Battle for the Bridge on the Yaruga is one of the many battles during the second war with Nilfgaard. Queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia, after the loss of her army, led a guerrilla fight against the Nilfgaardians in Lyria. The army rescued peasants who had been captured by Nilfgaard and forced to work, and destroyed some of Nilfgaard's battalions. When Lyria's troops significantly grew in strength, thanks to many volunteers and mercenaries from Mahakam, Meve decided to cross the Yaruga and move the fight into Nilfgaard-occupied Angren to harass and destroy Nilfgaard's supply lines.
History
On the Red Lobinden's bridge, near Red Port, Meve left some troops to secure the retreat of her army. Meve's host was eventually encountered by a stronger Nilfgaardian army in Angren and mercilessly driven back to the Yaruga. The Lyrians made it to a ferry on the Yaruga river, hoping to at least bring their queen to the other shore, so she would not be captured by the enemy. Meanwhile, on the opposite shore, the Nilfgaardian Daerlan brigade, which had been fighting in Lyria, made it to the ferry at the same time. Ironically, the ferry had just been commandeered by Geralt of Rivia and his companions who were trying to reach the druids in Caed Dhu to get information on Ciri's whereabouts.
Geralt, Dandelion, Regis, Cahir and Milva had been trying to get to the southern shore, when they noticed that an armed group had mistaken them for the enemy and begun shooting on them. Dandelion was able to discern from their banners that they were Lyrian troops, but the group was unable to communicate that they were not the enemy. They decided to return to the north shore when they realized that this route was also blocked by the Nilfgaardians, and so were forced to flee, using the ferry to navigate down the river avoiding both banks. Both, Nilfgaardians and Lyrians desperately tried to get their hands on the ferry and pursued it fervently, until eventually all three groups convened at the bridge near Red Binduga.
Meve's troops, being attacked by a Nilfgaardian regiment on the southern shore fought bitterly to defend themselves. Thanks to Meve, who was fighting in the front lines and was wounded in the face, the troops were not broken and were retreating slowly towards the bridge.
The Daerlan brigade, however, managed to get to the bridge first and promptly attacked the small contigent of Lyrian infantry that was to defend the bridge, shattering it and forcing it into retreat. Geralt and Cahir and the rest of the companions landed not on either shore, but on the bridge itself. Desperate and out of options, Geralt and Cahir gathered the remaining (and fleeing) Lyrian infantry and led them into a counter-attack. They stalled Nilfgaard's advance and recaptured the northern shore it, thus securing the Lyrian rear and enabling the main host to retreat across the river. The Nilfgaardians on the northern shore prepared for a counter-attack, but seeing the superior Lyrian host advancing in their direction, fled and dispersed. When the Lyrian host had crossed the bridge was torn down behind them. After the battle, Geralt was knighted by Meve and Reynard Odo for his significant, though unintended, role in the battle and officially came to be known as Geralt "of Rivia".
Trivia
- Prince Anséis, son of Meve, mentions the battle during Blood and Wine expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
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