By Mat T
An allied army marched in three separate columns to besiege the Swedish Town in Livonia of Tllage. The Russians arrived first and set up their position on high ground overlooking the town and awaited the arrival of their Polish and Saxon allies. Investing the town with heavy repeated cannonade from well mounted heavy batteries the Russian engineers began constructing siege works by driving trenches towards the walls. The Swedish defenders tried a cavalry raid at night, but the dark winter night was not in their favour and the effort achieved little.
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| Overview of the battlefield |
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| Rupert, master of all he surveys |
Within 2 weeks the Grand Polish army arrived, much cavalry and heavy guns stripped from the walls of nearby Polish towns. The brave Swedish defenders looked upon this great host with worried eyes and sent urgent letters back to Sweden to send a relief army asap. The Poles dug in their guns to the south of the town and added their weight to the heavy bombardment from the Russians.
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| The impressive defensive terrain pieces |
As soon as the Russian engineers had completed a trench parallel to the town walls within 100 yards the Russians tried a powerful assault with 4 battalions of foot. The attack sent 2000 men up against the still relatively undamaged walls and the slaughter was huge. No Slav set a hand on the walls as the men were quickly rejected by a hail of light artillery fire and well-aimed musket volleys. The attack faded fast and many dead and wounded Russians were left to rot on the bloody field before the town.
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| The Swedish fleet moves up the coast |
The Russians retreated back to continuous bombardment of the town walls from long range and awaited the arrival of their Saxon allies with yet more heavy guns.
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| Steve C. makes a decisive move... |
During this time the Swedes had been busy. Off the coast of a Swedish fleet was being gathered. Reinforcements were pulled from Sweden and Finland to assemble a strong enough relief force. General Limburgh had a difficult decision to make. Should he despatch a small force quickly to add to the defenders of Tllage and bolster the defence, or should he wait to gather a bigger relief force to land further up the coast. Having seen how easy it was to brush off the first Russian assault General Limburgh chose to hold his forces back until he reached a critical mass to strike hard and decisively.
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| ... and then another one! |
This decision put a lot of pressure on the isolated Swedish defenders of Tllage. The siege grumbled on for a further 2 months and the heavy continual bombardment of the Russian and Polish guns heavily eroded the towns once proud walls. But still no Swedish sails were to be seen and also the Saxon army had not yet arrived.
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| Dave checks his forces |
Frustrated at the lack of presence of their German allies the Russians chanced another assault and committed 6 battalions to the effort. This time the fighting was more balanced. The Russians surged over the heavily churned ground before the walls and under heavy fire threw their ladders up the pock-marked brick defences and surged up onto the walls. In two locations the fighting was hand to hand, but the Swedes held firm. For a moment it looked like the Tsars flag would be unfurled on the towns walls, but the Russians nerve cracked and the following battalions started to flee. The moment was lost and the town held firm.
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| Steve C. over does the decisive move thing... |
Another few weeks rolled by and then the brave defenders of Tllage were overjoyed to see Swedish sails on the horizon. Relief had come at last and General Limburgh sailed his armada to the north of the Town and landed on the long open beaches several miles to the north. His army deployed out into the broad valley that ran towards the Russian encampment and prepared a grand assault to drive off the invaders. The Russians in turn prepared their defences and the Poles rode up their entire cavalry force to support. At last the Saxons were spotted and the scene was set for a major confrontation.
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| ... and finally settles for a defensive posture. |
Sensing that attack was the best form of defence as the Swedish army deployed off the beaches, the Poles spurred their horses and launched a major charge on the Swedes. General Limburgh deployed his horse to counter this threat and a massive cavalry melee was joined across the entire line. Men and horses swirled across each other and the slaughter was fierce. Initially the Swedes gained the advantage in the centre and a wave of Poles were driven off, but to the left of their main line the Swedes broke and this allowed the Poles to seize a wooded ridge that dominated the left flank of the Swedish relief army.
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| A close-up of the town emplacements |
Worried by their failure to secure this key position the Swedes slowed their advance and the Russians breathed a sigh of relief. With Saxon reinforcements now flowing into their siege encampment the critical vulnerable moment had passed and the two armies settled into an uneasy glaring match across the open valley. Tllage would not be relieved today.
