Battle Reports Thread: King of the Franks game

[Ramses II CP]

Zaragosa, 1084



"Hammer those all fired pegs in there you slack jawed morons! I'm not waiting another ******* night on your incompetence! You breakfast in Zaragosa or you'll eat nothing at all!"

Prince Louis was berating the weary mercenaries at the top of his lungs, 'encouraging' them to complete their labors on the second ram for the assault on Zaragosa. All the riding back and forth from France had taken it's toll on his mood, and in a fit of fair mindedness he had sent just enough of his stores of French wine south with Raynaud de Xaintrailles and Christophe de Peronne that he had a genuine worry about running out soon.

"Bertrand. Bertrand! Where've you gone?"

A heavy lidded, thick bodied man with a mace dangling at his waist ducked out of the trees to the east and knuckled his forehead before the Prince,

"Here m'lord!"

"How long 'fore the sunrise do you figure?"

"We've time enough Lord, if they'll get that thing moving. Yvon and his boys won't have left the siegeworks just yet."

Louis nodded thoughtfully, and shouted again,

"Evrart! You stay on these lads. As soon as that bloody thing will roll without falling apart get them pushing it at that weak spot in the walls. No more delays! Zaragosa falls this day. I'm sick of this time wasting!"

Evrart, the slim, graceful veteran soldier, nods once and begins calling out calm sounding commands to the mercenaries, sorting out the mad scrambles the Prince's anger had sent them into and visibly improving their efforts as well.

The Prince takes no notice, he is already mounting his horse and motioning his guardsmen to come about and follow him along the dimly lit treeline. The men ride along until they come to the southern road leading to the gates of Zaragosa. The line turns smartly along the road, riding up to just out of bowshot of the main gate. The Prince waves his hand and two men withdraw hunting horns and blow them loudly in short bursts until a figure can be seen above the gate, waving his arms. Louis shouts,

"Bloody coming today Bernardo! Sure you don't want to just leave and give over? No more ******* warnings militiaman. If I have to break in there I'm not leaving without your head!"

The figure shouts back in broken French,

"Your mother lay with donkeys! Go back to Toulouse and chew rocks!"

As the first rays of light creep over the distant hills the Prince of the Franks laughs and draws his sword, catching the sun on it's tip. With a wordless roar he points it at the gates and the two guardsmen once more blow their horns, this time a single low blast. To the east Yvon Lacaze and his company of mercenaries can be seen pressing their ram foward towards the walls, while to the west the Prince's own men are struggling to push their own more hastily constructed engine.



Bernardo screams something and vanishes from the wall. The Prince's company watches a moment as the rebel banners retreat towards the town square, and then at his command wheels neatly to ride back towards the spearmen.



Bernardo makes no effort to defend the walls, perhaps realizing his men are ill equipped for the work and too few to hold both sides. Yvon's mercenaries break through first, and he leads his men through the breach at a run, moving around towards the south gate while the mercenaries pour through to block the east road. Behind them the sun is rising, shedding bright golden light across the field.



Despite this, perhaps in a panic, Bernardo orders his company of crossbowmen down the eastern street to harry the mercenaries as they march. Seeing this Yvon changes his course, reversing and riding through the spearmen's formation to meet the crossbowmen head on. The enemy gets off a single ragged volley with the sun shining into their eyes before Yvon and his guardsmen are on them.



In the meanwhile the Prince's force has broken through as well, and the Prince has ridden around to the north end of town at a run before turning south down the main thoroughfare. His mercenary spearmen marched doubletime down the western street to meet the enemy's two companies of javelineers in the streets. The rebels don't get off a single volley before they are engaged at close range and hard pressed.

Behind them the Prince's men make their best charge down the narrow street at his urging. Captain Bernardo, having lost all control of the battle from the moment his crossbowmen began to melee, tries to turn his militia spearmen about to face the charge and fails. The Prince, bellowing wordlessly, leads the attack and rides among the milling town militia sowing slaughter at will. Behind him Bertrand and Evrart ride close, ignoring any openings in the battle while keeping the Prince's flanks and rear clear of enemies.



The crossbowmen break first, moments after Yvon's mercenaries make contact with them, and Yvon's men ride them down casually as they flee. Yvon sends his spearmen to aid the Prince against the militia troops, while he himself rides around that melee to take the javelineers from behind. Already hard pressed and half dead they break instantly and try to flee to the square, only to be ridden down in their turn just as the crossbowmen were.





Surrounded, outnumbered, outclassed, and with no possibility of surrender the men of Captain Bernardo's town militia company fight to the last. Bernardo himself is felled when a mercenary cracks him across the back of his head with the butt of his spear. He falls to the ground and at a gesture from the Prince is dragged to one side as the last of the rebels are put down.



Louis delivers a quick salute to Yvon for a job well done. Without dismounting the Prince gestures for Bernardo to be picked up and brought over. Head bowed, with blood matting the back of his hair, Bernardo can barely be heard begging for his life. The Prince, his armor stained heavily with blood and his sword soaked in it, reaches down with it's tip to lift Bernardo's chin and look into his eyes. The mercenaries to either side shoulder him up a bit higher.



"You were warned Bernardo. Zaragosa has been claimed for France. Better for us all if you'd surrendered."

"... King Alfonso... said he'd come... We're Spaniards, not Franks..."

Prince Louis grins before replying,

"I took Alfonso's daughter for my wife, just as I've taken Zaragosa for my kingdom, just as I'll take whatever else I want here in Iberia. When you see God give him my thanks for this victory today, yes?"

Before the rebel captain can reply the Prince shoves his sword forward through the man's throat, showering blood down his tunic onto the paving stones. Raising his voice he says,

"Take what you will from this place, but don't kill to many, eh? They're to be my people now!"

With a gleam in their eyes the mercenaries move out into the streets.

Louis motions Yvon over to him,

"For the moment, until the King makes his fair dispensation and I can properly distribute the title, you'll have to govern here. I mean to ride out tomorrow to meet the lads to the south and lay siege to Valencia. I expect the spearmen will march along behind me at their own pace. Keep these people under control, do you hear? Whatever it takes."

"Now, where's that blasted page? I need a drink!"







OOC: Louis got a veteran warrior and a shield bearer. I see Evrart as the former and Bertrand as the latter.