be sent to smash Fort Darymahn to rubble (again) so the TLs have no place to hide. That would open the Taigyn river as a route to supply Fort Tairys and beyond, which is certainly worthwhile.isaac_newton wrote:Hi Donn7axw wrote:Since we now know that Hanth has been put to the back of the line for the new toys, I wonder what will happen when he gets to Evyrtyn. Will he slip around and cut off the canal behind Rychtyr and lay siege to the place? Much of the gear they have sent him would seem suited to defensive siege lines.
At Evyrtyn Hanth will face the St Klymans in significant numbers for the first time. How will that change his tactics?
Also, it has been noted here that Hanth is short of manpower. Presuming that to be true, will DE or EHM reinforce him?
Finally, we know from LAMA that there were still some TL militia in the Ft. Darymahn area... I wonder who is cleaning them out now that the balance has been tipped against them by Hanth's success in ejecting the Dohlarans from the Thesmar area and the destruction of thr Army of Shiloh.
This snippet rounds out the picture somewhat...but still lots to speculate about.
Don
I remember seeing this recently in BCG's second to last 'thoughts' from Allyntyn [section VI of November 896]*, when he is thinking over the deployment of the final echelon of Charisian troops...'Two more independently deployed mounted brigades where being sent south from the capital,where they would sson be teaching the TL guerrillas in the triangle of Southmarch lands between Southguard and the Taigyn river...'
DE is in position to intercept and destroy Ahlverez, which would be a very good thing. Removing the enemy's most competent and experienced general (even if he ends up as a POW) may be crucial in defeating Dohlar.
Let's not forget that the forces being rushed to Evrytyn have the new breech loading rifles, the church's first hand grenades based on the EoC's model, plus the church's first rifled artillery. Cracking that nut isn't going to be easy, especially if Ahlverez manages to bring his 35,000 troops inside. This would be the most even battle fought between the EoC and the CoGA since the final clash of the galleys at the end of OAR. Of course if the Delthak can get within eight miles of Evrytyn, it might have just a wee bit to say about the outcome!
Hanth probably has the forces to lay siege to Evrytyn and to cut the locks behind it, but he doesn't have the forces to besiege it indefinitely, since the roads on either side of the canal are almost as good as high roads for moving troops and supplies, and he can't leave a blocking force because it could be easily encircled and destroyed. The same goes for his forces at Evrytyn. He needs DE in order to drive Dohlar back.
Looking at the strategic map, I can't think of anywhere that DE is needed more than to aid Hanth. Despite the sizable losses HM took in the Battle of the Kyplynger Woods, he still has plenty of men and artillery to hold Glacierheart, and even to go on the offensive against Kaitswyrth unless 600,000 or more Harchongese show up. Even if that happens he can fall back into the woods and decimate them, then fall back to the scar in the forest where the battle that routed Kaitswyrth took place, and if that fails, he has a prepared position on the shore of Ice Lake. He can bleed Kaitswyrth's forces the entire way, and Kaitswyrth's army that was routed by DE wants nothing to do with facing Charisians again. They're beaten before they start, so unless Kaitswyrth is heavily reinforced with troops who have never faced Charisian forces and been beaten, he's simply going to stay put - unless HM comes after him, or until his supplies from the south are cut off, which will happen as soon as the Haarahld VIIs (or even the Rottweilers, though that isn't the plan) sail into the Bay of Bess.
Given that the Haarahld VIIs should be ready to steam by August, and could arrive at Claw Island in September, South Harchong and Desnair will be entirely out of the war by the end of the year. It will be interesting to see if the ICN goes after Gorath immediately, or elects to shut down the Dairynth and Salthar canals first. Trapping Thirsk and the last fleet of the NoG in Gorath Bay would be ideal, but he'll probably sortie as soon as he hears of ICN ships in the Gulf, and there are only two armored ships in the ICN fleet. His ships are badly outranged and the new rifled shells will wreak havoc on any NoG ship they hit, but it's simply not possible to keep the range open under sail. So if Thirsk leaves Gorath, mopping up his fleet will be largely up to the Rottweilers and Haarahld VIIs. A toe-to-toe fight with their unarmored galleons will result in severe damage to ICN ships, although the rifled shells they fire now hit 7x harder and have 10x the explosive power than before, so engagements between any ICN and NoG warships are going to be short and catastrophic for the NoG, but the ICN will take casualties - and some severe ones at that.
One possible sneaky twist that would be helpful - Silkiah is no longer declared a neutral zone by the CoGA, which so far means they've been allowed to begin producing rifles and are up to a whopping 500 a month! I doubt they're thrilled about supporting the jihad, since they were just as enthusiastic as Siddarmark in finding ways around the church mandated boycott of Charisian goods. The SoS caused them to pull their heads into their shells, but if Dohlar ends up surrendering, Silkiah may sign on with the allies. It has no army, but giving free and unfettered access to the Salthar canal would be a huge advantage for the ICN, since it cuts 20,000 miles off of the journey to resupply the fleet in the Gulf of Dohlar, and ironclads can pass through it...