The Battle of la Cruz, as well known as the Three Battles of Saint Ricardo or the Bloody Abbey was a actually three successive battles fought at the same day at the initial stages of the First War of the Power at the 2.204 a.a.H between the forces of the Five Kingdoms -the armies of the Kingdoms of La Cruz and Tardos, the Archbishopric of Karentia, the remains of Sargonic, Hunclech and Degolandic forces and the Order of Trébol- against the Dark Legion of Demons.
After the Battle of Huncle, the remnants of the armies of Huncle retreated to the south, to Trebol -a region that had been since the War of the Clover occupied by Sargos, where they joined the forces of the Military Order of Trébol and survivors of the sargonic and degoland armies: but as they were closely followed by the dark legions, these armies marched to the south, to gather with the forces of the kings of La Cruz and Tardos, as well the forces of the Archbishopry of Karentia. The Order of the Clover was to resist in their castles, trying to delay the advance of the dark legions from the north.
However, demons had gotten word of the movements of the human Christian armies thanks to their Flyers, spies and Montangard scouts, so they hurried the march of their armies advancing from the east across the mountain passes of the Southern Angards, with the Montangard scouts and other skirmisher forces successfully cutting down any attempt to warn the forces of the five kingdoms of the forced march of the Dark Legions.
The Three Battles[]
The armies of Tardos and La Cruz were already in position, setting camp after a tiring march on the Hill of the Abbey Saint Ricardo, when they found surprised that a large demonic host arrived over them, rather than an allied army, at the meeting point.
The tired Cruzeños and Tardic hadn't set proper defenses for the camp and weren't ready for the battle, and the battle quickly turned to a massacre, with only pockets of resistance being able to hold longer in the grounds of the Abbey, before being wiped out -the Cruzeño king included-. As the line collapsed, the rout turned to a massacre, and no survivor was able to get past the Dark Legion lines, to bring warning to the allied armies.
As the Karentian army was arriving, only remained the last desperate defence of the abbey, with the royal banner of La Cruz flying on the tower. One more time, thanks to their scouts and flyers, the demons knew of the arrival of the Karentian, and turned much of their forces to face them, while light skirmishers units flanked the forces of the Archbishopric, hidden between the forests.
The Karentians were surprised to find instead of allied armies and a friendly camp, the Dark Legions, but as they approached they had heard the screams of the battlefield, so they expected a battle, but still seeing the banner of La Cruz in the Abbey of Saint Ricardo, thought the bulk of the Cruzeños and Tardic still resisted, so rushed to the aid of their allies, not knowing that the last defender of the abbey had already been slaughtered, and that Ozcura Orcs and other light forces were flanking them.
The charge of the Karentians was successful in pushing the centre of the Demonic forces, but their efforts were bogged down by the remnants of the Tardic-Cruzeño camp, and soon the flanks of the Dark legion closed over them, encircling the small Karentian force, and despite their desperate attempts, they will be slaughtered almost to the last man.
After defeating this second army, the Demonic commanders gave rest to their forces, bringing in fresh troopers to hide along the approaching road taken by the third human army, made up of the remnants of Huncle, Degoland, Sargos and the Order of Trebol, while auxiliaries of the dark legion cleansed the Hill of Saint Ricardo of corpses and remnants of the previous battles, throwing them in the Abbey. Human and Kanov demon servants will be told to wear the arms, shields and clothes of the fallen warriors of the Five Kingdoms, and a fake camp was prepared as a trap to the last remnants of the armies of the Five Kingdoms, while light forces hid along the road in the forests, with the banners of the kings of La Cruz, Tardos and the Archbishop of Karentia flying in the towers of the Abbey.
Later that day, arrived exhausted from their march the human forces: unlike the Karentians, Cruzeños and Tardic in their marches, they had been continuously harassed by Dark Legion forces, and so much of the cavalry was in the rear, and they hoped to find a fortified camp, defended by a strong, allied army.
With dusk -and rumours of monsters and demons in the forests-, the humans hurried to the Abbey, and the sight of the allied banners on top of the hill were a reassuring sight.
As the vanguard of the column was entering in the trap of the camp -were fresh Dark Legionaries waited in hiding-, alarm was raised among humans, recognizing the bloodied disguises of the demon servants. With the alarm of the vanguard, Demon commanders ordered to spring the trap early and attack the column before it could reorganize.
With enemies appearing seemingly from nowhere, the vanguard -led by brethren knights of the Order of Trebol- tried to gain the Abbey to meet with the defending allies -finding instead a graveyard inside of mangled, naked corpses, with the stone floors covered in blood to knees deep, according to the chroniclers-, meanwhile in the centre the infantry tried to form a defensive square around the King of La Cruz. In the rear, attacked from the forests and under the danger of being encircled and cut off, the Hunclech cavalry and nobility decided the terrain wasn't adequate for a cavalry charge, and retreated to try to reform their lines: however, as the infantry noticed this, they thought to be abandoned and broke ranks. With the fleeing infantry and the pursuit by the Dark Legion skirmishers, the retreat of the cavalry to prepare for a charge turned into a full retreat, and so the Hunclech nobility will abandon their infantry and their king.
Without support and with the rearguard retreating, the centre wavered and collapsed, and despite desperate attempts to escape from the slaughter, the king of Huncle was captured by the Dark Legion, before the dark of the night
In the Abbey, between the corpses of their allies, the knights of Trebol tried to resist, but the walls and doors had already been broken in the first battle of the day when the Dark Legion stormed the Cruzeño defense, and while they formed some improvised barricades, they didn't knew that hidden in the cellars, more enemies awaited.
The defence was futile, and with the weakened walls and enemies from within, with a broken moral, the desperate fight was soon over.
Aftermath[]
The armies of the Five Kingdoms were defeated. The King of La Cruz and the Archbishop of Karentia were dead, and the King of Huncle had been captured.
Demonic victory appeared to be total, with no army left in the northwest able to challenge them... and so, rather than to pursue the few dispersed survivors, the demonic commanders were more worried of the castles in their rear in Trebol, Karentia and Huncle, than in the rest of La Cruz and Tardos: so rather than to advance over the south, to sack and capture in a quick campaign these realms, the Dark Legion instead focused in sieging and repressing every pocket of resistance in their rear.
This will give opportunity to the defeated humans to reform their forces, against all prediction of the demonic commanders. The Cruzeño-Tardic forces will reform in Tardos, receiving support and supplies from Akresh, The Cruzeños duchies of Dol-Sorne and the Unlic Empire of Uslen, to continue to resist the demonic invasion, while the Sargonic retreated to Liohn to reform.
While the Dark Legion will later realize their mistake and continue to advance with their rear secured, it gave time for the humans to reorganize their resistance, and while La Cruz and Tardos as well will fall, pockets of resistance will remain for the duration of the war.
The retreat of the Hunclech nobility will as well have long lasting consequences in Huncle. Abandoning their king and their countrymen, it will last in the memory of the hunclech peasants, being one of the justifications for the later Rivieries after the First War of the Power.