Battle reports thread - King of the Romans PBM

[econ21]

The Destruction of the Byzantine Guard Army, Antioch 1326


“@#$%^&!!! hell!” cursed Elberhard. The decision of Matthias Steffen to stay in Outremer had been a total surprise. How could the Kaiser not have seen it coming, after the affair at Adana? But Elberhard had been so sure Matthias would support his move to return to the homelands and try to restore order to the Reich. With a single depleted army, it seemed inconceivable that Matthias could defend Outremer alone.

Elberhard had been in two minds about trying to relieve Aleppo. His dauntless and chivalrous character urged him on. But Linyeve was surely right: to relieve it would cost more lives than would be saved; and he would need a full army to survive amid the backstabbers home in Europe.

Matthias’s obstinacy changed everything. Clearing out the three Byzantine armies between the ford and Aleppo would considerably reduce the odds against Matthias. To let the Aleppo garrison to be massacred was bad enough; to abandon Matthias to the same fate was too much for the Kaiser to contemplate. Enduring Linyeve’s cold fury, Elberhard prepared his army march on Aleppo.

*****

Strategos Tobromerus Comnenus commanded the Byzantine Guard Army. An elite formation of Varangian Guard, veteran Kataphracts, Byzantine Guard Archers and Vardarioti. The Army had appeared as if out of nowhere to block the Kaiser’s advance on Damascus. Elberhard had hoped to sucker it into attacking across the ford, but it Comnenus had been too wily – merely using his army to block any advance on Aleppo.

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Elberhard attacks the Byzantine Guard Army

With King Jan’s departure, it was possible that both the iron bridge and the ford defences could be bypassed by an army marching south of the river. This raised the nightmare scenario that Matthias had raised in the Crusader Council of the ford being attacked simultaneously from the west and east. Having already performed exactly such a manoeuvre on the Byzantines to devastating effect, Elberhard was anxious not to leave Comnenus free to return the favour.

Consequently, Elberhard marched the Kaiser’s army across the ford, to confront the Byzantine Guard Army in open battle.

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At first glance, the battlefield appeared to favour neither side.


However, the Byzantine Guard Army soon secured the large eastern hill.

As Comnenus’s army quickly seized a large hill dominating the battlefield, Elberhard decided to march his army round the hill and approach it from the rear. The hill sloped more gently to the rear and moreover, cutting the Byzantine lines of communication might unnerve their men – making them easier to rout. Consequently, the Kaiser’s army trekked across the hot battlefield, until it reached the line where the Byzantines had first deployed. Then the army pivoted and began to climb the hill from the rear – leading with crossbowmen in loose formation.

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Having reached the rear of the Byzantine lines – forcing the defenders to pivot on the hill – the Germans open the battle by sniping at Comnenus with their cannon.

The Germans were climbing the hill from the north east. Elberhard led from the left flank, riding with his elephants to drive the vardarioti up the hill and cut the Byzantines line of retreat towards Aleppo. As the German crossbowmen duelled with the Byzantine Guard archers, he did not see a regiment of Byzantine lancers march on his right flank.

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As Elberhard focuses on turning the Byzantine right, he does not notice them attempt to do the same to his right flank until it is almost too late.

Veteran warrior Sir Charles de Villiers had been given command of the German right and rushed spearmen to counter the lancers. However, Strategos Comnenus sensed a vulnerability and rushed to reinforce the Byzantine attack.

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Comnenus rides to join the attack on the German right flank.

Far away on the German left, approaching the summit of the hill, Elberhard could see the flag of the enemy general marching towards his right flank. Elberhard knew that killing the enemy general was crucial to undermining the otherwise excellent morale of the Byzantine Guard Army and so charged his escort down the hill, hoping to engage Comnenus.

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Elberhard races towards his right flank, scattering the Vardariotai blocking his path.



But the Kaiser has a long way to travel.

With the Kaiser’s departure, his troop of elephants remained behind to anchor the German left flank. They had performed brilliantly at driving back the Turkopoles and Vardariotai on the Byzantine right flank. But now they came under attack from the foot archers on the summit of the hill who used fire arrows in an attempt to panic the beasts. To the dismay of the Germans, the tactic worked and the elephants began to run amok.

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In his eagerness to come to grips with Comnenus, Elberhard takes his eye off his beloved “Arnolds” and pays the price.

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The Kaiser’s escort finally reaches that of Comnenus.



”I’m gonna git you, sucker!”

Mobbed by German spearmen and then flanked by the Kaiser’s escort, Strategos Comnenus and his bodyguard were brought down. However, Elberhard’s euphoria was diminished when he learnt the fate of his elephants.

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”Yes, yes! Go that way!”



”NOOOOO!”

The battle now entered its decisive phase. The German crossbowmen and cannon had been getting the better of the exchange of fire with the Byzantine archers on the hill – in part, because Elberhard had recklessly committed his own escort to harassing the enemy skirmishers. However, whoever was left in command of the Byzantine Guard Army soon seemed to tire of the uneven contest and as a great mass, the lines of Varangian Guard and Kataphractoi began to surge off the summit of the hill and advance down towards the German battleline.

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The Byzantine army begins to move forward – it will not stop until it hits the Germans waiting down below.

The Germans struggled to hold back the sheer weight of the massed regiments of Varangian Guard and Kataphractoi pressing down on them. The spearmen who formed the bulk of the first line were no match for the elite Byzantine troops. Elberhard’s only advantage was on his left, where his escort and a regiment of Teutons were free to strike at the rear and flank of the now committed enemy army.

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German foot knights and the Teutons start to turn the Byzantine right – the death of their general has fatally undermined the enemy’s morale.

On the right, however, the situation was more desperate. Kataphractoi and Vardariotai threatened to turn the German flank. The regiment of Kwazarimans was thrown into to try to stop them, but the mercenaries were outclassed and all but wiped out. Only some valiant armoured sergeants, bolstered by the Great Cross, were left holding the right flank.

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The Byzantines almost turn the German right flank, but lose heart in the face of determined resistance.

As the Kaiser’s escort rampaged among the archers at the Byzantine rear and the Teutons led the turning of the enemy right, the morale of the Guard Army collapsed. The Byzantine archery fire from the summit of the hill and the brief but bitter assault of their heavy troops had exacted a large toll on the Kaiser’s army. A third of its strength had been lost, although Elberhard himself grieved most for the death of his beloved Arnolds. Perhaps more significant, the battle left the Kaiser will almost no heavy cavalry except the men of his own escort.

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The butcher’s bill.

[econ21]

The Relief of Aleppo, 1326


The battered army of the Kaiser pressed on towards Aleppo. They had been informed that the two Byzantine armies besieging the citadel would be working close together and that it would not be possible to attack them at night. Consequently, Elberhard struck the smaller one at day. To his surprise, the larger besieging force did not come to the aid of the smaller army.

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This modest force was probably the result of an earlier act of mercy by King Jan.

The battle was not marked by any tactical subtlety and cost Elberhard a further 150 men.

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Deprived of much heavy cavalry and forced to attack uphill, the battle would be a messy, bloody affair.



The butcher’s bill

*****

The Kaiser’s army was near exhaustion by the time it reached Aleppo. There a full, well-balanced Byzantine army was preparing to storm the citadel.

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The third and final battle on the road to Aleppo

Elberhard sent word to the garrison to prepare to sally, hoping to fix the attention of their besiegers on the citadel rather than the army coming to relieve it.

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The Kaiser’s army advances on the right flank of the besieging Byzantines

As usual, the Kaiser led with his crossbowmen in loose order and used his cannon to snipe at the main concentration of enemy heavy troops. The Byzantines sent their Vardariotai and then their foot archers to duel with the Germans.

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The Vardariotai are the first to respond to the approach of the relief army.

Elberhard used his surviving heavy cavalry – his own escort – to run down the enemy foot archers.

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The Byzantines repeatedly fail to protect their foot archers from the German cavalry

Amid the slaughter, it seemed to Elberhard as if the sky became red and everything he saw on the battlefield became tinged with an unearthly pink hue. [OOC: My computer started to overheat and the colour went whacky – the screenshots were unaffected.] It was as if the Kaiser had entered a ethereal dimension, where the dust, the noise and the grime of battle disappeared making the lethal combat appear unreal and dreamlike. In truth, it was less a battle and more a slaughter. Exhausted and dehydrated, Elberhard’s trance like state insulated him from the reality of the carnage.

The battle turned decisively in the Germans’ favour when the enemy general – a Vardariotai captain – was shot down during the missile duel.

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The brave Vardariotai skirmish until the last man – the general – is brought down.

As before, with the Guard Army, the loss of their general fatally weakened the fighting spirit of the Byzantines. Even when their heavy regiments attacked the German line, they quickly lost heart and were repulsed.

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This charge of the Latinkon into the German archers could have been deadly, but the heart went out of the Byzantines at the last moment.



Similarly, when an error leads to the Aleppo garrison exiting the Citadel, the Kataphractoi are unable to press their attack.



This lack of fighting spirit and leadership leaves the Germans free to reign havoc on the enemy lines.

Yet the sheer number of Byzantines on the field denied the Germans a quick victory. Elberhard was reluctant to commit his already mauled army to another massive melee. Instead, he continued cutting at the enemy with his archers and cavalry, reducing it as if slicing a salami – Byzantine regiment by Byzantine regiment.

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Determined to protect the bulk of his army, Elberhard relies on his own escort - less than a score of knights - to repeatedly smash the Byzantine infantry regiments…



… at not inconsiderable personal risk

Once the killing finally stopped, Elberhard entered Aleppo, to be feted by its beleaguered defenders.

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The butcher’s bill

Afterwards, he sat down and added up his losses. He had set out with a grand army of 1472 to rescue 134 men, trapped in Aleppo. Over the course of three battles, he had lost 694 men – almost half of his army. Moreover, these casualties included almost all his heavy cavalry and his regiment of elephants. The enemy had lost 3417 men – almost five times what the Reich had suffered.

“Will it be enough to save Matthias and Outremer?” Elberhard asked his retinue.

Sir Charles de Villiers shrugged: “We have at least given him a fighting chance, Sire. I will contact my people and arrange for English crusader knights to take over the defence of Aleppo.”

Elberhard nodded and fell back into a chair exhausted, his mind wandering south towards Jersualem where the young Count von Kassel was marching to challenge the Pontiff.

[econ21]

This is a joint story written by Mini Econ and econ21.

Jerusalem, 1326


Something inside me died that year. It was a heroic victory. The day the Reich’s youngest general made the greatest contribution to its salvation. But it cost me a part of my soul.

I walked into the room. I should have known something terrible was about to go down. But I was young and I did not know the old could be so cruel. They were both sitting there like two aged eastern holy men - my tutor, Siegfried, and the Kaiser’s mentor, Niklas Gruber.

“Sit down, young man.” Niklas had said, unable to hide a slight tell of condescension in his speech.

They gave me some tea. The @#$%^&!!!s - they know I hate tea. And then Niklas laid it on me. For the good of the Reich. We must be brought back into the bosom of the church. The religious war would heal if the Pope embraced us again. Riots would stop. Everything would be cool. Except for me. I would have to wield the knife. I would be the one who could not sleep at night.

Siegfried said nothing, just watched me with a saintly expression, like a fat cat watching a mouse in a trap.

I said I would do it. But not for them. Not for the Reich. I would do it because it was war. Because no one marches an army to my door and tries to kill me twice, then expects to be able to do it a third time. Because I had a duty to Acre. I might be leaving. With my uncle’s disappearance, I might be the Kaiser’s new crutch. I might have to carry him back home. Help protect him from the usurpers and the powerful Dukes. But I would not leave my people to be besieged and sacked by a Papal army. I would not.

I said I would do it. But I did not know what I would have to do. If I had known that, maybe I would never have left that room.

*****

I won’t say much about the battle. I don’t need to paint you a picture. It should have been a perfect day. They say it was a heroic victory. And in truth, everything went better than we could have hoped. My army fought with skill and was rewarded by a good helping of luck. We utterly destroyed the Papal army with little loss. Our victory was so complete, we marched into Jerusalem unopposed. There were no enemy soldiers left. They all were dead or imprisoned on the battlefield outside.

Everything went perfectly. Except that he wasn’t dead. They told me he was dead. The Teutons swore they had cut him down at the height of the battle. But then the camp followers found him. The Pope was alive. Bruised and battered, but very much alive. And even the camp followers dared not kill him. I mean, who would dare do that?

I could not do it. To execute a helpless prisoner was against everything I believed in. Everything I still believe in. And this was not just any prisoner - this was the Holy Father. I did not sleep that night. I lay, wrestling my blankets, wrestling my conscience.

But the logic was inescapable. If I allowed the Pope to leave, he would muster his remaining armies in Outremer and come back at me a third time. Perhaps even the other Catholic factions would send men to Jerusalem to aid him. It was in my power to bring peace to at least to this southern part of Outremer. To allow us once again to resume our mission to protect the Church. And there it was - to protect the Church, I had first to kill it.

*****

“Bring him to me.” I said in the morning.

He stood before me, in his ornate armour - serene, defiant.

“Father, I humbly make the same request to you as I did to your soldiers who I captured when you twice tried to storm Acre. Abandon this pointless conflict. Stop these attacks on me. Let us be friends. Let the Church and the Reich be together again…”

“The Reich is excommunicated.” interrupted the Pontiff firmly. “She is harlot, a whore who services heretics, assassins, backstabbers, pirates and butchers. The Church cannot commune with such a degenerate and diseased thing.”

“Father, I ask you again - join with us. There are men in the Reich of piety and chivalry. You met my uncle; you helped my uncle find passage to Europe. He is not alone - there are others, Karl Zirn, the Kaiser himself.”

“Your list is rather short.” snorted the Pontiff. “I have told you my decision. Now release me, as you released those of my men who refused to join you outside Acre.”

I looked at Pope Lanbertus with pity. He was young for a Pope - 36 - although no doubt he thought I just a callow youth. He had no idea of the black thoughts lurking in my mind. While they threatened to overpower me, they were invisible to him.

“Father, I am so sorry we could not come to an understanding.” I said flatly. We stood up. I kissed his hand. He left. I gave the order. Something inside of me died that year.

*****

The story in pictures

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Dieter von Kassel begins aggressive negotiations with Jerusalem

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The enemy deploy far away.

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The Pope arrives on the battlefield


The Papal army deploys for battle.

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The Broken lances lead the Papal attack on the German left...



...and right.

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Dieter's left flank avoids giving battle to the Pope, but peppers his escort with missile fire.

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The Italian militia reach the German line in advance of the slow moving Swiss Guard and are defeated piecemeal.

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The Pope enters the fray, still underfire from the mounted crossbows and Turcopoles.



But he is charged from the left by spearmen...



... and from the right by Teutons.]



It is too much.



The Pope lies unhorsed, presumed dead.

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The enemy cavalry destroyed, the German horse are free to play havoc with the rear of the enemy lines

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Although the seven regiments of Swiss Guard are formiddable on paper, shorn of their leader and their supports, their slow moving phalanxes are easy prey for the German crossbowmen, infantry and cavalry.

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The butcher's bill



An agonising decision.

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The road to Jerusalem is now clear for Dieter.

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The election of Pope Renaldus reconciles the Reich to the Papacy.