Road to...

Handing his two horse pistols to his aide de campe, Ritter von Trimbach orders him to dispatch the beast pursuing Duda.The clumsy fellow misses and Duda rides forth into the gloom with the boar in hot pursuit!

Returning to the task of rallying the men, von Trimbach instructs his captains to identify their Feldwebels and Corporals and inform them that they will be summarily broken back to common soldier if they do not immediately turn their attention to reforming their men, and that corporal punishment is authorised for any private soldiers who ignore their instructions to reform.Von Trimbach finds he cannot be everywhere at once . The corporals seem unable to accomplish this with regard to more than a few individuals...

Von Trimbach finds himself alone on a country road with a wall running along it's edge. He rides along it for some time before he finds himself surrounded by the Saschen-Vindow jaegers. Remaining calm von Trimbach clears his throat to speak...

Post-battle ...

Ritter von Trimbach permits his men pursuit to the nearest defiles and woods' edge before seeking out his standard-bearers and bugler to sound recall. Leaving his colour guard at the vacated wolf-pits, Ritter von Trimbach orders his bugle to continue sounding recall while riding forward with his subordinate officers to rally the men back to the colours.

The fates proved to be against this occurring- the men are scattered and engaged in pursuit and plundering.The officers are ignored and the bugle sounds to no avail. In a copse,which proved darker and thicker than imagined, a boar suddenly emerges from the thick undergrowth. The furious animal charges Duda and his horse. The horse bolts and Duda can little more than hang on for dear life itself...

Rout...

While waiting for the reply from Duda, Oberst Trimbach charges the captain of his first company to detach an ensign, corporal to mark off 200 paces downstream, identify the likeliest spot to ford and return to the regiment's main body...
With no fords being thought to lie within the vicinity ,Duda and Trimbach call their men forward. The water is crossed, the Saschen-Vindow forces break and the enemy routed. The Tradgardlanders pursue them and soon the Regiments are scattered across the countryside. Trimbach and Duda become separated from each other and from their men...

Firstblood...

Oberst Ritter von Trimbach is not a man to nurse grievance over trivial questions of precedence, but he does find that his associate's intrepidity verges on rashness.Consoling himself with a prayer to St. Moritz, von Trimbach sends couriers to summon his company commanders to him, requesting them at the next rest halt to have their Corporals identify men in the ranks with any detailed knowledge of the local terrain of the sort perhaps not captured on the campaign maps.

Two men are identified who know a man ,who knows a man who once was in this part of the Duchy whilst wooing a farmer's daughter. It is established that there might just be some marshland and a stream a few leagues yonder!

Those with local knowledge were proved correct. Our gallant Tradgardlanders advance through the marsh whereupon scouts observe Saschen-Vindow border troops in hastily dug"wolf-pits and in a small copse. After a brief but heated exchange the regimental commanders ask for the advance to be sounded...

Meanwhile in the Duchy of Tradgardland...

Under the watchful eyes ,of the sentries on the Walls of the City,Count Getja Bootzon ,the new ambassador to Tragardland is pictured here with Colonel Alexander von Messing, who will be joining the Tradgardland Life Guard. They are conversing about the recent moves against Saschen-Vindow and await for news of the battle which must surely come...

Border crossing...

The Tradgardlanders marched through the long and dark night until they came to the old wooden bridge that marked the border. They found the frontier post deserted and an eerie stillness was evident all around...

The commander of the Brigade ( by force of his enthusiasm and Duke Karl Frederick's patience having been thereby tested ) was one of the first over the bridge into Saschen-Vindow. His more reserved second in command ( by virtue of him taking a less overt part in the meeting with the Duke) can be seen following closely.

In a few miles they will encounter a mix of forest and marsh and perhaps some opposition too...

Marching forth...

On the express orders of Duke Karl Frederick , 1st and 2nd Tradgarland Infantry Regiments left the Ducal Capital today. They were commanded by their new commanders and accompanied by elements of the Tradagrdland Legione. They are to make for the border with Saschen-Vindow where, in the light of the threat posed by the infernal engine, they are to proceed with all haste to engage the forces of Duke Peter and smash the aforementioned engine. Who knows what awaits them...