This time, the battle was much harder. The commander had learned from his previous mistakes and fielded a much stronger army (translation: the AI is too dump to choose a good army and I had to choose it for him ).
It was an eery feeling to stand on the hill and wait for the enemy without beeing able to see further than a few meters. Finally they emerged from the fog and sent in their melee troops first. We managed to defeat them in a brutal clash and thought that we had already won.
But they had still a considerable amount or ranged units, archers and skirmishers, who had reserved most of their ammunition. We knew that we had to get a move on, or else we would be shot like sitting ducks. But for our men, tired from the melee, this was easier said then done - the AI troops were kiting really well. In the end we manage to send them fleeing, but not without getting to the brink of defeat ourselves. It was a pyrric victory that we brought home.
Returning to the camp, we saw that a great Frankish warchief had arrived from Frisia. As he learned of the situation, he summoned us before him and sad: "I want that vile Roman commander brought before me. Edward and Nigel, take what men you can still find and hunt him down. Whoever brings me his head, or brings him alive, shall be rewarded well."
We found only a handful units each, but the defeated Romans had even fewer men. When we finally found them, there was no question that we would win this battle. Instead the question was: "Who will be the first to reach their general? And who will be the one to bring him down?". The race was on.
And it was a hunt through fog and forest. My men were the first to spot him, but they could not take him alone. Edward's troops reached him just in time, as mine began to falter. And in the end it were Edward's men who struck him down and tied him up (I actually had to look at the replay to find that out - video proof was good, even in those days).
The warchief was very pleased about his new prisoner. "You have done well, Edward, and deserve your reward. From now on I shall grant you the right to maintain a unit of retainers. You can choose a tier 2 unit, which will remain with you in the future battles for as long as you can keep the unit alive."
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