It occurred to me that the difficulty with the battle scene was not coming into it at the beginning (because the POV character I was using didn't arrive until later), and thus the use of a different POV character might help. Boy, did it. I did spend a terrifying bit of time submerged in cold water in a ditch, but at least I wasn't having to take care of the slow match for a matchlock (that bit is from the movie Alatriste.)
Also found out something very...interesting...and unsettling...about the taig in Lyonya. But it would be spoilers to explain more.