Veils in the Wind
Veils in the Wind is a text on the Southern tribes known collectively as the Delzahn Horde, renowned as ferocious barbarian horse nomads who roam the Southern deserts plaguing the civilized states along the inner sea and ruling over Chiaroscuro the City of Glass. It consists of several volumes, detailing history and various cultural subjects. Each volume
Volume I
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Volume II
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Volume III
The third volume of Veils in the Wind details the methods of warfare employed by the Delzahn tribes.
Each Delzahn soldier (always males, according to the text) typically maintains multiple horses, from two to four. Changing horses often allows their military units to travel at high speed for days without stopping or wearing out the animals. While their logistical apparatus is deemed primitive, with little ability to transport supplies in quantity to their battlefronts, each soldier has an ability to live off the land through scavenging and use of their mounts (worn out horses are devoured, and where water is short mare’s milk and even horse blood are consumed to hydrate the troops), freeing them from the need for complex logistics chains. Ugurnaszir cites an example where a Delzahn raiding force covered 100 miles in a single day, completely outmaneuvering a Paragon force sent to engage them and striking trade caravans deep behind.
This extreme mobility is cited as the key to Delzahn success, allowing both speed beyond that of other armies coupled with scouting at range so routes can be identified and favourable battlefields picked out beforehand.
During battle, each Delzahn is armed with both a short bow and a lance. Both charges and arrow fire are coordinated so each type of attack is unleashed all at once… the foe either closes ranks to resist the lance charge and is struck by a rain of arrows, or disperses to avoid the barrage and becomes vulnerable to the charge.
The Delzahn prize flanking attacks and feigned retreats… forces are invariably split up to ensure the foe will be attacked from sides and rear when the battle is joined, and the armies of the Horde will on occasion seem to break, only to turn on their pursuers once they have become drawn out in a vulnerable line. This tendency towards feints is well-known amongst Southern states, according to Ugurnaszir, and they now take measures against it... they are not always effective, with the author citing two examples: one battle against a patrol out of the Lap where a Delzahn raiding force was broken but allowed to escape due to the assumption it was a feint, and a second battle where the Delzan retreated for three whole days before revealing their deception and turning to obliterate their pursuers.
When facing enemy cavalry, the Delzahn are merciless towards mounts, targeting the foe’s horses explicitly to deny enemy troops mobility. In the Southern deserts, even heavily armoured troops can rarely bard their steeds due to the heat, so this approach is used to great effect with little defence possible against it.
Delzahn forces themselves eschew heavy armour for their own use, though their steeds are sometimes protected by thick cloth backed with silk, and gilded steel plates on the forehead (defending the area the Delzahn themselves prefer to target).
An unusual tactic identified by Ugurnaszir is said to have few modern examples, but was recorded by residents in Chiaroscuro when the Delzahn Horde launched its assault. The horsemen had easily conquered the outlying slums, where the populace was starving and weakened. Those residents along with captured ex-Shogunate troops were deemed 'Perdus' and driven forward against the city walls to take the brunt of enemy arrows and flamepieces, thus leaving the Delzahn warriors safer.
Delzahn commanders are said to allow great leeway to those under their command, demanding only loyalty to the khan and fellow soldiers… forces know to fire together and charge together, but units and soldiers operate independently to accomplish objectives. Ugurnaszir asserts this to be an advantage in short, rapid-paced campaigns, but believes Delzahn morale would be broken and tribesmen scattered in the face of a protracted Imperial Legion campaign of slow advances and fortified outposts.
Personal duelling forms a major part of discipline and promotion to command positions amongst the Delzahn… an officer must prove his right to lead through martial skill and victory, a khan must establish his command over other tribes by defeating them in battle to secure their allegiance. Duels are most often to the death, and Ugurnaszir asserts that a major defeat would trigger a wave of deaths amongst the Delzahn officer corps as commanders were challenged for their posts by those beneath them and tribes sought to break away from their war leaders.
Additional Volumes?
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