Long March

The Long March
Part of the War of the Magpie and the Dragon
The Earl Kimepra leads his troops to an Exponential outpost by Publius Aurelius Gallo (1632)
Date Late 1614 - November 14, 1615 Location Imperial Kamalbia Result Cadenzan victory
Belligerents
Cadenza	Empire of Exponent
Commanders and leaders
Tariq Kimepra	Tiberius Amantius
Strength
2,000 at start of the march 7,000 by Castrum Tiberium	Varied, never more than a few hundred at a time
Casualties and losses
Undetermined	Undetermined

The Long March (Khadenz: Elancri Rineg; Latin: Iter Longum) was an episode during the War of the Magpie and the Dragon, when the Cadenzan expedition under Tariq Kimepra advanced through Imperial Kamalbia over the course of a year. During the Long March, Kimepra captured numerous Imperial outposts and small towns as he waited for reinforcements to arrive piecemeal. Having landed in Kamalbia with two thousand men, he laid siege to Castrum Tiberium with seven thousand, securing Cadenzan control over the entire province.

There were few pitched battles along the March, although local Imperial guerrillas harried the Cadenzan army as it progressed through a hostile landscape. Kimepra's success in overcoming the logistical nightmare of leading thousands of men, subduing a province and rendezvousing with reinforcements arriving only intermittently earned him the praise and admiration of his superiors, his countrymen and, begrudgingly, his opponents.

Background

Following the humiliating defeat of earl Khaledro Pamma at the Battle of Monsa, the Cadenzan government saw the need to restore the republic's honor by striking another victory against the Empire of Exponent. To secure this victory, the Cadenzans selected the sparsely defended Imperial province of Kamalbia, and called upon general Tariq Kimepra to lead the expedition.

Kimepra's plan was to land in south-eastern Kamalbia with an initial force of two thousand men and move north, seizing Imperial possessions along the coast. The initial landing party was to be periodically reinforced by troops from the Republic, bolstering numbers and replacing any casualties incurred during the march. The plan was strengthened by the fact that the Imperial military would likely be off-balance at this point, dealing with attacks on Monsa, Scottopia and Kamalbia.