The Siege of Metz
"Is that it?" thought Prinz Henry. He'd expected a great citadel. What lay before him was scarcely more than a walled compound. Architecturally, it was overshadowed by a fine monastery on a hill nearby.
Henry shook his head in disappointment, then turned to Sigismund's report. Sigismund had been welcomed into the Royal family unexpectedly. Henry was only 24, Sigismund 27. Yet, Emperor Heinrich had embraced the promising commander as an adopted member of his family. In part, this was because Heinrich had only two sons - Henry and Leopold - rather few to ensure succession in a time of plague and war. Both sons were told to treat Sigismund as a brother. But Henry in particular was instructed to pay special attention to the newcomer. Heinrich had confided that Sigismund, not Leopold, was to succeed to the throne if both Heinrich and Henry should die.
Henry skimmed the report and then looked sideways at its author. What had his father seen in the man that had made him so favoured? Sigismund was looking at the wooden castle in front of them, watching the enemy's movements closely. But there was no hesitation, no apprehension evident in the man's face. Sigismund looked every inch the conquering hero. Henry glanced back at the report; if only he could be so confident!
Sigismund had estimated the Burgundian strength at 60 knights, two regiments of town militia and one of archers. Henry's forces comprised 70 knights, 60 mounted sergeants, two regiments of spear militia and two of archers. He did not have much of an edge - an extra regiment of archers and some mounted sergeants, whose usefulness in the narrow confines of a castle was questionable. If only Henry could persuade his proud knights and their sergeants to dismount, but no - the minor nobles and their lackeys were too proud. "What do you think we are, English?!" a particularly obnoxious one had challenged the Prince.
Still, Sigismund was confident and Sigismund was no fool. They had to learn from Dietrich's victory at Hamburg. Horsemen could be useful in a siege. But they needed to pick their moment. Simply trying to ride into the castle through the gates would only result in two dead heirs to the throne. What was to be done?
"Father ordered two rams to be provided for us." Sigismund observed.
"Father"?! Henry still found it hard to get used to Sigismund calling Heinrich that. He wondered how Leopold felt about it. Did Leopold know he had been passed over? Damn it, focus, thought Henry. Sort out this mess first, let the succession take care of itself.
"Yes, two rams." said Henry, not getting the significance of Sigismund's observation.
Sigismund smiled lightly. "Give me one; I'll go round the back."
Henry stared at him. Sigismund's smile was infectious and Henry laughed. Christ almighty, Sigismund was right! Henry had been thinking of trying to barrel through the front, using one ram as a spare in case the first caught fire. But that was a strategy as subtle as going at the Burgundians with a blunt fruit knife.
"Take it, brother. And may God go with you." said Henry, trying to inject a note of solemnity. The chivalrous Sigismund nodded dutifully and shook Henry's hand firmly, as if in reassurance.
"I will meet you in the castle square." said Sigismund.
Watching the confident warrior leave, somehow Henry's had little doubt that Sigismund would keep his promise.
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Henry could see Sigismund's column march around Metz, heading for the rear, north gate. At first, the defenders ignored the flanking movement. Then Henry could make out the Burgundian archers heading from the castle square to the north. Right, if the archers are going for Sigismund, it is time to bust open the south gate, thought Henry. Let's do it now, before they have a chance to double back and shoot us to hell. Hastily, he ordered his half of the army to advance. But Henry did notice that the Burgundian archers failed to stop at the north gate, instead rushing out of the safety of the walls in their eagerness to fire on Sigismund's column.
"Mistake." thought Henry, happily.
Henry's battering ram reached the south gate, but Sigismund had no need of his ram - he pursued the fleeing Burgundian archers through the north gate.
With almost perfect synchronisation, Henry's battering ram broke through the front gate as Sigismund's knights rode in from the back.
The Burgundians sent one regiment of town milita to the north gate to meet Sigismund, while the other regiment and their knights poured out of the breached south gate to stop Henry.
Sigismund had no intention of getting his riders bogged down fighting infantry from the front. So instead of facing the town militia approaching from the castle square, he led his knights on a wild ride south, skirting the castle walls, hotly pursued by the Burgundian foot. At the same time, Sigismund's regiments of spears and archers were racing into the castle, targeting for the rear of Burgundians chasing their commander.
To the south, Henry faced a stiffer challenge. As the Burgundians tried to sally out of the breached gate, Henry ordered his spearmen to form a schiltrom and brought up his own escort in support. But his plans did not work out as he hoped. The militia were too ill trained to quickly form a schiltrom and his own knights did not have sufficient run-up to mount an effective counter-charge. Instead, the southgate became a seething mass of men, hacking and cutting at each other. Henry was near the front, as the Germans pushed their way through the gate. But this was not good - this was not clever strategy, this was just butcher's work.
Henry cut and thrust, but then heard a loud hurrah! Sigisimund had worked his way through Metz and was launching a charge into the rear of the Burgundians blocking the south gate!
The defenders of the south gate broke, helplessly caught between the butchery of Henry's frontal assault and the elan of Sigismund's rear charge. Soon all that remained of the defenders was the regiment of town militia that had pursued Sigisimund from the north gate. Again, Sigisimund refused to face them frontally. Instead, he pulled his men out north and calmly waited until the Burgundians were locked in combat with the Henry's column pushing in from the south gate. Then he launched a charge into their flank. The Burgundians capitulated almost instanteously.
After the battle, Henry magnaminously spared the citizens of Metz from any abuse. Only a miserly 52 florins were gathered for the Imperial treasury from the occupation. Henry wanted to keep the respect of the chivalrous Sigismund. And anyway, the little castle really was rather insignificant - blackening the good name of the Empire to sack or exterminate it would only bring a few hundred florins.
But in truth, Henry cared little for Metz. What mattered was that he had weathered his first battle and emerged with some credit. He had taken a castle guarded by 366 men for the loss of only 55 Germans - 33 of them, unfortunate spearmen who had failed to form schiltrom in time to fend off the Burgundian knights. With some schadenfreude, Henry later learned that a small French army had been spotted south of Metz. The Germans had not only defeated the Burgundians - they had beaten the French in the race to the castle.
That night, Henry feasted well, drinking to the health of Dietrich, who had taught him the utility of cavalry in a castle assault, and to Sigismund, who had reminded him he had two rams.
Re: Battle reports thread - King of the Romans PBM
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