[DM AAR] The Greatest Battles of General Sir Lionel Townshend. (Completed).

[Tim1988]

All the pictures in your previous post don't load (maybe it's cause of my 500 MB of RAM XD)

Hmm. Just had a look and most of them work for me but a few of them only partially load (the top couple of cm). Its possible that imageshack is having some problems? Give it a couple of days and hopefully they'll all work.

[Tim1988]

The Siege of Sofia
The 6th Chapter of my British AAR
By Tim1988

Shortly after the Fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Marathas too were crushed, relegated to a footnote in history. Peace fell across the British Empire for the first time in living memory, and there were street parties and celebrations all over the world. However it was not to last.

The world was quickly falling into a handfull of superpowers, led by the British, who now controlled the Americas, India, North Africa and a large portion of Western Europe. Their long-time allies, the Dutch were also going strong, having made the most of British Naval dominance to allow them to focus on their field armies. They now controlled a sizable territory in North West Europe. Sweden also was still a strong nation. Despite only having a handful of territories in the North, they had a strong and well trained army. In Central Europe, the Prussians had subdued the rest of the German states, creating a new unified Germanic nation, defended by well trained and numerous armies.

However, the main threat to British world domination could be found in the east. The Russian Bear was going strong, having expanded its borders South all of the way past Georgia into the Middle East. They also controlled many territories in South East Europe.

Russia was at war with both Sweden and Prussia, a war that had been at stalemate for years now, with the borders between the nations barely moving. The British government in London decided that they would need to intervene in this conflict to keep the balance of power in Europe in their favour. And so, in the year 1761, Britain declared war on Russia, and its ally Denmark, forming a quadruple alliance with Sweden, Prussia and the United Provinces.

Denmarks' lone province in Iceland fell within the year, a force landing within weeks of the declaration of war, catching the Danes unprepared. All across the British lands armies moved, heading into Russian lands from the South and the West. Several provinces fell to the combined Prussian and British forces, while other armies continued to march on Moscow itself, hoping to rip the heart out of the Russian giant.

General Sir Lionel Townshed was ordered to march his army north out of Rumelia to attack the Russians from the South. And so, in the Summer of 1763, the army found itself dug in around a huge starfort guarding the way into the city of Sofia in Bulgaria. After a short siege the Russians began to sally forth and attack the British lines.

The British were formed up in a defensive crescent, with the artillery in the centre, ready to fire into the Russians as the left the fortress.

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The battle began with a small Russian force sending a probing attack towards the British left. This small attack consisted of several units of gaudily-dressed horsemen, as well as some impressive looking grenadiers, supported by a large group of local peasants and townsfolk.

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The cavalry charged into the British lines, weathering a volley of fire from the British and African troops. As they crashed into the native contingent, the British cavalry counter charged, driving them off and preventing them from breaking through their lines.

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The British troops continued to trade fire with the Russians on the right, long after the cavalry had fled. Eventually though the Russians too routed, the sheer weight of fire being poured into them proving to be too much, whilst their return fire proved ineffective with the British being protected behind sandbags. The Russian citizens showed their bravery though, outlasting the elite grenadiers in the fight, but in the end both left behind them a gruesome pile of dead and dying on the ground.

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Meanwhile, the Russians began to exit the fort, heading for the British left wing. As they left they were caught in a deadly crossfire of musket balls and canister shot, killing and maiming indiscriminately. However the russian regulars were able to form up their lines and return fire despite the horrific casualties sustained.

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Seeing that the majority of their bullets were hitting the defences, the Russian commander ordered his men forwards in a desperate attempt to oust the British from their positions. This move ended with the two armies firing point blank into each other, each volley proving devastating as virtually all of the bullets hit home.

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This wave of Russians was soon defeated, the close fighting favoring the faster reload rate of the elite British veterans over the Russian raw-recruits. To the center however, more Russian troops continued to pour forwards, these too reaching the British defences before they too were forced to fall back under the weight of fire being poured into them from the infantry and the cannons.

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As they fell back, all that was left of the Russian troops was two regiments on the British left, and one towards the right. They were all protected to an extent from the British fire by a small forest, and seeing this, General Townsehend ordered a bayonet charge to clear them out, personally leading the charge on the right. And so, the British and Africans shouted their war cries and leaped over the defenses before charging home. Seeing this, the right hand unit threw down their weapons and fled, but those on the right stood their ground and soon the two were locked in a bitter melee. Eventually though, British numbers told, and the handfull of surviving Russians surrendered to the victorious British, who added Bulgaria to their growing empire.

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To be continued...

Thanks for reading, please leave feedback and comments. Subscribe if you enjoyed it to get notifications of any updates.

And the result for anyone interested:

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[LuckyLewis]

I read this earlier, nicely done.

Very nice pictures if I may say so.

[Tim1988]

An Empire In Mourning

The Seventh and Final Chapter of my British AAR
By Tim 1988

February 27th, 1765
"Someone call the doctor". The call was soon being repeated all across the camp. Within minutes, the surgeon could be seen rushing into the General's tent, still dressed in his night clothes. Several senior officers followed him in, concern etched across their faces. Whispering soon spread through the troops as they tried to guess what all of the commotion was about.

The army was camped out in a large field in the Prussian held territory of Moldavia. They had been making their way north east from Sofia heading towards the recently captured city of Kiev in Ukraine. They were to garrison the city as a deterrent towards the Prussians to its West. Despite being allies in the war against Russia, distrust was growing between the two nations, and with the war nearing its end as Russian city after Russian city fell, it was deemed wise to make sure that the new possessions were protected. The posting was regarded as an easy one for Sir Lionel, a reward for all the hard years of service that he had provided for the empire. He was now an old man, and although he wouldn't admit it infront of others he was far less able to command an army on campaign now, especially in the harsh steppes of Russia.

A few hours later a few of the officers emerged from the tent. Their distress was evident, but they refused to give anything away, instead snapping angrily at the soldiers that had gathered outside the tent, ordering them to get back to their tents or risk a flogging. The soldiers quickly disappeared off, not wanting to risk the wrath of the officers, but by now all sorts of rumors were circulating around the camp.

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The next morning the troops were gathered by the officers and paraded in lines just outside the camp. They were addressed by Colonel Macarthy, the senior officer present.

"Men, I have some bad news", his voice boomed across the troops. "Last night, as some of you may have guessed, Sir Lionel Townshend passed away in his sleep. Dr. Weightman tried his best, but was unable to save him".

A hush had fallen across the troops. Many had been with him since his early campaigns in the Americas, with one or two troops even surviving from his first dreadful raid to Chicasa. They were all fond of the General. Unlike some that they had encountered, he was a fair man, and the troops followed him loyally, because of who he was, not because of beatings and punishments.

"The doctor has discovered that he had a tumor and had been suffering with it for some time. There was nothing that could be done, it was only a matter of time. We will continue to head towards Kiev as we were ordered. You can have one day of rest before we move off. Dismissed".

With that he turned away and strode off leaving the troops to fall into animated chatter over what they had just heard.

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So, that's the end of my AAR seeing as General Sir Lionel Townshend, hero of the British Empire is no more. Thanks to all of you that have taken the time to read this, especially those of you that have left comments and feedback. I hope you've enjoyed it.

Tim1988

[Nanny de Bodemloze]

great job Tim!!! can I nominate your AAR for the competition?

[Tim1988]

great job Tim!!! can I nominate your AAR for the competition?

Glad you enjoyed it. I didn't know there was a competition, but yes feel free to enter it if you wish. Many thanks, Tim1988

[Nanny de Bodemloze]

here is the AAR competition link, with your nomination... http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...40#post7106140

[LuckyLewis]

What an excellent proposal, Nanny!

I loved this AAR, especially the final chapter, it's a shame Townshend's life had to end along with the AAR. I look forward to reading more of your work sir. +rep

[Nanny de Bodemloze]

The more the merrier, I say!

[Tim1988]

Thanks for your support guys. I'm glad you both enjoyed reading it. Unfortunately I wont be able to do any more writing for a while now; in a couple of weeks i'm heading back to uni, so won't have access to my PC for a few months. In the summer I might write some more though if I get around to buying Napoleon.

I've also loved reading both of yours AARs. Especially looking forward to your new video Nanny when it comes out.

One last thing Nanny. Could you change the name on the nomination from "Surrounded" to "The Greatest Battles of General Sir Lionel Townshend" please. Surrounded was only the name of the first chapter. Thanks for entering me into it though.

Tim1988

[Nanny de Bodemloze]

done sir! sorry bout that...I'm easily confused the movie is coming out this weekend

cheers

[Tim1988]

done sir! sorry bout that...I'm easily confused the movie is coming out this weekend

No problem. I've updated the first entry to make it slightly clearer. Thanks for doing that.

Looking forwards to it.

[Tim1988]

If you enjoyed reading this AAR, I've recently started writing a new one, this time using Medieval 2 Total War: Kingdoms. It can be found here if you are interested.

Tim1988

[SirGejor]

AVE!

An excellent read so far! Great Work!+rep

[dacder]

Necropost
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[Tim1988]

Necropost
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Feedback is always welcome, even after the AAR has ended.

[dacder]

Feedback is always welcome, even after the AAR has ended.

In that case great AAR +rep

[Tim1988]

In that case great AAR +rep

lol. thanks :

[SirGejor]

Necropost
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Congratulations mate! His "post" in said enough.! And your positive feedback so ... Wonderful! And filled with history and with his knowledge
You make me proud to be here.

[Tim1988]

May I add this to our scriptorium old chap?

Why yes of course. Thank you very much. :