Battle reports thread - King of the Romans PBM

[econ21]

This thread is for battle reports in the M2TW HRE PBM "King of the Romans".

[Lucjan]

Dietrich mounted his horse and looked about the men around him. Save for his own company of retainers he'd never seen any of them before in his life, and yet he was expected to lead them to victory against a stone fortification a thousand times their size and with every defensive advantage. He sighed heavily and felt the warmth of his own breathe stick to the inside of his helm.

Most of the preparation for the siege had been accomplished before he even arrived, but he soon realised how bloody a day this would be. Two siege towers and a ram had been arrayed against a stone fortress with a single entrance, surrounded by four defensive towers and the entire enemies force could potentially be mounted on the walls. The siege towers stood, titans on the field, a funnel through which men moved up, and carcasses came down. And then there was the ram, a wooden and leather inferno waiting to happen.

The captain formerly in charge of these men rode up to him. He was a noble of lesser station, probably the cousin or a nephew of a fief's lord, but he spoke respectably and presented himself with some degree of dignity to the steward. "Governor Dietrich, I have been ordered by Kaiser Heinrich to turn this over to you upon your arrival." The man handed him a scroll of little spectacle, save for being stamped with Kaiser's seal and tied with silk. Dietrich had an idea of what it was.

"Designation of army commandership?" He asked, breaking the seal as he spoke.

The other man nodded silently, and maybe even sensed a little of the steward's uneasiness. He started what almost seemed like the beginning of a ramble. "You know... they're not so sure about this anymore. Everything is fine and you get anxious just starving the enemy out, but when the day comes that you need to go spear to spear, you get nervous. And then there's the walls, the biggest weapon you've had for keeping the enemy in one spot suddenly becomes the biggest weapon they have for keeping you out. Kind of asinine really."

"I'll speak to them." Dietrich replied, and the man began discussing the current situation with him.

It didn't take long before the only available options became apparent and clear. They had no advantage in numbers, in quality of arms, in experienced men. A well deployed enemy would take them in the blink of an eye. The only option they had was to make the enemy blink both, and strike them when their eyes were shut. "We don't have much to go with." Dietrich started. "I want the spear militia on the eastern wall with a siege tower, they are, under no circumstances, to actually try to take the walls. Taunt the enemy, hassle them, keep their attention on that side of the wall. One of our archer units should move up to the front gate with the ram, supported by the other, while our spear sargeants wait for the enemy to get distracted at the gates then move up to the western wall with their tower. It's a fairly cut and dry plan, draw the enemy as far east on the walls as possible then scale the west side with our best troops." He almost cringed as he said that, their best troops being barely more capable than the militia.

As the final preparations were made, Dietrich rode up to the center of the line and delivered his speech to the ragtag host they were calling an army. Fine Germans! Today we carry out the first task of many in reuniting our fractured empire. Today we carry out not just the will of the Kaiser, but if we are truly meant to be the leaders of the Christian world, then today we carry out the will of God. Christians our foes may be, but they have turned a deaf ear to the edicts and laws of the Empire, and have proven themselves as both traitors and cowards. Their treachery will not go unpunished on the field this day. God spares no mercy for the wicked, and neither will I! A resounding cheer followed, nervous as the men were, and the march began.

The following battle, though it seemed as an eternity of anxious all wrapped up into a moment for the men involved, lasted no more than a few brief minutes. The siege that had been carried on now for two whole years would end in less than a quarter of an hour.

But it began with the creak of moving siege wheels, and Dietrich's call to "MARCH!".

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The ram moved foward and the archers spread into a loose formation to keep the casualties from enemy fire to a minimum.

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But as they approached the gate, the enemy commander launched a brazen assault through the gates, charging the ram and the archers with a regiment of the local militia.

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Dietrich's cavalry looked uneasy, some like they were about to panic, horses started to move and men leaned backwards, looks of inclination to flee on their faces. Without the ram the cavalry couldn't get through, and the spears assigned to take the walls would face the full weight of the enemy's defence. From the heart of his demoralised and panicing cavalry, Dietrich did the only thing he could think of. He ordered a charge. "Forward! Forward! The enemy commander has exposed himself! Take him! Take him now!" As the order was given it seemed to spark a little fire in the men immediately around him, drawing out a rush of adrenaline and pushing them forward rather than back, the rest followed suit. In moments they were riding through the archers loose formation and coming up, lances lowered, into a clustered charge of shoulder to shoulder cavalry with nowhere to go but straight through the open gate in front of them. The enemy commander, seeing the massed cavalry charge in front of him, was unable to calm the chaos that broke out in his regiment as they tried to reform near the gate. The cavalry drove into them with reckless abandon.

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Before the first ranks of the charge even knew it, they'd punched a hole straight through into the city. The enemy militia were overrun, their commander trampled beneath the hooves of a hundred or so cavalry, and all hope for the defenders had been crushed in a single decisive charge, straight through the main gates.

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"Quickly! Forward! Their archers are on the walls, don't get caught by their arrows! Into the side streets! Use the buildings as cover! Form up for a charge when they come down and let them have it!" Dietrich was barking orders everywhere now, the mass of cavalry had ceased to be anything relating to cohesive regiments and was now a cluster of armored horse and men, barreling into everything in their way with deadly effects. There was nothing the defenders could do now, when they came down from the walls the streets merely formed a channel for the cavalry to shove straight through. Two regiments of enemy archers and a regiment of militia were run down without a chance. It was a massacre.

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As they reached the courtyard, one lone spearman cowered amongst the cavalry, surrounded on all sides.

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The men paused, as if waiting for their commander's orders. Dietrich eyed the man from a distance, his horse plodding over the corpses in the street. It was an unforetunate thing to have to order, but he knew, in this battle at least, that an example had to be made. Thinking back to his earlier speech, he found its finale a fitting command. "God spares no mercy for the wicked, and neither will I."

The surrounding horsement converged on the man, and the battle was done. Perhaps the greatest witness to the battle was just a young boy, hiding in the top branches of a tree in the courtyard, looking down upon the conquerors with awe. His gaze fixated on the army's commander, his armor glinting in the sun. The chronicle of an Empire's revival had begun.

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((OOC - All in all a resounding victory.))

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((OOC - After the battle, unrecoverable losses amounted to a mere 25 archers and 37 mailed knights. Sacking the city earned us 2,000 florins. I think this kicks us off to a good start on the northern frontier and a good start to the game overall.))

[econ21]

The Siege of Metz

"Is that it?" thought Prinz Henry. He'd expected a great citadel. What lay before him was scarcely more than a walled compound. Architecturally, it was overshadowed by a fine monastery on a hill nearby.

Henry shook his head in disappointment, then turned to Sigismund's report. Sigismund had been welcomed into the Royal family unexpectedly. Henry was only 24, Sigismund 27. Yet, Emperor Heinrich had embraced the promising commander as an adopted member of his family. In part, this was because Heinrich had only two sons - Henry and Leopold - rather few to ensure succession in a time of plague and war. Both sons were told to treat Sigismund as a brother. But Henry in particular was instructed to pay special attention to the newcomer. Heinrich had confided that Sigismund, not Leopold, was to succeed to the throne if both Heinrich and Henry should die.

Henry skimmed the report and then looked sideways at its author. What had his father seen in the man that had made him so favoured? Sigismund was looking at the wooden castle in front of them, watching the enemy's movements closely. But there was no hesitation, no apprehension evident in the man's face. Sigismund looked every inch the conquering hero. Henry glanced back at the report; if only he could be so confident!

Sigismund had estimated the Burgundian strength at 60 knights, two regiments of town militia and one of archers. Henry's forces comprised 70 knights, 60 mounted sergeants, two regiments of spear militia and two of archers. He did not have much of an edge - an extra regiment of archers and some mounted sergeants, whose usefulness in the narrow confines of a castle was questionable. If only Henry could persuade his proud knights and their sergeants to dismount, but no - the minor nobles and their lackeys were too proud. "What do you think we are, English?!" a particularly obnoxious one had challenged the Prince.

Still, Sigismund was confident and Sigismund was no fool. They had to learn from Dietrich's victory at Hamburg. Horsemen could be useful in a siege. But they needed to pick their moment. Simply trying to ride into the castle through the gates would only result in two dead heirs to the throne. What was to be done?

"Father ordered two rams to be provided for us." Sigismund observed.

"Father"?! Henry still found it hard to get used to Sigismund calling Heinrich that. He wondered how Leopold felt about it. Did Leopold know he had been passed over? Damn it, focus, thought Henry. Sort out this mess first, let the succession take care of itself.

"Yes, two rams." said Henry, not getting the significance of Sigismund's observation.

Sigismund smiled lightly. "Give me one; I'll go round the back."

Henry stared at him. Sigismund's smile was infectious and Henry laughed. Christ almighty, Sigismund was right! Henry had been thinking of trying to barrel through the front, using one ram as a spare in case the first caught fire. But that was a strategy as subtle as going at the Burgundians with a blunt fruit knife.

"Take it, brother. And may God go with you." said Henry, trying to inject a note of solemnity. The chivalrous Sigismund nodded dutifully and shook Henry's hand firmly, as if in reassurance.

"I will meet you in the castle square." said Sigismund.

Watching the confident warrior leave, somehow Henry's had little doubt that Sigismund would keep his promise.

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Henry could see Sigismund's column march around Metz, heading for the rear, north gate. At first, the defenders ignored the flanking movement. Then Henry could make out the Burgundian archers heading from the castle square to the north. Right, if the archers are going for Sigismund, it is time to bust open the south gate, thought Henry. Let's do it now, before they have a chance to double back and shoot us to hell. Hastily, he ordered his half of the army to advance. But Henry did notice that the Burgundian archers failed to stop at the north gate, instead rushing out of the safety of the walls in their eagerness to fire on Sigismund's column.

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What do they think they are doing?

"Mistake." thought Henry, happily.

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Could Sigismund pull off a cavalry charge? Is the Pope Catholic?

Henry's battering ram reached the south gate, but Sigismund had no need of his ram - he pursued the fleeing Burgundian archers through the north gate.

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Sigismund is the first German into Metz.

With almost perfect synchronisation, Henry's battering ram broke through the front gate as Sigismund's knights rode in from the back.

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The Burgundian knights patiently wait for Henry's battering ram to breach the gate.

The Burgundians sent one regiment of town milita to the north gate to meet Sigismund, while the other regiment and their knights poured out of the breached south gate to stop Henry.

Sigismund had no intention of getting his riders bogged down fighting infantry from the front. So instead of facing the town militia approaching from the castle square, he led his knights on a wild ride south, skirting the castle walls, hotly pursued by the Burgundian foot. At the same time, Sigismund's regiments of spears and archers were racing into the castle, targeting for the rear of Burgundians chasing their commander.

To the south, Henry faced a stiffer challenge. As the Burgundians tried to sally out of the breached gate, Henry ordered his spearmen to form a schiltrom and brought up his own escort in support. But his plans did not work out as he hoped. The militia were too ill trained to quickly form a schiltrom and his own knights did not have sufficient run-up to mount an effective counter-charge. Instead, the southgate became a seething mass of men, hacking and cutting at each other. Henry was near the front, as the Germans pushed their way through the gate. But this was not good - this was not clever strategy, this was just butcher's work.

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A desperate struggle errupts at the south gate

Henry cut and thrust, but then heard a loud hurrah! Sigisimund had worked his way through Metz and was launching a charge into the rear of the Burgundians blocking the south gate!

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He's behind you!

The defenders of the south gate broke, helplessly caught between the butchery of Henry's frontal assault and the elan of Sigismund's rear charge. Soon all that remained of the defenders was the regiment of town militia that had pursued Sigisimund from the north gate. Again, Sigisimund refused to face them frontally. Instead, he pulled his men out north and calmly waited until the Burgundians were locked in combat with the Henry's column pushing in from the south gate. Then he launched a charge into their flank. The Burgundians capitulated almost instanteously.

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Sigismund waits for the last regiment of Burgundians to get locked in combat before striking at their long flank.

After the battle, Henry magnaminously spared the citizens of Metz from any abuse. Only a miserly 52 florins were gathered for the Imperial treasury from the occupation. Henry wanted to keep the respect of the chivalrous Sigismund. And anyway, the little castle really was rather insignificant - blackening the good name of the Empire to sack or exterminate it would only bring a few hundred florins.

But in truth, Henry cared little for Metz. What mattered was that he had weathered his first battle and emerged with some credit. He had taken a castle guarded by 366 men for the loss of only 55 Germans - 33 of them, unfortunate spearmen who had failed to form schiltrom in time to fend off the Burgundian knights. With some schadenfreude, Henry later learned that a small French army had been spotted south of Metz. The Germans had not only defeated the Burgundians - they had beaten the French in the race to the castle.

That night, Henry feasted well, drinking to the health of Dietrich, who had taught him the utility of cavalry in a castle assault, and to Sigismund, who had reminded him he had two rams.

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[OverKnight]

The Assault on Bern

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Otto von Kassel gazed at Bern from a hill near the castle. The wind whipped against him cutting through his cloak. Winter had descended on the Alps and still the rebels held out, with a limitless supply, it seemed, of food and patience. The Kaiser, not having the latter, had ordered an assault. Nearly 700 men lay waiting for them in that castle, two companies of knights, two units of crossbowmen, and four units of sergeant spearmen, their numbers barely reduced by the long siege. Otto commanded almost 900 men, and he had been ordered to take that hulking stone castle with less than an advantage of 200 men. Suppressing a shiver, Otto did not know if from the cold or the thought of what lay ahead, he turned and faced his Lieutenants. He spoke to Count der Stolze, who had led two companies of spearmen, plus his own household knights, from Metz.

"Sigismund, I am afraid that there is no rear gate for you to assault this time. Your Swabian militia spearmen will man the two siege towers placed to the right of the only gate. I'm also assigning you my unit of mailed knights to command. You are to follow behind the towers with the cavalry."

Sigismund nodded his assent. Otto continued, "My own sergeant spearmen will man the one siege tower to the left of the the gate and the ram itself. They have the best armor of the footmen, and I hope that protects the men on the ram as they will not have the towers to shelter them. I will follow behind with my escort and the mounted sergeants."

The commanders of the spearman and knights voiced their understanding while Otto faced the leader of the archers, "Jan, your men will be flanked out on either side of the castle, two units on their right, and one on their left. You'll have the ladders. I want your most reliable man to command that lone company."

"Ja General," replied the archer.

Having taken care of the disposition of the men, Otto spoke of the plan of attack, "I doubt those bastards in there will kindly open up the gate like they did in Hamburg, and as I just said, they only have one. However, that means that can't sally out to get our archers without impaling themselves on our spearman.

"I'm flanking the archers to draw some of their men away from the gate. The towers will go in first. The ram will follow after a short time, and then the cavalry."

Sigismund looked puzzled and interrupted, "Otto, without archers covering the advance of the towers, they'll be vulnerable. . .Ah, but you're smirking, what do you have in mind?"

Otto chuckled, "We have spent too much time in this camp dicing for me to get anything past you Sir! The towers are merely a distraction. We don't have a large enough advantage in men to slug it out on the battlements. The towers will serve to cover the troops until they get to the walls. The focus is on the ram, the towers will draw fire away from it and make sure as many of the schwein as possible stay on the walls and not move to the gate. A few moments before the gate is shattered, our spearmen will leave the towers and rush it. I hope to overwhelm the men there before reinforcements arrive down from the walls.

"Once we have breached the gate and entered the castle, I hope to catch their men coming off the walls, they'll be out of breath and disorganized, easy to break. I hope their commander, seeing this, will decide that those archers are just a distraction. He'll redeploy his men to the more imminent threat. Jan, that is when the archers will scale the walls! Once they're up there the archers on their right flank will be in a perfect position to fire down into the courtyard. The unit on the left will have to advance into the Castle a bit.

"Once those pieces are in place, there's not much left to do but converge on the courtyard. Cavalry, flank them if you can, and don't, don't get ahead of the spearmen! Infantry, stay together. Archers put as many arrows into that courtyard as you can!

"We don't have the advantage in numbers here for a proper siege assault, we have to rely on deception and timing. See to your men, emphasize this, and remind them of the pillage that awaits them!"


The host was drawn up as ordered. Otto, with Sigismund riding beside him, rode down the line surveying the troops. Stopping in between the Bavarians and Swabians, Otto motioned for the Count to speak.

"Men of Bavaria, follow von Kassel to the death. I know the bravery that lies in your hearts; do not allow fear to set in. I know the Swiss better than most; I have traveled around Bern many years ago and I know the valour which these mountaineers show. But they are only mountaineers, not city dwellers. Their skills are of little use against valiant Bavarians.

And to my fellow Swabians and Burgundians; follow me lads, follow me, and there will be honour and glory for us all in equal measure.

For Gott, the Kaiser, and the Reich!" (OOC: Contributed by Ignoramus)

Otto grinned at Sigismund, "Finer words were never spoken my lord!"

Raising himself up on his stirrups, Otto bellowed to the army, "You heard the Count! Together there is no force on this earth that can stop the Reich! We will storm this castle! We will sow confusion and fear among them! They will run before us, and they will die! For the Kaiser! For the Reich!"

"For the Kaiser! For the Reich!", echoed the host in a thunderous cheer.

Turning his horse to the castle, Otto drew his sword and pointed it toward the gate, "Attack!"

Spearmen heaved against the siege towers and they began to move ponderously forward. The assault on Bern had begun.

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Arrows and bolts began flying towards the siege towers. Men, Otto's men, began to fall. A few fire arrows found the ram, and Otto cringed inside. The ram was the key, if it burned, he would be unable to bring his cavalry into play and the battle would be lost.

"Go for the towers," he muttered trying to will it so.

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As if in answer to Otto the siege tower to his left blossomed into flames, its men abandoned it, holding their shields aloft for some small protection as they began to march to the gate. Otto swore, diversion or not he hated to see a tower burn. The ram continued on its way, but with the left tower gone it was coming under heavy attack. Time to offer another target. "Cavalry forward!", yelled Otto.

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"Sch**ße!", Otto screamed. Missiles were falling among the cavalry now, a knight to his left was thrown from his horse as a crossbow bolt tore into his shoulder. The army was taking heavy losses. But over the din of battle, Otto could hear the reverberation of wood striking on metal. The ram was at the gate! Otto could hear a horn blow to his right, Sigismund was ordering the men of the last intact tower to the gate.

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The gate was breached! Otto bellowed, "All spearmen into the gateway!"

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As the human wave of troops poured through all organization was lost, but the gambit had worked, only one enemy unit of spearmen opposed them. Otto could see, however, troops rushing along the battlements to the gate towers, they would be emerging from the stairways very soon. The momentary advantage in numbers and momentum would be lost if decisive action was not taken, "Cavalry, charge!"

Knights, nobles and mounted sergeants rushed to join the chaotic melee at the gateway. It was far from ideal use of cavalry but they were needed to punch a hole through the spearmen.

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Reeling from the onslaught, the surviving rebel spearman, and a few crossbowmen caught fleeing the walls, began to run to the safety of the castle courtyard. Otto spurred his horse after them, they must be run down before they could reach the square! The Imperial army surged forward, glad to be rid of arrow fire and finally killing the enemy.

Almost too late Otto realized that half of the rebel knights were charging forward to cover the retreat of their footmen. "Cavalry halt! Spearmen forward!", Otto cried, praying that the spearmen, already down to half strength would be able to hold.

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A repeat of the battle at the gate ensued with spearmen and cavalry from both sides engaged. As Otto fought for his life, he heard the sound of arrows striking metal and flesh. Looking up to his left, he saw that two units of his archers had indeed scaled the battlements and were now firing down into the castle yard! Wheeling to his right, he saw the other archer company making its way through the castle from the west.

The rebels were momentarily stunned by this development, and Otto took the opportunity to charge their captain. The man took Otto's first sword blow on his shield and struck back quickly, the slash glanced off Otto's shield and caught him on the side of his helm. The world went white.

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A Bavarian spearman skewered the captain before he could deal the killing blow. Otto regained his senses and saw the rebels were falling back, disheartened by the loss of their leader. "Hold! Let the archers earn their keep!", he yelled as he tasted blood in his own mouth.

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The remaining rebel knights, arrow bit and desperate, charged out. They were followed by crossbowmen, drawing their swords. They were both repulsed by bloodied Imperial spearmen. Seeing that he had broken the back of his enemy Otto called for an advance by his horsemen, "Finish them!"

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As he was gutting one of the few crossbowmen left in the square, Otto looked up and saw the last company of rebel spearman engaged with his archers on the wall! Gathering his remaining men he charged to releive them, but he was too late. An archer company had been slaughtered and they were running for their lives.

The rebel spearmen, now free of their bloody work, looked down and saw the host in front them. They saw that their comrades were slain and that they were surrounded. Making their way down the stairs of the nearest tower they threw away their spears, freshly covered with the blood of German archers, and raised their hands in surrender. The battle was over. They would be spared.

Otto paused, the castle was his, the day was his, but at a terrible cost. His grand plan had devolved into a bloody mess. A cold rage filled him. Those schwein had killed his archers, adding to his losses, even knowing they were defeated. And now they wanted mercy, fresh from that deed!

"Kill them all!", Otto commanded as he spurred his horse toward the rebels. Screaming in fury, in pain, and in triumph the Imperial army followed him. The battle was over very shortly after that.

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Bern was sacked with 1566 florins going to the Imperial coffers. 541 civilians lost their lives.

The Butcher's Bill:

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Starting Troop Levels:

Ending Troops Levels:

[TinCow]

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The Steward of Bavaria surveyed the army before him. It was a strong force, capable of breaking a large army on an open field. “Such a shame they’re behind walls,” Mandorf growled. He looked with displeasure at the Franconian force.

They had erected three great rams with which to bring down the walls of Stettin. The construction had been done properly and they would do the job admirably. Such a shame that there were only two regiments of foot to man them. Half the damned army was cavalry and two of the four regiments of unmounted men were simple peasant archers. The rest were fine quality cavalry. Magnificent specimens of German soldiers… who would die quickly in a pitched street battle against massed spears.

Mandorf shrugged, if this was the army that Dietrich supplied him with, the Duke of Franconia would have little cause to complain when they needed fewer stables to house them. “At least I won’t be responsible for butchering good Bavarian sons.” Mandorf looked down at the rough map sketched in the dirt before him. He called over his second in command.

“Take two rams and the knights to the east wall. Break through there and destroy whatever opposes you.” The Steward of Bavaria pointed with a stick at a mark indicating the front gate. “I will attack with the remaining ram…” he moved the stick slightly left, “…here.”

A look of confusion crossed the Second’s face. “You have something to say?” asked Mandorf, with little enthusiasm.

“Sir, a flanking maneuver is most wise, but why does the direct assault go against a wall rather than the gate? It will be far more costly to repair such a breach than to simply replace the doors.”

Mandorf snorted. “Yes, but it will not be Bavarian money that will be spent fixing the damage, will it? Besides,” he gestured at the view before him, “this place is a hovel. There is nothing worth possessing here anyway.”

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He looked over at the Franconian force. “Well, let’s get this butchery done with. I long to return to Bavaria. These northern lands have the worst wine I have ever encountered. I do not know how Dietrich tolerates such places.”

Mandorf swung up into his saddle. “Time to smother these rebels in Franconian horseflesh.”

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[GeneralHankerchief]

Florence, 1114

The messenger was brief.

"Mein Kaiser! Sergeant Anshelm has spotted a large group of brigands immediately to the west of here!"

Kaiser Heinrich sighed. "Again?" This would not be the first time that he had to deal with brigands near the Reich's newest Italian possession. The last time, the guilty party had been blocking the road to Rome.

"It's different this time," said the messenger. "They're bigger... stronger. They are, how do I say this... I am not a learned man you see..."

Heinrich had a pretty good idea of what the man meant. "A legitimate opposition?"

The messenger nodded. "If what you just said means a worthy enemy, then you're right, mein Kaiser."

Heinrich looked at his captain of the Florentine garrison. The captain, expecting an order, finished the Kaiser's sentence before he even started it.

"Muster the garrison, mein Kaiser?"

Heinrich smiled thinly. "Not yet. Get them ready though. I'm going shopping first."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

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The shopping that the Kaiser referred to was that of recruiting mercenaries in order to make the task of defeating this force of brigands slightly easier. Ordinarily, the Kaiser would have frowned upon such tactics, but his own force was of particularly low quality and the money was coming easier than it had been in many years.

The mercenaries immediately began to prove themselves, however, when the regiment of crossbowmen hired started firing at the enemy long before the peasant archers were in range. They were accurate, and powerful too.

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Despite this, the enemy army (for it truly was an army, especially if Heinrich's scraped-together force was to be considered one) kept coming as if nothing had happened. This in itself was strange, but there were many other signs that the Kaiser had noticed.

First of all, the way it was set up, the way they deployed, the way they marched, seemed... professional. As if this wasn't just some ragtag band of farmers that didn't like life under the Reich. And then there was the army composition. Sergeant spearmen? Those were currently the top-quality units recruited in Innsbruck. Pavise crossbowmen? Staufen was far away from making those shields for their archers. And then there was the commanding regiment.

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Feudal Knights! Heinrich could only dream of having those men defend the Reich! How could simple brigands afford that kind of armour, that kind of decoration for their horses? And their leader! This Alcabe de Buona wasn't decked in a simple suit of armour; no, he had a worthy commanding uniform on! Something was up.

The battle progressed, and Heinrich soon put his thoughts about Signor de Buona away and concentrated on winning. The added crush of mercenaries was a large help, and numbers soon trumped skill. The rebel commander ordered his men back in order to reform and probably make a concentrated push. However, Heinrich wasn't about to let that happen. He charged straight for the enemy knights, which had taken a beating from spears as well as arrows.

The melee quickly broke into individual engagements, pitting Heinrich's elite escort against the mysterious Feudal Knights. Heinrich hung back for a minute, then saw a fight which could use his intervention.

However, de Buona was thinking of the same thing and angled right for the Holy Roman Emperor.

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The result was a one-on-one clash between the two commanders. They eyed each other before striking, neither wasting any unnecessary breath on speaking.

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The duel began, and another thing that struck Heinrich as odd was how experienced and polished this man was. Usually, when he fought cavalry duels against rebels, the men were sloppy and easily defeated. But de Buona hung tough, and actually gave the Kaiser (who wasn't getting any younger) a difficult fight.

However, experience eventually paid off and Heinrich smote de Buona, causing the rebel commander to fall off his horse, who promptly toppled on his former rider. He could only look in pain as the rout commenced.

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~~~~~~~~~

After the battle, the semi-conscious de Buona heard the approach of several riders to his position. The lead one dismounted, and walked over to him. The man removed his helmet, and de Buona was staring into the eyes of his vanquisher.

"I have an excellent surgeon as part of my staff," he said in a brisk voice. "I can perhaps arrange it that you are healed by him."

De Bouna, voice long gone thanks to the large animal crushing his diaphragm, nodded. Hopefully he would last that long; the previous several minutes had been spent by him saying silent prayer.

Kaiser Heinrich looked at him happily. "Excellent. Perhaps if you are cooperative enough, I can even arrange you being sent back to Pope Gregory for no ransom."

De Buona widened his eyes in surprise. But... how did he know?

Evidently that was all the Kaiser needed to see. He clapped his hands excitedly and looked over at his escort. "Excellent," he proclaimed, "that's all I need! Surgeon! Please assist this man, perhaps we should get this horse off of him first..."

To de Buona it appeared that the Kaiser's voice was trailing off, but that was only because he was fading from this earth.

~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, back in Florence, the people around the Kaiser noticed his grim, resolved mood. His wife would fall asleep watching him staring out the window toward the south again. Towards Rome.

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[Ignoramus]

Bern, 1118

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It was a cold and crisp day at Bern, and soft flakes of snow were gently falling. Inside the stone castle, Sigismund shivered as he mounted his horse.

Outside of those gates were over 700 Milanese wanting to kill him. And not only kill him, but also every single man that fought with him.

He sighed as addressed his men.

“Soldiers, we are going to sally forth and utterly drive the Milanese back into the plains of Lombardy.

Do not be dismayed by their numbers men; I have good news for you men. Otto von Kassel and 60 knights are only a few miles distant.”

Sigismund smiled at the cheering of his men. They were an eager lot, and he felt confident that they would be victorious – if von Kassel arrived in time.

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Sigismund organised his men to sally out of the gates. He would lead the sally, with the Spear Militia directly following him. Behind them stood the Sergeant Speamen, more experienced soldiers than the milita in front of them. In the vanguard stood the Mailed Knights followed by the Mounted Sergeants. Sigismund placed the Peasant Archers on the walls.

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A shout came from the captain of the archers. “My lord Count Sigismund, the Milanese are within bowshot! Shall we fire upon them?”

Sigismund smiled to himself, “Yes, and let each arrow tell.”

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Meanwhile, Otto von Kassel and his knights were riding at full pace through a pine forest near Bern.

“Faster noble sirs”, shouted Otto, “we must assist Count Sigismund in his sally.”

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Back at Bern, Sigismund gave the order, “Open the portcullis, we sally forth.”

The portcullis creaked as it was slowly raised.

Sigismund nudged his horse and he and his retainers issued forth out off the castle.

“Follow me, men,” commanded Sigismund.

The spearmen and horsemen followed Count Sigismund and issued from the Castle.

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As Sigismund and his retainers exited from the gatehouse, the Milanese archers rushed forward to shower the issuing Germans with arrows.

Sigismund called to his retainers, “Follow me, and let us teach these peasants that their arrows are no good against German valour.”

So saying, Sigismund kicked his spurs into his horse and rushed towards the enemy.

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Lowering their lances, Sgismund's retainers made short work of the Milanese archers who dared fire upon their lord.

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Meanwhile, Otto von Kassel and his knights had reached the monastery of St. Boniface, on the outskirts of Bern.

I can see Count Sigismund and his men, exclaimed

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Sigismund had lined his men up for battle, and he was surprised that the Milanese had made no attempt to hinder him from doing so.

He glanced anxiously to the west, and to his delight he saw Otto von Kassel and his knights atop the hill of the monastery.

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Exhorting his men, Sigismund exclaimed, “Mein soldiers, see that banner to the west? That is von Kassel and his knights!”

The soldiers cheered heartily at the sight, and charged at their opposing line of Milanese spearmen.

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At the monastery of St. Boniface, Otto von Kassel's retainers and his accompanying knights were feeding their horses at the monastery's stables. Otto von Kassel was talking to the abbot about the strength of the Milanese.

“Von Kassel!” shouted Rupert von Aachan, a knight of Otto's train, “The battle has begun!”

Otto von Kassel rushed our holding a large sausage in one hand and a mug of beer in the other.

“Hurry!” mumbled von Kassel, as he skulled his beer and snatched a bite of his sausage, “Mount your horses!”

It took a few minutes for the confusion to cease, and finally the knights were on their mounts.

Otto addressed his knights and retainers, “Men, we just took that castle. It was paid for in Imperial blood and I'll be damned if we let those merchant schwein take it from us! Sigismund is the anvil and we are the hammer! Charge into their rear and flanks and scatter them! Ride them down without mercy, so that the few fortunate bastards who survive will spread fear of the Reich and its soldiers among their countrymen! Forward!"

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Back at the scene of the battle, the Milanese spearmen countercharged the Imperials, and a bitter fight ensued.

Sigismund exhorted his men to keep firm and not to break ranks. “Gut soldiers of the Reich, when the Kaiser hears off how you fight today, he will hear of one or two things. Either he will how you good Swabians and Bavarians fought like lions and sallied forth against the might of Milan, or he will hear how you fled as cowards from the foe!”

Inspired by Sigismund's words, the spearmen exerted themselves to the uttermost, but even so a few could not help but cast aside their weapons and flee.

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Otto's retainers and knights left the abbey witht the monks praying for an Imperial victory.

“Faster, my sirs, faster!” cried von Kassel to his men.

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The knights that accompanied von Kassel were the first to reach the enemy, and they charged fearlessly into the right flank of the Milanese spearmen.

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Meanwhile, Sigismund and his retainers were engaging the Milanese reserve. They were most obstinate in their resistance to the Count.

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Finally, they saw the hoplesness of their situation, most threw themselves at the mercy of Count Sigismund. A few, however, attempted to escape with their captain, Francesco.

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The remaining Milanese now fled, each attempting elude the swords of the Imperial cavalry. Count Sigsimund, however, commanded that only the flat of their swords were to be used, and that no futher blood should be shed, instead ordering the knights and sergeants to bring the Milanese back as prisoners.

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Captain Francesco was the last prisoner to be taken. He was finally tracked down, and received a sword blow to his head, knocking him unconscious.

When he was finally brought round, he was looking into the kind eyes of Count Sigismund.

“You fought well, mein freund, but I am glad that it was I who was the victor. You and your remaining men are free to leave unharmed and with their weapons. Consider it a kind gesture on my part.”

The Italian was stupified. He was expecting to be killed, or at the very least held for ransom.

“I thank you, Count Sigismund, he said, I shall tell of your generosity and chivalry to my lords. I am humble to receive such a favour and praise from an enemy of mine.”

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As the Milanese were marching off, Sigsimund said to von Kassel, "Go back and fetch your sausage, and then come and join me in the keep."

[Ignoramus]

*Battle of the Alps*

To be written.

[Ignoramus]

*Battle of the Savoy Pass*

To be written.

[OverKnight]

The Assault on Milan

A gray twilight spilled over the foothills and plains of Lombardy. Dawn was coming, but had yet to arrive. Men moved through the failing shadows towards their goal, the city of Milan. The sleeping locals they passed would have been shocked to see the Eagle of the Reich emblazoned on the standards that were now being unfurled in the burgeoning light. Those few who had been awake to see the passage of so many men had been silenced by scouts and outriders. The city was unaware of their arrival.

The army of the Reich, 675 men strong, stopped for a moment on a wooded hill overlooking their target. A man on horseback spurred himself ahead of the force and gazed toward the city.

It's good to be out in the field again, thought Otto von Kassel, Simpler, much simpler. I do what I'm told, I attack where the Chancellor says attack, and it is he who has to worry about the consequences.

Peering towards the gatehouse closest to him, Otto saw a torch drop from an arrow slit. He chuckled darkly. I may not agree with Sigismund on his course of action, but the Chancellor is competent. Our man is there to open the gates. What would have taken years with siege, we'll do in a day. The man is fast.

Turning from the city, Otto trotted over to his captains, "No ruses this time. We run for the gate as quick as possible, our spy will open it for us and in we go! There's a Milanese lordling running the show with some retainers of his. He's got two units of Italian spear militia, two units of Genoese crossbowmen and a chewed up company of mercenary crossbowmen. The bastards will be scattered all over the city and we'll kill them piecemeal! Knights, you may pursue those who run, but don't get too far ahead of the spearmen. Infantry, try to keep up. Archers, get in shots when you can. No time for a speech, form up!"

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As his force approached the city in the dawn light, Otto was amazed that they hadn't been spotted yet. From what our agent said, this man Cataldo was supposed to be a confident defender, perhaps too confident.

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Suddenly, a scream went up from the walls in front of him. Shouts of alarm broke out up and down the defenses. In the distance a church bell began to peal. Otto swore and had his bugler signal the charge.

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This was no close order march, but a wild sprint to Milan's sabotaged gate. Otto's retainers and knights made it into the city first. Pausing briefly in the gateway he spyed a unit of crossbowmen frantically trying to redeploy off to his right and a company of spearmen pouring off the walls, some still pulling on their armor, to his left.

"Cavalry to the right! Kill those archers!"

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"Infantry to the left! Engage the spearmen!"

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Otto spurred his horse towards the crossbowmen. He expected them to be dead and trampled by the time he arrived, but they fought resolutely. Charging into the fray, Otto hacked at one of them, cutting through the man's neck and the strange shield on his back at the same time.

"They're just bowmen! Kill them now!", bellowed Otto, but they fought on for a long time until the sheer number of horsemen overwhelmed them.

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"Christ on the Cross! Why don't I just recruit an army of them and not waste time feeding horses!?", Otto swore at the knights. "Nevermind! Back! Back to help the infantry!"

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The Imperial army swarmed up the roadway after the routed spearmen. Otto, looking up after skewering a militia man, saw the Milanese lord and his retainers charging toward them. There's something oddly familiar about this, Otto thought before yelling, "Cavalry hold! Spearmen forward!"

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The Milanese commander, Cataldo, having tried to catch the Imperial horsemen disorganized and isolated instead found himself charging into a spear wall. Once the spearman had absorbed the charge, Otto screamed, "Knights, forward!", and the counter-charge broke the Milanese nobles and killed their leader.

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The routing spearmen turned to try to save their master but were repulsed. Otto's cavalry pursued but were met by the remnants of the garrison. As horsemen began to fall, speared by the militia and hacked at by more of those stubborn crossbowmen, Otto cried, "Go past them! Past them! Infantry engage!"

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Most of the cavalry were now free of the melee. Otto yelled, "Turn and flank them!"

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Finally, the spirit of the defenders broke. What was left of the garrison turned and ran or surrendered on the spot. The din of battle subsided and all Otto could hear was the moans of the wounded and the church bells ringing in the morning air.

"Take them prisoner!", Otto commanded, "I won't fight cornered men today. We need all our men to garrison this city. I doubt the merchant schwein will let their capital be occupied without another battle or two. After we secure the captives, then we can pry open their vaults and take some restitution. Milan is ours! The Reich is whole!"

The men cheered, whether for the prospect of plunder or patriotic zeal, Otto did not know.

Milan was sacked, providing 10,955 florins for the Reich. 2,981 souls who opposed reintegration into the Empire were put to the sword.

The Butcher's Bill:

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[GeneralHankerchief]

Genoa

To the Diet:

The war on Milan, as you know, is going fairly well. Their capital city has just been taken thanks to the efforts of Otto von Kassel, and now the people who once dared to attempt conquest on our lands have been reduced to two cities isolated from each other. Today, I aimed to reduce that number to one.

News had reached me of another war in the Italian Front opening up with the treachery of Venice. I, who had long warned the Diet of Venetian intentions, was somewhat distracted by this news, probably more than I should have been. This caused me to be looking ahead to the upcoming takeover of their possessions, when I should have been taking things one at a time. As a result, I did not realize how evenly matched we were with the Genoan garrison.

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The interesting thing about this battle was that Chancellor Sigismund ordered me to assault the city without any siege equipment or engines whatsoever. However, he explained in his letter to me that a spy had been placed inside the city, which would cause even more chaos for the Milanese since all gates would be simultaneously opened.

The Milanese apparently agreed, and we found the walls abandoned.

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I figured that this was a mixed blessing as the Milanese would probably be massing in the city square. The best way to defeat this would be to surround them and attack from all streets leading into the square, but in order to do this a good position must first be established so that the Milanese do not disrupt your plans. I therefore ordered all units into the city at a run. We would split up later.

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It is a good thing I did, for the spearmen found the heaviest cavalry the Milanese had to offer (their leader's bodyguard) charging their position. Luckily, our men were massed, so I can imagine that Count Catelano had a nasty shock when he rounded the corner.

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He, along with most of his bodyguard, quickly perished thanks to our spears. However, about ten horsemen survived, riding back to the safety of the city square.

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Reverse angle shot of the Milanese count's death

The next attack on our position was slightly more determined.

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It was repulsed with heavy losses, but the Milanese continued to cede ground with a fight. All in all, it threw my plan of surrounding and defeating them in the square into the fire. This would be a nasty, brutal, street-by-street fight. Their count's death apparently did nothing to break the Milanese's spirits; in fact, I think it buoyed them to fight harder. We must be careful about killing future commanders early on in the battle.

I finally followed through with a modified battle plan - a two-way attack. The infantry would continue with the main push to the city square, while the cavalry would be detached and provide the final hammer blow. It reminded me of the ancienct Alexandrian tactics of the phalanx that pinned, and the Companions that shattered. Perhaps this effect would come back into style after today's battle.

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The plan was put into good effect, and eventually our infantry hacked their way to the city square where the Milanese still fought like wildcats. Evidently the situation that played out in their capital city would not happen here.

"Oh, well," I thought, "That's why they invented cavalry."

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The infantry do their part.

But then, good Electors, something had happened that did not go to plan. Whoever was commanding the remnants of the Genoan garrison (if it was anyone) detached some units of his own to attack the cavalry's position. Mostly they were the men who had survived the initial assaults on the gate that we had just taken, back at the start of the fighting. There was a good mixture of spearmen and cavalry, deadly in compact spaces, but they were far under-strength.

Captain Ludwig, my close friend and second-in-command, seemed to notice my hesitation and chipped in with his opinion, always welcome in the past:

"Mein Kaiser, order us forward! We can break this rabble!" A few other men cheered. They were gearing for a fight, having missed out on the main bloody push by the infantry.

"Very well, charge! Smash them!"

I will never forget what happened next, for it was a mistake that ranks up there with allowing Pope Gregory to push me around all those years ago. I saw the looks on my men's faces (those that did not have visors covering their faces), grinning, ready for anything. I saw them eagerly spurring their horses forward, and I heard the thunder of hundreds of hoofbeats.

I saw the charge stop dead against a green wall. I saw a pileup of men and horses, all wearing Imperial colors. I saw the men lucky enough to be on the edges of the street (where they faced little opposition and prepared to take the spearmen from the side) get torn apart by the remaining Milanese cavalry, including the ten men of the escort that had lost their leader so long ago.

Desperate, I ordered my own escort forward hoping to break the spears. It worked to a point. For every inch of ground we made more good men fell. Finally, when we had met up with the infantry, as was our original plan, only two horsemen were still up. The men, shocked, ordered me to the back. Some routed. Once I was in a safe spot and still recovering from the shock of what happened (as well as futilely trying to rally a regiment that had routed), I glanced over at who else had survived that doomed charge. Amazingly, it was Captain Ludwig, who had proposed the move in the first place. He looked sick to his stomach, bent over in the saddle. I did not need to chastize him about what had just happened.

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Eventually, good Electors, the city was taken but I stress that it was not easy. The infantry had to make due on their own, continuing to push even after they had pused all the way to this point, since most of our cavalry littered a side street.

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It didn't make matters easier that the last Milanese still refused to give up, even in the face of tremendous odds.

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When the final man had fallen, there was no cheering. Only a collective sigh of relief. We reluctantly plundered the city, bringing over 5,000 florins into the Imperial treasury. It also made us sick to execute the prisoners after the Milanese Duke, all the way in Dijon, refused to pay the ransom. These warriors deserved a better death.

Good Electors, let this serve as a lesson to all of us. I may not admire Dietrich von Saxony's childbearing skills or his politics, but he is apparently the only one who knows how to use cavalry in a siege assault. The shattered remnants of my escort are living proof of that.

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Heinrich, Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire, reporting from Genoa.

[econ21]

Outside Dijon, 1126 AD

Prinz Henry stared at the inquisitor and the inquisitor stared back. The cheek of the man, the presumptuousness! Henry was the heir to the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Swabia, Army Commander, Knight. And this inquisitor, in his plain white and black commoners’ garb, was what? He was nothing. And yet there he stood, in front of the Prinz, baldly staring him down.

Henry looked uneasily around him. His handpicked knights stood respectfully to attention. His best men, the men who would guard him with their lives, had ushered the inquisitor reverently into Henry’s presence, had bowed and scraped in front of the commoner. And slowly it dawned on Henry. These men owed their allegiance to Henry, yet Henry was but a man. The inquisitor was an agent of God almighty and no man took precedence over Him. The knights were good Catholics first, loyal Germans a distant second. And so Henry started to understand what Manfred had once said to him: I am not afraid of dying in a castle breach. I fear no man at arms. I fear only the Inquisition.

Only Henry’s guard dog, Verginius, showed the appropriate degree of hospitality to the Papal guest, growing lowly at the inquisitor. Henry primly admonished the beast, although inwardly, his heart was filled with satisfaction at the animal’s undiplomatic display. The inquisitor must be a Frenchman, Henry mused. He had named his dog Verginius after a Roman Republican who shared the canine’s hostility towards the French.

I trust his Holiness is well? Henry inquired blandly.

The inquisitor nodded, disinterestedly, but then barked: ”His Holiness is most displeased at your prosecution of this war”.

Henry slowly poured a glass of wine, picked it up and sipped it before deigning to reply: ”As you know, Milan started this war by an unprovoked attack on us. We can hardly be condemned for fighting back, can we?”

”You are embarked on a war of conquest! You have taken Milan, Genoa and now stand poised to strike before Dijon! Your response is most disproportionate! His Holiness is very displeased at this spilling of Christian blood! You must end this fratricidal war!”

Henry pursed his lips and then mused: ”I rather think that is what Chancellor Sigismund intends.” End this war on our terms, with the extinction of Milan, Henry meant.

The inquisitor looked at the Prince sat in front of him, and shook his head.

“Your father embarked on a long conflict with the Holy See. You would be foolish to follow in his path.”

Henry spoke coldly: “Were you an Emissary of the Holy See, Sir, I would be happy to discuss matters of diplomacy with you. I would assure you that I have only the friendliest of intentions towards his Holiness. And indeed venture to suggest that the Pontiff has no truer supporter in the Diet. But you, Sir, are no Papal Emissary and have no standing in my court. I invited you here out of respect, but I see now that it is not reciprocated. I wish you farewell, Sir, I have a battle to attend to.”

“You are a fool, young man, to treat a Papal servant with such disregard. I will leave you now to your blood letting. But know this - you have come to my attention and only the most pious regard that development with equanimity. Good day, young Prince.”

Henry waved the inquisitor off, distractedly. But inside, he felt a ripple of dread. Damn it, let’s get this assault over with and get the hell out of here, he thought uneasily.


Right, let’s see. What’s the situation? We have 602 men. We are well provided with cavalry and missiles, but sorely lacking in infantry - only one regiment of town militia and 54 spear militia. Is this a joke? How am I supposed to take a settlement with only cavalry and missiles? What siege equipment has Sigismund ordered prepared? Only one ram? And two sets of ladders? What am I supposed to do? Carry our warhorses up the ladder?

What’s the opposition? Two regiments of Italian militia and two of Italian spear militia. Great, what we lack - solid infantry - they have in number.

How to do this? Try to use one ram to break open two gates? No, the enemy towers would cut down our men before they left the first. Use our missiles to fire over the settlement walls? No, without line of sight, our missiles would be ineffective while our archers themselves would be cut down by the enemy towers. Try to barrel through with my own escort? No, against so many spears packed in the narrow streets, the only result would be Sigismund as the new faction heir.

I have to fight clever. But how? Let’s distract them. Set up two battle groups: one, at the front gates, to the south, and one at the western gates. Both should be equipped with the ladders, with cavalry and with archers. Then, let’s hide a third battle group near the east gate. Keep it small: the few spear militia carrying the battering ram, my escort and a regiment of peasant archers. With any luck, the enemy will be preoccupied with my two visible battle groups and not notice the third until it is too late.

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Henry manages to deploy the battering ram against the unguarded east gate of Dijon.

And so it was. The Milanese deployed pairs of regiments to face the south and western battle group; but no men were set to guard the east gate. Even when the battering ram smashed down the gate, no troops moved east. Even when Henry ordered his cavalry to move round the settlement to the east gate, there was no Milanese reaction. Only when Henry’s men were racing for the town square did the enemy turn away from the two battle groups of Germans with ladders.

Henry’s 54 spearmen briefly occupied the town square, but found themselves facing six times their number. Though Henry and his archers tried to provide support, it was hopeless and the Germans were driven from the square. But the spearmen had bought Henry time. Time for his mounted sergeants to get to the east gate; time for his ladders to move unopposed onto the enemy walls.

Henry’s archers fell back from the town square towards the east gate, pursued by one regiment of Milanese. Before the Milanese could reach the east gate and man the towers, Henry rallied his few spearmen and led them, and his escort, in a counterattack. The fighting was brutal and for a time Henry feared he may fall, but the toughness of his escort and the demoralising effect of the fire arrows loosed in support broke the morale of the first enemy regiment.

A second regiment of Milanese militia headed back to the south gate, as German archers scaled their ladders. Henry ordered the mounted sergeants to provide support to the archers. They bravely attacked the Milanese militia from the front, but in the narrow streets were unable to charge and soon began to suffer terribly. They withdrew towards the east gate, pursued by the enemy militia. In doing so, the pursuers exposed their backs to the German archers on the walls, suffering grievously from their arrows. Soon the enemy militia were wavering. When the German mounted sergeants realised this, they halted their horses and returned, putting the Milanese to flight.

On the west gate, the German town militia had also scaled the walls unopposed, but the third regiment of Milanese returned to the walls and hurried to intercept them. With the towers now firing in support of the Milanese, the Germans realised that contesting the walls was unsound and so they raced down the steps, off the walls, towards the town centre. The fourth Milanese regiment was also hurrying from the town centre to catch the German town militia, but the Imperial infantry were able to take another road back - evading both pursuing regiments.

Having broken the first enemy regiment, Henry now reoccupied the town centre. He ordered fire arrows be loosed at the fourth enemy regiment and then sent his regiment of knights to battle them. Cavalry versus spearmen in narrow streets was a potentially foolhardy move, but the Milanese were losing spirit - they routed without much loss to the German knights. Then the German town militia turned to face the third enemy regiment. Supported by Henry’s own escort and the other horse, the Germans slew the garrison captain, bringing a successful end to the assault.

Henry ordered the town occupied. Sacking it would yield only 4000 florins, not worth blackening the good name of a future Emperor. When Henry looked at the casualty lists, he whistled: he had lost only 122 men - most notably half the mounted sergeants who had bought time at the south gate. Given the trepidation which Henry had begun the assault, this was a good result. Still, Henry hoped not to enjoy his victory for too long. Immediately on taking up residence in the town, he wrote the Chancellor an urgent note, informing him of the conversation with the inquisitor and begging to be moved rapidly away from his orb, to Bern and perhaps in time to Innsbruck to help his father face the Viennese threat.

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[Ituralde]

Defense of Vienna

"The men are ready for the sally, mein Herr!"

"Tell them, that they will have their fight, but it won't be us attacking. Looks like they finally got around to assaulting our walls."
Leopold stood on the battlement over the gate, his gaze directed at the Venetian column advancing towards the city. Ever since the reports had come in that the Venetians had withdrawn the larger part of their infantry from the siege, he had tried to get confirmation of this. Finally a spy had reported that the attacker's force had indeed been diminished and Leopold had immediately ordered his men to ready themselves for an attack in the morning.
It seems that the Venetians had gotten information on their own preparations and were now marching on the city. They had a ram built and also some ladders.
As their force consisted mainly of Mailed Knights and the bodyguard of Allessandro Selvo their general, their only two units of infantry were now manning the siege equipment. Peasant Archers were pushing the ram and Italian Spear Militia was ready to scale the walls.

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"Looks like a straightforward attack, Rainer. Let's organize a straightforward defence then."

"Jawohl, mein Herr!"
Leopold was already leaving the battlement to saddle his horse and address his men. With the Venetians heading straight for the south gate, that would be the place to meet them.
He organized three of his Spear Militia in a box around the gate, ready to give a sharp welcome to anyone coming through the gate. The walls around the gate were manned by Town Militia and Spear Militia respectively. The Spear Militia positioned to the left of the gate were the ladders were to be expected. The rest of the Town Militia was arrayed behind the Spears to charge once combat has begun. Leopold and his bodyguard blocked the main causeway to the city square to lend their support to the Spears directly in front of them.

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Soon enough the Italian Spear Militia was scaling the wooden walls, while the ram hammered at the gates of Vienna. Fierce fighting erupted on the battlements, but it looked as though the Imperial forces could hold.

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The gates had been breached.
"Steady men, Steady!" cried Leopold to the assembled Spears that would have to take the charge from the Venetian cavalry and had to hold.
Furiously the Venetian cavalry charged through the gates and their commander even threw his Peasant Archers into the fray.
"Advance!" yelled Leopold once the fighting in front of him had ensued.

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A glance to the walls showed that the Imperial troops had held and the remaining Italian Spear Militia was already fleeing the field.
"Rainer! Get a messenger up the walls. Let's put those ladders to use, shall we! Tell the Spears to get down there and block the gates from the outside. That vile oath-breaker will not escape from my city!"

While Leopold charged forward with his bodyguards, the other Town Militia was already in contact with the enemy horsemen. Already many of them were pulled off their horses and the battle seemed to go bad for the Venetians.
As though sensing his doom, Alessandro Selvo ordered a hasty retreat. Unfortunately before the Spears had closed off the gate.

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"Damn coward! Ride! Ride hard, Ritter of the Reich. I will not let that traitor escape!"
Spurring his horse onward, Leopold led his retinue out of the gates in hot pursuit of the Venetian cavalry.

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Alessandro Selvo made good use of his head-start though and was able to escape the grasp of Duke Leopold.
Disheartened Leopold and his men return from their pursuit. He meets up with Rainer at the Towns Square where the captured Venetians await their fate.
"Mein Herr, what do we do with the prisoners?"

Leopold glances briefly over the men in front of him. One of them is a young noble, a retainer of Alessandro Selva surely. Leopold fixates him with his gaze:
"You have entered my lands under the cover of goodwill! I gave you assistance and trusted in the power of our alliance! You betrayed your word, you have lost your honour. There's nothing left for me to do, but to hand you the fate of every traitor!"
He turns to Rainer, a determined expression on his face. "Kill them!" Rainer looks at his master as though to object. "They're traitors and oath-breakers, they deserve nothing less!" Without another glance to the prisoners Leopold leaves the town square, while Rainer instructs his men to do the grizzly business.

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[OverKnight]

The Defense of Milan

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Otto von Kassel was sitting down to his breakfast porridge when a messenger intruded, "My lord! The Venetians are bringing up a ram to attack our east gate!"

"What!", said Otto slamming down his spoon, "Did they bring up reinforcments during the night?"

"Well. . .no", mumbled the messenger, "That company of crossbowmen has decided to attack."

"They're idiots! Oh well, this will let me end this farce! Have our 'garrison' drawn up, archers to the walls next to the east gate. . .

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. . .and my retainers to the south gate. I'm going to finish my breakfast."

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With Otto's men in position, the brave, but stupid, Venetians began their assault.

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Despite suffering losses the pavise crossbowmen were able to bring the ram to the gate. In their haste to enter the city, however, they failed to notice the cavalry charging toward them through the mist.

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It would be their last mistake.

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All the Venetians were killed or captured.

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Otto surveyed the bound prisoners in front of him. From the little Italian he knew, he understood that they were begging for their lives. They mentioned the chivalrous Chancellor Sigismund, known throughout Europe for his mercy towards prisoners.

As the morning mist burned off, Otto looked east past his captives, squinting into the sun. He could see a large dust cloud on the horizon. A much larger Venetian force was on its way. This victory was only temporary.

"Of course you may join your comrades", Otto told the prisoners, "You have fought bravely and will be released. After, of course, we hack off your thumbs. I will not have you firing crossbows again!"

Otto chuckled darkly as the prisoners began screaming, he called for a chopping block and an axe.

After the deed was done, and the Venetians' digits were placed in their coin purses, Otto spoke again, "Now go! Tell that army to the east what awaits them if they come here. Next time I will cut off more than just thumbs!"


The Butcher's Bill:

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[Kagemusha]

Battle of Kamienski

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Dietrich of Saxony was not happy. He sat on his war horse on a hill near the village of Kamienski, to South East from Stettin. A beutifull valley opened under his eyes,as he sat on his horse looking at a dust cloud in the distance, created by rapidly advancing horse of one of his scouts.The ground was lovely,but he had no missile troops to protect the hills he had deployed his men on.

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The scouts had spotted the enemy force and the reports sayed that there were nearly 200 Polish mounted noblemen coming at his way with about 100 Nobles on foot. He had little over hundred Spearmen and about same amount of Peasants as his infantry and Adolf Von Mahren´s and his own knights,amounting 62 men on horseback.
He had the high ground,but what to do with it? The Polish were known of their use of missiles on horseback so they could just run around his force,hurling missiles from their horses,while the heavier German Knights couldnt catch them. There were only glumps of trees on the hills,so he Dietrich could not protect his force by going inside an forest. Dietrich sat there for a while looking around and thinking.
For a little while he forgot the Polish army aproaching the battlefiield and the upcoming battle.He didnt think of the last years marching around the Reich on muddy roads with his men, building watchtowers and waiting for the message from Kaiser that he wouldnt be the Duke of Franconia anymore. In his eyes he saw his beutifull wife,smiling at him,like she had done on many quite evenings,when they were with each other smiling talking and doing what lovers do.
Dietrich woke up from his thoughts,as he heard the loud yell from the aproaching messenger: "The Polish are coming! The Polish are coming!"
Quickly he called to him,Von Mahren and the captain of the Spearmen.
Dietrich spoke with determination in his voice:

"Gentlemen. We are not here to die today! We will beat the Polish here today.Captain! Take command of the Peasants also and deploy your men to that ridge between these two hills."

Captain looked in Dietrichs eyes and nodded like a man who is going into a certain death and started to turn around to give orders to his men. But before he could,Dietrich continued:

"Captain, listen carefully. You will be our bait with your men. I will deploy my Knights on the other side of this hill we are standing so the Polish wont see us from the valley. Von Mahren will deploy his Knights,there behind the other hill on your right side. When the Polish Nobles see that there are only few men on foot on a hill against them, they will come right at you. Now listen carefully,since what you do then can decide the battle. When The Polish cavalry aProaches your men, you order your troops to run. And you will keep running untill you reach the highest spot on the ridge. Then turn around and fight and hold the line.I will attack the Polish right and Von Mahren their left flank. If God will´s we will trap them and the day is ours.If not,then atleast no one can say we didnt try."

Dietrich stared the captain of the Spearmen for a second and continued:

"Did you understand my orders?"

Captain nodded,looking same time worried and anxious.

"Then go man and give your orders to your men!"

Dietrich turned towards Von Mahren and sayed:

"My good man Mahren, what we are about to do could be the last thing for both of us. Do you have any questions?"

Mahren answered briefly:

"My Lord! Nothing to ask.Lets run down the Polish scum!"

Dietrich smiled becouse of the determinanation of the younger man and continued:

"Remember.Wait untill the Polish get in melee with our foot men.We cant let them escape or we are Finished.We will meet at the center once the Polish have been slain. Good luck and may God be with us all."

Von Mahren nodded and started galloping towards his men.

The Battle ensued first like Dietrich had planned.The Polish Nobility charged the Spearmen and two units of them were trapped between the Spearmen and German Knights. Third Unit of the Polish Nole cavalry charged the same mass and routed Dietrichs peasants, but Dietrich rallied them with his warhorn after some time. Dietrich charged and formed up and again and again and again. He saw how on the right Von Mahren fought like a beast with his men,giving blows to right and left. But the Polish were no peasants and they just kept on fighting untill also the dismounted nobles entered the fray. Dietrich and his men were covered on blood of their own and their enemies,while forming up again and again. While after each charge there was less and less of them. Finally he had only three of his knights with him and he saw that there were not much more men left of Von Mahrens Knights. Dietrich thought that it was just matter of time,when the younger Lion or himself would be struck down to the mud.
But suddenly as Lord himself had watched over the German army.The Polish commander was struck down by one of the remaining spearmen. This cutted the backbone of the Nobility of Poland,that had so far fought equally to any German. The Polish still outnumbering the tired Germans,broke of through and rode away,while the few German Knights led by Dietrich and Von Mahren charged after them.

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The ridge was a grim site of butchery.Dead and dying men and horses with the ground coloured red from the blood. The Polish horses were faster, so after short time Dietrich ordered his knights to turn around and finish of the reminders of the Dismounted Polish.
Dietrichs tired men,what was left of them had captured only few prisoners,but as there were not many of them left themselves either. Dietrich had no choice,but execute the prisoners and move his army of the area before another Polish army would arrive.

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The Butchers bill:

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[Ignoramus]

Battle in the Alps

[Ignoramus]

Defence of Bologna

[Warluster]

Northen Italy, 1136

Jobst von Salva looked out into the open plains, near the Alps. Here was the spot where the troops of the ROman Republic fought over 500 years ago, and now here are there predecsors. This battle was a small one, and the first battle Jobst von Salva has commanded.

There aim was to destroy the Veneatian Soldiers. A outline appeared on the hrizon, and slowly that outline turned into the figure of a horse and its rider. It turned out to be a scout. The scout wore armour silver and gull, and a helm for his head. He raced up to Jobst von Salva and stopped.

"Please,Jobst von Salva, sir, I have a report on the Veneatian Army" said the scout, Jobst von Salva nodded.
The scout continued,
"It is a meager force of 200 troops, 3 units of Armoured soldiers, one company is seriously short of soldiers" said the scout. Jobst shooed the scout away, and turned to his Majors.
"How should we approach them?" asked jobst, the Majors looked out onto the plains.
"There protected by a forest on one side" commented one,
"So we can not attack from that way" said the other major, Jobst von Salva nodded. Jobst looked on the other side, and pointed.
"Theres hills and mountains on that side aswell" said a Major,
"The troops could easily march over the hills" said another,
"yes but imagine, they'd be sweating baddly climbing the hills, and when they engaged the Veneatians..." said jobst, not finishing his sentence,
"Then we attck downhill" finished one major. Jobst shook his head,
"That leaves us one thing, so heres the battle plan" said Jobst, the 2 Majors lisntened closely.
"All 6 companies of our soldiers shall charge the Veneatian army herad on, distracting them." said jbost, he continued,
"There will be a buffer, so when they are in battle, 1 soldiers are to wothdraw to the forests, then strike out behind the Venetian Buffer. Meanwhile my Bodyguard and me, shall travel over the hills and hide, then when the buffer is gone, our army attacks the Generals unit, while thats happening two units are to go either side, and block us from view, we will round around them, and attack from behind" finished Jobst von Salva, the Majors nodded, it was a good plan, enough to get them through alive. jobst issued hos orders, and watched the Majors hurry off, and heard them yelling out commands to there companies. Jobst was relieved, remembering the days of when he was a Knight, and had fought with Dietrich von Saxony in poland. jbost sighed, those days were tough. Now he was a General, Jobst formed up with his bodyguard, a unit of highly experinced Knights, all hand picked by Jobst von Salva. He knew them all well, and knew they knew him, as they trained with Jobst. Jobst von Salva stayed with his unit, and made signals that the Roman Army is to start the battle plan. The veneatians had not moved yet, and were standing still. The Imperial Army moved forward. Jobst waited patiently, finally the army was close. Trumpets sounded, soldiers cried, and the army ran forward, swords and spears raised. The two armies clashed, and from where Jobst was, couldn't see anything. then Jobst von Salva remembered his Battle Plan, and the Bodyguard moved to the hills. When they were behind the hills, they saw not a lot, as thye were concentrating. But they saw the Veneatian buffer rout, and the Imperial Army ran foward and attacked the Generals unit. Jobst saw the signal, the two units of Imperial spearmen moved to the sides, blocking tje Cavarly from view, and Jbost and his bodyguards moved around the fighting queitly, until they were behind the Veneatians. Then they charged. And hit the Veneatians hard, the two sides clashinh like waves. Jobst von Salva unit hit the Venetians, the back soldiers fell forward like a wave, and the front soldiers fell like a wave. And soon all but 24 were dead. They had won the battle, and had caputred 150 venetian soldiers. An offer of Ransom was sent to the Venetians, they refused, that night there were none from the venetian army left, but 20 who escaped.

[Kagemusha]

Battle of Stendal, September 10th, 1136 Anno Domini

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The Franconian force was camped between Stettin and Magdeburg in region of Stendal for a while now. Dietrich had sent letters to Chancellor Sigismund,so he could engage a small Polish force consisting of Polish Vendic allies, hardy woodsmen armed with axes, who were blocking his army from moving to Stettin. For some reason Sigismund had not accepted Dietrich´s proposal and had only allowed some armoured Sergeants to enter his army.
At the morning of the 10th, Dietrich was talking with the Captain of the Spearmen about drilling of the peasants in his force when suddenly a scout rode to the camp and confronted Dietrich.

"The Vends have broken down their camp North from us and are heading here."

The Scout informed. Dietrich didnt know what to think about this turn of events.

"Why would the Vends challenge us to an open battle when we outnumber them and they have no cavalry".

Dietrich thought outloud,but the captain didnt have time to answer, when a loud sound of horn came from the South.

"Thats the war horn of Von Kastilien. To arms men!"

Dietrich shouted and ordered his page to get his armour. As he was getting on his suit of armour,he saw how the escort of Von Kastillien came in to the vicinity, behind one of the hills to the South. As Dietrichs servants got ready with his armour,Gunther Von Kastillien rode in to the camp and adressed Dietrich still from the horseback.

"Mein Duke. Two small armies are heading towards us! One from the South and one from the West. The Southern one is advancing rapidly,becouse its all Polish Noble cavalry. One from the West is infantry,but they should be here soon also.

Dietrich understood the situation. They were trapped from three directions and becouse most of his army was infantry they couldnt retreat in time from here. Dietrich sayed to Von Kastillien.

"It seems that the Polish have outsmarted us and trapped us on open terrain with good strategy. I think they leave us no choice other then give them fight,right here,right now. It is time for you to get your pabtism of war today Von Kastillien,are you ready?"

Von Kastillien spoke with terrible smile on his face.

"Mein Lord,this is the day i have waited for all my life. Lets give helll to the Polish dogs!"

Dietrich smiled to Von Kastilliens will to fight and continued.

"Allright again we will have to face Polish Nobles with their Javelins. In the battle of Kamienski,we were able to get them in the melee with feigned infantry retreat and that is exactly what we are going to do again,since we still dont have a single archer in this army."

Dietrich deployed his force pretty much the same way is he had done at Kamienski.Infatry in the high ground and cavalry hidden behind a ridge on the both flanks.

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The Polish Southern cavalry army appeared in the field first and immediately attacked the german infantry,hurling missiles and killing men,while the infantry run like they were running away. But this time the cavalry counter charge worked better then last time. Gunthers men on the right charged and Gunther killed the enemy captain with his first swing of his sword.

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As Dietrich sharged the last unit of the Polish nobles and Gunther catched the second one immediately after the first one,when the German infantry entered the strife the Polish broke and started fleeing. The Captain of the Spearmen shouted:

"Enemy infatry to the North and West aproaching!!"

Dieter shouted back,

"Infantry folllow the cavalry,on the double!"

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As the German cavalry chased the remainders of the Polish mounted nobles of the field Dietrich commanded his infantry to create a line facing North West. Tired from the running the infantry got a little brake as the cavalry of Dietrich and Gunther deployed on the right side of the infantry. This time they were facing unit of Polish dismounted nobles and another one of peasants. Dietrich saw how the success of early battle had got into the army. They were ready to strike down the aproaching enemy.

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German infantry took the charge of the Polish noblemen as Dietrich´s cavalry hit them on their left flank.Simultaneously Von Kastilliens Knights smashed into the Polish peasants.The Polish broke down as the German knights pursued them relentlesly.

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Soon there was nothing left of the second Polish army and Dietrich ordered the Spearmen to the line,Von Kastillien to the right and he himself stayed on the left as the Vends came running towards them yelling their war cryes and wawing hteir fearsome war axes.

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As the Woodsmen touched the infantry line,The German Kights charged on their both flanks with devastating force. One of Von Kastilliens Knights run through the Polish captain with his lance.

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As Dietrichs men hit the other end of the Polish line,they broke and run. Again German Kights pursued them untill there was no Vend left.They were all either killed or captured.

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After the last Polish had been killed or captured,the German Infantry raised a huge victory roar. Maybe many of them had thought this was their last day on earth and were now so happy after seeing that instead of death they had gained an heroic victory.
Dietrich rode to Von Kastillien and the two shaked hands with their blood soaked gauntlets still on their hands.Duke of Franconia ordered Gunther Von Kastillien to kneel and sayed with a loud voice that men around could hear.

"By the Grace of our lord and saviour! I knight thee Gunther Von Kastillien as knight of Franconia and the Holy Roman Empire! You have shown skill and valour today that are hard to match even by the most experienced of Knights.After counting, did you not just slay the enemys cavalry captain,with your own hand,but you and your men killed 140 Polish and captured 111,while loosing just 7 knights. I am happy and honoured to have men like you with me. Rise Knight Von Kastillien!"

The army gave load cheer to Von Kastillien as he stood up after Dietrich had touched both of his shoulders,with the tip of his sword.

The Butchers Bill:

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After the battle Dietrich sent messengers to Magdeburg with offer of returning the prisoners to the Polish if they payed ransom, but the Polish rejected the offer so the 251 captured Polish were put to the sword.

[Ituralde]

Battle of the Danube Crossing

Duke Leopold sat on his horse staring glumly ahead. The river Danube flowed through the valley in front of him, where a massive stone bridge spanned a narrow gap. Gottfied von Holstein had set up his army just opposite the bridge where it occupied a formidable defensive position. Steep hills rise to both sides of the road giving plenty of high ground to the defenders and promising vicious uphill fighting for any attacker.

Today the attacker was Leopold and at the thought of this he felt his anger rising. He had adressed the Chancellor with his request for a field battle against the Venetians. Instead he now had to adress an aspiring guildmaster with a rag-tag retinue of Archers and Crossbowmen. Leopold would have preferred to deal with the Venetian struggle first, before turning to von Holstein.

The man had long been a rival of Leopolds tax policies in the City Council. When war had broken out, not only with Milan, but also with Venice and now even Poland, trade, the life blood of the city of Vienna, had trickled to a near halt. The guildmaster was rightfully upset at the lowered trade revenues, but when he had mustered a small army and occupied the strategic river crossing close to Vienna he had gone a step too far.
The man had never possesed enough backbone to oppose Leopold in this way, but the recent sieges of Vienna had shown Leopolds vulnerability and further damaged the trade. He had hoped that with the Venetian thread banned from Austrian lands, Holstein would see reason again and turn down his weapons.

His orders from the Chancellor were clear though. He had read through them so often that he could repeat them from memory. He was not happy with this situation and hopefully soon the reforms proposed by Prince Henry would be passed in the Diet and ducal affairs would be settled by the Duke in question and not by Imperial orders. At least Sigismund had agreed with his request and given him enough florins to muster mercenary forces to deal with this threat adequately.

Those were problems for another time though, currently he had an army composed of Missile Infantry and some peasants in front of him. The only real thread were von Holstein and his bodyguard of Feudal Knights. Leopold couldn't imagine where he had taken the money from to lay his hands on these kinds of superb fighters.

Lazily Leopold raised a hand to signal the advance. There really wasn't anything to do for him than cross the bridge as fast as possible.
The Mercenary Spearmen would be the first across the bridge, no need to waste precious Austrian soldiers in this fight. Slowly the column of Austrian soldiers set in motion while the Rebel defenders were already preparing their bows, ready to deliver the first volley.

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Leopolds plan relied solely on the initiative of his fighters. They had to cross the bridge as fast as possible and attack any Archer in sight. Luckily the narrow gore did not provide too much maneuverability for Holsteins Feudal Knights. His men had to keep momentum and push forward, if they were halted for just a second the Rebel arrows would take their bloody toll. Seeing that the Mercenary Spearmen were already hesitating halfway across the bridge as they anticipated the hail of bolts and arrows that would soon come in their direction Lepold bellowed a cry of frustration and anger and spurred his horse onward. If those Mercenaries were scared of Missile attacks he had to show them that their leader was not!

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Bolts and arrows rained down on Lepold and his retinue as his horses had gallopped to the fore, taking the punch from the Rebel projectiles he urged the Speamen forward: "Charge! Charge you coward dogs! Take the bank!"
Immediatelly the Spearmen rushed forward. Seemingly intimidated by this display of valour von Holstein panicked and ordered a hasty retreat. He was not willing to face the Austrian charge head on, but instead ordered a retreat to the ridge just west of the road.

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Leopold urged his men onward now that the bank was clear and the enemy was on the run it was important that they don't loose momemtum. He ordered the Mercenary Spearmen up the ridge to follow von Holstein, while he took the Town Militia with him in a wide berth to eventually attack the Rebels flank. His Miltia Spearmen were ordered to support the Mercenaries where necessary.

Once the Mercenaries had crested the ridge, von Holstein ordered his army around and let his Missile units attempt a desperate charge, led by him and his Feudal Knights. His end came quickly at the hands of a Mercenary Spearmen.

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Leopold had also brought his men in position and now charged the flank of the remaining mass of Peasant Archers, Peasants and Crossbowmen. With their leader killed in the initial assault and pressure from several sides, the enemy soon succumbed and tried to flee the field.

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All except a unit of Hussars were throwing down their weapons and asked for quarter. With half his army occupied with securing the prisoners the Hussites had enough time to set up position further west on the river bank and opened fire on the Mercenary Spearmen following them, who had just driven back a futile attack of von Holsteins followers.

With the prisoners secured Leopold urged his horsemen onwards to destroy the last pocket of Hussite resistance. With Austrians swarming over their position the Hussites were quickly dealt with.

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Meanwhile von Holsteins followers had mustered up the courage for another attack this time on the Town and Spear Militia left behind to deal with the prisoners.

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Their charge was quickly broken however and finally the last of the Rebel scum fled the field.

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Gottfied von Holstein had already met his deserved fate and Duke Leopold gave the orders to have the other captured ringleaders executed to serve as an example against future rebellion!

Although Leopold had disagreed with the Chancellors plans, he felt delighted to have beaten von Holstein so thoroughly in this battle. The City Council and the merchants would consider it twice before they raised their arms against his rule again.
His delight lasted only a short while though as he remembered the Venetian forces to the South. If the Chancellor gave him the orders he would be ready to strike at them in the field. If not, he would have to wait at them once again, hovering like a coward behind Vienna's mighty walls and have to kill every last one of them once they attack.
This once again brought an evil smile on his face.

[econ21]

The Siege of Bologna, 1138

Henry watched his young son Hans sleeping peacefully and thought of the slaughter that the day would bring. What kind of sick world were we bringing children into, he thought? Slowly, he turned away to refocus. The coming battle required all his attention.

I wonder what siege equipment Sigismund has provided for me this time, Henry mused with a vague feeling of foreboding? Henry had been pleasantly surprised when his father had provided two rams for him at Metz, but he had struggled to take Dijon with only the one ram and two ladders provided by Sigismund.

Henry saw the engineers lounging outside the manor he was bivouacked in and stiffened, approaching them with a lofty air:

“You fellows, let’s see the siege engines you have constructed then.”

One thickset man with curly hair slowly turned to look at his jowly companion. Both gave each other blank looks, then the jowly companion rubbed his arm across his dripping nose and cleared his throat awkwardly:

“Well, you see, Sir, it was like this. Count Sigismund just told us to come ‘ere. He didn’t say nowt about building anything. We thought some of your French lads were goin’ handle that side of things.”

“What?!” yelled Henry. “You are siege engineers. This is a siege. You are supposed to build siege engines. How can you not get that?”

The jowly engineer narrowed his eyes together and repeatedly more slowly, as if Henry were an idiot. “Like, I was saying, Sir, we thought some of your French lads…”

Henry turned and threw his hands up in the air, then stalked back inside the manor. Inside, he cursed like a trooper, unaware that his son Hans had risen.

“Why are you banging your head against the wall, father?” Hans inquired curiously. Henry stopped abruptly. Aww, don’t stop, Dad, thought Hans, It’s funny.

Henry shook his now rather sore head and instantly regretted it. Oh well, Hans was old enough to understand, he supposed.

“I am supposed to take this city - Bologna, your grandfather’s old estate - today but I have no siege engines to get us over the walls.” Henry explained. And, silently adding, we’ll be stuck here, making me look like an idiot while Dietrich bathes in the adoration of the Diet for his victory. Dietrich was Henry’s greatest rival as a commander - ever since Dietrich shot to fame with his stunning capture of Hamburg in a coup de main, it was clear that he was the man to watch. Henry had been left scrambling in the man’s wake, trying to rival his accomplishments. It would not do for a future Emperor to be outshone by his generals. Dietrich’s self-imposed exile had removed the pressure from Henry, but the Franconian Duke’s heroic defeat of the Poles showed he was back with a vengeance.

“Is there no way you can take the city without siege engines?” inquired Hans.

Henry thought. No, it was hopeless. There were no Imperial agents in Bologna that would open the gates for him. But wait…there was a small Venetian relief army nearby. Already it was marching to reinforce the garrison. Henry brightened and spoke to Hans:

“Remember the funny story I told you about the Nubian?”

Hans nodded, sitting expectantly. “Tell me it again, father.”

“Well, the Nubians live in a hot dry place and often have to travel far from any known water source. So, when they get thirsty and don’t know where there is water, do you know what they do?”

Hans jumped up: “Catch a monkey!”

“That’s right.” said Henry. “They trap a monkey and put some salt in front of it. The monkey loves the salt and licks it greedily. But then what happens?”

Hans shot up again: “The monkey gets thirsty!”

“Indeed, the sun is burning and the salt makes the monkey very thirsty. So then the clever Nubian lets the monkey go and races after it, as it leads him right to the nearest watering hole.”

Hans smiled contentedly, but then said puzzled: “That’s a funny story. But what does it have to do with capturing this city?”

Henry smiled back and said enigmatically: “You have to wait here, my son. I’m off to catch me a monkey.”

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Henry saw the Venetian relief force approach - they seemed to be moving at a run. Three regiments of missile troops, including pavise crossbowmen, and one and a half regiments of Italian spear militia. They would be the devil’s own job, if inside the city manning its walls. But out in the open, they would be easy prey.

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Lacking any cavalry other than his own escort, Henry repeatedly charged the Venetian missile troops. It was not a battle, it was a slaughter.

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His mercenary spearmen charged the Venetian spear militia, but the Italians’ hearts were not in it - all they wanted was to get inside the safety of the settlement walls. Like a thirsty monkey running for a watering hole, Henry thought.

“Stop men, hold back. Let them go. Follow them at a distance.” Henry restrained his escort. It was important that the fleeing relief force not be completely caught and destroyed in the open - they had to make through the city gates. Timing was everything - close too soon and they would be destroyed before they made it; close too late and the gates would be closed in Henry’s face.

Damn it, they were rallying under the castle walls. That’s it, we have to go in now.

“Forward men, smash through them” cried Henry and pray that the poor fools manning the city gates take pity on them.

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For a minute, Henry thought the city defenders were going to let the relief force die outside the gates, like Vercingetorix did to his women folk and children at Alesia. But the Venetians were made of softer stuff than that legendary Gaul and slowly the gates opened to let the routing Italians through.

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“Onwards, men, onwards.” Henry urged his men through the gates. Soon they had run down one regiment of Italian spears. But out of the corner of his eye, Henry could see the other regiment appearing behind him. It had manned the city walls after entering, but now that Henry was inside, the Venetians were coming down off the walls and slamming the city gates shut behind the trapped German cavalry. The Italian spear militia lowered their spears and set off towards Henry’s men.

Henry decided to press on, racing his men forward, away from the pursuing spears and towards the city centre. He needed to put a decent distance between his cavalry and the spearmen behind him. Everything depended on turning on the enemy behind him, but getting a good charge off in a crowded city street was a tricky matter. Henry needed time and space to pull it off.

Just as he was approaching the city centre, he halted. He did not want to attract the garrison to him before he had control of the south gate once again. He needed the gate to bring up his infantry.

“About turn, men. Let’s do it.”

His escort turned back up and set off towards the Italian spearmen who had closed the south gate on them. As his horse built up speed, Henry wondered - could they do it? Could they get off a proper cavalry charge? Then he noticed the Italian spear militia in front of him - they were hastily forming a schiltron. Clever fellows, Henry thought admiringly, then with alarm, he thought: this could get messy. Just as Henry started to panic, the lances of his knights came down and the unfortunate Italian spearmen were caught by a ferocious charge.

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The brave Italian spear militia were overrun in seconds. After that, the end was not in doubt. Henry’s men reopened the gate and a mass of German infantry advanced towards the Venetian garrison, now concentrated in the city centre.

Henry’s escort ran down a couple of ballista’s who were too slow to reach the centre.

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A few brave Venetian knights tried to stem the tide of German foot.

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Then the battle bogged down in a struggle through the street leading north to the city centre. Venetian armoured sergeants battled their German counterparts. Henry despised battles of attrition and whipped his horse through the narrow city streets, aiming to approach the city centre from the east. However, a second regiment of Venetian armoured sergeants had anticipated his move and was rushing to block him. Blast it, thought Henry - about turn again, we’ll approach from the north instead. The greater mobility of the horsemen eventually paid off and Henry was able to burst through into the city centre, into the rear of the first regiment of Venetian armoured sergeants.

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The second regiment of Venetian armoured sergeants was still huffing and puffing far away in pursuit of him. When it finally came up, it was alone. Henry was able to position his cavalry in a side road, so that the Venetians were trapped between Henrys’ horse to the west and the German infantry to the south.

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Frozen with indecision, the Venetians started to fall to the German crossbows, until eventually their brave captain recognised the inevitable and sued for terms.

The butcher’s bill:

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Henry released the captured Venetians and occupied Bologna, giving him a reputation for respecting his enemy. For taking a city without siege engines, he would henceforth be regarded as a siege expert. And, to little Hans at least, he would always be known as a man who could tell a tale.

[Ituralde]

Battle of Graz

Leopold had been travelling hard the past days, from the Danube crossing over Vienna he had headed south directly. Accompanied by nothing more than one company of Mercenary Crossbowmen and one of Frankish Knights he was supposed to attack the Venetian Councillor Bartolomeo who had brought the same troops to the field. Curse Sigismund that chivalrous bastard! was all Leopold could think of at the moment, while he waited for his outriders to pin down the exact location of the enemy. It would come to battle today in the surroundings of the border village of Graz. It had been good to show Imperial and Dukal presence this far south where nothing but Venetian armies had been seen during the last years.

I have the men in Vienna ready to crush that Venetian upstart underfoot! His reports had indicated that Bartolomeo was treated as the successor of his father in the post of Doge and that he wanted to cement his aspirations by dealing with the Austrians where many others before him had failed.
If only Sigismund had given me enough men I'd be swarming over these hills and ferret him out!
Duke Leopolds scout had been looking for the equally small Venetian force and so far the Councillor has avoided Leopold.
Chivalry! What was the man thinking. Rumour had it that he had to duel it out with Alessandro Selva instead of shooting him to pieces by his accompanying army. Chivalry was for the tournament field or for open diplomacy. But on the battlefield. You won. Period. You did everything you could to achieve this goal, especially against those Venetian oath-breakers. They deserved death, and Leopold would be giving it to them.

A rider appeared on the outcrop of the ridge and advanced towards Leopold.
"My lord, the Venetians have set up camp two miles to the East!"
Excellent!
"Let's move men and teach those merchant dogs a lesson, coming to our lands uninvited!"

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Bartolomeo had set his men up on one of the rolling hills, while Leopold advanced with his army from the south. He turned to the leader of the Mercenary forces: "Let your Crossbowmen advance in a straight line. Loose formation and open fire as soon as you're in range! I will take the Frankish Knights over the right flank. You just keep shooting at them. Try to target their Knights, I want them wounded or dead before we charge."

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With Leopold's forces set up on the flank of the enemy, Bartolomeo adjusted his troops slightly. His main line was still facing the Crossbowmen however and he had sent his own Missiles forward, wich opened fire. Several volleys of crossbow bolts were exchanged, before the Venetians withdrew closer to their lines.

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Target those damn Knights! They're cavalry is outnumbering us, we have to even out the odds.
As ordered by Duke Leopold the Mercenary Crossbowmen now concentrated their fire on the Frankish Knights making use of the armour penetration of their bolts.

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It was a slow exchange of volleys, but slowly the Frankish Knights lost more and more men to the Austrian bolts. At the same time the Frankish Knights were obstructing the Venetian Crossbowmen who were decimating Leopolds Missile troops. Slowly the number of cavalry turned in favour of Leopold. Not wanting to waste more of his Crossbowmen he ordered the charge. The Frankish Knights were supposed to charge head on, while he would try to outflank the enemy and strike at their back.

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Once the Frankish Knights had engaged, Bartolomeo ordered his retinue forward to join the fight. This gave Leopold exactly the time he needed to form up a charge into the Venetian rear.

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The impact of Leopolds bodyguard crushed the Venetian resistance. Councillor Bartolomeo was killed during the charge by one of Leopolds retainers, who had surely earned his spurs this day. Shocked by the surrounding Germans and without a leader the Mercenaries soon turned to flee.

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"Chase them! Chase them! Let none escape!" Leopold urgeds his followers onward to capture not only the fleeing Crossbowmen but also all of the remaining retaineres of Councillor Bartolomeo.
Every last captured men was put to the sword by the Austrians. Leopold wanted it to be known that every Venetian setting foot on Imperial soil again had forfeit his life and would not be spared. This of couser entailed any Mercenary company foolish enough to collaborate with the Venetian enemy.

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[TinCow]

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"They've been camped up there for months, m'lord."

Maximillian Mandorf squinted, but the fog was too think. For a moment he thought he could see movement, but it was gone before he could focus on it.

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He turned and looked at the Bavarian woodsman. "Archers?"

The man shook his head. "Not that I saw, but nearly every one I saw had a crossbow." He looked up the hill. "They'll give it to you good when you go up the hill."

Mandorf barked an order to the nearest militia sergeant; the entire line began to move. "That's why we're not going up the road."

...

Half an hour later, the view was reversed. The militia had taken their time in climbing the hill, but they had avoided the road held by the brigands. With the army now assembled on the top of the hill, the situation had been reversed. The crossbowmen were now below, with the militia on top.

Nuremburg was a town of merchants, few men knew how to use a bow. The few that could be found were largely hunters from the local forests. They were peasants and unskilled in battle, but with this height advantage, they could shoot nearly as far as English longbowmen.

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The unarmored crossbowmen began to fall fast. Realizing their predicament, they charged up the hill, desperate to close the distance and return fire. The arrows continued to bite though, and both groups had lost nearly a quarter of their number before they were in range.

They had just begun to crank back their primitive crossbows when Mandorf raised his sword and yelled. "For God and the Reich!"

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The thin lines crumpled in bloody mess. Those on either side who had survived fled for their lives. The German knights rode them down without mercy. When the carnage was over, Mandorf rode back towards the militia lines. The archers were already showering the remaining armored spearmen.

A flicker of movement from the top of the hill startled Mandorf. His sword was halfway drawn when he saw the line of knights emerged from the fog. The Steward of Bavaria lifted his visor in amazement. They were of the Teutonic Order.

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One knight rode forward and gave a respectful bow. "Good morning, my lord. We were surprised to hear the sounds of battle so close to Nuremburg. Is this perhaps something that we could help with?"

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Mandorf looked back over his head. Half of the enemy spearmen were dead or dying. They continued to try and advance up the hill, but walking into the heavy rain of arrows was making their progress slow. "It appears that the militia is capable of finishing these ruffians. They've been harassing travelers on this road for years now, some of these men have lost friends. They have little cause for mercy."

The knight nodded. "As it should be. Those who prey upon unarmed men have forsaken the Word of God." Both men paused and watched for a few moments. Half a dozen men fell in only a few seconds.

"By chance do you know if Hildegard von Bingen is still in Nuremburg?" Mandorf looked over at the Teuton and nodded. "Yes, today she is, but she is riding out with me tomorrow. We shall not be back for some time."

An archer came running up, red-faced and breathing heavily. He bent over and took several deep breaths before speaking. "Sir... the... boys.... out of... arrows."

Mandorf looked over at the knight. "Pardon me a moment." He lowered his helm and spurred his horse forward.

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...

The Steward of Bavaria was still wiping blood from his sword when the Teuton rode forward. "Might I ask where you are traveling to?"

"Everywhere. I have recently been appointed Chancellor and I need to see the Reich for myself. There is only so much that can be done from my manor. With so many wars on all fronts, there are no regiments available to keep the roads safe for the commoners. This was but one of several groups of vagabonds that have been extorting good Bavarian Christians for years now. I mean to bring them to justice." Mandorf shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps I will go west to Swabia afterwards, but I have not decided yet."

The knight paused to consider this for a moment. "We have come a long way to see Hildegard. We have heard she has visions from the Lord. It would be a shame to have to return to Frankfurt without having met her. Perhaps... would you accept our company on your travels?"

Mandorf smiled broadly. "I had hoped you would offer you services, Sir..."

The man put out his mailed hand and the two men shook vigorously. "Welf, my Lord, of the Teutonic Order."

"I would greatly enjoy the company of true Knights of Christ on my travels. I have taken vows of my own recently and no longer feel the same connection to my friends that I once did."

Sir Welf nodded. "Those of us who give our lives to the Lord have a clarity of purpose that bothers some of the less faithful. We would be honored to act as your guard during your Chancellorship. Perhaps when your term is over, you will consider joining our Order."

"That is a long time from now, Sir Welf. Come, let us spend one last night in Nuremburg. If we leave for the city now, we will still have time to hear evening Mass."

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[GeneralHankerchief]

Outside of Florence, 1142

Ah, Kaiser Heinrich thought, a proper battlefield.

This was the first time in many years that the Kaiser would be facing a professional army on a true field of battle. Ever since his automatic Chancellorship the only foes for the picking were random brigand parties and the occasional city garrison, although the Milanese in Genoa gave him fits and annihilated his entire bodyguard, save for Captain Ludwig.

Here though, it was finally different. He was facing a large Milanese army, commanded by a proper man of nobility. The field would be mostly open and flat. It would come down to the army's strength and his generalship.

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The stakes were high for both sides. Not only was the Milanese heir to the throne (although it was little more than two islands now) present, but this was their final army on the mainland. They had besieged Florence in hopes of gaining a toehold onto the mainland. If this army was to be defeated then they would be crippled for quite a long time.

Meanwhile, on the Imperial side, the Kaiser had just suffered an embarrassing defeat in a bid for his second Chancellorship. If he was to lose this battle then his reputation would never recover and his plans would be useless. In addition, the Imperial heir, Prinz Henry, was also present. If things were to go terribly and both royals were to die, the Reich might very well be plunged into civil war trying to figure out who would rule.

Right now, however, that was not on the Kaiser's mind. He was focused on relieving his beloved city of Florence. He would not be alone in this task. The city's garrison, over 500 strong, was sallying out to assist Heinrich in this operation.

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Their placement would be crucial. The way the Kaiser had deployed, making the Milanese face him, put the garrison in the one spot of the battlefield that wasn't flat and open. It also happened to be in the Milanese rear.

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In the best-case scenario, their presence would go unnoticed and they would slam into the already-engaged Milanese being pushed to the limit by Heinrich's army. In the worst-case scenario, they would simply keep several Milanese regiments occupied while the Kaiser defeated the main body of troops in front of him. He hoped that the garrison commander realized what his objective was, in any case.

Heinrich's main plan was to simply walk right up to the Milanese army and crush it. Nothing subtle. He hoped that Prinz Henry was paying attention, as the Prinz had just gone behind his back in the most recent Diet elections, all but securing Maximillian Mandorf the Chancellorship. The Kaiser prided himself on being up front and a man of action, and was slightly disgusted that Henry was turning out to be the opposite.

The march took place, but before the main engagement a fierce archery duel took place. The Milanese had superior weapons and numbers (Heinrich caught Prinz Henry muttering something about Staufen and pavisses), so his archers were tasked to do little more than absorb fire until he deemed the time right to attack with the infantry.

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Anxious, the Kaiser ordered the charge quickly and the melee was on.

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With the Florentine garrison being tied up in the woods, the Milanese enjoyed a small numerical advantage which was beginning to tell. Despite spotting some men running for the rear, Heinrich could see that his line was cracking. He motioned to Prinz Henry, who trotted over.

"Now, we charge in and push things in our favor."

Seconds later, the Prinz was still dumbfounded as he watched the Kaiser, followed by his escort, charge into the thick of fighting. A second later he recovered and followed his father into the melee, both of them catching and mauling a regiment of Italian militia trying to flank.

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Captain Ludwig, armor stained with blood, rode up to the Kaiser and the Prinz.

"Where the hell did they come from?"

A glance towards Florence provided the answer. Apparently the worst-case scenario with the garrison had happened.

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Several regiments that had routed the Florentines were making their way down the hill. Things were not looking good for the Empire.

"We'll never survive against that," Heinrich said to both escorts. "Let's overturn this line and free up the infantry. CHARGE!" Waving his red-gleaming sword high into the air, he plunged into the main battle line, several quicker horsemen following.

Prinz Henry just looked at Captain Ludwig, who shrugged. Was the Kaiser being this reckless on purpose? Also shrugging, he lead the rest of the cavalry into the fray.

The Imperial advantage lasted exactly three seconds. A series of loud swears signalled the arrival of Count Manno, the Milanese commander, and his escort. Now it would simply be which side's leader would go first.

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This was not terribly difficult to figure out. The two Imperial escorts were battle-hardened and extremely loyal, not to mention being more numerous and of German stock. Meanwhile, the Milanese were known for counting their money more than for their fighting prowess. Add in the fact that they were very hungry, having lived off of the Italian countryside for years, and the outcome was inevitable. Manno's cavalry ran, with Heinrich and Henry giving chase. Eventually the Milanese heir was slain, providing the turning point for the battle.

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Unfortunately, the Imperial army had no other cavalry, and the two escorts' mounts were too exhausted to provide chase towards the fleeing Milanese. The victorious army could only watch, trying to catch their breaths, as a significant remnant of their foe, spurred on by their second-in-command, headed for parts unknown.

Intelligence reports that the army circumvented both the Papal forces and Genoa, and passed out of our line of sight to the west of Milan itself. I assume that they are in the whereabouts of Marseille now, the Kaiser wrote in a letter to Chancellor Mandorf that night. In the future, I request more cavalry so the job can be properly finished.

He sealed the letter and sent it off. There. Now to move on to more pressing matters.

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[Kagemusha]

Assault on Magdeburg,15.4.1144 AD

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Dietrich Von Saxony had been awake since early morning. He had been awake,since a messenger from Capital had woken him up in the middle of the Night. Messenger had carried grim news. Sigismund Der Stoltze had been assasinated near Dijon.
"I didnt like that man,but death like that is no way to die for a nobleman" Dietrich thought. Before the first light, Dietrich summoned Count Von Hamburg, Dietrich´s Veteran Captain Herman and the captain of the Mercenaries to his tent.

"Der Stoltze has been assasinated" Dietrich sayed to the gathered men. For a moment no one responded,complete silence fell to the tent.
"While i dont think this is good news,i think that this kind of news,used the right way should give just the kind of spirit we need for the army,in order to take that castle we have sieged for quite some time." Dietrich continued. "Men are tired of building all this siege equipment,but they are also tired on the Polish and their pillaging of our lands. With right trigger,we can chance their frustration into to an rage that will give us that castle." The others nodded,becouse they knew what Dietrich was saying was indeed true.
"I want you to go back to your men now and prepair to attack the walls just like we have planned. I will soon sound alert to the army and tell them the news."

At first light the German Warhorn´s sounded an alert on the camp. Sergeants drew the sleepy men out of their tents and gathered them in front of Magdeburg castle,where Dietrich,with his officers and bodyguards,waited fully armored and mounted,the sun rising behind the castle and colouring the dawn red. Once the army was gathered,Dietrich roared:
"Men! A German Elector and previous Chancellor Sigismund the Chivalrous have been murdered by our cowardly enemies! I wouldnt be suprised if it was the cowardous Polish who are behind this gruesome act and i think it is our duty as Germans to avenge the Death of Count Der Stoltze. So today,let it be our motto,Vengeange!Vengeange to all who oppose the Reich!"

The army started banging their weapons to their shields and as one man a terrible groan raised from their throats: "Vengeange!Vengeange!Vengeange!"
Dietrich roared over the warcry of the Franconian army: "Now men to your post! Leave none of the enemy alive!" And so the assault on Magdeburg started.

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The army was deployed on three parts.Spearmen with ladders on both sides of the castle and the main army in front of the single entrance. With the thundering roaring all the parts started runnning towards the walls simultaneously. Just as the ram was getting close to the gate,suddenly the gate opened and all the Polish on horses charged out.

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Count Von Hamburg shouted to Dietrich: "The Polish are sallying!" Dietrich sayed nothing just raised his sword and then swung it towards the Polish Nobles. With that sign all the Germans on horses charged the Polish cavalry.The fight was over in matter of seconds.The Polish didnt have time to spread out and charge,before they were crushed under the hooves of German knights.Polish commander of the garrison was amongst the first to fell.

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Simultaneously on the walls,the Polish Woodsmen came down from the walls in order to support the brave but foolish sally of their noblemen. Only the Polish Nobles on foot kept fighting vigorously on the Western wall,causing large amount of casulties to Dietrichs spearmen.
On the gate Dietrich yelled: "Ram!Ram to the gate!". Before the woodsmen got anywhere near the gate,it was broken down and all that was left to do for them was to be mauled by the German Knights running over them.

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Once the central of the castle was taken,Dietrich ordered all his infantry to kill of the remaining Polish Nobles on the Western wall. He turned towards Von Hamburg and ordered for him to dismount. As still they could both see men dropping of the western wall,shouting and killing each other. Dietrich knighted Von Hamburg.

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Soon the brave Polish nobles were killed to the last man and Magdeburg was taken. Dietrich looked around and was happy about what he saw. Polish had developed Magdeburg well.There were training facilities for all main troops he needed,cavalry,spears and archers. This castle could serve Franconia well for supplying troops for the Duke.
Soon an Scout galloped through the battered gates."My Lord! I have spotted an rebel force west to us.Maybe they were thinking of looting our camp incase we had been defeated here today." A narrow smile came to Dietrichs face as he addressed Von Hamburg "Von Hamburg,organise the defence of the castle,bury the dead and stop the looting,before our men have killed each and every living soul in this place.Il go attend these rebel scum myself." Dietrich gathered some of the men and rode out to meet the rebels.

Butchers Bill:

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[Kagemusha]

Battle of Wotanwald

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Ever since Dietrich had taken command of his archer reinforcements,he had been on brilliant mood. He had inspected the gear of the archers and had tryed their bows personally,while constantly loosing when shooting at targets,becouse he was no match in archery for the hunters and foresters that were assigned in his archer troops.
The rebels had been running all over Franconia,trying to escape Dietrichs forces. The campaign had started to be more like hunting party then army in search of the enemy.
Finally today, the starving and exhausted rebels had stopped running and had gathered on a hill near an ancient worship place, that had given the name for the area,Wotanwald.

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Dietrich had gathered the commander of the archer and his other commanders to an ridge,where they could see the rebel forces. "Here is the plan mein herren. I have always wanted to see that ancient pagan worship place,so i will take the cavalry there out in the open, so the rebels can see us. Meanwhile you captain and your archers,will move around that hill and glimb from the other side, so that you will move in the flank of the rebels. Once you are there release few volleys on their dirty necks and me and my knights will come take care whats left of them.Understood captain?" Captain smiled on Dietrich and sayed "Exellent plan sire.We will put some arrows on their skulls,so they will understand that being a rebel in Franconia is short lived profession." Dietrich smiled back to the captain. He liked this simple man,who was somewhat an humorist on his simple and rugged way. "Allright then. If there is nothing to add. Lets go undo those rebel scum." Dietrich sayed and nodded to the men present.

As Dietrich moved through the open terrain with his knights,he could see how the rebels stood up and watched his men. The Franconian knights rode towards the ancient ruins, like they were on a field trip and didnt bother to watch the rebels.
Soon the Franconian archers had moved into the flank of the rebels and captain of the archers commanded "Loose!".

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The rebels were completely suprised. Dozens of men died instantly on the arrow storm and all the rebel commander could do was to order his spear men forward towards the archers.
Once Dietrich saw that the rebels had divided themselves. He ordered "Charge!target the crossbow men!" When the knights struck the crossbows,behind the enemy spears, the whole rebel army routed.

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Rebel spearmen had tryed to advance towards the Franconian archers,but all they had done was that they were struck an volley after volley of arrows. Once the crossbows behind them were crushed by Dietrichs knights,their morale soured and they ran. Only problem was that there was no where to run,so at the end all but four rebels were killed or captured.
Once the battle was over Dietrich lined up the remaining rebels and spoke to them.
"I am the Duke of these lands and by the law of the Reich i should hang each and everyone of you. But today i think you have seen that there is no point trying to rebel against your true lords. So you men are free now. The rebels were amazed, becouse they were sure that they would be all executed. Before any of them tryed to leave,Dietrich sayed "And one more thing. If i ever see or hear of your filthy faces accused even of stealing an egg. I will not only hang you,but your families and all your relatives i can get my hands on. I hope i have made my self clear."

Butchers bill:

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[OverKnight]

The Battle of Trent, 1146

Otto von Kassel was riding north with his retinue to meet the infantry contingent of the new Bavarian Household Army. Messengers had been sent ahead, and the meeting of the two forces was to take place near the town of Trent on the Reich's border with Venice. I opposed that amendment, thought Otto, but Maximillian's brainchild will be quite useful.

It felt good to be out of Bologna and in the field. Otto did not want to admit it, but it was a relief to be out of the presence of his fiancee. She is but a child, a child who still believes in the bedtime stories of Roland and Lancelot. She thinks war a game, battle a song and that Knights are paragons of Christian virtue. I do not have the heart to tell her different. Being in her presence made him feel old, worn and strangely lacking in the virtues she thought all Knights had. Elsebeth is the lucky one, she can still believe in those fables, but I have to deal with the world the way it is.

A rider came up beside Otto, disturbing his reverie. "Count Otto", said Rupert von Aachen, his second, "Our scouts report that a large column of Venetian troops are pursuing us!"

"How close are they to us, Rupert? What is their composition?", asked Otto while turning in his saddle to glance south.

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"A mile or two off my lord, there's about 600 men, four units of spears, four units of bowmen."

Otto thought a moment, "No cavalry, eh? They can't catch us until we've met up with our own foot."

Rupert asked, "Should we spur our horses? Pull away?"

"Nein," replied Otto, "We shall stay ahead of them, but we won't pull away. We have to keep them interested. Once we meet our footmen, we'll turn and engage them. Most likely that force is a majority of the garrison of Venice, I don't know of any other sizeable Venetian army in the area. They stripped their city of men to come after me, we should take advantage of that."

Rupert chuckled, "Perhaps the Doge heard of the edict you proposed in the last Diet."

Otto grunted, "Perhaps. If that's the reason, then it has accomplished it's purpose. Angry men do stupid things. Why stab a man, Rupert, when he will throw himself on your knife? Once we've met our footmen, form up for battle."

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Bavarian Army:

Otto formed up his united army in a small wood. Having just travelled from the south, he knew the lay of the land and where the Venetians would be coming from.

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His plan was to move on the Venetians, but keep a wooded hill between his forces and the pavise crossbowmen. The hill, thought Otto, and the rain should negate their superiority in missiles.

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The Venetians seemed surprised to find the Imperial Army, with infantry no less, on their right flank. Otto saw a company of bowmen break off from their main body and head towards his army.

Otto, whose retinue was the only cavalry force he had, was on the left flank. Drawing his sword, he pointed it toward the archers and ordered a charge.

As Otto galloped towards the archers, he thought he saw a glint of metal in the woods in front of him. Otto swore to himself. "Break right! Schnell!"

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Having narrowly avoided impaling his men on a hidden spear-wall, Otto ordered them to charge the Venetian bowmen.

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After scattering the crossbowmen, Otto wheeled his men back, to return the favor to those spearmen.

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Seeing their fellows in trouble, and with their bowmen in no shape to return fire, the remaining spearmen companies advanced to engage. They suffered heavy casualties from Imperial missles.

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Otto returned from routing the first company of spearmen to help break them.

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Otto looked about, Venetians were running in every direction. Spurring his horse after a group of the nearest spearmen he screamed, "Kill them all! Don't let them get back to their damn city!"

One unit of spearmen, however, had not given up hope. Otto and his retainers crashed into them while chasing other routers.

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While swinging at a man on his left, Otto didn't notice another spearman on his right. The Venetian thrust up at Otto. The spearhead glanced off his breastplate, carrying it upwards where it found the gap between Otto's visor and helmet. Otto screamed as the metal sliced open the right side of his face. Bellowing in fury Otto swung his sword around, cleaving the spearman from shoulder to stomach. At that, the final Venetian unit broke and the rout was on.

Breathing heavily in pain, and unable to see out of his right eye, Otto wished he had more cavalry. Soon enough, Otto thought, but my knights are it for now.

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After the battle, a surgeon was seeing to Otto's wounds. Rupert approached as Otto swore at the man. Looking at Otto's face, Rupert drew a sharp breath.

"How is it?", asked Otto, a deep cut, poorly stitched and inflamed, ran from his right temple to his chin, "I want to look my best for the wedding."

"It should be fine my lord," replied Rupert, "It speaks to your bravery."

Otto held up his right gauntlet and caught his reflection in it. Otto grimaced and fresh blood seeped from the wound. After taking a drink from a flask of wine, he spat onto the ground. "Tell me Rupert," Otto asked, "How many disfiguring scars did Roland have?"

The Butcher's Bill:

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[GeneralHankerchief]

Rome, 1146

The Eternal City:

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It was in panic like only a few times before in its storied history. Once Kaiser Heinrich's army had crossed the border into Papal territory, word had spread like wildfire that he was coming straight for the Seat. After all, where else would this cagey old man be going? Surely he wasn't taking his army on an excursion to see the sights of Campania.

The people's fears proved to be right. Some time after the Papal borders had been violated, the city had awoken to find an Imperial Army knocking at its door.

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The outnumbered garrison had quite a task to do even before it set off to do battle with the Kaiser's forces: calm the people. Eventually, Guido de Avena, commander of the garrison, made his way to the city square, got everyone's attention, and made the following announcement:

"QUIET!", he boomed. "God will see us through these hard times. After all, the Kaiser has no siege equipment, and by the time he builds enough to overcome these walls, good Pope Gregory will be here and dispel this monster forever!"

Meanwhile, outside the city gates, Kaiser Heinrich gave his orders.

"Ballistae, forward!"

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The sound of bolts hitting the gate suddenly set the city back into a panic. Guido, fed up, directed his forces to the point of battle. This was not supposed to be happening!

The Kaiser watched the ballistae work with uncontained satisfaction. At long last, the gates broke open and the road to Rome and redemption was clear.

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As the men walked down to road to the city, a spontaneous cheer erupted for their gallant leader. Few knew how long he had brooded and dreamed of this moment, but all knew that he still harbored some resentment towards Pope Gregory.

This is my moment, he thought to himself as he entered the city personally.

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Guido de Avena marshalled his forces in a desperate attack to try to drive the Imperials out and kill the Kaiser, but his opponents' morale was quite high. After all, how many men could say that they took part in the capture of the Eternal City? It was hopeless. This was a day for Heinrich. Guido was quickly swarmed and fell victim to hundreds of spear-thrusts.

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The yellow-and-black steamroller continued to plough the way to the very city square that had been used as a point to calm the people of Rome less than half an hour ago. From there, a horn sounded, and Kaiser Heinrich and his escort charged triumphantly in, cementing the Imperial victory.

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Victorious, Heinrich turned to his men.

"Take whatever you want. This is a day of celebration. However, leave the churches alone."

Cheering, the men proceeded to loot the city.

This is the easy part, the Kaiser thought to himself. What will be difficult is predicting and dealing with Gregory's revenge.

[Dutch_guy]

The scribe cursed, why had he been ordered to recheck all these seemingly ancient documents? At least a dozen pieces of parchment always seemed to be under those he had just picked up, what tedious work this was, not to mention he had to re-write them all. Times like these he really hated the job, even though he was paid quite generously

A dusty and fairly heavy bit of parchment caught his eye, neatly curled up bound with his master’s seal it was carefully placed at the bottom of the chest he was going through. Overwhelmed by curiosity he quickly gazed through the room, checking for any unwanted visitors. He didn’t want to get caught opening a seemingly private and important looking note bearing the Knight’s seal, his master was good to his subjects, but he knew he shouldn’t try to push his luck. Rumours concerning the sudden disappearance of his predecessor hadn’t passed him by, and the fact he had been found stabbed in the chest with a pen was telling enough.

Still, his curiosity got the better of him and he quickly broke the seal. Various little drawings were found on it, names and numbers of troops, and even of individual soldiers. Drawings which looked like battle formations were also present, although he had no idea what to make of that. He had never been one of military mind. Still reading on, his eye was caught by what seemed to be some kind of report, of some kind of past battle. As he liked the good war story like everyone else, he read on:

North of Magdenburg, 1140 AD.

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[/URL]

Finally, noble lords, have you granted me permission to lead a force in battle. A minor battle nonetheless, but a battle for the Reich is always of great importance, in this case our supply lines have to be protected, if we are to keep the flow of money and weapons to my dear friend von Saxony intact. These petty so called ‘rebels’ are in this way of this, and they need to die for it.

After assigning the various soldiers to their respective groups the assault began. It was to be a simple procedure; the two companies of cavalry would march to a patch of land to the left of the rebel force, and the main bulk of my modest force, the infantry, would march head on to the rebels, who had prudently decided to camp on a minor hill. Once the infantry had engaged, the cavalry would charge in the back and right flank of the engaged rebels, followed by myself, and my noble bodyguards.

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The infantry men, with the mercanary spearmen leading the force, soon were in sight of the rebels and were ordered to charge in. The mercenary troops charged into the waiting rebel spearmen, and the other two of the infantry companies were commanded to envellop the spearmen, and attack the awaiting rebel milita who were still unengaged where they to move and assist their comrads. The cavalry were ordered to start moving towards the melee, and charge the rebels in the flank. I would assist them, personally.

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It didn’t take long at all to break the rebels, the spearmen and now engaged sword militia were pinned down by the infantry force, and charged in the rear by the cavalry. The broke and fled.

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The enemy captain, in an act of unsuspected bravery, tried to make a last stand, but was promptly cut down by a group of cavalry.

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The fleeing survivors were soon cut down, to the last man. The assault had been performed in a perfect fashion, with the loss of a mere 10 soldiers, mostly of the hired band of spearmen.

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This concludes the report, noble lords.

Yours,

Günther von Kastillien.

The scribe put down the parchment, stood up, and walked out of the room. He was sure his master was going to want to see this, this seemingly lost and forgotten, albeit quite important, piece of parchment. Probably the reason I had to recheck all of these, he thought to himself, leaving a large pile of parchment behind.

[TinCow]

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The two armored knights sat and talked for a long time. Even from a distance, Maximillian Mandorf could see from their body language that they respected, even liked, one another. Several more minutes passed before the clasped arms, turned their horses, and came back to their respective lines. Sir Welf made directly for Mandorf.

"They will fight," he said with a heavy sigh.

Mandorf nodded. "They are good men, I would not have expected otherwise."

It had only been a matter of time. The Kaiser's excommunication had caused unrest all over the Reich. Most had chosen to remain loyal to their feudal Lords, but some, like Sir Rolin, had found that their loyalty lay first with Pope Gregory. Mandorf admired them for their courage and sacrifice. Had he not been Chancellor, perhaps he would have been the rebel on the other side, leading a small rebellion against the Kaiser.

But I am Chancellor and I must protect the Reich, even when we are led by a man like Heinrich. Sir Rolin is fulfilling his duty to God and I am fulfilling mine to the people. Hildegard will damn me for sure.

Mandorf turned his horse to face the Bavarian and Teutonic knights. "Give them a clean death, men. They are good Christians and they do not deserve to suffer." Many men crossed themselves and murmurred quick prayers for forgiveness. Mandorf lowered his visor and led his Bavarians up the hill to the west, as the Teutonic Order advanced their horses into a trot, their lances held high.

It took several minutes to close the range with the enemy. As they approached, a line of crossbowmen ran forward and began loading their quarrels. The Teutons picked up speed, their lances moving to a slight angle. The crossbowmen began to get visibly nervous. Some fumbled and dropped their weapons, while others let loose straight into the groud. Most were able to get off a full volley though, and two of the Teutons were thrown from their horses. As if of one mind, the rest of the couched their lances and pushed their mounts into a full gallop. SOme of the crossbowmen began trying to reload, but most began looking around franticly for a means to escape. There was nowhere to go.

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The impact was extremely brutal. Men were thrown into the air, trampled under foot, and impaled on lance tips. Within seconds, they were all dead.

Less than a minute later, a similar act was occurring to the west. Mandorf led the Bavarians in a downhill charge against the commoners. They were brave and stood their ground, but few had true spears and they had not been trained to fight cavalry.

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Two horses were impaled, but the rest trampled over the pooly trained rebels. Half a dozen survived and ran for the woods. Within 30 seconds, Sir Rolin had lost half his army. Determined to die with honor, he led his knights into the attack against the Chancellor of the Reich. A fierce melee began.

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Sir Rolin's men fought bravely, but they were green and no match for Mandorf's veterans. They fell quickly to the Bavarian swords.

The remaining group of spearmen moved to protect their Lord's rear, but the Teutons had reformed. A full charge hit the spearmen before they could form a proper line.

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...

Sir Welf found Mandorf kneeling in the grass, praying over the body of Sir Rolin. He waited patiently until the Chancellor was done.

Mandorf stood, looking immensely tired. "Let us give them proper Christian burials. There will be no mass grave here. Every man is to have his own peace and his own cross." A few drops of rain began to fall and Mandorf looked upwards. "The Lord weeps."

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