Battle reports thread - King of the Romans PBM

[OverKnight]

Battle of the Belen Pass, 1366

Chancellor,

I caught up to the Greeks in the night. I'd been pushing the men and as we came through the pass I found them. I know you instructed me to use the army at the Iron Bridge to catch their army in a pincer, but I felt their archers, horse and foot, would have decimated them before I could assist. I had the high ground, and though Adalric had some misgivings, I felt that was enough to engage them without support.

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I quickly moved the men into a defensive position. I trusted that Greek arrogance would drive them to me. The crossbowmen and cannons were deployed on a cliff and rises, mostly inaccessible to a charge. There would be two avenues into my lines for the Greek, one in the center, where I put two units of spearmen backed up by a small unit of unhorsed knights, and my left flank, which I refused with another two units of spears and my dismounted knights. Knowing that this was the most vulnerable part of the line, I also put my Imperial Knights and my own body guard at a right angle to the refused flank. The battle started well, with fire raining down on the enemy.

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Captain Rossos tried to force the left flank, he paid for it with his life.

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After this failed attempt, the Greeks, seemingly unfazed by the loss of their commander, continued to advance. They brought pressure on both the center and the left. The crossbowmen were reaping a grim harvest, but the Greeks did not show their usual timidity and advanced rapidly before missile fire could have full effect.

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A unit of Vardriotai managed to climb the steep hill on my left flank and brought arrow fire onto the spearmen there. At the same time, Kataphractoi and infantry engaged them as well. I had no choice but to commit my cavalry.

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As one Greek unit was reduced, another came up to take its place. The flank was in danger of being turned. If that happened, the Greeks would be able to get at my archers and take the center from behind.

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Valiant efforts from the Imperial Knights and my own retainers drove off these attacks, but then the Varangian Guard, supported by cavalry, charged in. I had no choice but to keep my own cavalry engaged, otherwise my infantry would have run.

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Though all the Imperial Knights died in the effort, I was able to throw off all the Greek units but the Varangians. This gave me some precious room to charge into them from behind.

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But two thirds of my guard was gone by that point, and the charge, while telling, did not break them. As my men continued to fall about me, I noticed one of the units of spearmen from the center, assaulted by dismounted latinkon, had finally broken after fighting superior numbers and quality. The situation was becoming dire. Both the left and center were in danger of collapse.

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It was then that I yelled for the crossbowmen to fire into the melee. I'm sure some of my own were killed, but there were more Greeks in the fight at that point, so the odds were in our favor. Better to lose some men, than all of them.

Getting shot in the back finally broke the Varangians, and the rest of the Greeks, seeing their elite run, fled as well. I ran them all down with what was left of my brave bodyguard.

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I erected a cairn on that bloody hill for our dead. I made the few prisoners taken build it, before I killed them. God will guide our fallen home. The Greeks I left to rot.

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It was a great victory Chancellor, but one I could have fought better. The courage of my men redeemed my errors.

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I will not underestimate the Greeks again.

Viceroy Matthias

[FactionHeir]

Southern Parisian countryside, 1366

[OverKnight]

The Relief of Adana, 1368

Andreas,

I hope events on Cyprus go well. In your absence, the mainland has been quite active. The bastard Greeks had besieged Adana while I was away. This could not be tolerated; I will not relinquish Adana ever again, even if Satan himself besieged it. I moved what men I could to relieve the Citadel.

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I came from the north, the Greeks were to the west.

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While I approached, Captain Ulrich, who had managed to finish the addition of Ballistas to the towers of the Citadel, feinted a sally. Greek archers, horse and foot, responded, bringing them into range of the crossbowmen on the walls and the new artillery.

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Captain Nikeforos, an unfortunate name to have, then sent some heavy cavalry toward the feint as well. The militia troops retreated back into the Citadel while the Greeks were skewered.

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As this game of cat and mouse played out, the Greeks dispatched a unit of horse archers to screen my force. They proved no match for the five regiments of crossbowmen I had deployed in front of my army, though it did serve to delay my approach to cannon range.

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Again Ulrich feinted, and again the Greeks were drawn into missile range of the walls.

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The dispatch of horse archers to my front was repeated as well. They were driven off with heavy losses, but each time my line had to stop. Between the action at the gate and this, most of the horse archers were now dead. Nikeforos, still seeing my crossbowmen in front and that my cannon had started firing at his army, decided to send in his heavy cavalry.

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My infantry advanced past the bowmen to face the cavalry. The Greeks took heavy losses.

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Feints from the gate continued, Captain Ulrich wisely knew that threats on both fronts would distract the Greeks, keeping them divided and unable to concentrate on one force.

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My cannons could now be used again.

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Firing into their flank proved quite devastating.

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This goaded Captain Nikeforos into charging my line with his bodyguard. I don't like that name.

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I killed him, like I did his namesake. Again, the militia came out of the gate. The last cavalry unit the Greeks had, Lancers, charged. But this time it was no feint. As soon as the melee began, the rest of foot in the garrison charged out to swarm the horsemen.

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Now the Greek were down to foot archers and infantry. Of course, my cannons had now run out of shot. I advanced my line to bring the crossbowmen into range. This triggered a response.

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I swept aside their missile screen, but a unit of dismounted latinkon charged me. I withdrew, and their pursuit brought them into crossbow range.

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Massed fire from the crossbows nearly killed all of them. Soon enough they were in range of the rest of the Greeks.

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Again, missiles into the flank were telling. I kept up the barrage for a time, but the day was drawing to a close. It was time to finish them. I ordered a general advance.

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They soon broke, and I met Captain Ulrich on the field as we trapped the last of the Greeks between us.

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Adana is relieved and the Greeks eliminated. An offer of ransom was refused.

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In the fury of the battle, I barely noticed that I had been wounded. It has festered, and I am now unable to take the field. The defense of Outremer will be up to you for the next few years, Andreas. I hope I thinned the herd enough for you, though I have no doubt you are up to the task.

Godspeed,

Matthias

[FactionHeir]

Angers, 1368

[_Tristan_]

A bridge too far

Near Antwerp, 1366

Urged by the chancellor, Hughes had ridden hard to meet up with Count von Bohmen to help in the defense of Antwerp from the advancing French forces. On their way, Hughes and his men had overtaken the French, arriving first at the bridge.

En route, Hughes had dispatched some of his men around the countryside to gather all able-bodied men willing to help in the defence of the city. One day, a mercenary captain came to offer his service : a Flemish by the name of Jan van Rijn, he was a minor noble that had been dispossessed in favour of a French noble and now loaned his services to whoever could pay for them. His company was made up of two three units of flemish pikemen, two units of crossbowmen and a piece of artillery.

Proof of the old saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Hughes and Jan immediately found a common ground...

Jan had had enough of fighting for mere gold... What he truly wanted was fighting for a cause... Hughes offered him that opportunity...

Finally, they reached the bridge south of Antwerp, where Count von Bohmen, Hero of Flanders had been requested to make a last stand. From the letter he got from the Chancellor, Hughes had gathered that Ludwig von Bohmen was a fine general, only that he was much more at ease behind the walls of a city. But, here, if the French reached Antwerp the city would be lost so they had to be stopped at the bridge.

That was the mission given to Hughes.

Having reached von Bohmen’s camp on the northern shore of the river, Hughes left Guillaume see to the installation of the mercenaries and rode alone to the tent of the Count. He reached it just as the Count, forewarned, came out.

“Count von Bohmen, I salute you... I am Hughes de Cervole, former Templar and now Elector of Swabia...”

“Sir de Cervole, I bid you welcome in Flanders. I gather you are here to help me defend Antwerp from the French hordes...”

Getting down from his horse, Hughes acquiesced.

“Exactly, my Lord, the Chancellor has seen fit to provide me with enough florins to hire what I hope to be enough mercenaries to repel the scum. From what I gathered riding in, your men are essentially handgunners and crossbowmen with a few spears thrown in...

“That’s right...” answered Ludwig “Plus some halberd militia that can be called on short notice from Antwerp as reinforcements...”

Clearly taking this all in, Hughes went on.

“We passed the French on our way here... They have a powerful force of veteran warriors... Artillery that is antiquated but can still kill, knights on horses and on foot... While we’ll have to rely on militia and mercenaries... Still, we cannot afford to let them pass..”. A wolfish grin passed on Hughes’ face... “They will only go this far and no further...”

A little taken aback by the transformation in his counterpart, Von Bohmen could only nod his approval.

“May God help us...” he prayed.

“God will be on our side... The French are but a filthy lot of devil worshippers and sabbath-goers...”

“Would you care to examine the bridge and its approaches ?” asked Ludwig, clearly ill at ease with the single-mindedness of Hughes.

“Yes, lead the way...”

******

Out of a common agreement, Hughes found himself in command of the Reich’s forces...

The French had gathered their forces on the other side of the bridge during the night and the grey winter dawn had revealed their ominous presence...

Hughes knew in his bones that today many men would die... Preferably they would be French but some of his men would die too and that rankled...

Hughes’ plan was simple : the ribault would be placed at the entrance to the bridge allowing it to fire one or two salvos at the advancing and compact mass of Frenchmen. Behind it van Rijn’s Flemish pikemen in a roughly U-shape would bear the brunt of the impact with support from the pike militias. The firearms and crossbows a little further away from the bridge and slightly on the side to get a line of fire on the bridge.

The slope to the river was almost level, if the men had to fire through the lines, some of his own men would die with bolts in their backs...

Reinforcement had been called in all haste from Antwerp and some spearmen and halberd militias were on their way.

Hughes placed himself on the left flank to bring support and stop any flanking maneuver from the French, should the pikes not stop them. Von Bohmen was given the right flank.

Now, it would be a matter of who got the biggest family jewels...

******

The French opens hostilities by firing their trebuchets and catapults... Flaming boulders rise in the sky, all missing their marks, some too short bringing the river to boiling point, others landing in the snow, melting it on landing...

The French footmen take the cue and begin charging across the bridge.

The ribaults’ servants are ready and start loading up their weapon, firing one devastating salvo into the advancing mass of men.

Hughes immediately sees that a second volley will not be possible and orders his men to withdraw, leaving the artillery in place. That will slow the French charge, for sure.

And indeed, with almost all of the way blocked by the artillery pieces, the footmen are forced to navigate around them, thus breaking their impetus.

The fighting begins at the line while the French artillery is going on lobbing flaming rocks at the German line, scoring a few kills among the mercenary crossbowmen on the right flank, but mostly overshooting the mark.

Some Scots Guards manage to force the line on the right flank and lead a charge on the arquebusiers. Seeing this, von Bohmen cuts their path and engages them.

With the left flank seemingly secure and the possibility that the right might be turned, Hughes leaves his position and rides to support von Bohmen. The Scots Guard are quickly brought down and leave the riders to take up position on the right flank a little behind the main line..

The fight rages in the at the entrance to the bridge. Bolts rain down on the French and German alike. The acrid smell of gunpowder permeates the air making it almost unbreathable, while the noise from the explosions of the stones hurled by the French artillery shakes the men to their bones.

Seeing that his men could not break our line of pikes, the French commander leads his cavalry across the bridge at a fast pace. However, both the artillery deployed at the entrance of the bridge and the French footmen milling around, trying to find an opening in the German line, hinder his advance.

At about the same time, the reinforcements from Antwerp arrive to join the battle. The timing is perfect as once again the right flank seems about to break. The militia spearmen bring support to the line while the halberdiers remained a bit further off, acting as reserve.

Seeing the German line weakening the French captain orders some of his lancers and gendarmes to use the gap forming in that flank and use it to charge Hughes’ men from behind. For the French captain, it is almost a last chance attempt as already half his force are lying dead or dying...

Hughes charges the French cavalry with von Bohmen and support from the halberdiers.
They deal blow for blow until the French are forced to retreat.

Already some of the French soldiers are routing, following the river shore to safety...

Isolated on the shore, von Bohmen and his men are targeted by the French artillery. When almost all the shots fired by those weapons landed wide off the mark, this time, the fiery projectile lands right in the middle of von Bohmen’s unit taking three of his men with him, missing him by inches.

Witnessing this, Hughes adresses von Bohmen, howling above the din of the battle, the cries and explosion, to make himself heard.

“Ludwig !! Get your arse over that bridge and silence those $@µ§ing stone-throwers !!”

While Hughes launches himself at the mass of French fighting against the pikemen, von Bohmen spurs his horse onward through that same milling mass of flesh and steel.

Most of his men are cut down but still he manages to reach the bridge and rides at the fastest pace his horse can manage with the two last of his men.

Howling like madmen, the knights bear down on the artillery crews, who, unprepared to be attacked, lose heart and begin running for shelter. Von Bohmen pursues the men cutting them down as they run.

At almost the same time, Hughes engages the French captain and from sheer fury deals such blows with his sword that the man is forced to retreat until he can retreat no more. His horse is impaled on the Flemish pikes, bringing him down and crushing him.

This spells the doom of the French. As t he news of their leader’s death spreads among them, they begin to run for shelter.

Hughes turns to his men.

“Let none of them escape alive !! Any of them left alive you’ll have to face another day !!”

He then spurs his horse towards the bridge intent on catchin as many of the men fleeing for the shelter of the monastery on the French side of the bridge.

A few manage to escape but the last are caught between Hughes and von Bohmen charges, trampling them in the snow.

Letting his horse catch his breath, Hughes leads him towards von Bohmen.

“Congratulations, Ludwig... You did a fine job of silencing that damn artillery... I beg your pardon for the profanity... The heat of battle, you know...” Hughs said with a smile.

Von Bohmen, a bit wild-eyed, returned the smile.

“No offence taken... It ws high time we did something about those %@£µing stones !”

“What’s the name of this dreadful place ?” asked Hughes.

“The nearest village is Nijmegen... over there” said Ludwig pointing with his gauntleted hand.

“ The French tried to go a bridge too far... It seems...”


The battle in numbers :

The battle in pictures :