Temple Sword

Chapter 171 The Battle of the Emperor
1322, St. Michael's Month
Bavaria, on the banks of the Inn

-

Under the flag of Anjou's lily flower, 2000 Hungarian cavalry led by Sandor Kotsky and [-] lightly equipped Cuman cavalry archers marched towards the target in a rapid march.

They crossed the frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary at Pozzoni and advanced along the right bank of the Danube towards Vienna, while Duke Frederick led his army along the left bank.

In addition to these two large armies, a third army is preparing to enter Bavaria through Salzburg. This army is composed of Styrian troops and mercenaries summoned from Italy. Henry the Friendly leads.

Another younger brother of Frederick, Leopold, was gathering troops in Swabia, but there was no news of his departure for a long time.

War is imminent and inevitable.

In the second half of St. Michael's month, three armies, which had been on the road for several weeks, met in Passau, but they did not stay there for long. They marched on the right bank of the Inn and rushed towards the enemy's territory.

St. Michael's No.20 In three days they reached the borders of Mühldorf and Ottering, and an army of tens of thousands of men camped between the two settlements, occupying both banks of the Inn.

At that time, no one had seen the troops of Louis the Bavarian, and no one knew where they were.It was rumored in the camp that Louis did not have much gold in his treasury, so he could not stand against this army.

Much to the concern of Frederick and his senior commanders, however, Duke Leopold was still somewhere near Landsberg, but otherwise told his brother nothing. The messenger sent by Frederick did not receive any reply.

Unbeknownst to the armies on both sides, the monastery of Fürstenfeldbruck, which supported Louis the Bavarian, intercepted both Frederick's and Leopold's messengers, and the two brothers were thus isolated from each other's whereabouts. any intention.

Their original grand plan was to attack from both sides, thus breaking down the enemy by ambushes and double-teams, but this looked increasingly unlikely.

Although Leopold, like Frederick, was the joint duke of Austria and Styria, the leadership was still in the hands of his brother, and he did not dare to act rashly without orders.

In order to arouse the fighting spirit of the army, and to give these soldiers who have no women and no tasks to perform, Frederick and Henry ordered the plunder of Bavarian villages and waited for news from Louis.

The coalition forces overachieved, and after looting and burning villages and farms, they began looting and fighting in their own camps. Although the commanders tried to control the chaos with whipping and imprisonment, order seemed to have been irreparably disrupted. .

At this time, they finally had news of the enemy.

Notoriously fierce and belligerent king of Bohemia, John of Luxembourg provided Louis Wittelsbach with enough money and men to end years of feuding between the two claimants to the empire.

The messenger also reported that Louis and Johann's army had left Munich a few days earlier and was heading towards them and would arrive before dawn.

After hearing the news, Frederick mobilized his army again and moved the whole army to the left bank of the Inn, trying to occupy the best position for the upcoming battle.

The river was behind them, and in front of them was a vast meadow, a perfect battlefield, near the junction of the Eshin and the Inn.

Frederick looked around with satisfaction. He felt that here, where he would win his title of emperor, was the perfect place for a perfect victory.

But they still had no news about Prince Leopold and his Schwartz army. The enemy army arrived in the middle of the night. From a distance, they held torches like a huge fire snake coiled on the banks of the Eisin River.They rested under the protection of the river to prepare for the next day's battle.

The commanders issued orders: don't dawdle, go to bed quickly, and everyone should try to rest until dawn, because no matter what the battle situation is, tomorrow will be a very difficult day.Still, neither camp nor camp could sleep that night.

About two hours after midnight, the commander-in-chief of the Anjou army, Sandor Kotsky, asked his Cuman horsemen to frighten the enemy a little.

Most of the Hungarian cavalry are equipped with long guns and some weapons suitable for close combat, which are not suitable for guerrilla harassment, so he decided to make good use of these guys who shoot arrows on horseback now.

After obtaining Frederick's consent, four thousand Cuman horse archers rushed into the thick night with overwhelming enthusiasm.

The ground roared under the trampling of their small, swift horses, and the Austrians looked at them in amazement behind them. Were these savages from the East not at all afraid of the fiery snakes that roosted on the other side?
The Cuman cavalry galloped towards the Eshin, as if they were going to wade directly into the river, stepping over the spray.

Suddenly they jerked their horses' reins to the left as they reached the bank, and began to ride along the water, unleashing a barrage of arrows on the camp on the opposite bank, which rained down on them.

The effect of the raid was astonishing. The enemy soldiers were blinded by the light of their own torches and could not see what was happening on the other side at all. They could only hear the rumbling sound, sometimes mixed with the neighing of horses and strange shouts, followed by unknown From where comes the rain of killing cover.

The Cumans, who used short bows as their main weapon, could put a new arrow on the bowstring in a very short period of time and shoot it again. Another rain of arrows fell on the camp of the Bavarian and Bohemian coalition forces.

They galloped along the Eshin, each drawing their bow at least ten times, and sending out forty thousand arrows in all.By this time the troops of Louis Wittelsbach and John of Luxembourg had realized what had happened, put out their torches, and retreated hastily.

But the Cumans did not stop. They lined up in a long line, made a big circle on the vast grass, and then swept along the river bank again, continuing to send feathered arrows into the night.

They didn't even need to control their horses, as the mounts knew where to go, the mounted archers just had to concentrate on shooting quickly, keeping their thighs firmly on the horse.

The commander and captain on the opposite side had controlled the chaotic situation and assembled the archers to start a counterattack to the opposite bank.

The Cumans chose to retreat at this time and returned to the camp of Frederick Habsburg.On the banks of the Aisin River, only the wailing of the wounded and the shouted orders of the commanders could be heard, mixed with angry curses.

-

At dawn, the other side of the Eshin River was already full of corpses, and Sandor Kotsky's chest swelled proudly under the heavy chain mail.Even from such a distance, it can be seen that the attack orders he issued at night caused a lot of losses to the enemy.

In the sunlight, Frederick found that the enemy army arriving at night was much more numerous than originally thought.The size of the opponent's camp was astonishing, and the stomach of the Duke of Austria began to churn at the thought of the upcoming battle.

"Damn Leopold, my brother!" he grumbled as he returned to the main tent. "What's holding you back when I need you most?"

At this time, the curtain at the entrance was lifted, and his younger brother Henry appeared at the door, his face flushed with excitement.

"My honorable brother!" he gasped slightly, "Come on! A messenger has arrived!"

(End of this chapter)