Battle Reports

**Kagemusha** · 08-06-2008, 15:47

Battle on road to Nicae

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Young peasant called Nicophoros was anxious. The affairs in Nicae had been bad for the peasants for a while, because of hard taxes and young men being taken away to fight for the Empire.

He was on his way to join the rebellion, when South from the spot, which was agreed as the gathering point of recruits, Nicophoros met his neighbour Savvas. Without a weapon, clothes on blood and expression of fear on his face, Savvas yelled to the other man, noce he regogniced his neighbour:

"Throw that spear away and go home boy!"

Once Savvas came close, Nicophoros asked what had changed the mind of his neighbour to fight the Empire and Savvas told him what had happened.

" Our scouts saw the group of Cataphracts coming from Nicae, from far away and we were prepared with good defensive position on the base of a mountain.

The Cataphracts came closer and stopped. The leader yelled us:

- Go home! Throw your weapons down and go home! I am the hangman of Carpaths, Ioannis Kantakouzinos! Go home or i will drive you there!

We laughed at that man from our position and yelled back.

- Come and get us! Or cant your horse carry all that armor up here?!

The rider said nothing after that and formed his men. After a minute of silence, the Cataphracts charged on our spearwall and after the first charge, again and again and again. We killed atleast 7 of those men, but they would not just stop. After each charge there was less and less of us standing, while the crazy Cataphracts kept coming like our spears did not exist. When it seemed that their horses were getting tired. The leader of the Cataphracts halted his men and rested, while we could not go anywhere.
Then they came at us again and once our leader Georgios was butchered by one of those bastards, the men could not take it any more and we run. Little good that did to us boy, little good. The horse men came after us spearing, slashing and trambling men under their hooves.
In the end there was 22 of us left alive captured by the Imperials.

The leader, that son of a female Dog walked to us, took of his blood stained helmet and said.

- Didnt i tell you to go home?

Well..No one dared to say anything to him, so he continued.

- Now. I just impale your dirty excuses of rebels on stakes here on this bloody mountain, but it must be your lucky day. Im letting you scum go. With one condition. If i ever see another uprising in this province. I will kill you, your families, your dogs, livestock. I even kill the mice from your shacks. Now run, befiore i change my mind and never show your ugly faces to me again, Run!

And so we run, each to our own direction and that brings me here. So now lad, lets go back to our homes and forget the whole rebellion business, or that madman will surely keep his word.

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**Privateerkev** · 08-09-2008, 07:05

Antioch 1122:

One thing about fighting out in the Levant was the dust and sand. It was every where. It floated in the air. It sat on your horse. It got in between the fittings of your armor. It was omnipresent.

Makedonios looked down a hill and saw a vast sea of sand. And down there was the enemy. The last Fatimid Jihad army in the area was waiting. Two had originally come to Antioch to get to Anatolia. One led by the Caliph himself. And one led by a general. Makedonios had killed the general in the first battle. That army, leaderless, had fled and ran to the boats. It sat out in the sea now, having dropped out of the Jihad.

That just left the Caliph and his army. Mak saw him down there with his army. The Caliph had a ballista, over 40 of his bodyguards, 2 groups of cavalry, and a lot of infantry. Behind and to the right, Mak had set up the army. Four battered infantry regiments protecting four battered archer regiments. With two half-strength regiments of horse archers to support. Makedonios, Armatos, Nathanail, and Iakovos were far off to the left. When the enemy walked towards the far off army, they would present their flank to the Order members.

The Grandmaster looked around with pride. He was honored to yet again lead such men into battle. To his left was Armatos, his second in command. To his right was Iakovos, newly arrived from Adana and fresh for this fight. Farther to the left was Nathanail. Between the four of them, there were around 60 bodyguards. The army walked by, leaving the Caliph and the ballista behind.

"Charge!"

The four members and their men ran down the hill. Armatos charged into the ballista crew. Makedonios and his 18 men charged the Caliph and his 43 men. Horses and men crashed into each other. While the Caliph was kept busy, Iakovos crashed into his flank. Nathanail took on a small group of Arab Cavalry that tried to aid the Caliph. With the artillery crew run off, Armatos crashed into the back of the Caliph's bodyguards. It took multiple charges from the men, but eventually the Caliph's bodyguards fell one by one. Makedonios saw a couple of bodyguards surround the Sultan and kill him.

Meanwhile, his army had been fighting off by itself. Battered and without replacements, the army was not doing well. But with the Sultan, artillery, and cavalry all gone, the Order members could simply charge into the enemy infantry from behind. One by one, the enemy units ran. Makedonios ordered his men to let them run. They would be no further threat. Antioch was once again secured.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Andres** · 08-09-2008, 18:01

The Battle at Corinth - 1122

Early in the morning.

Savvas was in his tent, enjoying his first goblet of cooled wine of the day, when a messenger arrived.

"Mylord, Crown Prince Abu Bakr has lifted the siege and is currently terrorising the peasants of the Pelopponesos."

Savvas empties his goblet.

"So, the coward is running away? Assemble the men! I want Fatimid blood on my armor by tonight!"

"Yes sir!"

The messenger, encouraged by the selfconfidence of his general, ran out the commanders' tent and spreaded the word.

In the meanwhile, Savvas took another goblet of wine.

"I hope this won't be the last one I drink. I heard rumours that this Crown Prince is an experienced general. Oh well, guess I was a bit naive thinking that my military career would be limited to butchering stupid rebel peasants."

Later that morning, near noon.

" General! We have spotted the enemy! They are lined up and waiting for us."

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Savvas divided his infantry in two seperate groups and ordered his two regiments of horse archers to position themselves on the left flank.

Before the battle the slightly drunk Savvas walked a bit further. Staring in the distance, he spotted Crown Prince Abu Bakr.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

" Look at him! Just look at him! Have you ever, ever seen an uglier nobleman than that Crown Prince Abu Bakr? To think that I have emptied five goblets of wine before this battle and he's still ugly as hell! I mean, after 5 goblets of wine, even our smelly friend Nikiphoros here..." Savvas grabs one of the spearman and looks at him "... even our smelly friend Nikiphoros looks like an irresistable lady of questionable morality of one of the finest brothels in Constantinople!"

The men bursted out in laughter and Savvas continued...

"Hey Crown Prince! I said you are ugly! Heck, I would rather spend an erotic night with Grandmaster Makedonios and share his pneumonia than having to smell that ugly, stinking swine of a Fatimid Crown Prince! Men! Take your spears, swords, bows or whatever tool you are using. It's time to put those ugly Fatimids out of their misery. Let us show mercy and kill them all!"

The men sheered.

Savvas yelled : "Forward!"

He commanded the Horse Archers to attack the right flank of the enemy.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

"No fire at will men. Concentrate your arrows on their desert cavalry. A goblet of wine if you manage to shoot at least 10 of them in their [inappropriate word for a certain private part].

The Horse Archers attacked and took out the desert cavalry on the right flank.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Allthough one of the regiments routed, the Horse Archers managed to also take out most of the desert cavalry positioned at the left flank of the enemy army.

While Savvas and the infantry were still marching, he spotted a well known flag.

"Ha! Good ol' Aleksios didn't want to miss the party, I see. Over here mylord!"

Aleksios joined Savvas' troops and they pursued the remaining desert cavalry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

After having driven away most of the enemy cavalry, both noblemen and their bodyguards moved fast near the left flank of the enemy army.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

When the Byzantine infantry got into melee with the Fatimid infantry, the voice of the Byzantine general could be heard all over the battlefield.

"Here, you ugly bastard! I, Savvas ek Militou, am coming for you and I'm going to put you out of your misery, you infidel ugly swine! Come over here, you stinking pig!"

Savvas and Aleksios charged into the well trained bodyguards of the Crown Prince.

The outraged Crown Prince managed to severely injure the bold Savvas, but he didn't see the sword of Kristophoros, Savvas' loyal bodyguard.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

After the Crown Prince died, the spirit of the Fatimid army was broken and the battle was over soon. Savvas routed the enemy of the battlefield, cursing them.

"Get over here, swines! Don't run away, I will end your misery! The nerve of that Crown Prince! Injuring me! How dares he, that ugly bastard. After this is over, I'm going to stab my sword into his ugly corpse again and again and again and I will burn it and..."

Savvas fell of his horse. Was it because of the wine or because of his wounds, nobody could tell...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

175 prisoners were ransommed back for 768 florins. A note accompanied the prisoners:

"I'm not going to do your work, put them out of their misery yourselves!"

**_Tristan_** · 08-23-2008, 09:47

Blood Raven
Alexandria, 1125

Muhammad sat behind his stall in the main market of Alexandria. His stock was almost empty. The siege of the Crusaders had taken its toll. He had been able to resupply when the first wave had been defeated but had barely had time to gather enough supplies to last a few days before a second wave, more numerous had appeared, coming from the cost.
Though his stall was almost empty, Muhammad was happy. The scarcity of food allowed him to reap large benefits. Benefits he already envisioned invested into a caravan of camels to trade the riches of the confines of Egypt.
Muhammad displayed proudly the green armband of the Defenders on his arm, granted to him by the city council for his participation in throwing off the Crusader’s assault. Many in the city had taken up this sign of recognition, as a show of pride and faith.
A clamor was suddenly raised at the other side of the market where the palace was found. Looking in that direction, all that Muhammad could see was a flurry of activity. Emerging from one of the alleys, Muhammad spotted Rasheed, his associate, running like a madman, the man also sporting a green armband.

“Muhammad…” Rasheed called, out of breath “They are taking the captured crusaders out…”

“What ?” Muhammad was non-plussed “But why ? They’re not freeing them…”

“No… Don’t worry… The guards are going to send them to their God… And we’re allowed to take part… I’m going… And you ?”

Muhammad didn’t think long before following in Rasheed’s wake, running in pursuit of the crowds that followed the guards. In the middle of a group of guards, Muhammad managed to see an ox-driven cart on which a metal cage contained a score of men, some standing, targets of small stones thrown by children, some sitting dejectedly. Muhammad could see that all wore black and gold tabards with some sun design on it.

Finally they went through the south gate, the gate which led to the main camp of the Crusaders.

In front of the gates, a line of guards kept the crowds at bay from great crosses planted in the ground. The cart crossed the line and the escort guards opened it and began flogging the men out of the cage. They drove them to the crosses and began tying them up.

From his vantage point in the crowds, Muhammad could see that the men were badly bruised. Most were hanging limply from the ropes that tied them to the crosses. Only one seemed to have gathered enough strength to raise his head and stare defiantly at the crowd, his gaze then going to the distance where his countrymen were encamped, a quarter of a mile away.

Absorbed in the contemplation of this man’s bravery, Muhammad didn’t hear a word of what the guard captain said. Only the last words caught his ears.

“… leave the punishment of the Infidels to you, people of Alexandria… Defenders, walk forward.”

A great many men, with ages ranging from youth to elders, stepped forward, crossing the line of guards, Muhammad and Rasheed among them.

Muhammad could now see that small piles of stones had been gathered everywhere in front of the crosses. So that was to be the fate of these men… Anger welled up in Muhammad when he thought of the unwarranted aggression of the so-called Crusaders, the cause of the death of so many good Muslims and a continued threat to all Egypt. Stooping down, he grabbed a large stone and with a cry of “Allahu Akbar”, threw it at the man nearest to him, the one that had stared so defiantly at the crowds. The stone took him on the side of the head, drawing blood and stunning him. That first stone was all that the crowd had waited for and a hail of stone pelted the tied-up men.

Sometime later, the piles of rocks had been depleted. The men on the crosses all hung limply, their bodies turning black from the many bruises, blood streaming from cuts.

Muhammad’s fury slowly abated and he contemplated the work done. Seemingly, all the men were dead.

“That will teach them” said Rasheed by his side. “Let’s go… It’s over…”

“Go… I’ll stay a while” Muhammad answered.

The crowd slowly began going back through the gates, its anger and frustration spent.

Only a small number of guards kept a picket around the crosses.

Muhammad remained a moment looking at the bodies of the men sprawled on the crosses.

“Teach them… I fear they would need much more to learn their lesson” Muhammad mused.

Finally turning around to go back to his home, Muhammad spared a look towards the Crusader camp. On a small hillock, an arrow throw away, a small group of men dressed in the Byzantine fashion were sitting on their horses. One walked his horse a few paces forward.

Sensing the man’s gaze hovering on him, a ripple of fear wracked Muhammad’s body.

******

The same day, at evening.

After witnessing the lapidation of the Crusaders, Methodios had walked back to camp and gathered his captains, Solomon among them.

He had wanted to wait some more before launching the assault. They were not enough siege weapons to lead a decisive assault but what had happened today had strengthened his resolve. Some of the tortured men may still be alive and he had to rescue them.

Orders were dealt out : the latinkons would drive the ram to the east gate under the cover of night, while Solomon’s sergeants and his Byzantine guards would launch an assault on the west wall, with the archers’ support.

The cavalry would remain facing the south gate, to lure the garrison to that same wall.

Night had fallen and with it a light wind had blown rain-ladden clouds from the sea. Rain began pouring down, when Methodios ordered the advance.

The attack took the Egyptians by surprise. The events of the day had made them confident that the Crusaders would think twice before attacking.

All their forces had been gathered in their quarters near the central plaza.

The latinkons managed to drive the ram to the eastern gates undetected. On the other side, ladders went up and men began pouring on the walls just as the spearmen of the militia themselves reached their stations.

A fierce fight started on the western wall while on both sides archers shot arrows upon arrows at the milling mass of men.

Sending Solomon and the skythikons to the East gate, Methodios took the lancers with him and headed west.

Seeing his arrival, the Byzantine guards broke from their fight with the militiamen and managed to seize control of the western gate, opening it.

That was all Methodios had waited for and both his retinue and the lancers launched themselves through the gates. Making for the main square of the city, they were met by the Egyptian cavalry.

Methodios ordered his lancers forward to the square while he dealt with the engaged cavalry.
Cutting a swath through the Egyptian riders was easier said than done and many of the lancers fell from the javelins of the mounted shooters. They finally broke through and entered the plaza, threatening to capture the city.

At the same time, the ram finally broke the eastern gate and the Latinkons poured through into the streets of Alexandria, unopposed. The Egyptian dismounted lancers sent to defend the said gates had turned around back to the plaza, intent on reclaiming it from the Byzantines.

The battle was uncertain. On the western wall, the Byzantine sergeants broke and ran down the ladders to the safety of the plain.

Then, all of the sudden, the tide of the battle turned. Methodios managed to kill the captain of the garrison and finish the last of the cavalry while on the western wall the two units of militiamen broke and ran for the central square. Byzantine guards gave chase and led them directly into Methodios’ waiting men.

At the eastern gate, Solomon saw that the Latinkons had secured the access to the city and rode forward with his men.

Now, what remained of the defenders had taken place on the plaza, intent of going for a last stand.

(OOC : I encountered a bug at this time. A unit of desert archers was split in two with 4 men remaining on the walls while the rest occupied the plaza. This prevented me from charging or attacking them with cavalry, but I could still target them with arrows, hence a shooting duel…)

Methodios and Solomon were only too happy to oblige and led charges after charges into the massed ranks of spearmen, under a barrage of fiery arrows.

Desert archers had taken up position on the roofs of city buildings, putting them out of reach of the Byzantine crusaders, except for their archers.

(OOC : I encountered a bug at this time. A unit of desert archers was split in two with 4 men remaining on the walls while the rest occupied the plaza. This prevented me from charging or attacking them with cavalry, but I could still target them with arrows, hence a shooting duel…)

Byzantine guards went sent to root them out and succeeded when they killed some of the men that had taken up position on the high western wall. The rest of the archers then got down the roofs and ran to the plaza, where they were cut down by the cavalry like the rest of the garrison.

******

Bjarki found Methodios sitting on the marches to the governor’s place, nursing a nasty cut on his left cheek.

Lifting his head to his veteran companion, Methodios asked. “How many men have we lost ?”

“One hundred twenty-one… Most of the losses were suffered by Solomon’s men… Though we have lost around twenty riders and around thirty footmen…”

“Go and tell him he’s done some good work here”

“I will… What do we do of our prisoners ? I asked the city council to pay for their freedom but they refused…”

“Kill them… Kill them all…”

A dark expression settled upon Methodios’ face, while he thought about the events of the day.

“Round up all the men of the city and gather up all those wearing those green armbands…”

“What shall I do with them ?” inquired Bjarki.

“Make them Blood Ravens…” Methodios said, in a coarse voice. “And seize their properties. The Empire will need every penny we can extract from this place if we are to secure our hold of these lands…”

Bjarki was taken aback by Methodios’ orders.

“But Methodios, sacking of a Crusade target is forbidden by law…”

“I know… Just as exterminating cities was some years ago and still… I will face whatever consequences… These people deserve every evil we can act upon them for what they did today… You have your orders…” Methodios said, grim-faced.

******

Muhammad was roused up from his sleep by the noise of battle reverberating through the city. Quickly getting into his clothes, he ran outside to witness the assault of the Crusaders.

Panic caught up with him and he ran back inside to lead his wife and kids deep into his cellar under his house. Then, fetching his old scimitar from the wall, he ran into the streets intent on fighting and killing the Infidels.

He hadn’t gone two streets from his home when a group of riders appeared in front of him. Before he had time to hide, the horses were upon him and a he was struck a blow on the head.

Pain erupted in his skull and he dropped to the ground. Blood thumped in his head, his vision blurred then darkness fell.

Howls awoke Muhammed. His head hurt like hell and he noticed he was tied up and lying on his side on the ground. Opening his eyes he saw many others of the city inhabitants, tied like him. Looking around him, he could see a ring of Byzantine soldiers keeping guard upon the group of men. All of the prisoners around him wore the green armband of the Defenders. A quick count enabled Muhammad to estimate their numbers at two thousand. Whimpers could be heard all around and a smell of slaughterhouse permeated the air.

Another howl sounded in the distance. Muhammad wriggled on the ground to see what was happening.

On a raised platform on the other side of the plaza, two Byzantine soldiers were holding a man kneeled while a third man covered in blood and armed with a large knife made large cuts into his back. Then sheathing his knife, he reached bare-handed into the man’s back and tore out his lungs which he unfolded on his back.

Horror at the sight made Muhammad faint, his last thought being that the kneeling man looked so much like some Christian angel…

(OOC : though chivalrous by nature, Methodios also has the “Fine with blood” trait which explains such actions…)

**Ramses II CP** · 08-25-2008, 04:23

East of Cairo, 1125.

The onrushing years had not been kind to Vissarionas ek Lesvou. The scar across the top of his head had thickened with age, causing him constant discomfort and spreading hair loss down the sides of his scalp. His closest friend and servant Rafi had grown into a man in his own right, but there was a wedge of distance between the two of them that the passage of time was worsening. Vissa often wondered now if Rafi would remain by his side after the Crusade.

Ahh, and there was the matter of that Crusade. Back in Constantinople, with fire and fury in his guts, Vissa had imagined a single clean stroke to wipe away the sins of the infidel, protect the holy places of Orthodoxy, and, in his heart of hearts, reclaim Aliya's favor for himself.

It had not been so simple. First he had spent a fortune from the funds secured in Cairo to hire Genoese craftsmen and sailors to crew his vessel. They had claimed to be in Constantinople waiting for the German crusade to pass so they could hire on. In fact, as Vissa discovered only after weeks aboard the ship, they were rebels against the Milanese who currently governed Genoa and had been existing as little more than pirates. They swore their changes to his ship would help it outpace his comrades in arms, but how was carving a lewd statue of a half fish woman on the prow supposed to help? Vissa had grown up in a little island fishing village and so had no fear of the water, but neither was he a sailor with any knowledge of the open sea. Once they lost sight of the coast the lives of the Crusaders were completely in the hands of these Genoese 'rebels' and their odd notions of safe sailing.

For one thing they insisted that the soldiers drink an astonishingly vile tea, vowing that it would keep them hale during the long voyage. Vissa had refused, though even Rafi eventually developed a taste for the stuff. Halfway through the trip Vissa had then developed an affliction of sores and weakened teeth. Three of his had fallen out. The rest of the men remained healthy, but Vissa could not shake his illness and spent long days alone in his cabin. The sailors called it scurvy, but privately Vissa thought it might be a curse from God for the increasingly crude dreams he had of his time with Aliya.

Then Vissa had discovered that among the sailors it was common to... lie... with one another after a certain amount of time at sea. The men swore up and down that it was lucky, that it was necessary, that it prevented trouble on the ship, but Vissa, sick of the sea, sick of the scurvy, and sick of the disgusting habits of the men of Genoa absolutely forbade it. Five sailors had to be hung at sea, and eight more took lashes, some more than once, before the practice came to an end.

Then there was the whale, or perhaps The Whale. The less said of it the better.

At last, at long, long last, Vissa and his men had reached the coast. Not first, not fastest, but perhaps the better for it. The death of Kosmas Mavrozomis gave caution to all the remaining crusaders, though it was a steep price for the warning. During the march south he had joined forces with his Order mates, Stavros ek Amarinthou and Varthomlomaios Ksiros. At last they were within sight of the walls of Cairo. At last the end was nigh!

Aliya's perfume seemed to drift in the very wind. Vissa walked about in a state of heighted excitement. The other men took it for religious fervor, or for the end of his scurvy affliction, but in truth his every waking thought was driven by the desire to again hear her voice, again feel her skin against his own. He gave no sign of it, none, and so men mistook the reddening of his cheeks for a passion for God, and called him 'little father' and Priest Vissa, half seriously.

The Egyptians in the area had all stood aside from the Crusaders, not challenging their ride across the countryside to the bridge. Vissa had wondered at this, seeing that Cairo was their capital and nearly in reach. Once they had finally encamped at the bridge, however, their plans became clear. Forces on both sides of the river abruptly moved to make an assault on the Crusader's camp on the eastern bank of the river.

Stavros, the most experienced commander and by mutual agreement in overall control of the army, had a good cover of scouts out on both sides of the river. His men reported that the force on the western bank was comprised of only a few companies of light infantry and archers, while the army advancing on the west bank was far larger and led by a Saracen noble. Stavros' snap decision was to abandon the camp and force the bridge against the weak blocking force immediately. With a bright sun lighting the morning sky to the east Stavros and his company of Lancers thundered onto the bridge, fully expecting the enemy to lash out with a storm of arrows.

The Egyptians, however, obviously had strict orders to hold the bridge at all costs. All four companies of men rushed onto the bridge and engaged Stavros' heavily armored men at close quarters. The slaugher rapidly became immense as horses shoved screaming Fatamids into the river and General Amarinthou's guardsmen butchered the lightly armored infantry.

Vissa and Varthomlomaios had, meanwhile, ridden away up the east bank of the river to delay the arrival of the second Saracen army. With a vengeful roar the two men led a galloping charge into the advance guard of light infantry and Turkomen, scattering and killing dozens before pulling back with the enemy general and his cavalry in close pursuit.

At the bridge the first company of Egyptian archers broke, throwing down their weapons and attempting to surrender. When their captain turned away from the battle for a moment to attempt to rally them Stavros personally leaned far out of his saddle to nearly behead the man, shattering the will of the remainder to fight.

All that remained was to chase down the fleeing remnant and hold them at the point of a sword.

Behind Stavros the remainder of the army crossed the bridge, the Great Cross company trailing behind, and set themselves to receive the assault of the second Saracen army. The spearmen pushing the cross left it at the mouth of the bridge as a symbol of defiance in the face of the infidel. Stavros knew well that if the worst should occur, if the army should be pushed back from the bridge, the men would fight to the death to reclaim that cross. Soon Varthomlomaios rejoined the main body of the army, the Saracen attackers having slowed behind him to await their infantry. Of Vissa there was no sight, the two groups of guardsmen having split at the far end of the bridge.

North of the bridge, alone on the east side, Vissarionas and his guards rested atop a small hill and watched the Fatamid general ready his assault. A small, near broken company of Turkomen were harassing Vissa's men with light arrows, but otherwise he stood unopposed. Gathering his Bedouin light cavalry the enemy commander decided to try to force the crossing himself, perhaps because he could see that Stavros' banner was far to the rear of the army capturing the last of the blocking force.

It was a horrific error. The timbers of the bridge were drenched in the blood of Saracen light infantry, making footing uncertain for the horses and giving Stavros' archers ample time to thin the numbers of the light cavalry now crossing. The Great Cross prevented a true charge from forming, though the horses made their way around it easily enough, and so the enemy staggered slowly into battle against well prepared spearmen and religious fanatics. Worst of all for them Varthomolaios had momentarily struck his banner to bait them, and he now raised it once more and charged into the battle. The Bedouin, accustomed more to raids than heavy fighting, lost their will to continue the struggle almost immediately.

With only his own scattered guardsmen Surahbil al-Fihri must have known he could not force the bridgehead. He looked about in horror at his fleeing allies, and raised his horn to blow, perhaps trying to summon his infantry to aid him.

Then, steeling himself for the embrace of death, he commanded his men to fight to the last.

Across the river the Saracen heavy infantry were preparing to charge to aid their master when a pair of fleeing Turkomen rode by screaming a warning which whipped away, unheard, in the wind. Moments later, while the Fatamids hesitated and their Lord died, Vissarionas ek Lesvou and his guardsmen broke over the hill and swept down on the enemy's light infantry with a crushing charge.

A roaring cheer announced the fall of the banner of Surabhil on the far bank, and Vissa's guardsmen, their work of pinning down the enemy infantry now done, fell back still under the plinking fire of the few remaining Turkomen. As Vissa and his guardsmen worked their way around to pin the horse archers against the bridge the Saracen's remaining captains paused for a moment to consider their position. If they attempted to flee those heavy horsemen were cruising around behind them like sharks, waiting to pick them off, and their Sultan in Cairo would not look favorably on the failure to relive them. On the other hand they still outnumbered the Byzantine infantry on the far bank, and it was even vaguely possible that they might yet rescue their commander and carry the day. Just as Vissa engaged the remaining half company of Turkomen the Fatamid heavy infantry bellowed out a command to their lighter fellows to charge, and several hundred of the enemy began to cross the bridge under a light hail of harassing fire.

Vissarionas saw their renewed determination, and immediately saw what must be done to break it. Commanding his men to ignore and ride through the Turkomen, breaking their ranks and their will to fight along the way, Vissa charged onto the bridge behind the Saracen heavy infantry. Charging into the backs of the well armored Saracens the lances of the Byzantine bodyguard made a terrific noise. Virtually the entire remaining Fatamid force turned to see a Greek banner at their backs, remorselessly churning a path into their heaviest remaining troops. It was too much. Hundreds of them threw down their swords by the Great Cross and surrendered while a very few trickled through or jumped into the river to attempt to escape.

None but a handful of mounted men would get away to carry the tale. Others would later account it a heroic victory for Stavros. For the Crusaders it was a weary mess of a victory, with their camp in ruins, supplies trampled and dmaged, dozens dead, and many more wounded needing care in enemy territory, yet ever after they would speak of that day as one of the greatest of their lives.

(I had no opportunity to ransom or release prisoners after this battle, so I have no idea what happened to them. If they all got added to the garrison of Cairo they may prove a formidable addition as almost all of the enemy heavy infantry 'survived' to be captured. Check out the modestly jedi kill factor for the BGs.)

**Rowan** · 08-27-2008, 15:25

Battle outside Cairo, 1126

The march to Cairo had been easy. After the battle at the bridge the Fatimid forces seemed to be in disarray and melted before the advancing crusaders. It was almost too easy. Outside Cairo the stake lines were put up and work on the siege engines was begun. The sultan was trapped in his city and the long and tiring crusade would soon be over. Just as the men were settling into the boring rhythm of the siege a column of dust was spotted on the horizon. Apparently all the troops that had been loose on the countryside had gathered together to break the siege. Scouts were sent to investigate and reported that the relieving force consisted of some two companies each of Nubian spearmen, militia spearmen, desert raiders and desert archers. The defenders of the city had also spotted the dust cloud and surmised that this was their chance to break out! In addition to the Sultans personal bodyguard the garrison held two full companies of desert raiders and militia spearmen.

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The crusading army withdrew down a previously scouted valley until it had the high ground and then deployed for battle. At the center-left was Stavros himself with the Great Cross to his right. In front of the Cross were the infantry companies and the first line consisted of the archers. Vissarionas took the Byzantine Cavalry to the right flank while Vartholomaios took the left. The lancers were kept as reserve on the near right.

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Superior Byzantine archers began to rain death at the relieving force as soon as they were in range, concentrating their fire on the Nubian spearmen. Meanwhile the Byzantine Cavalry company hooked to the enemy rear, peppering them with arrows.

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As the Fatimid troops started their climb uphill Vartholomaios initated a charge to their right flank, shattering the first company of desert raiders. At the same time Vissarionas struck the enemys left flank, throwing another company into disarray. The Byzantine cavalry also noticed their chance and struck the desert archers that had stayed behind, killing them to a man.

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Additional charges by Vissarionas and Vartholomaios then broke most of the relieving force. In the end Stavros was also forced to join the fray as the last troop of desert raiders was getting too close to the archer line.

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The enemy captain and his troops were slain almost to a man...

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... which was very fine for the sultan was nearing the battlefield with the garrison.

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The troops had already started regrouping and the archers aimed their fire at the sultans bodyguard. Vissarionas had been down at the valley mopping up the last of the relieving force and Sultan charged downhill to capture the isolated Crusader. At the same time the charges of Vartholomaios and Stavros ravaged his infantry. The byzantine spearmen re-deployed to the right flank to help Vissarionas as he sped towards the friendly troops.

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This proved to be unnecessary for the deadly byzantine archers had bled the sultans bodyguard hard and he proved no match for Vissarionas. Noticing that his whole army had been defeated the cowardly sultan turned tail and fled. He managed to escape the battlefield with a single bodyguard.

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Later that night scouting parties found the bodies of sultan and his remaining bodyguard at a barn a few miles from the battlefield. The sultan had apparently died of his wounds and the bodyguard had then taken his own life.

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The butchers and their bills

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The crusading army marched to the waiting city. The streets were deserted and the shutters tightly closed as the citizens feared what these invaders would do.

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