Battle reports thread - King of the Romans PBM

[GeneralHankerchief]

Rome, 1168

It was a little after 1:00 AM in the Eternal City. However, despite the ungodly hour, there was still movement going on in the Reich's capital. Kaiser Heinrich, fed up with his prize being under siege and unwilling to die until Rome was free, had roused his soldiers up for a nighttime sally.

The target of Heinrich's aggressions was once again the Papacy. The Kaiser's latest approved choice was Pope Andreas of Denmark. He had been complacent - for a while. However, recently he had made the mistake of besieging Rome. The time had come, as Otto von Kassel would put it, to exercise his veto against Andreas.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

During the march to the northern gate, where the action would take place, an unnamed soldier fell into line with Heinrich's escort, dressed appropriately for the occasion. After seeing the Kaiser stare at him for a minute, this new soldier removed his helmet and his true visage was shown. It was none other than the Fifth Elector of Swabia, one of Heinrich's few remaining allies in the Diet.

Before the Kaiser could say anything, the Swabian Elector spoke.

"With all due respect, Mein Kaiser, you're 62 years old. Someone needs to watch your back."

Heinrich chuckled. "I've gotten into my share of engagements over the years, good sir. Which is more than I can say for this priest that is waiting for me (who also happens to be 62 by the way)."

The discussion turned slightly more serious as the ride continued.

"62 is quite an age to live to in these times. You've survived rebellions, wars, battles, disease, and assassination attempts. Aren't you getting tired?"

"Very," sighed the Kaiser. "The truth is, I think I have willed myself to live for these past couple of years. I do not fear the judgement that awaits me after death. I fear the fact that my plans will not go to fruition if I am not around to see them done. I fear for the Reich's future."

There was a respectful silence as the host marched by a church.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Then, the Kaiser continued. "But what about you? Why do you risk death when it is not necessary? You realize that should you fall this morning, your position in the Diet will go to Prinz Henry's darling child Hans."

"Hans is replacing me anyway. Why would the Prinz keep me, an ally of his enemy, in the Diet when he can throw his own son in my place?"

"Well, sons don't necessarily mean anything. Look at my two sons and their elevated opinion of me."

The two shared a laugh, but it was short-lived. The host had just passed by the statue of Marcellus Aemilius, signalling that the northern gate, and thus the battle was near. The Kaiser began deploying his men.

"Crossbows on the walls! Everyone else behind the gate! We lure them in!"

"Mein Kaiser?" said a crossbowman who had just climbed the walls. "They're pulling back out of range."

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"No point in seeing if they'll take the bait," Heinrich said to himself. "Spears! Catch 'em while they're retreating! CHARGE!!!"

The spears did as they were told, with Heinrich's escort trailing behind at a walk. The Kaiser's plan wasn't completely effective, but the Papal mercenary crossbowmen did only manage a few volleys before they were forced to fall back.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The battle was purely an infantry melee for a short amount of time. The Imperial spearmen fought and made gains against the less-numerous Papal spears. Seeing this, Pope Andreas charged his 46-strong escort in to even the tide, but Heinrich did the same with his.

The battle instantly grew less organized. Heinrich was aiming for the Pope, but the way things went, he and Andreas were at opposite ends of the "line." Heinrich wanted to charge his way through, but saw only Papal cavalry. As a matter of fact, that was all he saw, period. He was completely cut off from any support!

Some of Andreas's escort noticed this and circled in for the kill.

So, this is the way I go out. Surrounded by enemies and the Swabian Elector nowhere to be seen. Then let everyone know I go down in a blaze of glory!

Heinrich, King of the Romans, held his sword high in the air and bellowed something that could not be translated in any language other than that of battle-fury. His frail arm started hacking at the first thing he saw.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Kaiser's last stand?

Continuing to scream and battle, more akin to the Germanic barbarians of old than the ancient Romans, Heinrich did battle alone with the endless tide of Papal cavalry, preparing for his end. He received his share of blows, but none were strong enough to unhorse him. Meanwhile, he kept slashing away, bringing down horseman after horseman.

This is something that Henry will never understand. You must be strong, always. Even in death.

His body was weakening, his mind clouding. His saddle had turned red with blood. The end had come, he was expecting it, he would fight to the end...

...finally, relief. An Imperial horseman had seen the plight his Emperor was in and had come riding to the rescue. It was, of course, the Fifth Elector of Swabia.

Not bothering to apologize, he immediately took over where Heinrich left off, chopping and hacking at the Papal cavalry. A barely-conscious Heinrich watched with pleasure. However, it was clear that the Swabian Elector was not imbued with the same fury, the same battle lust. He took his share of blows and returned them in spades, but eventually the same event happened to him that would have happened to the Kaiser were it not for his intervention.

Heinrich could only watch in horror as another comrade fell. No one came riding to his rescue. No one rode to save him. The effort to defend his Kaiser, although valiant, had failed. And now, the remaining Papal cavalry had turned their attention back to the weakening Heinrich.

...there was a gasp on the other side of the battle. Heinrich, although hurt and not fully alert anymore, still knew what had happened. He had heard the sound twice before: When Gregory had fallen, and when Accattus had fallen. The same proved true with Andreas.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The rout on the Papal side was instant. The men about to kill the Kaiser now turned and fled at the sight of him. Heinrich's horse, in a much better state than its mount, turned to pursue the routers, leaving behnd the pile of Papal corpses and the one Imperial body.

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The next thing Heinrich knew, it was day, and he was in bed. An odd light was shining around him.

Am I dead? Is this heaven?

At that instant, the light was blocked. Staring at him from above was a surgeon, not an angel.

"You're lucky to be alive, Mein Kaiser. Rome is safe, but you are hurt. I don't know how you managed to survive all those wounds at your age."

Heinrich mumbled. "And the Swabian?"

The surgeon shook his head. "I'm afraid that he..."

The words trailed off as the Kaiser fell back to sleep. Apparently, there was still work to be done, plans to go to fruition. But now there was one less ally to help him.

Maybe, just maybe... we can get Otterbach in now... and peace...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Dutch_guy]

Battle in the cold dense forests of Thorn.

The sound of armour shifting, and heavy boots pounding filled the air as Günther von Kastillien finally finished giving his second in command the final pre battle orders. The battle plan was simple, straight to the point.

The large Polish force had camped in the dense forests, and was awaiting the German force. Both forces were about equal in number, but the German force was of substantial better quality. Both in weaponry, and morale. Plus, the German force was also in possession of a new fighting force, the feudal foot knights. This was the first time they’d see battle, as far as Günther knew, and he was eager to try them out against the bold Poles.

As far as his scouts had told him, the Polish forces were positioned straight in front of the German force, with a small company of Polish nobles on the Polish right flank. Their formation was simple, spearmen were to main fighting force, assisted by weak archers and a few sword armed peasants. That said, they’re were a lot of them, and loss of good German troops was suspected. The Javelin armed Polish nobles always took their toll on our infantry, they were always a feared foe.

The plan was as followed. The archers would be sent to deal with the enemy archers, preferably taking such a heavy toll on them that they’d be unable to thin out our precious feudal knights and sergeant spearmen. The few cavalry that was present at the battle were to deal with the Polish nobles. A charge would probably brake them, and send them running for help. The cavalry would give chase, until positioned sufficiently behind the main bulk of the Polish force. In the mean time the German spearmen would march towards the enemy and take them head on. The feudal knights would act as shock troops, and would flank the enemy’s right side, after contact between the two main bodies was made. The archers would continue their barrage, stopping only to differ their targets from the enemy archers to the enemy infantry – and general. Günther would lead his own bodyguard against the enemy general on the battlefield, if the archers hadn’t taken care of the Polish fool by the time he got there.

Günther had given his orders, time to see if they’d be as effective as he hoped they would.

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The archers moved in range, and immediatley started to take enemy fire. Losses were kept at a minimum by spreading out and returning fire themselves. In the mean time the enemy stood their ground, awaiting the impending onslaught.

The feared Polish nobles, however, were taken completely by surprise by the knights sent after them. They fell in moments, as they didn’t suspect the charge at all. They were hit in their side and they routed almost on contact.

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The German cavalry were just beginning to chase the cowardly Polish nobles, when the first of the german infantry made contact. The right flank was now engaged, the left flank would follow suite as soon as it could.

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The Polish peasants were selling their hides dearly, but they were losing 5 soldiers to each German one. They knew this, and they steadily fell back, leaving their right flank to take on the power of the Reich.

The Polish right, having stood by idlely after the initial contact on the other side, were now facing a dilema. They could help their comrades on their left, or brace themselves against the impeding charge of the feudal knights. They chose the latter option, and moments later they were hit head on by the eager knighst fighting on foot.

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The fight continued, and the Polish slowly lost ground. The Polish right crumbled faster than the Polish left, even though they had been fighting a significantly shorter time than their brothers on the left side. The Feudal knights broke the enemy spearmen, and proceeded to charge the steadfast levy swordsmen, still fighting the German spears on the right, in the back. They didn’t stand a chance and broke as soon as the first German swords were plunged into Polish back.

Günther finally sent in his own bodyguard, and sent orders to the remaining cavalry to chase the routers, and capture them. It seemed, however, that the cowardly enemy captain had fled once the battle had tipped in German favour, and was already many a mile away.

Even though the Poles were soundly defeated the Germans did lose quite some men, 237 as told in the latest report. 237 good men against 1000 + enemy soldiers, not counting those who were captured and eventually killed once the ransom was turned down.

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[Stuperman]

"Conrad, we will attack tomorrow," Gerhard announced just before the evening meal, "and I have something rather odd to ask you, will you carry the banner of the Commander in to thios battle?"

"But of course, Sir" Conrad replied "but why?"

"The Hungarians that we face tomorrow have has superior infintry and equal cavlery to our own forces, we must use the power of surprise, and If I carry the Command Banner I cannot hide with our new Teutonic knights, it will be your job lure the young unskilled Capian into a charge of our line. But enough of that, we will discuss the particulars after we eat, Rally the men, let them eat heartely tonight, WE BATTLE TOMORROW!"



We deployed a long formation with most of the Cavlery hidden on the right flank (facing pic):



The lack of command expierence makes it's self known when the hungarians charge, with thier archers getting cut down in front:



Our Troops counter charge, and the hungarian left desintegrates:



With Panic racing through the hangarian line, there is quickly Chaos:



Conrad (foreground) and Myself (background) meet the Hungarian Prince and show him how real men fight.



Our spearmen circle around from behind and trap the Prince, He's Captured, The Battle Is WON!!




"You fight very well Conrad, " I said to him over drinks back at camp, "Most honourabley taking the prince Himself on, I think Ritter Salier has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

He stared at me in slight disblief, "Congradulatons you've earned it"

In the morning when I got the official word from Rome that our coffers were pittifully low, I ordered the prisioners to ransomed back to Hungry, alas they are a cheap bunch thosew huingarians and wouldn't even take thier own flesh and bloods back.





Butcher's bill:






Butcher's bill:

[Warluster]

1172, Near Dijon.

Thunder rumbled through the afternoon sky, and the groound shook and ears were pressed hard. Jobst sighed in hgis tent,as he sat by the door, watching soldiers go by readying for battle.

A week before the Chancellor had contacted him to tell Jobst that a French army was nearby, and Jobst was to mop them up.

And here Jobst was. Rain pelted onto the roof of the tent, but softly.
jobst surveyed the surrounding area, looking for weakness in the Frenhc Army set up on the other side of the plains, and the landscape.

The Frenchies they were verusing were 794 strong, compared to Jobst's army of 731, mainly made up of Crossbow Miltia.

While Jobst was surveying the land, someone stood in front of him.Jobst got up quickly, drawing his sword. the person was no threat, it was his Biographer.

'Sorry for startling and disturbing you sir' said his Biographer. Jobst coughed and sat back down.
'Your French aren't you?' asked Jobst,
'Yes sir' said the man, Jobst nodded in a creepy way, and the Biographer spoke again nervoulsy.
'I was wondering if you...' the man was cut short of finishing his sentence by Jobst,
'Would like to say anything more on my biography?' said jobst amuseingly,
'Why, acutally sir that was exactly what I was to say, anyhow, do you sir?'
'No, now leave me in Peace, I need to speak with my Majors' said Jobst. This was a lie, he no logner needed his Major's help, now it was all his thinking. The Biographer hurried off, and Josbt lasped into silent thought again.

Some hours later someone shook him awake.
'Sir,sir, the French are assemblign in battle formation!' said a soldier, Jobst woke up with a start and sprang up.
'Get into Triple line formation! NOW!' yelled Jobst, it had stopped raining, but still no sun. Voices rang across the camp as majors yelled out Jobst's order to their companies. Soon the army was ready, Crossbowmen in front, Infantry behind and Cavarly behind them. And then ti started.

Jobst's Bodyguard rode up behind the Cavarly line, and waited. Trumpets rang across the plains, and a loud voice,
'Give up now you Germans, and we shall give you mercy!' yelled the voice form the French Army, Jobst rode to the front of his army and yelled back,
'When I am walking through your city of garbage then shall you give up froggie, ot do we have to make you hop away every time!?' yelled Jobst, and some of his soldiers laughed. Then silence, and Jobst turned to his army and spoke,
'I say to thou now, do not pray to the almighty god for victory, as we already have victory in our hands, we just have to shut our hand!' said Jobst,
'Now sending them back to the places they stole from us, and remember those killed in Metz, for Swabia, for The EMpire and Reich, for victory!' and Jobst raised his sword and ordered for the barrage of arrows to start.

Josbt rode back to his General unit, and at once the French Army moved forward. Dirt was kicked up as The French Cavlry moved forward, and a twanging sound whipped through the air, and tens of Horsemen fell from their horses.

'Sire, their losses are gettign highed, we have no losses!' siad Jobst's Flag Bearer, Jobst nodded.
'Move the Infantry forward jsut behind the Crossbowmen!' yelled Jobst, and the Indfnatry did that.

And then the armies impacted.

Lots of Crossbowmen were killed at once, but many fought well, killing many.
The Infantry moved forward and they fought. FOr long the armies were locked together, with Jobst's Bodyguard stealthily moving behind the French, but they went to far behind.
'Their behind you, behind you!' yelled a group of French Soldiers who were behind Jobst's unit, Peasent Archers. At once Jobst's unit rode forwrad and attacked the French from behind. And then ti was over. All of the French routed, runnign into traps of Infantry. ABd The Germans rode them down. The Germans went back to camp, and sang victory songs, and drank beer all night. But in the morning a new problem arose. Jobst was shaken awake,
'What now?' he demanded,
'Sorry mein prinz but we have a problem'
'WHich is?' muttered Jobst,
'We captured 200 or so soldiers, now we don't know what to do with them' said The Major. Jobst thought over it,
'Kill them' he said, and so they did, and on that day 461 French died.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Battle Stastictics (sp?) ( I don't have picture of battle victory screen)
Deployed Lost Enemies-Killed
(The Player) Prince Jobst 731 352 461
(French Enemies) Captain Lucas 794 672 122

men remaining for:
Jobst: 379
Captain Lucas:122
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of Report

[Ituralde]

The Fall of Budapest, 1174:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Night had descended upon the Hungarian capital of Budapest so the time was right for the Austrian Household Army to make their move. Leopold had spoken about his plans with Hans several times now and between the two of them it had reached a perfection that would lead this assault to success.

Leopold had hired some Slav Mercenaries and Balkan Archers to bolster his forces. Equipped with one set of ladders they were to attack the main gate of Budapest.

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Leopold himself took the Crossbowmen and Seargant Spearmen with him to the West Gate.

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Hans had taken the Mailed Knights with him to the East gate.

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Both men had one ram with them, ready to knock down the gates, while the defenders were distracted. The Hungarian captain was no fool though and had split his forces equally between the three gates, whether that would help him in the long run, remained to be seen.

Leopold ordered his ram forward, while one of his Spearmen units took up the ladders to scale the walls.

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At the same time the assault on the Southern and Eastern gates began. Seeing the largest host under Leopold approaching from the West, the Magyars abandoned the Southern gate to the oncoming mercenaries.

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The ram on the Western gate had been quick though and were ready to break the gate. On the other side Hungarian Nobles were already waiting for Leopold , once it was breached.

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The Spearmen on the battlements were fighting desperatly against the Hungarian Militia, gaining ground slowly.

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Below Leopold charged his bodyguard through the gate engaging the Hungarian Nobles, who quickly abandoned the battle to flee towards the city square. The Western gate was open and the Imperial soldiers entered the city.

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Meanwhile Hans ram had done a good job in crushing the Eastern gate.

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He immediatelly spurred his large host of cavalry forward towards the Town Square. He was met halfway by the Hungarian cavalry that had not been sent to the Western gate. Fierce fighting ensued in the streets, with both sides fighting vigorously for every inch.

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In the South the Mercenaries had finally scaled the walls surrounding the main gate unopposed and were now making their way forward to the Town Square.

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Finally Hans had broken the resistance of the Hungarian horse and could now pursue them to the Town Square himself.

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The remaining defenders had rallyed in the center of the city and were preparing their defense. It was a desperate choice with Imperial troops closing in on them from three sides. It was Hans with his cavalry that reached them first from the East, soon supported by Slav Mercenaries coming in from the South.

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Duke Leopold was still held back at the Western end of the town square were some units were resisting his attack. Finally he got them to flee and now the path was free for him to charge the remaining enemies!

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The ensuing battle was gruesome and through the mist of battle Leopold could see that young Hans must have taken several hits and his once shiny armor was covered in dark stains. Still both men continued to hack away at their enemies until the last resistance was removed.

Spurring his horse onward Leopold approaches Hans, raising his visor. "You look terrible son!" He bellowed loudly.

Hans who looked relieved had already taken the time to take off his helmet and was grinning in response. "So do you, uncle!"

"Get off that horse boy, now! You think you did well in the battle? Did you?"
Looking a little uncertain Hans obeys, while Leopold leaps from his horse to land on the ground close to him. Walking two steps towards the young man, who slowly bends one knee, Leopold draws his sword again, which is still stained with the blood of his enemies, raising it high he stands in front of Hans, slowly lowering it to hover above his shoulder.

"For your honourable service to the Reich and House of Austria! For bravery shown in the face of the enemy! For fighting were others would have fled! For commanding and inspiring your men to follow you! I hereby declare you an Imperial Knight."

"Now stand up, Knight Hans of Swabia!"

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Dutch_guy]

‘Damn them, damn them all’ Günther exclaimed ‘this ‘ll set us back another year’ he continued, scaring the scribe writing down his every word. He had been travelling back to Thorn after the competent scouts of the Reich had detected yet another weak Polish force headed for the castle of Thorn. It seems they even have the manpower to sacrifce their soldiers on suicide missions, whilst the wise thing would of course have been to actually combine those forces. And preserve them...

The inevitable assault on Breslau would have to wait just that bit longer, and Günther never was the man known for his ever lasting patience...

‘We’ll do this the easy way’, Günther thought aloud, ‘our spearmen will engage and our horses will flank’. This will be over in no time. He ended, knowing he was wasting precious time on matters easily done by someone lower in rank.

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As soon as the Poles were seen, Günther sent in the Peasant archers. The battle may not be as large as his ego demanded it to be, yet he still liked to minimise friendly casualties.

The archers were to be guarded by the heavy shields of the friendly spearmen, and would continue to fire into the enemy ranks until the very last moment before impact between the two main lines. Which, Ironially, consited of one Polish battalion.

Two contignents of spearmen where ordered to flank the Polish right and left, and position themselves for the inevitable charge once the lines were engaged, and once the fight would begin in earnest.

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As the spearmen slowly advanced, and the archers continued their shower of arrows on the enemy lines, Günther ordered his personal guard to circumvent the enemy left. Adding yet another hammer used to strike the soon to be engaged Poles.

Once the troops were positioned, the spearmen in front of the enemy were ordered to engage. Walking at first, but steadily increasing their tempo they engaged the enemy; spears raised up high, and shields low. The first men were beginning to fall, on both sides...

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A horn was sounded, and the archers directed their fire over the first line of combatants. Targetting the enemy general. The flankers were now given the order to engage, and were soon followed by the general himself.

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The fighting didn’t last long, and the enemy tried to flee once they noted the fact that they were being attacked from all sides. Few, however, made it through the steadfast Germans.

Their general wasn’t one of the lucky ones; he was cut down by Günthers bodyguard, whilst trying to out run them. Foolish Poles.

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The battle didn’t last long, and the Poles were almost destroyed to the man. The survivors were stripped of their weapons and valuables – but spared. They were to be ransomed, if the Poles wanted their cowardly comrades back that is...

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Another battle won, surely many more would follow.

[flyd]

Hamburg, 1174

It was a very cold morning. A fresh snow had fallen over night, and there was still a heavy cloud cover. It was dark, and it was cold. Normally, the streets of Hamburg would be largely deserted, but this morning quite the opposite was the case. It seems that everyone was in the streets, running in a generally northernly direction, although no one seemed to know why. Upon arriving at the north gate, it became clear why everyone wanted to see it, for it was a very peculiar sight: the gate was wide open! Furthermore, the entire garrison of the city had just marched out. Somebody yelled, "They're abandoning us, the city has been abandoned to the English!" which prompted loud cheers from one part of the assembled mob, and lamentations from the other part. With no governor and no garrison present, order quickly began to degenerate, until someone else yelled, "the English are gone!"

Everyone paused for a moment, and then rushed to the gate. Those who could not gain access to the gate began scaling the wall, entering the towers, and climbing the nearby houses to gain a view. The English camp, which had been there for 8 years, was still just outside of the city, as were the siege works. However, the English army, the entire English army, was most certainly no longer present. Order again began to degenerate as a large-scale argument erupted over what had happened. No one had any real answers, and no one was quite brave enough to ride out. Shortly after, a group of peasants, about 100 in number, approached the city from the north, carrying most of their possessions. As they entered the city, they were quickly surrounded by the mob, and bombarded with questions. Through it all, they managed to relate that they were from a nearby village, and that they were told to take refuge in the city as there was about to be a battle.


North of Hamburg, 1174

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"Put the cavalry on the left. All of it."

Fredericus looked down at the old, worn-out copy of the book he was holding. On Military Tactics, by Tiberius Coruncanius.

He continued to speak quietly, to himself. "Right. We shall use the massed cavalry and the incoming reinforcements to create a 'local superiority' on the left flank, and attack their 'weak point', which are those peasants on the left, and that will create a.. a.. 'chain rout'." He looked unsure. He had never commanded an entire army in battle before, and was now tasked with defeating an enemy army which had a much larger number of infantry, and exactly the same number of cavalry as his.

He tried to reassure himself. "This has been done before. Our sergeants are superior to their militia, they will hold the line for a long time. The cavalry will have plenty of time to strike, the peasants will rout. The line will know what to do, we even practiced the maneuvers at..."

"The English advance!"

Well, it was too late now. There was but time for a short prayer before the lines collided.

The lines did collide, and the cavalry advanced on the left. As planned beforehand, they stopped, they turned around, and they charged.

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English peasants engaging the Germans, blissfully unaware of their impending doom!

The first peasants routed. The cavalry withdrew to perform another charge while the reinforcing spear militia advanced to envelop the right of the English line.

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The Germans prepare to envelop the enemy's right.

As this was executed, the English commander attacked in the center with the remainder of his cavalry. Fredericus moved in personally to prevent the line from being broken.

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Fredericus defends in the center (image left), while the Germans continue to gain superiority on the left (image right).

This action caused the death of the English commander, and a subsequent rout, from left to right, of the entire English line.

Well, it worked, but the casualties were heavy. The spearmen took many casualties while the lines were engaged with each other, and the cavalry and others did as well while they flanked. Those old Roman reports must be exaggerated. Either that, or their enemies were far more incompetent than they'd have you believe.

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Outside of Hamburg, 1174

A representative from the city, whose name escapes me at the moment, came to the army camp to meet with Fredericus, who inquired about the status of the city.

"There was some disorder," he answered, "but everything is fine now. The people are happy that you are back. They are preparing a large feast in your honor."

"That's wonderful, but I must move on to Frankfurt with no delay, it is being sieged by the Poles."

"But the city has been under siege for eight years. You won't even stop by for a moment?"

"I can't," Fredericus insisted, "there are matters to take care of. Speaking of matters to be taken care of, I need you to take care of the prisoners captured here, about 300 in number. They're just militiamen and peasants. I doubt they wanted to be dragged here and forced to fight their Saxon brothers. Ensure their safe return to England."

The representative nodded and exited. One of the knights complained that they would not stop by Hamburg even for a short time. He was particularly concerned that they would not get to meet any of the women who would be... grateful for the rescue. Fredericus responded:

"The city has been under siege for eight years, while I was a short distance away in Magdeburg. I think they'd much rather want to hang me than to have a feast in my honor. We'd best be moving on, we have other cities to rescue."