Battle reports thread - King of the Romans PBM

[OverKnight]

The Assault on Adana, Part II


The Breakthrough

The Crusader cavalry pursued the broken Greek units toward the main keep, but were stopped by a charging unit of Vardariotai.

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At the same time, two units of Greek foot came off the walls of the second ring to take the Crusader infantry in the rear.

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After a bloody brawl, all three units were broken. The infantry was killed to the last man, though a few of the horse archers were able to escape.

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Many of the Greeks had been killed outside the main Keep, but Pelekanos was within the last redoubt with a strong force of cavalry and a few remnants of footmen and archers.

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Matthias called a halt to the advance. Now was the time for patience. The Keep would have to be reduced and the last defenders weakened before the final assault. The cannons were brought forward. Towers crumbled. . .

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. . .as did walls.

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The crossbowmen were redeployed to fire arcing shots over the last walls and down into the defenders. The remaining Vardariotai charged out through the new breach to try to stop this.

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Matthias and his bodyguard charged in and they were killed. The time had come to finish the job.

[OverKnight]

The Assault on Adana, Part III


The Reconquest

With the last defenders contained in the Keep, it was time to start thinning their numbers. Some of the more chivalrous knights took exception toward slowly killing the Greeks with arcing missile fire, but the footmen, and Matthias, didn't mind at all. The bowmen fired until they were out of bolts.

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The cannons, with the flat trajectory of their shot, were tasked with opening another way into the Keep.

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With Matthias focused on the cannons, another Greek charge into the crossbowmen went unnoticed, killing several of them, but the Crusader counter-charge finished off half the remaining garrison.

As the Crusader foot closed in for the final attack, Pelekanos made one last desperate charge with his men.

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He was unhorsed and killed. The Crusaders swarmed into the Keep.

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The final fight was vicious, but the Greeks by this point were very outnumbered.

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Adana, the first settlement in the East taken by the First Crusade, was again part of Outremer.

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The Citadel was occupied, there would be no butchery or theft in such an important place. 1628 florins were gained.

Epilogue

Making his way through the carnage of the concluded battle, Matthias entered the ruined Chapel of Adana. It was much in the same state of disrepair as the one in Antioch. The Greeks had not been kind, but even they had refrained from desecrating the tombs of Maximillain Mandorf, Conrad Salier and Otto von Kassel. Perhaps it was out of respect for the Saint's defeat of a Jihad called for Constantinople those many years ago, but no one was left alive to tell Matthias, it was a mystery. Trailing his hand along the coffins of the great men who had come before him, Matthias felt in awe.

Grasping the hilt of Iron Faith, Matthias spoke to the dead, "I hope you don't mind if I keep the sword for a bit longer? I'll be here soon enough myself."

And then the Viceroy of Outremer knelt and prayed, giving thanks for the guidance that had brought him here, to Adana, and to victory.

[Northnovas]

From the pages of Biographer to Karl Zirn the Honourable

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Vienna 1344

The last few years have been hard on the old man. The Duke was incapacitated because of an unknown sickness. Karl was now the Steward of the Austrian House and here he was out in some old field engaging the enemy again and trying to get two young nobles prepared to lead men into battle. It was a changing of the guard. He knew it was time for him to move aside and let the younger generation lead.

Karl looked at the two men while sitting in his tent reviewing the battle map. Both were eager to prove their worth. Especially Dieter von Essen his son in law and who had combat experience under the old man. However, not with the amount of responsibility that was before him today. The other young man von Hapsburg was eager but indifferent to the situation. He had come from an aristocratic family and was well educated but had no experience in combat.

The Hungarians were harassing the peasants in the region they had made a threat to Vienna earlier but backed off. They have remained in the region with no objective and their presence was a threat to Vienna and Zagreb. The plan was to remove them out of the region so they were no longer a concern.

Karl looked at the two men then with a mug of hot drink he raised it in the air. “Victory with honour” he then drank from the mug savoring the aromas and flavour. He then continued on. “We will attack tomorrow morning. I wanted you men to see what combat is like in the dark and how to use it to your advantage. However, it does limit our artillery in spotting targets. I wanted to see what you are made of and make the enemy pay for the land we had to conceit years earlier. I want to send a message that we mean business and will get back what has been lost.” These were words that were not expected to come from the old man. There was a lot of conviction and they were both expecting a softer tone from Karl the Honourable.

They spoke not a word and were dismissed to prepare for the fight that lay ahead.

The morning sun was already up before the troops converged on the battlefield. The enemy was deep in the woods and to bring them out Zirn backed himself into a depression in front of a cliff face. He wanted to use the little open space for his missile troops and artillery. The young nobles were in reserve for the final punch to the enemy ranks.



The Hungarians came out of the woods quickly and formation. Their speed surprised the artillery crews who could not target individual regiments.



Karl was amazed at the speed of the enemy and the discipline they demonstrated. They approached the higher ground and at full speed burst into the Austrian lines. All fronts were hit and the Hungarians reached through some gaps quickly.



Karl Zirn was engaged in combat before he realized what had happened. He bravely fought the Hungarian Knights off. He tried to signal his nobles but they were already engaged with the enemy spearmen. Both young nobles were gaining their worth.



Hapsburg was quickly overwhelmed by the spearmen and viciously fought his way from being encircled. In no time he was down to himself and one man. He finally broke from the enemy and headed to the open field
Dieter von Essen found himself in a similar situation but his experience in combat prevented serious losses. Both nobles met in the field being pursued by the enemy spearmen. They joined together in the open field and combining their skills helped defeat the enemy spearmen.



The fight of the Hungarians was unprecedented in Zirn’s view. He never saw such speed and tenacity and at one point thought he was heading for defeat. The 2nd AHA held out for the old man. The young nobles were knighted in front of the men and given a great cheer.

Karl was tired and sore from the combat but his losses were not has great compared to the young nobles.
The prisoners were rounded up before Karl and the young nobles.

Karl looked at the Hungarians and then turned to the young nobles. I know how much you wanted to kill these men and you had every right to do so but now, is not he time for such action. These men fought like you but were not victors. You are the victors and there you shall show the mercy on the defeated. Save your vengeance for the next time you meet.

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Karl the Honourable then walked away leaving the young nobles to contemplate his message. The prisoners were released without ransom or death has been always the way with the old man.

The deployment and results:

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[Ramses II CP]

Hamburg and Arhus, 1344.

Fritz had gotten word that Peter was launching his attack to lift the siege. Though he was certain Peter would need no help, he sallied just to see the death of the army that had so nearly destroyed his and Peter's own armies. From being clearly at a disadvantage in the initial sally, to being massively at an advantage in this battle was gratifying, and slightly offset the shame Fritz felt at failing to drive the Danes entirely from the walls of Hamburg.

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Peter had ridden out alone to challenge the enemy, to draw them away from Hamburg. Fritz's men would enter from Peter's left rear, and the crossbowmen would enter from Peter's right rear.



Prinz Peter didn't need to be told which enemy company needed attention first. He charged home against the dismounted Huscarls immediately, smashing their formation and leaving them all lying in the grass without taking a single loss among his bodyguards.



Peter then withdrew to draw the War Clerics away from their swordstaff allies, which let Hans and the remaining Teutons circle in behind them. They were rapidly annihilated to light casualties among Peter's guardsmen. The Danish captain was the last to fall.





All that was left was to let the crossbowmen work. Not one swordstaff man out of over two hundred would strike a single blow in the battle, nor would any escape.



When only three of those valiant militiamen remained their formation finally broke and routed.

Ransom would be refused. After the battle Fritz effusively thanked Peter and briefly discussed their plans. As noted in the Prince's edict no Franconian city currently stood under siege, and Fritz's much reduced army could hardly be truly necessary for defense, therefore Fritz begged permission to ride on to Arhus and, if the gates could be breached, assault the lightly held city. It was granted. That matter settled, Fritz then knelt solemnly to apologize for his failure at Madgeburg, and when he stood again the two brothers shared a weary smile.

'A grand day, eh my Prinz?'

'So it is, brother.'

'At last Franconia stands not only free of alien armies, but truly prepared to take vengeance for all the blood spilled in her defense. A glorious day! I will see you soon, brother. God be with you, and God save the Reich!'

So saying, Fritz rode rapidly away north with the remnants of his army.

That night, in camp outside of Arhus, the men were sharing jokes about what the peasants along the road had done upon seeing German flags at the head of a northbound army. Robert, concerned over the paltry size of the force Fritz had gathered to head north, shook his head and said, 'M'lord how will we keep discipline once the city is taken?'

'Have no fear on that point! These are Danes. I've carved a blood soaked path through almost a dozen of the best armies they can field. No Dane would dare to raise his hand against me. If you thought the stories they told at Stettin were bad, wait until you hear what they say about me in the north!'

'But, the city is huge Lord Fritz! The population is immense! Surely they will not let their Prince fight us alone. If tens of thousands of them swarmed into the streets we would be overrun.'

'Trust me Robert. Those men fear me more than they fear death. Rightly so. I'd see that city burned to the ground and the very earth on which it sits salted before I let it raise an army against the Reich again. Once Arhus is ours the citizens will be so surprised to have survived my coming that it won't even occur to the boldest to try taking up arms. And, of course, we'll plunder it and put a few thousand to the sword just to drive the point home. Be of good cheer Robert! You're about to participate it the sack of a major European capital city. There are few mercenaries in all the world with that on their resume.'

So saying, Fritz von Kastilien adjourned to his tent and slept more deeply than he had in all the days since he was a child.

In the morning Fritz reviewed an Imperial report on the Danish Prince, Ulfhedin. Word had it that Germany's repeated victories and Fritz's threats had caused the man to go bald though he was only a few years out of his teens, and some whispered that he was deranged. He had attempted to order a moat dug all around the city after the defeat of the Honor Guard army at the bridge west of Hamburg, but the effort had stalled when, upon discovering that he had more workers than shovels, the Prince ordered men to dig a ten foot deep trench with their bare hands.

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Coming up over a rise and finally into full view of the city Fritz nudged Bergin riding next to him. 'Look man, they've built a huge Cathedral. Truly this city will be a stunning addition to the Reich!'



Bringing along the ribault allowed Fritz to assault the gates immediately.



Unfortunately Fritz had no spearmen to bring along, having been force to leave the remnant of the Hamburg militia there at Hamburg. This meant that his crossbowmen would have to bear the brunt in the fighting. Fritz left them with strict orders to retreat the the first sign of a Danish sally from the square, and rode down the streets to capture the east gate and let in his Albanians. The smaller company of mercenary crossbowmen went forward to bait the enemy Prince, and withdrew in fairly good order when he sallied.



Robert and the larger company of crossbowmen were in position on the walls, and they fired brutal volleys into the Prince's guard, as did the ribault team. Over half of his men died before he realized Fritz was about to capture the square behind him, and he fled back to defend it.



Fritz withdrew rather than give battle against three times his number, and the tactic was repeated. Unfortunately this time the crossbowmen failed to withdraw in time, and Robert was forced to lead his men down off the walls to attempt a rescue. Ultimately the effort failed and the mercenary crossbowmen were all killed, but nearly all of the Danes died in the attack as well.



Riding back to the square Prince Ulfhedin was shocked to discover Fritz von Kastilien waiting for him there. The two men briefly exchanged words.

'You were warned. Over and over I sent men to tell you and your King I was coming.'

'But, but... we sent armies, thousands of men, hardy veterans of the cold wastes! You and your Reich were doomed! Every hand turned against you!'

'It was not enough.'

'No, I know. I told them we needed a moat!'

'**** itself would not have withstood my assault. Lay down your sword, we'll see if your King will pay for your head.'

'NO! I will not be hung from the walls of my own city!' Ulfhedin reared his horse and began to order a charge... but at a gesture from Fritz hundreds of bolts and arrows flew into the backs of the Prince's guard. Many more speared downward after they fell, pinning them to the earth.



'Collect his corpse and drape it over the north gate, as a warning to any who would try to creep away and carry word to the Danish King.' So saying, Fritz rode to the center of the square and gave a brief speech.



'Citizens of Arhus (The ones that speak German anyway) your taxes, your sweat, and your tears have paid for much bloodshed and destruction in my homelands. Today I return the favor! Be of good cheer, however, as this is no raid as the one I conducted at Stockholm, this is an annexation! Those of you who survive will become citizens of the Reich, and your taxes and tears will now fund our wars. On this day many of you will die, but tomorrow the compliant living can shelter in the gentle hands of the Hero of Hamburg, Fritz von Kastilien!'

'Any who take up arms against me, however, will be flayed in the square for a period of one hour before being allowed to die by fire. That is all. My men will now collect our due. Do not resist if you value your life.'

Screams were already echoing through the streets as Fritz spurred his horse back towards the south gate, the one his ribault had shot through. Doesn't look like it will be a difficult repair, and the city is completely intact otherwise, thought Fritz, quite pleased with himself, and I daresay I've shown considerable restraint in not exterminating this rathole. A long road to here, and this is not the end, but I'll wager it is the beginning of the end of the power of the Danes to threaten the Reich. A fine day's work. Prinz Peter will be pleased. Elberhard can have that wreck of a city in the swamp that is Venice, I'll take Arhus over it any day of the week!

[TinCow]

Milan - 1344 AD

(Apologies, I don't have time to write this up. The screenshots should tell the tale well enough, though.)

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[econ21]

Bologna, 1344

“All right, we’re going in.” Elberhard declared.

Maina looked up at the Kaiser in surprise. He had already ordered siege engines to be constructed. Why attack now before they were ready?

“Are you sure, Sire?” probed Sir Charles de Villiers, veteran warrior and effective second in command of the Kaiser’s army. In front of the Kaiser’s army stood a huge city garrisoned by a full strength Byzantine army.

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Elberhard sighed. Duke Lothar had written to him, proposing him that the Bavarian Household Armies be combined and moved from Milan to secure Genoa. The main thrust down central Italy was to be made by Imperial forces alone …if Elberhard thought he could handle Bologna alone. The letter had stung the Kaiser. It made taking Bologna a matter of personal honour. Besides, he had ample men. If Fritz Kastilien could conquer the Danes with two men and a dog, the Kaiser should be able to take one @#$%^&!!!ing city with an army of every Imperial knight in the Reich!

Elberhard look at Sir Charles exasperatedly: “Look - it’s going to be no easier taking that @#$%^&!!! of a city if we wait. It will be the next Diet session by the time we starve them out. If spend time building siege engines, we will lose the element of surprise. The garrison will be deployed in its entirety manning the walls. If we use our cannon to blow the doors, we can be in there before they know what’s happening. We’ve done this before - in Antioch. We set our archers on the walls and then hold the streets below. We turn the siege around against them.

Plus there is a second Byzantine army heading north from Rome. I don’t want us standing here with our pants around our ankles, caught between the two @#$%^&!!!ing armies - do I?”

Sir Charles bowed his head in deference. The Kaiser and his retinue moved off to address the troops. Maina noted with interest that for once the Kaiser did not launch off into his usual obscenity strewn invective, but ended with a plea to put one’s faith in God and do one's duty. The men responded with equally solemn conviction - the discovery of the shattered wreck that was Venice had added to the army’s grim determination to expel the Byzantines from Italy once and for all. This would be the last major battle. Already Dieter von Kassel was disembarking outside a lightly held Naples. After Bologna, there was a mere half sized Byzantine army guarding Florence and Rome.

Maina watched the gunners move the cannon into position. Two columns of infantry were already moving either side of the guns, heading silently towards the still sleepy city. The Nubian shieldbearer saw the flash from the cannon muzzle. Only then did he realise how dark and overcast the day had become. He crossed himself. A second volley from the cannon and the castle gates were down. The officers called out and the infantry columns broke into a run. The race for the city was on.

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“Maina!” shouted Elberhard “Stop day dreaming! We are going in first! Come on!”

Maina nodded quickly to the Kaiser. The man had a habit of throwing himself into the battle right from the outset, effectively leaving command to Sir Charles. It was not a good habit.

*****

The Imperial infantry managed to get a sufficient distance into the city to establish an effective cordon around the tower gates. No Byzantine infantry would be able to fire from the towers down on the attackers. Indeed, the Germans rushed their archers onto the walls to provide support to the Imperial infantry holding the streets leading to the gates.

Curiously, the first Byzantines to intercept the Germans were archers. Evidently, they assumed that they - not the Germans - would win the race for the walls. The archers were from Trebizond and of higher calibre than most missile troops, but nonetheless, the more heavily armed Imperial infantry had the advantage in the street fighting that erupted around the gates.

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First contact.




The dismounted Imperial knights clearly outmatch the Trebizond archers.

“Right lads, let’s speed this up - follow me, we’ll hit them in the arse!” Elberhard summoned his retinue to follow him up a side street - parallel to the main thoroughfare where five regiments of Trebizond archers were vainly trying to force a way to the gates. The side street would allow the Kaiser’s retinue to get behind the Trebizond archers, although it would bring the German cavalry perilously close to the main Byzantine force in the city square.

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The Kaiser leads his escort behind the first wave of Byzantines attempting to retake the gate.

As they rode past the city centre, Maina looked with concern at the many regiments of Latinkon - mounted and dismounted - and other Byzantines arrayed there. It seemed inevitable that, as the Kaiser’s escort struck the rear of the Trebizond archers, it in turn would be struck in the rear by other Byzantines coming from the city square.

Sure enough, although the Kaiser’s intervention helped break the Trebizond archers massing in front of the gates, first a regiment of Byzantine infantry and then one of spearmen attacked the Kaiser’s escort in the rear. Soon, the Kaiser’s retinue was down to half strength.

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The biter bit.

“Pull out! Pull out!” even Elberhard realised the futility of his few mounted knights staying where they were between the gates and a thousand Byzantine soldiers. Maina noticed a pained expression on the Kaiser’s face.

“Are you hurt, Sire?”

Elberhard forced a smile: “Just another scar to add to the collection!”

*****

Then the hard fighting began. The Byzantines committed their dismounted Latinkon to the assault on the gates. These mercenary Frankish knights were a match for even the Reich’s Imperial knights. In fact, Maina suspected, they probably were more than a match for them. Only by feeding more infantry regiments into the battle was the Kaiser able to stop the Latinkon breaking through.

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The Latinkon, having destroyed a regiment of Imperial knights and mercenary spearmen, now attack the second line of German defenders.

As casualties steadily mounted on both sides, the Byzantines finally funnelled all their men from the city centre into the main street leading to the gate.

“Aha!” exclaimed Elberhard “Now we have them! Get every spare man down the side streets - including the cavalry - and then behind them. We will trap them in the main street and break them!”

Maina spurred his horse to follow the Kaiser. They were heading down the same side street they had used to get behind the Trebizonds. As they rode, Maina noticed the mounted Latinkon who had been heading for the assault on the gate, halt and turn back. Clearly, the Byzantines had awoken to the trap the Kaiser was closing on them. It was a close race, but the German cavalry managed to get behind the Byzantine cavalry before the latter could escape to the town square.

It was now a bloody cavalry melee - around one hundred Byzantine cavalry against a roughly similar number of Germans. For a while, Maina wondered if the mounted Latinkon would break out of the main street but then he saw the plumed figure of the Byzantine captain fall to the mace of a mounted Imperial knight. Victory was only moments away!

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The Byzantine captain lies dead - the end will not be long now.

But the death of their Captain did not immediately break the morale of the mounted Latinkon. Instead, they fought with the fury of cornered men and, massed together, continued to push their way through towards the city centre. Maina noticed too late that the Kaiser was standing directly in the path of a wedge of Latinkon. He watched in horror as the Kaiser’s horse reared and then fell, toppling his master to the ground.

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Oh, @#$%^&!!!

The Nubian jumped off his own mount and drew his two handed axe. With a fearsome grace, he slashed at the unprotected legs of the Byzantine horses in his path, causing terrible carnage as he made for his fallen leader. Any Latinkon foolish enough to stand within reach of the giant Nubian was instantly felled. When Maina reached Elberhard, he threw away his axe and knelt beside him. The sounds of battle seemed to fade away. German knights started to see with shock what had happened and were hastily carving space around their fallen leader and his shieldbearer.

Elberhard looked up into the Nubian’s brown eyes and smiled.

“To think - my last words to the Diet were about Dieter von Essen’s arse!” he laughed, but then wrenched with the pain of doing so.

“Maina, I am done for. Tell Linyeve, I die loving her as much as the first time I saw set eyes on her. Tell my children, I am sorry I will no longer be there for them but I died a good death.”

The Kaiser was fading and it seemed to Maina as if the very skies were darkening further.

“But there is one more thing, Maina. The grail - my brother Hans died with it and passed it on to me. But my father was right - my family is cursed. I want you to take it. Where you come from - Nubia - are there Christians?”

“The Arabs made us Mohammadens at the point of a sword. But I have heard that there is one mighty nation further south - the Abyssinians - who worship Christ.”

“A mighty nation of your people that worships Christ … I like the sound of that. Go, Maina, find this nation. Take the grail. We Germans do not deserve it. We brought this cataclysm upon ourselves and worse, we devoured ourselves during it. Take the grail to the Abyssinians. May its light uplift their faith for a thousand years. Go now, before the others think on it. Go - get the @#$%^&!!! out of here, go!”

Elberhard pushed Maina away. The dying Kaiser’s curses in his ears, Maina turned and walked off, a ragged shape clasped tightly under his arm. As word of the Kaiser’s fall spread around the battlefield, no one gave a second thought to the tall Nubian slipping away.

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The butcher’s bill