Milan – 1340 AD
“What do you mean they’re blocking the gate?!”
The scout swallowed and shifted about nervously. “It seems, milord, that we have both chosen the same means of entry into the city. The Byzantines are between us and the east gate.”
The Duke drew his sword and touched it to the scout’s throat. A trickle of blood began running down his neck from simple contact with the deadly sharp blade. “We are a vastly inferior force, our best hope of defeating the Byzantines was to get inside the city before them and hold the streets with the square at our backs. How do you suggest we get inside the city now, when they are between us and the nearest gate? If I take the time to march all the way around to the north or south gates, the Byznatines will take the walls and reach the square before us anyway, and the entire army will be exhausted in the process. Your blunderings have endangered this entire city.”
Lothar turned to one of his retinue. “Put this man in the front ranks of the Forlorn Hope. If he survives the day, perhaps I will not hang him.”
****
Robert Haller and Joseph Breinlin looked at the gate with trepidation.
“There’s a whole bloody mob of them out there, Joe.”
“I know, Bob.”
“Why are we standing here?”
“We’re the garrison of Milan. It’s our job.”
“But there’s a great bloody army out there!”
“I know, Bob.”
“Ah, hell.”
“I know, Bob.”
The two men passed a few moments in silence.
“Hey, Joe.”
“Yes, Bob?”
“Where’d you get that armor?”
****
“Form up! Form up!”
The men were rushing back into position, they had to get into a coherent line before the melee began, or they were doomed.
“Move your arses, you damned women!” shouted Duke Lothar. The day was not going well at all, which was better than he had expected.
The group of merchant volunteers who had ridden with the army had proven their worth. As soon as they had entered the field, the Duke had ordered them to stop the ram. They rode past the entire Byzantine column, losing a quarter of their number to archers along the way, but they managed to reach the peasants pushing the ram in the nick of time.
Without support, the merchants who survived the charge routed quickly, but they had nowhere to go. Man and horseflesh began piling up quickly in front of the East Gate. There was no way for the ram to be pushed over the still writhing mass of corpses. It wasn’t what Duke Lothar had hoped for, but at least the gate would hold for a while longer.
The Duke himself had ridden behind the merchants, to ensure that the job got done, but he had been intercepted by twice his number of Byzantine Lancers. His hardened bodyguards cut through the men quickly, but by the time they were free once again, the contest at the gate was long over. Instead, he turned his men and charged into the nearby Byzantine general’s bodyguards.
If the general could be killed quickly, then perhaps a rear assault in the Byzantine lines would throw the entire attack into chaos before the gates fell. Swords rang on armor and the veteran Bavarian knights began cutting through their opponents at a rate of three or four to one, but it was not fast enough. Hordes of spearmen were closing in from both sides, and Duke Lothar had to pull out before his small contingent was completely overwhelmed.
The Byzantines responded to the cavalry skirmish by turning the entire rear half of their column to attack the Bavarian army. Before Lothar could return to his lines, a group of heavily armored kataphractoi slammed into the dismounted knights on the right flank, inflicting horrendous casualties.
Nearby spearmen swarmed to engulf the Byzantine horse, and they were quickly slaughtered, but the combat left the infantry line out of place and disorganized. When the Duke had arrived back at the army, he had immediately ordered the out of position infantry to pull back and reorganize for the rush of the Byzantine rearguard.
The Bavarian infantry reformed just in time. As the heavily armored Byzantines closed on the front ranks, Duke Lothar and over a hundred Forlorn Hope charged into their right flank, while the dismounted knights did the same from the left.
The thin Bavarian lines ruptured in several places, and the Byzantines began to pour through. Soon, the battle was nothing more than a chaotic melee of men engaged in individual combat.
Lothar rode through the midst of the carnage, slashing as he went, determined to find and kill his counterpart.
****
“Joe?”
“Yes, Bob?”
“I think we’re in trouble.”
“I know, Bob.”
****
Foteinos Dekanos was eventually surrounded and killed by the dismounted knights on the right flank. His death had a massive impact on the rearguard Byzantine force. Soon, most of them were breaking and running, even those engaged with the Pavise Crossbowmen.
Yet, despite their destruction, the Byzantine rearguard had done their job. The Eastern Gate had fallen and Bavarian army remained outside the city, too far away to reach the square first.
In desperation, Duke Lothar ordered an all-out charge into the rear of the Byzantine column that was disappearing inside the city. His men inflicted heavy casualties, but they were depleted and exhausted their opponents were not. It did not take long for some of the spearmen to begin panicking, at which point most of the surviving infantry broke.
Instead of retreating back up towards the safety of the line of Pavise Crossbowmen on the hill, the men all attempted to reach the safety of the walls. It was a suicidal move, and they were cut down or captured to the last man.
The only surviving infantrymen were a regiment of Forlorn hope and half a dozen spearmen. Duke Lothar ordered them back to the safety of the Pavise Crossbowmen. They arrived just in time to deal with some remnants of the rearguard who had reformed.
As Duke Lothar surveyed the survivors from his army, he knew that the situation was hopeless. He remained in control of the field, and his Pavise Crossbowmen were largely intact and could see off anyone who approached their lines, but the Byzantines had no intention of contesting the field. They were inside the walls and held the Eastern Gate. The Bavarians would not have been able to enter that way even if they had wanted to. The Duke of Bavaria sat and looked at Milan, and he knew it was lost.
Soon the screams of the women and children would begin, as yet another Bavarian city was put to the sword. Duke Lothar turned and left the field. There was nothing more he could do.
****
Bob looked about himself in confusion. He wasn’t sure how he had managed to escape the Byzantines at the gatehouse, get a horse, and find better armor and a sword, but that could wait for later. At least he was alive. He scratched the horse’s neck.
“I think I’ll call you Joe.” The horse whinnied nervously and pawed the cobblestones.
“What is it, Joe?”
“Ah, hell.”
Re: Battle reports thread - King of the Romans PBM
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