I Became The King Of Crusaders [EN]: Chapter 101

Became the King of the Crusades – Episode 101

The Crimson Eagle (1)

* * *

“All ditch work is complete! All the baggage carts have been moved to the front of the ditches as well.”

Aig shouted as he dismounted his horse.

“All the prepared stakes have been driven in at an angle!”

“What about the stakes marking the distance?”

“We barely managed to finish that too.”

Aig panted.

“We finished faster than I thought we would.”

I nodded and raised my telescope.

The place where we set up camp was Antemnae, north of Rome.

The Tiber River was to the left of the unit.

To the right was a forest thick with trees.

The perfect place to stop charging cavalry.

I looked at Wigg.

He was busy receiving reports from other messengers.

“Lord Wigg, has the enemy’s location not been identified yet?”

“It seems the Emperor has divided his forces into two. The vanguard, composed of knights, is approaching from a distance of 3 leagues.”

He replied.

“They will arrive around when the sun is at its zenith [highest point].”

1 league was roughly 4~5km, right?

Then that’s about 12, 15km left.

They’ll arrive in about two hours.

Are they not even sending an envoy [messenger or representative]?

“It seems they have no intention of talking.”

“If they did, they wouldn’t have come all the way to Rome. Now, we have no choice but to settle it with swords.”

Wigg must be right.

Mounted on Bulte, I inspected the formation.

“Dig the ditches deeper and arrange the baggage carts more densely. It must be impossible for horses to cross over at all.”

The soldiers were lined up in their respective regiments.

I formed pike regiments from each city.

The 1st Pike Regiment was from Milan.

The 2nd Pike Regiment was from Ferrara, and so on.

It was a natural choice to group people from the same city together.

In the first place, each city has a different dialect.

There were a total of five regiments formed in this way.

Two of them were deployed at the forefront.

There was a diagonal passage between the two regiments, filled with ditches and stakes to block the movement of enemy cavalry.

Archers and crossbowmen were in front of that.

Their mission was simple.

Shoot at the enemy and, when the distance closes, hide behind the pike spears through the passage.

Another pike regiment was stationed directly behind the passage.

In the rear, two regiments formed the same formation as the front.

“Tell them not to hold their spears until the battle begins. They will get tired if they keep holding the heavy spears.”

I said.

“When the battle begins, the first rank kneels and plants the pike shafts in the ground….”

“From the 2nd to the 4th rank, they must hold their spears high forward. We have already trained enough.”

Wigg said with a smile.

“Now, we have no choice but to trust the soldiers.”

“Perhaps so.”

I looked at the sky.

The sun had already reached its zenith.

There were over tens of thousands of troops in front of me.

The Lombardy League forces.

All soldiers under my command.

To live or to die.

Their lives were in my hands.

I shook my head.

I mustn’t show any hesitation.

The commander must always be full of confidence.

Only then can the soldiers under his command be at ease and follow orders.

There was nothing more terrifying than an indecisive and fearful commander.

Wigg, who received the messenger’s report, said.

“They are approaching, Young Lord.”

Instead of answering, I nodded.

Everyone’s eyes were on me.

I slowly raised my arm….

And lowered it.

“Blow the horns!”

“The enemy is coming!”

The soldiers grabbed their spears and took their positions.

The soldiers who were planting carts and stakes until the last minute hurriedly moved to their places.

The archers and crossbowmen were the same.

They stood in front of the passage and stared ahead.

“All cavalry, about fifteen hundred in number. Emperor Friedrich’s banner is not present. Only the emblems of the lords.”

“They’re trying to probe us.”

I raised my telescope.

I could see a black wave approaching from afar.

Fifteen hundred.

That’s the size of the vanguard.

How many heavy cavalry are there in the main force?

“It seems like a lot of troops for just probing.”

Wigg said.

He fidgeted with his silver mask.

“If the front line cannot hold and collapses, the rear can collapse in an instant.”

“Now, we have no choice but to trust the soldiers. Didn’t you say that yourself, sir?”

“I did. I said something unnecessary.”

Wigg smiled and replied.

I looked ahead.

Wigg was right.

If we allow a breakthrough even once, everything could collapse.

But there was no room to worry about that.

‘Now is the time to fight.’

The horns announcing the battle continued to blare.

I put on the helmet Theodora gave me.

Through the narrow gap, I could see the holy cross erected high in the sky.

* * *

Early in the Hundred Years’ War between England and France.

The two armies fought in the area called Crécy [a town in northern France].

‘The Battle of Crécy.’

This battle was impressive in many ways.

The English army, outnumbered 1 to 3, won a sweeping victory against the French army.

There were various reasons why England won.

Taking advantage of favorable high ground.

Well-trained longbowmen.

Uncontrolled French heavy cavalry, and so on.

The French army, adhering to the previous methods, was helpless against the tactics of the English army.

What I planned was similar to the tactics of the English army at that time.

But there is one thing I added to it.

That is, spearmen using pikes [long spears].

A customized tactic prepared for the Holy Roman Empire itself.

“They have broken through the first point!”

The black wave filled the plains as it approached.

It was not yet a full sprint, but a trot.

The ground vibrated with a thudding sound.

At the same time, fear spread among the soldiers.

But no one screamed or ran away.

Everyone stood in their place and watched the black wave surge in.

“Hold your positions!”

As the soldiers in the first rank planted their pikes on the ground, the soldiers behind them raised their spears.

A hedgehog with thorns all over.

The archers and crossbowmen stood in front of the baggage carts.

Everyone’s eyes were forward.

A stake with white feathers.

When the enemies reach that place, the shooting begins.

The black wave continued to approach….

The white feathers were buried in between.

“Fire!”

The first to fly were the arrows.

As the archers pulled their bowstrings, the arrows flew in an arc.

Among them were Turkish horse archers who had dismounted.

The sky momentarily turned black.

The sound of pulling and releasing the bowstrings echoed.

The black wave momentarily faltered under the pouring arrows.

The horses hit by the arrows fell one by one.

But the faltering wave soon charged faster.

‘There’s almost no fear.’

I looked at the German knights.

Just like with Count Hartmann.

They felt no fear even when their comrades fell and were trampled next to them.

They just kept charging as if they were on drugs.

“Keep shooting! Crossbows forward!”

This time, the crossbowmen came forward and fired bolts.

What they were aiming for was not the knights, but the horses they were riding.

The horses, which were not wearing heavy armor, were easier to hit than the knights.

As the distance closed, the archers aimed their bows horizontally instead of towards the sky.

“Still not enough.”

I looked ahead.

Only about a fifth had stopped.

Even then, most of them were just horses that had died.

The surviving German knights immediately retreated back.

They would go to the rear and ride the horses that were waiting in advance.

The enemy cavalry passed the stakes with blue feathers.

“They have passed the second line!”

“Archers, retreat to the rear!”

The archers and crossbowmen hurriedly moved to the passage behind.

The archers behind the passage supported them by shooting their bows.

The German knights seemed flustered.

A dense thicket of thorns spread out before their eyes.

The knights could not stab the spearmen with the spears they held.

They instinctively turned and charged towards places where there were no spears.

But this time, deeply dug ditches and sharp wedges greeted them.

After passing through the passage, there was another thicket of thorns made of pikes.

The horses in front of the spears hurriedly turned.

Some horses charged straight in, but they could not avoid being stabbed by the spears.

Not a single German spear had yet penetrated the thicket of thorns.

“Hold on! Just hold on!”

The German knights, realizing that a breakthrough was impossible, jumped off their horses and swung their swords.

That would be the better way.

It was not easy to kill the knights wearing chain mail with spears.

‘But it’s already too late.’

It was too late to counterattack now, with both momentum and troops lacking.

At that moment, the tide turned.

“Kill them!”

White wings on their backs.

The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre [a Catholic military order] strode through the pike forest and rushed at the dismounted German knights.

“For the Holy City of Jerusalem!”

The German knights began to be pushed back by the unexpected ax blows.

The morale of the spearmen who had blocked the attack was also high.

Now, on the contrary, fear was felt from the enemy.

“Push them back! Push them back!”

Amidst the chaos, the sound of a horn signaling retreat was heard.

The German knights mounted their horses and fled in the opposite direction.

Wigg approached.

“Young Lord, if we advance the Milan Regiment, we can surround them! Right now…!”

“No.”

I shook my head.

Emperor Friedrich had not yet moved his main force.

He must be watching this scene.

I couldn’t show him all my cards.

“Tell the knights to mount their horses and chase the enemies. But don’t go in too deep.”

I said.

“The Emperor may try to surround us. If there is anyone who ignores the order and charges, they will be punished according to military law.”

“Understood.”

Wigg waved his hand and ran out.

The Jerusalem knights on horseback chased the retreating enemy knights.

“We won, Young Lord!”

Aig panted.

He took off his helmet and shouted.

“We defeated Friedrich’s army!”

“It’s too early to be happy, Aig.”

I stared at the battlefield.

The soldiers who had blocked the charge were cheering.

The Holy Sepulchre members with axes wandered among the corpses, collecting spoils.

Now that they have directly seen the results of their training, their morale will be sufficient.

I looked at Aig.

“Now, the skirmish is just over. The Emperor may bring his main force right now.”

In fact, that was the best-case scenario.

The enraged Emperor charging the knights in the same way.

The French army was defeated in that way at the Battle of Crécy.

But would Emperor Friedrich fall for the same method?

* * *

“We must drive them away right now! Doesn’t the Empire have far more troops?!”

“If we remain still even after this defeat, the Empire’s honor….”

“Everyone, be quiet.”

Emperor Friedrich waved his hand.

The lords all closed their mouths and looked at him.

“Can’t you see that forest? Count Hartmann said that he was ambushed while chasing the retreating rebels. They may have prepared an ambush this time as well.”

He said.

“If the enemy cavalry chases us too deeply, send out the knights who are waiting. If we do well, we can surround them in reverse.”

“Then the disgrace of this defeat….”

“The purpose of this battle was to find out the rebels’ scheme. It would have been nice if we had won, but it doesn’t matter if we lose.”

The Emperor scoffed.

“And now, hasn’t their tactics become clear?”

He glared at each of the lords one by one.

All those who met his gaze lowered their heads or avoided his gaze.

“To stand firm by setting up long spears in place. They came up with an interesting idea with the peasants.”

The Emperor looked ahead.

“We can break through that much by putting in more knights. If the formation collapses even once, the peasants will be busy running away.”

“Your Majesty is right! If we can break through even once, victory is as good as certain!”

“I will stand at the forefront and finish them off! Please give me the honor!”

“Everyone, be quiet. Now is not the time to fight.”

The Emperor waved his hand.

“First, collect the wounded and reorganize the troops. We must also receive the food promised by Rome.”

Emperor Friedrich shook his reins.

He turned his head and looked at the battlefield.

“Before fighting, you must sharpen your sword and beat your shield. Let’s wait for them to come forward first.”

* * *

I have briefly drawn it by hand to help readers understand.

The pike spearmen are aiming their spears forward.