Battle reports thread - King of the Romans PBM

[OverKnight]

The Battle South of Florence, 1250

Matthias was overjoyed, he was finally taking ship to the Holy Land and Chancellor von Hamburg had ordered him to bring the Kaiser's Justice to a band of brigands on his way to the fleet. After years of kicking his heels in Bologna, he was finally going to lead men into battle.

I should have voted for him the first time around, Matthias thought with some regret.

The brigands had fled when he and his men first approached, but Matthias pursued them, and as night fell he cornered them against the sea. He deployed his infantry in a line with the Mailed Knights and his own retainers on each flank.

The cavalry moved to encircle the brigands, but something bothered Matthias. There were two units of them, one behind the other, where was the third he had seen before during the pursuit? He ordered his men to approach at a slow pace rather than charge in.

The Mailed Knights spotted the unit of spearmen before they could spring their trap from a small copse of trees.

Matthias ordered them to hold. The ambush had almost worked, but now the brigands were isolated from each other. The Imperial infantry was ordered to sorround the other unit of spearmen while Matthias took his retainers around the flank to take the peasants behind them. The Knights would remain out of the battle for now, though they would charge the would be ambushers if they moved to assist their comrades. When the men were positioned, Matthias ordered the charge.

The infantry and horsemen made contact at the same time. The brigands reeled before Imperial might.

The rebel leader was trampled in the first moments of Matthias's charge.

The two units routed almost instantly. The third unit tried to charge the Mailed Knights but they galloped out of range except for an unlucky few. They broke as well when they found the rest of the Imperial forces at their backs.

Once the routers had been run down, Matthias surveyed the field. It had been terrifying, the shouts of men, the sound of hooves trampling flesh, the tug at his arm when his sword found bone, and yet it was wonderful too. He had brought his men through with light casualties, by the grace of God, and they could now continue to the fleet, and then Outremer.

The Butcher's Bill: