Battle of Tampalic

The Battle of Tampalic was a land battle between the forces of Tranicopas I of the Second Theddite Empire, and the Osthedian army led by Felonias Terenuplanas. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for Osthedia. During the course of the battle, Tranicopas I was killed, leading to chaos and a subsequent major decline in the power of the Theddite Empire.

Background
Main article: Second Volty War

King Tranicopas I of the Theddian Empire (retroactively referred to as the Second Theddite Empire) inherited a prosperous throne. The only major threat to Theddian stability came from the North, in the form of the sprawling Kingdom of Osthedia. Tranicopas viewed Osthedia as an existential threat to his dynasty, and most of his actions as Emperor were taken, either directly or indirectly, in an effort to counter Osthedian influence in the region. The First Volty War was fought in 16231, but yielded no decisive victory and only resulted in a status quo antebellum and an increase of animosity between the opposing countries. The Second Volty War was begun in an effort to permanently cripple the power of the Osthedian throne. Tranicopas and his allies, the foremost being the Vokissen Confederacy, launched an invasion of Osthedia in September 16276 while the Osthedian king Celethrie I was preoccupied with revolts in the Northeast of the country. Celethrie and most of his army departed from Eserias in October, and did not reach the rest of the Osthedian forces until March of 16277, due to the heavily forested terrain of Osthedia Major. Celethrie made rendezvous with Felonias Terenuplanas, the foremost Osthedian general, southeast of Elenas, which had been occupied by the Theddian army. From there the combined Osthedian army, consisting of about 35,000 infantry and 3,500 cavalry, marched south in an effort to intercept a smaller Theddian army under the leadership of Prume Cataranas. They defeated Cataranas decisively at the Battle of Epetrias, north of the Theddian city of Wulburg. Tranicopas and his army heard news of this defeat, and broke off the siege of Bolfurt that they had been conducting in order to face the Osthedians in battle. The two armies met east of the Theddian-occupied city of Tampalic.

The Battle
Tranicopas and his generals (chief of whom were Plie Catsuvi and Palaunas Ulletras) elected to hold their position in between Tampalic, which would supply them with food, and the Volty river, which prevented Osthedian flanking maneuvers from the East. Terenuplanas positioned his forces south of Tampalic, and began to approach the Theddians from the southwest. The Osthedians were at a major logistical disadvantage: they had no major food supply close by, being within Theddite-occupied and garrisoned territory, and the terrain only offered moderate foraging opportunities. Terenuplanas and Celethrie knew they were in an unmanageable situation, and had to forces Tranicopas into a fight quickly.

Celethrie wielded an army containing over 37,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. Tranicopas' army consisted of mainly Theddian conscripts and career soldiers, accompanied by detachments of soldiers from Vokissen, Pinarea and Terpeoz. In total they numbered about 37,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry--slightly outnumbered, but not to any significant degree.

In an effort to force Tranicopas into the open, Terenuplanas began marching his army toward the city of Tampalic. Tranicopas, worried the city would expel the Theddian garrison and flip back to the Osthedians, attacked as Terenuplanas had hoped. The armies entered formation, but Terenuplanas altered his formation by concentrating his numerically superior cavalry on his right flank. When the battle began, half of the Osthedian cavalry went into position as expected, while the other half lay in wait behind the rest of the right wing. Tranicopas' slightly more experienced men began pushing back the Osthedian center: at this point, Terenuplanas ordered the cavalry in reserve to enter a full charge. The Theddian left wing collapsed as its cavalry was scattered beyond repair. The cavalry pressed their advantage, continuing behind the main Theddian force to attack its encampments, where Tranicopas was directing the battle. The Theddian Emperor and his personal guard saw the attack coming and rushed to form a defensive line, but the disorganized soldiers were crushed under the momentum of the Osthedian cavalry. In an attempt to escape, Tranicopas attempted to escape on horseback, but the chaos surrounding his horse caused it to fall over--crushing the Emperor's spine. The Theddian commanders Plie Catsuvi and Palaunas Ulletras continued the battle outside Tampalic for hours after that, but the Theddians were doomed. As Terenuplanas continued to push and encircle the Theddians with his stronger right wing, word spread through the lines that the emperor had been killed in battle. Morale collapsed and before nightfall that day all the Theddian soldiers had been killed, captured, or deserted. Those that escaped the battle fled to Tampalic itself, where a garrison still held control of the city.

Aftermath
The death of Tranicopas I left the remainder of the Theddian army in disarray. The Osthedians retook the major occupied cities of the Upper Volty soon after the battle, and began a push into the Lower Volty region. The Second Volty War ended with resounding Osthedian victory, and established the Principality of Voltia as a buffer state between Theddia and Osthedia. As a result of the war, the Second Theddite Empire entered a period of decline from which it never fully recovered.