Fire, Charge! 15 (part 2)

Instructions

Chapter 15: Ruina Imperii (second part because scratch's "bad word" detector has more bugs than Australia.) Wasted battle plan! There is no sign of victory! It is too late, Gausstavus couldn't order his army to retreat, even if the snow is almost blinding. The Tsar didn't expect this but this will give him an easier win, it is a zugzwang from the start: if the Karoliner stayed still, Graviton fire will weaken their defenses and reducing the small chance of victory they have. But charging straight at the Tsarist isn't a good idea either because that will mean the Yedinorog guns would be even more devastating and now with the snow greatly reducing their ability to fight. But the Tsar has no idea Idun is currently rallying her army to assist Gausstavus. Even if the Tsarist army was significantly weakened by snow, Yedinorog cannons could still fire properly with their Graviton beams, even though these beams only fire up to medium range it is still devastating, especially for the marching Karoliner. Grand Grenadiers follow behind, acting as reserve ready to be deployed anytime during the battle, unaware that the snow will be too heavy. They marched forwards with some aware that they will be doomed, yet still marching in cohesion with their comrades as a dream of victory is still plausible. Tsarist officers start to see blue and flashes of yellow as the Karoliner starts getting closer to the Tsar's army, though the standard troop cannot see them mostly because of snow and that the Karoliner army is still pretty far away, way beyond firing range. Their battle capabilities start to decrease as they marched closer, the snow blinding their optic and holding their feet like frozen hands. The sound of Tsarist volley started the battle as Karoliner troops fall besides their comrades. They don't return fire, and usually they can return fire within point blank range, but the snow made them slower and a allowed the Tsarist to fire another volley. The Karoliner troops did manage to fire a devastating point blank volley, however the damage is already significantly less than if they weren't shot by two volleys from the Tsarist, then they ran as fast as they could to stand a dozen meters in front of the Tsarist, exchange fire and charged straight at them. The charging Karoliner terrified and managed to rout a lot of the Tsarist, but they quickly managed to envelop around the desperate Karoliner, the Grand Grenadiers are kept in good condition as another attack was launched, other battalions are however ordered to abandon their old doctrine and fire from a longer distance. Idun's cavalry arrived, two thousand shock cavalry and four thousand thousand Vampiric troops using guns dive from the field to strike the Tsarist flank, managing to damage the main line, but Tsarist Black Guards easily routed them as Dragoons deploy rapidly to reinforce the weakened flank. The retreating Vampiric units quickly rallied and recovered, falling back to strike again when the Tsarist lines crack, the snowstorm stops, allowing weapons from both sides to fire significantly stronger shots. All hell breaks loose, fire, bayonet, stocks as smoke start to blind the raging battlefield. Idun's cavalry strikes again but the Tsarist turned their lines and braced in time causing them to be easily routed, some squadron even shattering completely. The Karoliner lines fall back, giving them more space to fire at the Tsarist, but doing so will make them vulnerable so they wait until the Tsarist fired. With them safely retreated, the Karoliner finally got a chance at winning, shock cavalry from the Karoliner rode into the field and managed to shatter and rout some Tsarist lines in the center, but it was not enough and fearing the Tsarist would utterly destroy them they retreated. Varmland Jagere and Strachzi kept skirmishing beyond the main battle, some managing to harass the main lines to provide fire support. Idun's cavalry and Vampiric troops saw the Tsarist guns stop firing, they decided to charge the aperantly vulnerable gun batteries without hesitation, however the guns managed to be transported by horse fast enough and the charging troops of Idun are easily stopped in their tracks by Black Guards managing to stop her once again. The Karoliner lines slowly crack, and when it did, the Tsarist wasted no time. After waiting the Karoliner wait one volley, they charged. The Karoliner routed easily, some trampled by their own comrades and looking at a retreating made the horses panic, the Karoliner lines collapse and the Grand Grenadiers are committed as a last resort, they truly have nothing more to lose. The Grand Grenadiers worked, at least for a while. The overwhelming numbers and lack of organization are just too much for even the most elite units. Slowly they crack, not instantly but slowly bent, and cracks form. Not long after, one by one the Karoliner lines rout. Not long, the entire army is utterly disorganized and broken.