Editing Battle of the Tower

{{event

|partof=[[War of Reckoning]]

|date={{Rosharan date|1173|9|6|4}}{{cite|sa1?}}

|region=Shattered Plains

|location=The [[Tower (Roshar)|Tower]]

|world=Roshar

|universe=[[Cosmere]]

{{quote

|He saw a chance to pull out, letting the Parshendi destroy us. So he did it. A very Alethi thing to do. Ruthless, yet still allowing him to feign a sense of honor or morality.

|[[Dalinar]]'s description of [[Torol Sadeas|Sadeas]]'s betrayal{{book ref|sa1|69}}

}}

The '''Battle of the Tower''' is a major engagement during the [[War of Reckoning]] fought by the combined armies of the [[Alethi]] [[Highprince]]s [[Dalinar Kholin]] and [[Torol Sadeas]] against the [[Parshendi]] forces led by [[Eshonai]]. The engagement takes place on a plateau of the [[Shattered Plains]] called the [[Tower (Roshar)|Tower]], the largest and most coveted of the plateaus.

The battle is actually a trap engineered by Sadeas to murder Dalinar, leading to a massive loss of life, resulting in a strategic and tactical defeat for the Alethi side. In particular, Dalinar's army is severely weakened while Sadeas's army is practically untouched.

{{for|War of Reckoning}}

== The Battle ==

{{image|Shattered Plains.jpg|A map of the [[Shattered Plains]]. The Tower is the large plateau on the lower right.|side=left|width=350px}}

=== The Plan ===

When the horns sounded that a [[chasmfiend]] chrysalis was once again spotted on the Tower, Sadeas came to Dalinar's warcamp to discuss the joint assault. The [[listeners]] traditionally brought ten thousand soldiers to secure the Tower as it is both large and close to [[Narak]]. Two of the sides of the plateau are inaccessible to cross. Sadeas proposed that a joint assault on the Tower would be the perfect time to turn the tide of the war by winning a decisive victory on the plateau that had never been taken and destroying a third of the [[listeners]]' remaining army. Dalinar agreed to the plan. They mobilized seven thousand of Sadeas's troops and eight thousand of Dalinar's troops and marched to the plateau, using only Sadeas's bridges for speed.{{book ref|sa1|64}}

Dalinar and Sadeas planned to launch the assault from the two western plateaus. Sadeas would use thirty-two of the [[Bridge crew]]s to secure a landing spot on the Tower. Dalinar would use the secured ground to bring his army onto the plateau. Dalinar would cut the listener army in half, trapping one side against the cliffs to the southeast of the plateau and the other half between the two armies. Sadeas left scouts on the northern adjacent plateaus to watch and warn of any listener reinforcements. Unbeknownst to Dalinar, Sadeas had his own plan in place for the fight. The strategy he and Dalinar employed would leave him in a perfect position to pull out and leave Dalinar to die with no way of escaping.{{book ref|sa1|65}}

{{image|16 Seconds pre-death by Petar Penev.jpg|side=right|height=250px|[[Dalinar]] and [[Adolin]] preparing for the battle}}

=== The Assault ===

The plan that Dalinar and Sadeas had created for the assault occurs exactly as expected. Sadeas has thirty-two of his Bridge crews, including [[Bridge Four]], charge the plateau. The entirety of Bridge Four had armor covered in carapace. Kaladin and four of his men, including [[Moash]], ran before the bridge to draw listener fire away from the rest of the crew. The listeners mainly targeted Kaladin, recognizing him as the one responsible for the desecration of the bodies. Despite these distractions, the listeners still managed to drop five bridges. Of Bridge Four, [[Skar]] got an arrow to the foot, and [[Teft]] got an arrow to the shoulder. They tended the wounded as the battle continued.{{book ref|sa1|65}}

Dalinar landed his Bridge crews on the plateau once Sadeas secured it enough that the men wouldn't get fired at. He began to push forward, carving through the listener ranks. The listeners attempted to sling enormous rocks at Dalinar in order to stop him, but he climbed the rock they were on and killed them. Filled with the [[Thrill]], Dalinar enjoyed the killing and wished the [[Shardbearer]] would appear to challenge him. When Dalinar realized that the listener he was fighting was young and terrified, the Thrill left him. He felt sick and stopped fighting.{{book ref|sa1|65}}

{{image|The Leap by Grant Hansen.jpg|side=left|width=300px|[[Kaladin]] leaping onto the Tower to save Dalinar and his men}}

=== The Betrayal ===

=== The Rescue ===

{{image|Grave Injustice by Artur Mosca.jpg|Sadeas riding away from the battle|side=right|height=300px}}

{{quote

|Well, you've shown me something today, Sadeas – shown it to me by the very act of trying to remove me. . . You've shown me that I'm still a threat.

|Dalinar to Sadeas after the Battle of the Tower{{book ref|sa1|69}}

}}

As a result of [[Bridge Four]] saving Dalinar's men, Dalinar offers to buy all the [[bridge crew]] from Sadeas's army with 60 emarald [[broam]]s each. After being rejected, he gave up his [[Shardblade]] [[Oathbringer (Shardblade)|Oathbringer]] as price. Although some take an offer of money and freedom, most join Dalinar's army under the command of [[Kaladin]], instantly creating a thousand-man battalion for Dalinar's army. Bridge Four becomes the Kholin family's personal guard, as well as the headquarters unit for this new battalion.

Dalinar, as a direct result of Sadeas's betrayal, insists on becoming the Highprince of War to manage the war directly.

== Characters Present ==

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* [[Rust Elthal]]

* [[Nacomb Gaval]]

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* [[Niter]]

{{history

|prev=[[Assassination of Gavilar]]

|this=Battle of the [[Tower (Roshar)|Tower]]

[[es:Batalla de la Torre]]