Vassos and Andronika: Western Empire Camps, Near the City of Elvesland
Vassos grunted, clearly not someone with quite the same faith in the Dawnbringer as Loan and the Prince, "If you will come with me to the Command Tent, I will show you what our scouts tell us we are up against.
The tent wasn't far. A somewhat rickety camp table stood in the centre, which Vassos beckoned the group to form up around a map of what looked like, for the most part, open farmyard dotted with the odd copse and small hamlet. The map was dotted with wooden tokens denoting where troops were to form up.
"Your men will deploy here," he tapped a section of the map where markers indicated the presence of infantry, "There are about 40,000 of Voron's infantry across these fields. With your troops this gives us... around 18,500 infantry in opposition. However, we also have about 17,500 of the finest cavalry in the Empire. Voron has fewer cavalry, 8,000 or so, and they are not of the same quality. They will deploy on the flanks of the infantry with the intent of driving Voron's cavalry from the field, then surrounding his foot. It's the same strategy Orrian employed at Lysfelt to great success on that day."
He paused, "Do not imagine this will be an easy day. We anticipate that Voron will attempt to break through our centre, destroy our infantry and guns, then round on the cavalry. It's the inverse of what we are doing. Our battalions will be a part of that centre formation, will be tested and likely outnumbered in the opening phases. Our job is to hold the line and pray that the Cavalry show up before we are destroyed."
"Any questions?" he finished.
"I have been persuaded to observe the battle from a distance," Andronika chipped it, probably much to the relief of anyone who knew of her tendency to try to 'lead from the front'.