"Ertburg you say? Such a city that was cast to ruins by the rampaging Beastmen is now restored? By Sigmar, but this is the only good news I've heard in months."
- Count Godwin Ludenhof upon hearing the news of the liberation of Ertburg.
From the collected diaries of Private Alex Streiber
It's funny, how you begin to see yourself as a veteran.
Most of the old guard from those dark days in the Drakwald militia are dead or were sent home, their wounds to grevious for them to continue duty. As the battles continue, newer faces pass into the ranks and you begin to feel like a stranger. You stick to your comrades, the ones you trained with, fought with, believed in. Then, little by little, that group of brothers trickles away – like grains of sand in an hourglass.
When we got wind that we were marching again against one of the last Beastmen strongholds in the Drakwald, I was overjoyed. The Night Goblins disappeared somewhere in the North, we were told not to pursue and the entire army of Hochland began to reorganize and refit. There was a lot of training going on in Hochland during the past few months, the military surge was increasing as the draft began to take its true effect. I was a little shocked to see so many new faces...
Captain Vulpin had called us as he always did in the company barracks. There was talk, there was movements... the city of Ertburg was going to be liberated and we would be in the main attack.
I'm only nineteen years standard, almost twenty, but I've seen just as much as some of the oldest bastards in the army nevermind the 51st. And now, we were going straight back into it.
When the forward scouting and raid parties returned to Hergig we were briefed. Under the direct command of the new heir, Prince Charles Ludenhof, our mission was straightforward. Hochland had suffered some heavy casualities fighting the goblins, so the attacking force would not be as large as originally intended. The Prince however seemed certain in our resolve and we marched from the city towards Ertburg, death on the wind.
The Diary of Captain Vulpin
We have found Ertburg, the march was easy enough and the boys seem eager for a chance to get some revenge on the beasts.
I am worried though, the new Prince is hot headed and is known for charging head first into the fight ahead of his troops. Charles is a good man, don't get me wrong, but it is this hot headedness that gets men killed unnecessarily.
Some of the new blood are young, younger than some of the boys we started out with. But now those boys have become men, if only from the violence they've witnessed. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to how nervous I was, though things seem to be improving for Hochland. The Empire is in a fragile state, I can attest to that, if a large host of Chaos ever found its way from the Wastes...
Sigmar preserve us, but I'm terrified.
From the collected diaries of Private Alex Streiber
What more is there to say? Ertburg was liberated. I suppose though, for my own sanity at least, I should keep record of what happened. Who knows, maybe someday some poor bastard will stumble across this diary long after I'm dead. Maybe I'll be famous?
The clock struck midnight. We attacked.
Prince Charles is fightening to behold, a massive beast of a man, clad in his full plate armour he is even more a sight! It is also whispered amongst the others that the Prince is godless and athiest... though nobody ever has the guts to ask him in the flesh.
Unlike most of the nobility, he prefers to fight on foot. I guess we all respect him a bit more because of that, at least us foot sloggers.
We carried torches and lanterns as we approached the city from its outskirts. It was eerily quiet, and the long reaches of the Drakwald welled up in the distance. To our left, somewhere anyways, the great river that runs through all of Hochland was flowing but we couldn't see it.
Our rams reached the gate early, smashing into the thick steel again and again.
Enemy arrows whizzed overhead, men dropped before they had time to scream. We provided light covering fire, but for the most part, we were useless. When the gates came down, all we could was watch as the lads charged into the breach. It was a great noise, and the carnage was brutal and absolute.
We began our trek forward, Captain Vulpin leading us on despite the worried look in his eye.
I felt my stomach muscles clench up as they always did from nerves just before a battle. Memories of that horrific defeat drove me onwards, mixing the rush for vengeance and the fear of death into one powerful nameless emotion.
The armies were clashing in the main city center, bodies dropping left and right onto the dirt road.
The Beastmen had descreted the city, unholy symbols dotted its walls and streets. The godless monsters had burnt the city down for the most part and rebuilt it into a fortified encampment long before I was born and had lived there ever since. It felt almost intoxicating realizing how important of a role in history this battle would play out to be, and I used this to carry myself forward alongside my comrades.
There was Brigmire, Weare, Jorgen, and other members of the old guard alongside me. My ever faithful friend, Franz right by my side belting out an old Hochland folk song. Even the worry seemed to fade from Vulpin's eyes as we marched towards the main gate into the city.
Our lads had given them a proper beating, and beast blood ran like rivers in Ertburg that night. They had pushed through the gate by force alone and sent the enemy sprawling back.
Now locked in bloody conflict, they began slaughtering the godless creatures like the fodder they were.
Many of the beasts fled, running away or back into the main city square for a final defense while their Shaman leader made his final stand, surrounded by the swords and pikes of Hochland's finest.
The main gates saw the worst of the fighting, but when the Shaman fell the enemy, demoralised, ran for their very lives.
We showed no mercy that night. Taking up firing positions, we covered our lads up the winding streets fighting off the occassional mob as they fought like cornered animals. The main army marched up the main street, Prince Charles leading the attack as he cut down scores of beastmen with his greatsword.
Mullen, our beloved flagbearer, began taunting the fleeing beasts, wagging his arse at them as we marched over their corpses.
As we were laughing and singing, Captain Vulpin began wheeling us around the outskirts of the city so that we could flank the remaining beasts as they tried to hold the center of the town. A company of Pistoliers had caught wind of our plan and hustled off to close off the other flanks.
Prince Charles and his fighters broke the enemy lines and charged into the city center as we emerged from a side street, taking up a firing line. Still singing, we fired volley after volley into the deformed, mutated beasts.
On the right flank, the Pistoliers were doing the same, firing rounds off from horseback. This, in combination with our own volleys was ripping their lines apart.
I was impressed, and so were many of the lads, at just how effective concentrated firepower could be. I remember tracking one of the Beastmen through my scope and steadied my aim, firing straight and true. The shot whacked into the side of the creatures skull, erupting it into a volcano of gore. It's body slammed onto its side and lay twitching on the ground where it was soon buried beneath the corpses of its comrades.
We marched around behind the last of them as the infanty began to finish the fight. We didn't let a single one of the bastards survive the onslaught. With careful aim, we picked off the rear guard of the last enemy battalion while the beasts up front were mercilessly cut down.
As the battle came to a close, I realized I was trembling. I had cleared my throat and wiped my sweaty palms on my cloak before I realized that I was actually crying. These tears felt strange to me, and I can't really understand why it was that I wept so. Perhaps it was the singing, the comradeship, the feeling of worth.
Ertburg was in the hands of the Empire again, and I knew that this also had the dual meaning that the roads between the various towns and cities of Hochland would be a lot more secure. Though the Drakwald still holds many dangers and horrors, the dreaded beastmen will be counted as one less.
The Prince was in high spirits as well, and we let out a rousing victory cry as the liberation came to a close, the remaining beastmen rounded up and killed without question or hesitation.
It had been a very sound victory and certainly one that proved that Prince Charles was a capable commander despite the rumors and myths that surrounded him.
He was granted the title 'Liberator of Ertburg' and granted juridisction over the city directly.
Much work still must be done however, and we will be staying in Ertburg as the city is rebuilt and its inhabitants return. At least we will get a break from fighting, I'm dreadfully tired of that and the labour will be hard but rewarding in a way that won't have to deal with death and destruction. Perhaps maybe I can even get some leave?
Taken from 'Hochland: A History' by Griff von Cleavesteir
After securing Ertburg, the Prince Charles of Ertburg began its reconstruction in earnest. Lasting for five months, the reconstruction brought many jobs to the region as the work needed to repair, rebuild, and refurbish was seemingly never ending. Members of the clergy were brought in to do a thorough cleansing of the area and when it was deemed fit, the building began.
Within three months, most of the work had been completed with the main section of the city rebuilt to its former glory. The palace was not built until the fourth month, and it was then that it was opened for the public to begin settling. There had been doubts at first that Ertburg would be empty, but it didn't take long for settlers and eager and ambitious merchants to begin setting up shop and home within the walls of the newly liberated community.
Though, even despite the beautiful reconstruction and complete purification of the city, there were still many dark rumors that surrounded it. It wasn't uncommon for some preacher to be found spouting off Chaos idealogy in some of the more run down sections of the restored city, and these instigators were dealt with swiftly – their likes burned in great pyres at the foot of the massive Church of Ertburg in a public ceremony.
Those that had partaken in the battle were given three weeks leave with full pay and pension and awarded a ribbon for their contribution to the battle.
The Guns of Hochland, an AAR.
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