Org Mobile Site
Venice, 1242
“If we strike at night, we can quickly overwhelm the bridge before the garrison of Venice can intervene.” urged Kachig.
Elberhard scratched his head. “Yeah, right. But where does that leave us? The garrison of Venice is over 1400 men strong. Quite frankly, I don’t fancy taking them on in a siege assault. I @#$%^&!!!ing hate siege assaults.”
In the past, the Kaiser had had some success storming cities in Outremer but they were lightly defended. What weighed on Elberhard’s mind was the report of the bloody slaughter than Dieter von Kassel had endured to take Palermo from a force only half as large as that garrisoning Venice.
“There’s no hurry.” said Elberhard. “Let’s advance on the bridge slowly - give the Byzantine picquets time to rouse the garrison. I aim to storm the bridge before reinforcements arrive and then wreck the garrison when it deploys in the field after we are across.”
The room fell silent as the men considered what was involved in storming the bridge. Then after a while, Elberhard blurted out. “@#$%^&!!! it! I @#$%^&!!!ing hate bridge battles.”
General Volkanos, survivor of a previous battle with the Kaiser, deployed wisely at the bridge. His two surviving regiments of mercenary crossbowmen stood at the exit of the bridge - ready to shoot down Germans attempting a crossing, backed by the few infantry and cavalry that had escaped the earlier battle.
Elberhard looked at the sound enemy deployment with dismay and then pronounced. “There’s nothing for it, lads. We have to get across. Send one regiment of Imperial knights on foot to leg it there. My escort will back them up.”
Kachig and Sir Charles de Villiers exchanged a sceptical glance.
“What?” demanded Elberhard: “You two got any better ideas?”
The two men looked down. “I @#$%^&!!!ing thought not! Now, let’s haul ass!”
As Elberhard raced across the bridge, he saw the Byzantines start to cross from their end.
“All @#$%^&!!!ing right!” roared Elberhard to his escort. “They are coming to us. Let’s get this thing on!”
The fighting was brutal. Crossbowmen from both sides could fire into the melee on the bridge, but they risked hitting friend as much as foe. Worried about shooting down their own Kaiser, the pavise crossbowmen halted fire of their own volition.
“Keep firing, God damn it! Keep firing!” swore Kachig.
Neither side appeared to get an advantage in the fighting, with the troops being packed too thick for the superior fighting qualities of the Germans to tell
The enemy fought much more doggedly and endured far longer than Elberhard expected and his eyes kept looking up to track the large garrison from Venice which was fast approaching the bridge. As the reinforcements came within range of the bridge, Elberhard realised that his plan to take the bridge by a coup de main hand failed. He now had to storm a bridge in the face of the opposition of nearly two thousand Byzantine soldiers.
“Sire, we should pull back now!” urged Maina, his shieldbearer.
Elberhard doggedly resisted the call to retreat. Strategos Volkanos had now led his escort into the fighting on the bridge and Elberhard was determined to stay to try to bring him down. This time, his attempt to slay the enemy general failed and the Kaiser was eventually forced to disengage - accompanied only by Maina and one other survivor of his retinue.
As they fled the bridge, the Kaiser hoped he could turn the tables by a feigned retreat. However, the Byzantines were too disciplined. With the Germans retreating across the bridge, the Byzantines retired to their side out of crossbow range. And they could not be lured back across the bridge - even when the Kaiser callously sent his regiment of spear militia to charge unsupported across the bridge. The Greeks wisely held position.
The battle began to turn into a stalemate, with a few pavise crossbowmen setting up on the bridge and entering into a long range duel with the Trebizond archers and mercenary crossbowmen of the enemy army.
As the Imperial army began to run low on ammunition, Elberhard knew he had to act or face an ignominious defeat.
“Send the infantry across.”
“Which regiments?” inquired Sir Charles de Villiers.
“All of them. It’s all or nothing. We fight our way across that bridge or we lose this battle. Do it!”
Sir Charles bowed his head: “Perhaps you should give a speech to the men - to urge them on.”
Elberhard looked at the Englishman with disdain for a moment, and then nodded with a resigned smile.
When the dismounted Imperial knights were formed, Elberhard spoke to them with a flat, solemn voice.
“Imperial Knights of Germany! You came to me of your own accord. I did not ask you to come. You came to me to fulfil an oath - to rescue the Reich from the cataclysm that has befallen it. And that oath does you honour.
You came to me and I have brought you to this bridge. This bridge is the gateway to Venice. Venice - a great city mercilessly exterminated by the Greeks. Just as they have mercilessly exterminated Milan, Antioch, Bologna and Rome.
You have just seen me try to take that bridge. And fail. I have failed to take the bridge by speed and surprise. I have failed to take it by guile and ruthlessness. There remains only blood and honour.
You came to me when I did not ask. But now I have something to ask of you. I ask you take that bridge - to take back Venice.
Avenge the women and children who died screaming at the hands of the men that stand over that bridge! Strike the enemy down with a righteous fury!
For justice, for vengeance, for God and the Reich - attack!”
In a great undisciplined mass, the dismounted Imperial knights charged across the bridge. They were met at the exit by the Byzantine garrison of Venice, similarly crowded together.
For a while, Elberhard feared that he may just have sent his infantry to its doom. Against superior numbers, the battle at the exit to the bridge resembled a grotesque sausage making machine, with men pushed through hacking blades at the exit to the bridge and left lying ruined on the ground.
But the dismounted Imperial knights gave at least as well as they received and the battle resolved into a morale contest. Choked with fury and with Elberhard on the bridge urging them forward, the German will proved the stronger. As the Byzantines began to waver, the Kaiser signalled for the cavalry to be brought onto the bridge. The mounted knights were thus able to erupt out of the bridge exit as the Byzantine infantry started to rout.
After the battle, the Kaiser occupied Venice and tried to ransom his prisoners, but the ransom was cruelly rejected.
As he lay with Linyeve that evening, Elberhard reflected on his reconquest:
“You would not believe it. Venice is an empty shell. It has nothing - almost no buildings. The walls are in disrepair, the market does not meet … even the @#$%^&!!!ing brothel is damaged.”
Linyeve’s ears perked up: “Oh, don’t worry about that last one. I have given orders that the brothel is to be torn down.”
“What?!!!”
“What yourself?! Do you think I would trust you in a city with a brothel. Besides which, I think Duke Arnold needs the money. And I heard he has some Russian floozy to occupy him with anyway.”
Elberhard sulked for a while. Then he piped up: “Do you know, some of the men are calling me Elberhard the Mighty? Like they used to call my dear brother Hans. They are saying I am a legendary commander!”
Linyeve cast him a withering glance: “I see - you are now almost as legendary a commander as Duke Arnold and Fritz von Kastilien then?”
Elberhard sulked again.
“If we strike at night, we can quickly overwhelm the bridge before the garrison of Venice can intervene.” urged Kachig.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Elberhard scratched his head. “Yeah, right. But where does that leave us? The garrison of Venice is over 1400 men strong. Quite frankly, I don’t fancy taking them on in a siege assault. I @#$%^&!!!ing hate siege assaults.”
In the past, the Kaiser had had some success storming cities in Outremer but they were lightly defended. What weighed on Elberhard’s mind was the report of the bloody slaughter than Dieter von Kassel had endured to take Palermo from a force only half as large as that garrisoning Venice.
“There’s no hurry.” said Elberhard. “Let’s advance on the bridge slowly - give the Byzantine picquets time to rouse the garrison. I aim to storm the bridge before reinforcements arrive and then wreck the garrison when it deploys in the field after we are across.”
The room fell silent as the men considered what was involved in storming the bridge. Then after a while, Elberhard blurted out. “@#$%^&!!! it! I @#$%^&!!!ing hate bridge battles.”
*****
General Volkanos, survivor of a previous battle with the Kaiser, deployed wisely at the bridge. His two surviving regiments of mercenary crossbowmen stood at the exit of the bridge - ready to shoot down Germans attempting a crossing, backed by the few infantry and cavalry that had escaped the earlier battle.
Elberhard looked at the sound enemy deployment with dismay and then pronounced. “There’s nothing for it, lads. We have to get across. Send one regiment of Imperial knights on foot to leg it there. My escort will back them up.”
Kachig and Sir Charles de Villiers exchanged a sceptical glance.
“What?” demanded Elberhard: “You two got any better ideas?”
The two men looked down. “I @#$%^&!!!ing thought not! Now, let’s haul ass!”
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
As Elberhard raced across the bridge, he saw the Byzantines start to cross from their end.
“All @#$%^&!!!ing right!” roared Elberhard to his escort. “They are coming to us. Let’s get this thing on!”
The fighting was brutal. Crossbowmen from both sides could fire into the melee on the bridge, but they risked hitting friend as much as foe. Worried about shooting down their own Kaiser, the pavise crossbowmen halted fire of their own volition.
“Keep firing, God damn it! Keep firing!” swore Kachig.
Neither side appeared to get an advantage in the fighting, with the troops being packed too thick for the superior fighting qualities of the Germans to tell
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The enemy fought much more doggedly and endured far longer than Elberhard expected and his eyes kept looking up to track the large garrison from Venice which was fast approaching the bridge. As the reinforcements came within range of the bridge, Elberhard realised that his plan to take the bridge by a coup de main hand failed. He now had to storm a bridge in the face of the opposition of nearly two thousand Byzantine soldiers.
“Sire, we should pull back now!” urged Maina, his shieldbearer.
Elberhard doggedly resisted the call to retreat. Strategos Volkanos had now led his escort into the fighting on the bridge and Elberhard was determined to stay to try to bring him down. This time, his attempt to slay the enemy general failed and the Kaiser was eventually forced to disengage - accompanied only by Maina and one other survivor of his retinue.
As they fled the bridge, the Kaiser hoped he could turn the tables by a feigned retreat. However, the Byzantines were too disciplined. With the Germans retreating across the bridge, the Byzantines retired to their side out of crossbow range. And they could not be lured back across the bridge - even when the Kaiser callously sent his regiment of spear militia to charge unsupported across the bridge. The Greeks wisely held position.
The battle began to turn into a stalemate, with a few pavise crossbowmen setting up on the bridge and entering into a long range duel with the Trebizond archers and mercenary crossbowmen of the enemy army.
As the Imperial army began to run low on ammunition, Elberhard knew he had to act or face an ignominious defeat.
“Send the infantry across.”
“Which regiments?” inquired Sir Charles de Villiers.
“All of them. It’s all or nothing. We fight our way across that bridge or we lose this battle. Do it!”
Sir Charles bowed his head: “Perhaps you should give a speech to the men - to urge them on.”
Elberhard looked at the Englishman with disdain for a moment, and then nodded with a resigned smile.
When the dismounted Imperial knights were formed, Elberhard spoke to them with a flat, solemn voice.
“Imperial Knights of Germany! You came to me of your own accord. I did not ask you to come. You came to me to fulfil an oath - to rescue the Reich from the cataclysm that has befallen it. And that oath does you honour.
You came to me and I have brought you to this bridge. This bridge is the gateway to Venice. Venice - a great city mercilessly exterminated by the Greeks. Just as they have mercilessly exterminated Milan, Antioch, Bologna and Rome.
You have just seen me try to take that bridge. And fail. I have failed to take the bridge by speed and surprise. I have failed to take it by guile and ruthlessness. There remains only blood and honour.
You came to me when I did not ask. But now I have something to ask of you. I ask you take that bridge - to take back Venice.
Avenge the women and children who died screaming at the hands of the men that stand over that bridge! Strike the enemy down with a righteous fury!
For justice, for vengeance, for God and the Reich - attack!”
In a great undisciplined mass, the dismounted Imperial knights charged across the bridge. They were met at the exit by the Byzantine garrison of Venice, similarly crowded together.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
For a while, Elberhard feared that he may just have sent his infantry to its doom. Against superior numbers, the battle at the exit to the bridge resembled a grotesque sausage making machine, with men pushed through hacking blades at the exit to the bridge and left lying ruined on the ground.
But the dismounted Imperial knights gave at least as well as they received and the battle resolved into a morale contest. Choked with fury and with Elberhard on the bridge urging them forward, the German will proved the stronger. As the Byzantines began to waver, the Kaiser signalled for the cavalry to be brought onto the bridge. The mounted knights were thus able to erupt out of the bridge exit as the Byzantine infantry started to rout.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
*****
After the battle, the Kaiser occupied Venice and tried to ransom his prisoners, but the ransom was cruelly rejected.
As he lay with Linyeve that evening, Elberhard reflected on his reconquest:
“You would not believe it. Venice is an empty shell. It has nothing - almost no buildings. The walls are in disrepair, the market does not meet … even the @#$%^&!!!ing brothel is damaged.”
Linyeve’s ears perked up: “Oh, don’t worry about that last one. I have given orders that the brothel is to be torn down.”
“What?!!!”
“What yourself?! Do you think I would trust you in a city with a brothel. Besides which, I think Duke Arnold needs the money. And I heard he has some Russian floozy to occupy him with anyway.”
Elberhard sulked for a while. Then he piped up: “Do you know, some of the men are calling me Elberhard the Mighty? Like they used to call my dear brother Hans. They are saying I am a legendary commander!”
Linyeve cast him a withering glance: “I see - you are now almost as legendary a commander as Duke Arnold and Fritz von Kastilien then?”
Elberhard sulked again.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Single Sign On provided by vBSSO