When both our flanks were hotly engaged, our forward movement in the centre began. It was a costly effort, but it succeeded.
We got them on the run and kept them so, driving a wedge right through the centre of their line towards Villet. It was their left wing which suffered this time from the Loina--that was a fateful river for them. We drove them out of Villet itself, and then began the most terrible struggle of the war, for that small town was life or death to them. Three times they took it, and as many times we drove them out again, each time with greater ease, for every hour saw our position improve, as we concentrated our artillery. Then they found that Villet was lost to them for ever; it was a fact that they realised with difficulty.
But, once they did so, the end came quickly. Cut off from Lorif, their only way of escape back to Bornia, they surrendered in masses. The remainder of their army withdrew sullenly towards their frontier. They conducted their retreat in fairly good order.
Had we liked, we could have utterly crushed them, but we refrained from pressing too closely upon their rearguard for two reasons: we did not wish to sacrifice the lives of our troops needlessly, and the Bornians were hopelessly beaten. I daresay it was wrong not to drive them with all our might, I'm sure that the military text-books would say so, but I was only a civilian after all.
I had sent, as soon as we could spare the troops, a column into Garace, that province which had been lost to us for so long.
They met with little opposition, for the Bornian forces there were very scanty and quite without enterprise, or enthusiasm.
Before we had finished there, almost before the beaten remnant had left Lorif, Bornia sued for peace.
CHAPTER XIV
Bornia sued for peace; they could do nothing else, for they were hopelessly beaten both by land and sea.
Prince Kleber had been busy with the Bornians on the water, and the Soctia had made a great name for herself; a large number of prizes were now in the harbour of Soctia, and she had successfully carried on a vigorous warfare with the Bornian Navy.