The once culturally rich and historic country of Rhene which kings had ruled over for centuries have had a turbulent and brutal reign with King Uryo. Having manifesting the sorrow of guilt, he framed and executed anyone associated with kingdoms outside his own. There were no jurisdiction and those who were accused of such a crime faced a atrocious end by the military.
Economic recession starved the populace, instability from the mass executions made people afraid to seek jobs and slowly but surely the city started to die. Seeing the kingdom of Rhene with such a demoralized population, the kingdoms remobilized their armies. Almost 40% of all men at the time got recruited into the coalition to demolish the power who had ruled for centuries.
Thus started the second coalition against the kingdom of Rhene. Even with a struggling economy, King Uryo was no pushover and initiated a military offensive campaign instead of defensive.
He had divided up the army into small corps that had their own general with him as the commander leading everyone.
They kingdoms had planned out an assault north of Rhene and an ambush down south, planning to encircle the army. But there was no singular army to encircle.
Because the army was in 8 divisions and was evenly spread out. Something never seen at the time. Most kings would gather up all the men in the country and have them all march together but Uryo was no ordinary king.
*South Division of the Rhene*
A young boy with hopes of endless glory stood among his men. Volleys of artillery fire rained down the enemy giving them no time to counter.
The young boy was no other the current frost monarch. He came from a poor bureaucratic family which wasn't even from the empire. He lived and grew up here in Rhene therefore he had responsibility to serve. Having graduated at the top of his class, he entered military service and studied to become an officer. But the previous king's policies were that only qualified individuals could become generals. It was a bullshit system because what the king actually meant was only those with powerful family connections could earn high paying jobs.
When the boy heard that the king had been replaced he knew it was a chance to climb the ranks. And as he had hoped, civil instability, economic instability, national threats and the current king revoking all of the previous policies.
There was something King Uryo always told his people.
"Anyone can become anything."
He annulled the strict hierarchical structure and casted away all the old laws.
For the little boy, this meant getting what he wanted. Glory. His army was demoralized, under rationed and significantly smaller than the gigantic 160 thousand soldiers approaching his country from the south.
But for the 21 year old general there was nothing that could make him bend. If you gathered all the past humans throughout history he would have been the one with ambitions greater than every king or hero ever lived.
He gave speeches, charged in first in battle, got himself dirty in the battlefield, earning him the respects of his men. Against a smaller skirmish when he ordered an almost suicidal charge across a narrow bridge his soldiers charged at his direction.
Having earned the respect and trust of his division from previous battle they were willing to listen to anything the general had to say.
His army of 70 thousand against the combined armies of three kingdoms. But there were a clear weakness with their armies. They had to regroup at one city to fight the south division which meant one thing.
Conquer and divide. A military strategy invented by the lightning offensive general Nale known today as the frost monarch.
The armies were approaching from three places, the south, the south west and north of Rhene. There was a mountain range protecting Rhene's south border and Nale would use this to his advantage.
At shocking speeds he marched his army across the freezing mountains known to have one of the coldest and perilous conditions in the entire world. In the span of 4 days he had marched 70 thousand men across the mountains with minimal causalities.
*North kingdom army*
A few soldiers sat around a fire drinking and eating at night.
A drunk man blabbered on about how their massive coalition would completely decimate the small demoralized army of King Uryo.
The men then cried out about how they were stuck with the boring battle.
"I wish I could have fought up north with the main army…"
"Yeah man, it honestly sucks being left with the job no one wants."
"Hey hey guys wanna hear a joke?"
The crackling sound of fire and the cold winds from the mountains blew upon them.
"What if they charge at us through the mountains!"
Everyone laughed, it was an impossible feat afterall. Those who ventured into those chilly terrain would freeze and fall to their deaths.
As the morning sun rose, the army continued marching to their rendezvous position and meet up with the other armies.
But then they heard a high pitch chirp. What kind of bird would make such a chirp? As the soldiers stared up at the sky they noticed that it wasn't birds but instead hundreds of artillery fire.
They were marching in a narrow road with forests covering them from both sides. Nale had posistioned his artillery in this suprise attack on the hills and as the fleeing enemy soldiers fled into the forest for cover, they were gunned down by infantry hiding in the dense lush.
A complete anilahation of an army the same size of his.
Nale's army:
(69k soldiers, 2-1k casualties)
North army:
(70k soldiers, 65-60k casualties/prisoners of war)
The small amount of soldiers that were able to survive the encounter made it to the rendezvous and informed the two remaining armies.
Generals from both armies slammed their fists in rage and scratched their head hearing the news of the complete decimation of the north army.
But now they had regrouped there was nothing could stop them. With 95 thousand men they wanted to completely destroy him with firepower.
As the two armies finally met. Nale had the high grounds again. But there were one fatal mistake in his formation. There was a garrison completely undefended on his left flank.
The coalition army wanted to swing around and smash through this weakness and completely encircle his army then tear them to shreds.
Unknowingly to the generals it was a mistake Nale had purposely blundered. To make it look even more enticing he left the high grounds.
As a dense mist settled across the plains, the coalition army approached the weak flank. But as they reached high ground a large amount of Rhene soldier rushed at them from all sides completely trapping them on the hills. Then Nale's army swung around and smashed through their backlines, cutting off their communications before firing at the fleeing soldiers that had been cut off from the main army.
This was all Nale needed to inflate his ambitions even further. For his military prowess he was promoted and got an even larger army.
But it all changed when a black mist covered the city of Rhene. It was as if a curse had been placed upon them. As the mist entered his lungs something snapped inside of him and everyone else in the city.
Everyone gradually regained consciousness whilst some stayed in a comatose state. Those who had awakened had become a dragon.
They still looked human, their bodies had been slightly modified. Their nails grew sharp and long, their teeth became fangs and their eyes became one of a reptile.