I Became The King Of Crusaders [EN]: Chapter 136

Shield and Spear (1)

* * *

“Who the hell is winning?!”

Geoffrey frowned and shouted.

The battlefield was half-obscured by dust.

All that could be seen through the dust were flags.

Five yellow crosses.

The symbol of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

“Have those flags torn down immediately! Are you telling me Europe’s finest knights can’t defeat such a small force?!”

“They’re charging in without regard for spoils or prisoners!”

The knight commander said, panting.

He pointed to the battlefield.

“How can we fight against madmen who are trying to die?”

“Just deal with them somehow.”

Geoffrey said in a cold tone.

“Otherwise, you’ll have to return every penny I’ve given you.”

“….”

“The battle isn’t over yet.”

Geoffrey said.

Something unexpected had happened, but it could still be salvaged.

He still had more knights.

“If we don’t get excited and fight calmly, victory…”

Then something caught his eye.

A white cloak fluttering in the wind.

A knight on a large gray horse.

It was Baldwin.

“That fool got careless. He came out because the battle seemed to be going slightly in his favor.”

Geoffrey waved his arm and shouted.

“Sir Humphrey! Take your men and capture Baldwin immediately!”

“Baldwin? Where is he…”

“Right there!”

Geoffrey shouted.

“You’ve been grumbling about not having a chance to get spoils. Now I’m giving you the chance to capture the most valuable prize!”

“Everyone, prepare to charge!”

“Capture Prince Baldwin!”

The knights received their spears and shields.

Loud hoofbeats followed.

* * *

“Protect the Prince!”

“Spread out wide to the sides!”

I tensed my body.

My body shook up and down every time Boolt ran.

I had to strain my whole body to keep my gaze fixed.

I looked ahead.

Dozens of knights were coming down the hill.

That must be where Geoffrey is.

I waved my arm to signal the surrounding knights.

“Our goal is that hill! Break through the encirclement and keep advancing!”

The knights and Holy Sepulchre members answered with shouts.

The enemy numbered at least thirty.

They outnumbered us.

Their skills must be top-notch as well.

‘I have no choice but to fight too.’

I gripped my spear tightly.

I wasn’t afraid of fighting.

If I were, I wouldn’t have come this far in the first place.

Eig charged out right next to me.

“I’ll stand in front of you, Prince!”

I shook my head from side to side.

“Then I won’t be a good bait. I need to be in front to lure them.”

The enemies wouldn’t give up on such a big fish like me.

The most valuable prize.

As expected, I could feel desire and greed from them.

Their burning eyes were fixed on me.

They’re all aiming for me.

There would definitely be gaps in their formation while they’re rushing at me.

Then we could break through the enemy lines and charge towards the hill.

An arrow.

We had to become an arrow piercing the heart of the enemy commander.

I focused my mind, looking at the enemies.

I had to find the weakest point with my intuition.

The soft underbelly of a beast.

‘There.’

When I pulled the reins, Boolt changed direction and ran forward again.

I looked at the enemy knight right in front of me.

An eagle on a yellow background.

He must be from the Holy Roman Empire.

I could feel excitement and desire flowing through his body.

I raised my spear and aimed forward.

The distance gradually narrowed….

A dull impact struck my shoulder.

The German knight, hit by the spear, was thrown off his saddle.

I kept running without stopping.

The enemy knights kept blocking my path.

Moths flying into a flame.

‘Subtly avoiding collisions is meaningless. Avoiding an enemy charging head-on is suicide.’

Marshall’s words echoed in my head.

I charged head-on towards the enemy knights.

I deflected the spears they swung, and unavoidable attacks glanced off my shield.

Before I knew it, four men had fallen to my spear.

The enemies I couldn’t defeat were finished off by the knights following behind.

The spears intertwined in the air, broke, deceived the opponent, stabbed, and swung.

There was no time to think.

Like a gladiator thrown into a pack of lions, I attacked everything that came at me.

The spear, hitting the enemy shield, made a cracking sound.

I threw the broken spear.

The enemy, hit in the helmet, slumped and fell.

“His spear is broken! Everyone, charge!”

I drew the sword from my waist.

Sweat soaked my body, and my arms trembled.

‘At this rate, I’ll be the first to tire and fall.’

The sword was at a disadvantage in cavalry battles compared to the spear.

To end it with a short battle, there was no choice but to break through head-on.

I signaled Boolt to run at full speed.

“Who will defeat me?! Who will defeat me, who serves His Holiness the Pope and has received the revelations of Arthur, King of Britain, and the Archangel Michael?!”

Shouting that, I threw away my helmet and shield.

All that remained in my hand was a sword.

I could feel the knights charging at me flinching.

‘Come and get me if you dare.’

What they wanted was to capture me and get a ransom.

But what if I died?

‘Even if it’s just a tournament, they won’t be able to return home unscathed.’

My popularity in England was beyond imagination.

The people would rise up immediately.

None of the knights were unaware of that.

Eig shouted from behind, panting.

“Prince! What are you doing! Why did you suddenly take off your helmet…!”

“Is there no one who can defeat me?! If so, don’t stop me and get out of the way!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

The panicked enemy knights shouted.

“T, take away the spears! Hurry and bring the grappling hooks! Drag the Prince off his horse!”

I dashed through them, swinging my sword.

The startled knights stepped aside.

Some who looked like squires threw grappling hooks, but they couldn’t catch me.

I ran around like a fish out of water.

The formation collapsed wherever I went.

Meanwhile, the hill was getting closer.

When I focused on my intuition, I could feel emotions gathering at one point.

Movements as if protecting a VIP.

I looked in that direction.

“There you are.”

Confusion and fear stung my nose like a stench.

I put strength into the hand holding the sword.

“You should have run away earlier if you wanted to escape.”

* * *

“Why aren’t you stopping the Prince?!”

Geoffrey shouted.

The formation had already collapsed beyond recognition.

Knights and squires alike looked at Baldwin with fear in their eyes.

Geoffrey bit his lip as he watched the scene.

The best knights in Europe.

He thought they would definitely be able to capture Baldwin.

But the reality was the opposite.

Knights from Germany and France all fell before Baldwin.

Now he was coming straight up the hill without any interference.

“You can’t even beat twenty men! Just twenty men…!”

“You must flee now, Duke. If you stay like this, you won’t have another chance…”

The knight commander shouted.

The surroundings were in chaos.

With knights and horses mixed together, it was almost impossible to escape the hill.

“Protect me first!”

Geoffrey shouted.

He swallowed hard as he looked at Baldwin approaching at high speed.

He called out to a knight.

“Hey, you! Go to the French camp right now and ask King Philip for support! Tell him to come here and cover me!”

The knight commander interjected with a surprised expression.

“But Your Majesty, France is currently in enemy territory. Sending a request for support to King Philip is…”

“Is this the time to worry about that?! That bastard is trying to kill me! He’s trying to put a knife to my throat!”

Geoffrey shouted.

He waved his arms in the air.

“Stop him! Stop him at all costs!”

* * *

“Stop him! Stop them!”

The enemy knights came down the hill and blocked the way.

I raised one arm and signaled.

A signal to entrust the lead.

Eig’s shout echoed.

“We’ll break through!”

The knights and Holy Sepulchre members came forward.

A formation as if surrounding a shield.

I counted the number of allies.

The remaining number was sixteen in total.

More than I thought.

Now it was time to use them to break through the barrier.

As the knights clashed, the sound of shields and spears colliding echoed.

The sound of the Holy Sepulchre members swinging their axes could be heard.

I avoided the collision and dug deep inside.

The target was right in front of me.

A helmet with blue feathers.

Duke Geoffrey.

“How about fighting a little closer to enjoy the tournament, Duke?”

Shouting that, I charged straight at Geoffrey.

The knight standing next to him shouted and swung his sword.

Avoiding the attack, I struck his face with the flat of my sword.

The knight, hit squarely, screamed and staggered.

Now there was no one blocking me and Geoffrey.

“P, Prince! Wait…!”

Geoffrey raised his shield.

I swung my sword at him with all my might.

The sword struck the shield, and Geoffrey fell under his horse.

The sound of the helmet being crushed echoed.

I got off my horse, drawing my second sword.

The other knights all flinched and stepped back.

They seemed to be wondering whether to fight me or stay still.

‘Well, this situation wouldn’t be common.’

The opposing commander had charged in like a madman and captured our commander.

It must have been the first time this had happened in a tournament.

As I approached, Geoffrey flinched and crawled to the other side.

The helmet was crushed beyond recognition, probably from hitting the ground when he fell.

He crawled along the ground.

“Surrender! I surrender, Prince!”

He gasped for breath.

“Surely you’re not going to commit murder in this sacred competition? All of Europe is watching.”

“I think you’re mistaken, Duke.”

I said with a smile.

So his head wasn’t cracked open.

It would be troublesome if he died here.

This wasn’t the place for Geoffrey to die.

“This is just a tournament. And royalty doesn’t kill royalty.”

But it’s a different story when a brother kills a brother.

A time-honored story that goes back to Cain and Abel.

I swallowed those words that came up to my throat.

“You have become my prisoner, Duke.”

“There are still knights around me.”

Geoffrey said, staggering.

“It’s too early to say I’m a prisoner.”

“So you’re going to keep fighting? I thought you just surrendered.”

“A prisoner can only be recognized if he’s dragged to his own camp. I surrendered, but my knights can still rescue me.”

“That’s a convenient argument.”

I replied with a smile.

He’s good with words.

But he won’t be able to do it with that kind of trick.

I approached Geoffrey and grabbed his neck.

Meanwhile, Eig and the members gathered around me.

Geoffrey’s knights did the same.

They also gathered opposite us and confronted us.

A situation like something out of a Western movie.

Both sides sweated and glared at each other.

The swords and chainmail glittered in the sunlight.

“Then how about this?”

I threw Geoffrey to the ground.

“Both the Duke and I will sit here and watch the battlefield together.”

The battle between the Jerusalem members and Geoffrey’s forces was still going on in the plains.

“And we’ll wait until one side wins. If I lose, I’ll release you, Duke.”

“That’s a reasonable offer, Prince.”

Geoffrey said.

I could hear him calculating in his head.

“There’s no reason to refuse such an offer. If my men lose, I’ll be dragged away willingly.”

“Good.”

I replied with a smile.

Did he still think he had a chance to win?

It was difficult to know the superiority of either side just by looking with the naked eye.

But my intuition was different.

‘The outcome is already decided.’

Or did he ask Philip for support?

But the possibility of him bringing an army to save Geoffrey was extremely low.

As time passed, the number of Geoffrey’s flags decreased, and the yellow crosses increased.

It didn’t take long for the noise to subside.

The first to come was Ruark.

He smiled, wiping the sweat from his face.

“It’s over, Prince.”

“Then please prepare a silver shackle.”

I smiled, looking at Geoffrey.

I couldn’t see his face, but I could feel his anger and despair.

“There’s a prisoner to take away.”

* * *

Additional explanation: In tournaments, leaving the battlefield with living spoils (prisoners, horses) dispersed the combat groups, and so, as in real war, the most difficult task for team leaders in jousting was to delay capture attempts until the enemy’s confusion worsened.

Moreover, it was not easy to bring one’s spoils to a safe place, as the comrades of the bewildered often rushed to rescue the prisoners.

When the prisoner was finally led to his destination, the captured knight dismounted and acknowledged that he was a prisoner, and made a prisoner’s oath. From now on, the loser, placed in the position of a bystander, watched the match until the end as a spectator, evaluated the attack method of the day, and gave advice to the players, that is, his friends.

However, verbal oaths were often broken under conditions of confusion.

Otherwise, how can we explain that some people admitted to being prisoners several times on the same day?

– William Marshall, the Great Knight (Georges Duby)