The Quintuple

The Quintuple was a series of five battles fought in 1579 during the Second Princes' War between the Royalists, fighting for the new Suthar-Mártainn dynasty, and the Princes of _______,_______, and _____. It saw a dramatic turn in the fortunes of the Royalists, putting the rebels from a position to force a surrender to being on the defensive. It was one of the largest campaigns of the war and was the only campaign where a Queen of Fhainnlannachaeran ever led a military unit, as well as featuring the first widespread employment of matchlocks by the Royal Army.

Prelude
The Second Princes' War had began in 1571, but until 1577, had been a stable war for the Crown under Conan Wydd-Màrtainn until his assassination. Afterwards, events moved quickly, with rebel Princes defeating several Royal armies in pitched battles and forcing the surrender of much of the western fringe of the Ninerivers, as well as the entirety of the western reaches and much of the mountain territories bordering Reothadt and Lyukquar.

To compound the Royalist situation, Banrih Cailean's husband, Regent Ruaridh Sutharlan, had been killed the previous year while attempting to secure his claim (via his wife's relation to the Mártainn line and an incomplete vote of the Elector-Princes) at the Battle of Cullohill; for a line already embroiled in conflict with several other cadet branches, this made Cailean's claim to the throne extremely weak. Her main advantages at that point in the war were her popular support, cultivated through a continuous propaganda campaign, which was failing her quickly in the face of repeated losses to the Princes. By the time the armies of the Donnley, Mahon, and McMahon families were prepared to assault Teindún, where Cailean had moved her court in the face of the threat to Umadún, none of the supposedly loyal Princes were willing to march to the aid of the crown, instead urging the Queen to accept a new vote for a monarch.

Ignoring the majority of her advisors and generals, Cailean appointed the Master of the Throneswatch, Brandt Macgwyn, commander of the remaining armies of the Crown and its few responsive vassals. She additionally prepared for campaign herself, insisting that she be present with the Crown Army for campaigning following the end of winter.

Battles of Carnac Dun and Falcarragh
Immediately after the end of February, the Princes bean mobilizing again, assaulting the city of Carnac Dun and forcing a surrender after bringing up cannon on the Eighth of April. This is generally considered the beginning of combat, as it marked the first conflict of the season save for foraging skirmishes. Prince Mahon and McMahon, being distantly related, moved together directly eastward, while Donnley moved up the river Gheal, securing the southern and eastern portions of Lake Cancale. At the same time, the Army of the Rhydwel gave battle to the rebel vanguard at Carnac Dun, being beaten back initially but retreating in good order. The Crown Army, meanwhile, interposed itself between the two branches of the rebel army, attempting to determine if Donnley would leave his position unsupported or not.

The bulk of the rebels, carrying siege guns, moved on Teindún as rapidly as possible, but were met again at Falcarragh by the Army of the Rhydwel. This time, the Royalists refused to give ground, mauling the vanguard of Ardceiterninn elite cavalry and running them off before meeting the main force under the command of Mahon and McMahon. After twelve hours of fighting and repulsing attacks by cavalry and infantry, the AoR were forced to retreat under shelling by the now-emplaced guns of the rebels, which combined with a full day of attrition and harassing cavalry skirmishes reduced the fighting strength of the Army to under twenty thousand, with several thousand wounded being taken along with them. In spite of not abandoning the wounded, this time, the retreat was disorganized and further reduced the strength of the army in the field as other units returned to Teindún piecemeal. The Prince's armies stopped to re-pack their guns and rest before marching on the wartime capital.

Aftereffects
Immediately following the Battle of Cancale, the Duke of Cancale raised his levies in support of the Crown, bringing enough troops to replace those lost by the Royalists in numbers, though not training. This, along with the news of the crushing Royalist victory at Teindun, cowed much of the remaining aristocracy into seeking peace terms or declaring themselves for the Royalists. While not a total victory, the Quintuple and in particular the decimation of Prince McMahon and Prince Mahon's private armies, namely their professional cavalry and mercenaries, made it extremely difficult for the rebel Princes to launch any sort of offensive throughout the rest of the year. It also restabilized the political situation in Dunlann, which had mostly remained neutral but was generally opposed to Royalist power, as the many smaller Crown holdings bordering their own fiefs made for a significant threat that their titles would be seized. This was not unfounded, as Cailean aggressively stripped as many titles from rebel and (insufficiently loyal) lords as possible during and after the war, but the critical loss of respect for the central army was restored after the battles.