Although he was about to go battle, Edmund Becker was very happy. A new general had appeared name Lorenz Zirn, and he was seeking his knighthood under Duke Arnold. Even better, he had just heard that Karl Zirn would be returning from Outremer. Yes, he was quite pleased.
“I tell you Karl, it is a good day to be alive. Soon Duke Arnold will have ample replacements for me, and I can resign from this army and finally govern over my beloved Prague. My beloved’s beloved Prague, for that matter.”
Karl did not answer. He had been staring at the walls of Bucharest with a depressed look on his face for quite some time. He soon snapped out of it and turned to Becker.
“Well my lord, here’s hoping that this siege goes better than the last one.” His carefree expression fell apart when he realized what he said, and he turned away.
Becker turned to regard the usually irreverent figure. It was only by the slimmest of margins that he had met Edmund in Bran, when the Count was making a tour of the ranges. Eager to start a retinue, Edmund immediately offered him a position.
“It’s all right. I can’t blame you for feeling so poorly after what happened, especially after what my wife went through. But this is different.” Becker continued as he absent-mindedly scratched one of his scars. “I’ve proven myself to be quite difficult to kill. I swear to God I am not going to die to today. There will be not chance of that happening what so ever.” He sighed to himself heavily. “I still have to see Prague. Now then, let’s go about making some better memories.”
* * *
The battle started with a bit of a surprise: The walls were abandoned.
“This is rather odd.” pondered Becker. “But it doesn’t change what me have to do. Get those gates open!” This was not a difficult job for two Grand Bombards, who opened the gates in an instant. “Get the troops in line to enter the city.” Becker ordered.
“Now then,” he thought, “Let us see how they react. If they’re just waiting at the center then that’s fine, but I won’t have my boys caught unawares in the streets somewhere.”
Becker’s patience was soon rewarded when the city garrison arrived on the walls and started firing on his soldiers. He turned around and smacked his advisor, which was more for effect what with the armor. “What the hell is this? Why’d you tell me we couldn’t deploy any further when we’re not even beyond bowshot?” Before he could get an answer, he realized that the artillery had already taken out three of the towers.
“That’s good! Target the wall next!” It only took one salvo from the two cannons to send an entire section of the wall crumbling down. With a keen eye Becker spotted that there were on Hungarians in front of the gate. He quickly shouted orders. “Cavalry, ride to the city center! Infantry, advance upon the two breaches! Artillery, take out that last tower!”
As the men advanced, Edmund came to the embarrassing realization that those orders would have been better off given in the reverse order.
Regardless, Imperial Knights soon began riding through the eastern gates of Bucharest to the surprise of the Hungarians.
But the enemy were no fools, and the Hungarian militia engaged the Imperial cavalry while the Imperial foot engaged the Hungarian militia. The result was a rather confusing melee.
This arrangement soon proved it’s effectiveness when the Hungarians fleeting to the city center found half of the Knights blocking their path. The Hungarian general Oremus Samuel had planned on coming to the aid of the militia, but a quick peek at the situation made the futility of such an act obvious.
With the walls taken, Edmund began issuing new orders. “All right, let’s get going! Surround the center from all sides! Sergeants, what do you see?”
A sergeant walked up to Edmund quickly. “My lord, the Hungarians have one full unit of milita, one quarter-strength unit of militia, and a Hungarian Noble.”
“I see. Well then, let us wait for the other regiments to get in position. We need to do this right.” At that point, Karl spoke up.
“Sir, what about the crossbowmen? They can be put to good use if the enemy’s just going to sit there.”
“Interesting. Very well, bring them up. Worst case scenario, we draw them out to us.”
The crossbowmen reached the center, and soon began shooting at Samuel. Samuel wanted to stop this.
It was a noble effort, and he died in a suitably manly fashion with a sword in his arm and enemies on all sides.
“Very good. With him dead we have nothing to fear. Just rush those last few militia.”
It was an easy task for the sergeant and zweihanders.
As Edmund marched into the city triumphant, the town hall caught his eye.
“Did we do that?”
Re: Battle reports thread - King of the Romans PBM
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