The Final Confrontation

[DvD-IT]

PROLOGUE: Ancient Times​

Chapter I:

250 BC - 150 BC

A Century of Fight.

With the Romans making easy job of the Carthaginians, the Zulu were worried of DvD taking so much power and influence on the isle. At first, Shaka took an ambiguous behaviour: first allying with one, the day after with another one.
The island was entirely Roman in 200 BC when the newly trained Praetorian Guards smashed the last Greek fortress situated in the hill of Athens.
At that time, Shaka was allied with DvD in an attempt to get a disembark point on the island for an eventual mass invasion, but the Roman fleet blocked every access to the Zulu navy.
At first, this maneuver was 'defensive' only, even if no battle was fought. But then the Roman fleet became bigger and DvD decided under the cloak of the 'national island security' to encircle the whole Zulu island, thus cutting off Shaka from the international trades with the open (but never announced) aim to make him falling behind.
The whole strategy was even more complex: DvD wanted to push Shaka to declare war and invade his land with a secret élite spedition that would have been sent to Zulu island to smash the little opposition and crush the enemy.

But things were a bit different... Shaka, as his impulsive behaviour dictates, could not tolerate the situation so much and decided to unleash his wrath over the DvD Island. And, on 190 BC his ambassadors handed the declaration of war on the hands of the oh so 'dazzled' Roman commanders. In fact they expected a declaration of war, but not that early. Their troops were still at their homeland and preparing for a lightning, offensive military operation, thus unable to switch back to a standard training of basic defending and attacking. Furthermore, a big part of the Roman army was tired of the continuous battles with sporadic Zulu Impis, Carthaginians and Greeks. Withouth the Praetorian Guards they would not have been able to win a war who depleted every resource and drained the physical and mental resistance of the Roman cities.

The Roman Army was unprepared.
And the Zulu secretely signed an alliance with the Gandhi Island.
What could DvD do?

In 150 BC, the first Zulu troops disembark...

 

[andis-1]

AAAARRGGHHH!!!!

...must...get....more! need an update! NOW!

 

[DvD-IT]

PROLOGUE: Ancient Times​

Chapter II:

150 BC - 100 BC

Struggle for Survival

With an impressive amount of efforts and materials spent on the Roman fleet and the continuous wars against Zulu, Carthaginians and Greeks, DvD had to counter another, bigger menace. A menace coming from two isles. One well-known, the Shaka Isle, the other less known but still of a certain military weight (although never unleashed) the Gandhi Isle.
190 BC, and Shaka started his war operations. First, he broke the Roman naval encirclement; the fleet was recalled back. Then in 150 BC, the first wave of Impi troops land on the Roman East coasts.

DvD rallied what he could rally on the coasts to face the Zulu invasion. Even if slightly superior in numbers, the Romans lacked of morale and strenght, while the landed Impis were furious and ready to slaughter every single Roman unit they could encounter.
Not even the fleet could halt the invasion.

140 BC. The Zulu soldiers stood surpisingly calm on the Roman coasts. Although DvD was suspicious about this strange inactivity, he took the occasion to attack the Impis and he led the charge with 4 Praetorian Guards units, 2 Legionaries and 3 Horsemen near the Cannibals River outfall.

The Cannibals River was so called for its weird red bloodlike colour that sometimes less, sometimes more altered its water. This river was flowing just across the Carthaginian capital city, Carthage, more accurately just in front of the Hannibal Palace. Legends tell the Carthaginian Commander had an inclination for tasty human food due to the misleading? thougts river colour, while other say the red colour was just a result of some bizarre experiment. Hannibal was a fervous thinker too.

Ah, the DvD attack.

The river splitted the two sides north and south. The Romans advanced quickly thus avoiding the river weakness. Legions slaughtered 2 Impi divisions moving throught the south-eastern forest, while Praetorian Guards were preparing for a frontal assault. 4 Praetorian Units against the whole bunch of 'em, the result should have been pretty obvious.
In the meanwhile the Roman cavalry, in an attempt to outflank the enemy rearguard, apparently left the battlefield taking a very long way north.

A few minutes later, it's the clash. Legions made the first impact and the Impi started taking the upper hand. However, Praetorian Guards came and prevented the battle to become a Roman bloodbath. The clash lasted long and the result was more and more uncertain as the time passed. Praetorian Guards and Legions moved slowly and compact, with the Legions in defense position, with a flexible formation able to strike powerful blows and give a good protection at the same time. But they were encircled by a massive number of clubmen-ferocious impis and, although at a first time it seemed they could contain their force, after a long period of confusion the Roman mighty Legionary defense was slowly crumbling. In the Impi frenzy, the Roman cavalry took profit by assaulting them by the back and making short work of the Zulu Infantry. The Roman formations regained their force due to the splitting of the enemy units, and the Cavalry smartly engaged the enemies with long lasting fights to give the time to the infantry to reorganize.

At the end of the battle, it was a massacre. For the Zulu.
The Romans had about 15.000 men along with 400 horsemen, while the Zulu fought with an estimated force of 60.000 men. DvD lost just 4.000, Shaka more than 50.000, and the rest of his forces retreated to the coastal Zulu fortification.

A complete failure for his strategy. "Confuse and Attack" was his plan: take the same ambiguous behaviour as they were not in war, acting with unpredictable standings. But he erroneously made his soldiers to appear like hesitating to the eyes of the Romans, giving them the pulse to attack first.
But the Zulu army was immense, and the Indian spedition was quite ready. That time, Shaka would have smashed the Roman fleet and land in different spots at the same moment.

Shaka's wrath. Will DvD tactical acumen be enough to stop his frenzy?

 

[Lord_Iggy]

ALLRIGHT!!! Looking forward to more, as always.

 

[Trogg]

Get antother update soon(while your at it make Basketcase and Iggy update their stories too)

 

[DvD-IT]

The update pace is one a day. Can't get more than that. And in the future it won't be better.

PROLOGUE: Ancient Times​

Chapter III

90 BC - 70 BC

Tasting some Power

With the battle of Cannibals, Rome gained not a real military advantage but a strong troop morale. They recognized their power and stated they could face a two sided invasion from their darkest opponent Zulu (in all senses) and a powerful India.
India, a big isle separated from the world. Apparently. For centuries no one raised important issues or matters over this land nor his leader wanted to. They always walked and grown quietly, unnoticed in their minerals rich, full of jungles island. As the jungle halts communication, the people itself was silent; no one ever met one of their ambassador, if they had one. The few times foreign leaders visited India, they could just visit a humble palace made of jungle wood and stone. They could just meet Gandhi, the Indian leader. Meek just like his palace, Gandhi was a man he went unnoticed by all. His peaceful behaviours, his placid voice, his mild but somewhat strange opinions towards the world happenings. Sometimes he looked like someone who doesn't like to have a strong character but instead living for his very basic needs.
But he was a leader.
However the whole population in his command acted like the same. Acting like... they held a secret.

A secret.

These words and this thought made an instant, dazzling flash in DvD mind.

A secret.

He got it! They hold the secret for centuries, and now they were preparing to unleash it: conquer the world. Their strategy was clear now: keep unnoticed to distract leaders on other businesses, and then immediately unleash their force.

The secret.

Another flash dazzled DvD mind. That time, the flash was a mixture of thoughts about 'cowardice', 'loathing' and such. DvD himself didn't even know what he was thinking. He was just relating to the Indians all the most harsh words, concepts and moral conceptions that belong to the 'Evil' sphere. All in a flash, all in a bang. Even if it could have no reason, or maybe yes. But that was enough to give such reaction to him. An utter, devastating anger. A sudden wrath. His people. The wars he fought. The times he won just by luck. The adversities he faced all days everyday.
Heavenly images.
A stranger people, no, two stranger nations. Angry for some archaic reason. Coming to sack his cities, to devastate his fields, to kill his people!
One of them is the Zulu. Utterly confident of the fact the mighty Roman emperor cheats.
One of them is the Indians. Utterly disgusting for their coward plans, after centuries of well hidden hypocrisy, now suddenly showing their real intents.

Pack them. Who couldn't react?
Pack them in a two seconds thought. Who couldn't explode?

DvD was in the point to. But a wonderful idea saved him from a nervous pain.
The power of propaganda was still on his hands, and inoculating this wrath in his citizens with the enthusiasm of the latest victory would have been much more powerful than every other tactic.

DvD never felt so powerful.


70 BC. The Strangers Strike Again With A New Entry.

The Indians led a massive amount of ships near the Roman capital. They wanted to seize Veii to destabilize the Roman morale; they well thought about not to attack Rome, or Roman wrath would have been disasterous.

The Zulu combined the attack and landed in two places: near the Cannibals River and near Antium. All was planned to encircle Rome and deceive the enemy.

While feelings were uncertain and insubstantial, the Indian and Zulu strenght was very well material. The Roman hopes were based on nonmaterial 'feelings', would have this been enough?

 

[Lord_Iggy]

...Iggy update their stories too)

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! OKAY! I'LL START NOW!!!

 

[DvD-IT]

I'll be away for two-three days thus being unable to update.

I'll leave you with a picture showing Roman troops awaiting the Zulu attack near Antium walls...

 

[Trogg]

More!~!~!~ need...more...

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! OKAY! I'LL START NOW!!!

Glad to hear it

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Well, it's been done for a day. READ IT!

 

[Icmancin]

Where is that pic from?

 

[DvD-IT]

Empire Earth - The Art of Conquest

(I do have Internet Access but no Civ and very limited time. )

 

[Own]

DvD, you need some of these . Just copy them, then click post reply and paste (doesn't work on quick reply).

 

[DvD-IT]

Oh man
I promise you they'll play an important role on the upcoming battle.

 

[Icmancin]

Dvd this is Iceman, please come in. We require news from the front... DvD please respond.... Dvd? DVD!

 

[DvD-IT]

I'm alive...

EDIT: I apologize for the... uh, inconvenience.
Damn 10+ days since last update. Urrgh. I'll get on with it now and see how Zulu will get squashed for the last time.

 

[DvD-IT]

PROLOGUE: Ancient Times​

Chapter IV

69 BC

Double Trick. Or triple.

DvD tried to enact his Propaganda plan, but little was its success. Afterall, citizens were more and more tired of war weariness, and subtle propaganda stirring on concepts like 'Power' 'Foreign Threat' and 'Call to Arms' were distant from their tired eyes.
With a population less inclined to substain another strain on military, with two preponderant armies coming from two different places, Rome's destiny itself was in discussion. Only the well trained soldiers were truly aware of that, and therefore willing to fight until death for their homeland; but citizens seemed they didn't want to hear anything.
Such a great empire formed in so little time.
Such a great expense of top-level military minds and strategists. All of this, and it was near to an end.

DvD passed out.

Legends talk about DvD not awakening up for quite 18 days (they specifically say '29 October - 15 November'), but we know with historical accuracy that's not true. Most probably, he passed out for 18 hours and not days. Maybe his biographer accidentally mispelled 'hours' with 'days', or whatever were the words that time. We can't report the exact fact.

Anyway, when DvD woke up, regained faith and hope, and prepared a military plan for the upcoming battle. The upcoming battles.

As a first step for his plan, he rallied a lot of veteran troops near Veii and Antium, along with fresh, not really willing new recruits. Really, much more near Veii than Antium. Then he moved his fleet and told them to defend the sea near these two cities, but not the cities themselves.

In the newly formed armies of Veii and Antium, DvD created an intelligent mix of veterans and new recruits, with the first ones encouraging the seconds the possible for an epocal clash. Furthermore, special soldiers, whose recovered historical descriptions talk about a name like 'Own' (probably descending from an archaic, DvD's language participle verb of 'encouragers' = Owenai -> Owni -> Own), were trained to fight on the first lines yelling like hell, putting the other soldiers in a lethal frenzy.
All of these implementations, along with the 'standard' easily maneuverable plotons strategy.

The so awaited day came. The Zulu attacked first, and disembarked, as outguessed, near Veii, with an estimated force of 140.000 soldiers, with the Romans possessing about 45-55.000.
Now, there was a problem. Big one.
Roman scouts reported that Zulu had, other than a big mass of clubmen-Impis, newly trained Pikemen, whose defense wasn't that real great but enough to leave the utter supremacy the Roman Praetorian Guards had, in conditions of complete numerical inferiority. It was not told however to Roman troops, so that they wouldn't have been discouraged. A suitable troops disposition was planned for this however.

The day after, the Zulu attack.

Here we can see the first clashes... Roman Legionaries go on a frontal hit, archers stay immediately behind. Cavalry tries to outflank enemy rear but it is blocked from overwhelming infantry, so they fall back defending archers. Praetorians do their job pratically everywhere.

Here, Romans start retreating. Losses are too high. Nothing can stop them. No psychological, nor tactical advance. Nothing against their power.

Here, the disaster. Exultant Zulu troops facing a big pile of Roman dead bodies. For the first time, Romans had a serious defeat. 60.000 the Zulu losses; about 45.000 the Roman ones. But anyway, Antium was open for grabs, and from there the Zulu could set up a stronghold for further expansion in Roman territory.

Situation was critical.

 

[Azash]

Ho-hum.. Is this Civ3 based? Just curious.. Keep it up We want Shaka crushed!

 

[DvD-IT]

This IS Civ3 based. Er, well, part of.
That's the epilogue of the precedent story, when I lost my data for a computer accident.
Actually, the final clash between me and Shaka will be in Modern Age, as this is what my new scenario is specifically set. What I'm writing is like an historical prologue of the last events that will decide the fate of the world. That world.

 

[andis-1]

What game are you using to make those battle graphics?