Temple Sword
Chapter 172 The Battle of the Four Kings
Chapter 172 The Battle of the Four Kings
1322th and 9th of Saint Michael's Month (September), 27
Mühldorf, by the Inn and Eisin
-
Frederick came out of the main tent expectantly, convinced that the messenger his brother Henry had just spoken of was from Leopold.If they were lucky, Leopold would have told them that Schwartz's thousands of men would arrive in the morning.
But to the disappointment of the Habsburg anti-emperor, it was not a messenger, but a court emissary in ermine, riding on a horse, waving a white flag, from Louis' camp, accompanied by two A Bavarian soldier.
"Read it, let us listen!" Frederick waved his hand violently, and the messenger read the contents of the letter in his contrived voice.
After the usual false greeting, Louis said that he hoped to settle the claims dispute that had dragged on between the two of them for years, so he asked Frederick to accept the battle.
He suggested that the day of the battle be set for the next day, after the dawn of St. Wenceslas' Day (9.28).
"Hmph, what a chivalrous gesture!" Frederick said sarcastically.His cousin, a notorious coward, must have been persuaded by the ever belligerent King John to prepare for this battle.
And the idea of fighting on the Czechs' favorite St. Wenceslas Day resonated in his mind.Yes, it must be so.
John believes they can attack before Leopold arrives, but we still have a full day before my brother's army will surely arrive...
"How do you answer?" asked the impolite messenger.
Frederick thought for a moment what a dashing response it would have been if he had chopped off the man's head and sent it back to Louis in reply.
But in the end he dismissed the idea, for however much he wanted to humiliate his opponent, he had to admit that he too had to respond to his cousin's noble request in a dignified way.
"Tell the duke," he said, emphasizing Louis' status, "that Frederick Habsburg, king of the Romans, rightful holder of the Holy Roman throne, accepts the date of battle. Let us, in a manner worthy of knighthood, Fight with integrity and honor!"
"I will tell His Majesty." The envoy bowed in the saddle, and when he turned the horse's head, Frederick saw the contemptuous look on the man's face, and he really wanted to send his cousin's envoy a slap.
He stared fiercely at the messenger's back, and it took a long time before he calmed down again.
"Polish my armor and weapons!" he cried. "Tomorrow morning we shall face them!"
-
Istvan Lakfi has had to realize time and time again in his 20+ years of life that he is very easy to see people as wrong.
At first, he thought that Antal Barto was a pushy sycophant, but he found that there was no difference between him and him except that he was likable and had a strange way of treating people.
He was even more wrong about the Cumans, and now he had to admit that they were rare warriors, the most disciplined and important force in the army.
Their chieftain did not come with them, and the bodyguards were given strict orders to serve their commander to the best of their ability and not to bring disgrace to their tribe.
And the Kumans also proved themselves with actions.
As they obeyed Sandor Kotsky's orders to harass the enemy in the darkness before sunrise, Lackfell watched them in amazement under the stars, and retracted all his previous insults. muttered under his beard: "These people are more Hungarian than Hungarian..."
They were at the forefront even when the battle began on the morning of St. Wenceslas.Together with their ponies, they bathed in cold water, as if performing some strange ritual.
Then they put on their battle clothes, checked their weapons and the number of arrows in their quiver, and by the time the awakened Hungarian squires put their riders in armor, the Cumans were ready for battle.
Isstvan Lakfi also mounted, before the sun rose, and patted the thick neck of his brown gelding Zaba, swinging his arms a little to adjust to the weight of the new armor.
A year ago he had only a stuffed soft armor, a simple iron helmet and a pair of armored gloves.What now?On the battlefield of Mildorf, Lakfey was already a knight in full armor:
He wears a long, studded chainmail and a medium helmet on his head, without nose guards or hinged visors, though he has the option of wearing a heavy faceplate for close quarters combat,
The helmet temporarily hung from his back, which he could put on before the charge and put back after the devastating impact.He didn't want to wear it all the time because the gap in that helmet was so small that he couldn't see much.
His previous small buckler was now placed on the saddle as an auxiliary protection, replaced by a huge kite shield on his left hand, with the coat of arms of the Lakfey family on it, a white dragon with outstretched wings.
In his right hand he held his father's magpie, which had widowed many unfortunate women and orphaned many children over the years, and now it was about to be stained with blood again, and in Lakfey's way of fighting, blood Certainly not less.
The camp was waking up around them, Austrian and Styrian soldiers yawning and preparing.At this time, a group of Cumans approached Lakfei on horseback and handed him a sheepskin wine bag.
"What is this, wine?" Knight Sekai asked.His voice was hard and cold, because in the depths of his soul, he was ready to kill, and he couldn't hum happily.
"Yes, of course it's wine," one of the guards nodded, "Drink quickly, little chief!"
This is what the Kumans called Lakfei, Little Chief, but Lakfei didn't mind.He knew they weren't mocking his size, but an expression of respect.
It's always good to have a drink before a fight, so he took the wine bag and took a swig.
From the first sip, he felt like he was being played.This thick, sour-sweet, pungent thing was not wine, and his whole body was burning from inside to outside, and he almost spat it out, but somehow he swallowed it.He bared his teeth in disgust, and the Cuman dismounted laughing.
"What did you bastards give me to drink?" Lakfei asked with a bitter face, "Even if it's the Cuman wine, it's not so bad!?"
"This is no ordinary wine, little chief." The guard took back the wine bag. "This is the best Kumis!" After that, he took a big sip himself.
"What?" Lakfey was puzzled.
"Mare's milk," said another Cuman, "fermented kumis."
"You let me drink mare's milk?" Lakfey echoed in disbelief, but couldn't help showing a smile on his face, because he admitted that they made a good joke,
"For the sake of your unlucky mother!" He spat on the ground, "Okay, get out of here, and when the battle is over, I'll put arrows in your ass! Kumiss... you guys Little bastard..."
Seeing that the Kumans were all amused, he said to them again in a more serious tone:
"Enough of the joke! I have a question for you, listen carefully! Does anyone here want to go home now?" His shout made the ears of the thousand cavalrymen under him prick up.
"If so, tell me now, and you can go! Because I don't need cowardly worms! Who are you, worms or lions?"
"Lion!" someone yelled, but Lakfe was not satisfied.He rode ahead of everyone, gave his horse a little hop, and turned to face the crowd.
"From what I've just heard, there are only three or four lions at most among you, and the rest haven't made up their minds yet," he taunted, before raising his father's sword into the air and roaring louder:
"Answer me now so the bastards on the other side of the Eshin can hear you too and wake them up in wet pants! Are you worms or lions?"
"Lion!" Hundreds of people roared angrily, and then, Lakfei also roared with them, and soon, the throats of thousands of Kumans released thunderous sounds at the same time. "lion!"
"Okay!" Lakfee roared wildly, "Then today the lions will eat their prey!"
He himself was intoxicated by the roar of the warriors, kicked his spurs, and rode through the whole Hungarian and Cuman army with an inarticulate roar.
Lakfee swung his sword trying to warm up and prepare for the fight, while others misinterpreted this as further encouragement, and more and more people started roaring, but slowly, they stopped shouting "lion" and It's their commander "Lackfell".
Those who didn't know who this lunatic was scurrying in front of them were also aroused by Lakfee. They looked at the coat of arms on his shield and shouted more and more frantically: "White Dragon! White Dragon! dragon!"
When Lakfee returned to his cavalry team and gave the assembly order, more than 6000 riders were still cheering, some shouting his name and some shouting his family emblem.
A thousand Kuman riders gathered in a wide square and slowly moved from the edge of the camp to the grass field of the battlefield under the leadership of Esteban Lakfi.
Lakfee straightened his strong back. On the right was his old comrade-in-arms, the battle-tested Lorinche Toldi, and on the left was his loyal young soldier Bess.
He doesn't know what's in that kumiss, the man thought, but it puts him in a good mood.He looked at Beth, who was riding a horse confidently, and his eyes softened a little.
"I know I've put you to the test for a long time, my boy," he said lovingly, "but if we both survive, I promise I'll make you my squire!"
Hearing this, Bess was so excited that he couldn't even speak, but just nodded.His eyes shone like stars that were slowly disappearing in the sky.
Istvan Lakfi... The commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army, Sandor Kotsky, looked at the Sekai knight not far away and nodded in appreciation. He had just witnessed what happened at the door of the tent.
He is indeed a rare talent, no wonder the king made him a knight, when the sun comes up, I will see how he does...
-
Frederick Habsburg, Duke of Austria and Styria and rival Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, approached his troops in expensive ornate armor, his squires and servants bearing his shining harness His snow-white war horse was brought to the tent.
Before helping Frederick mount his horse, they fastened their masters' belts of weapons, so richly studded that the leather itself could not be seen.
Frederick's long blond curly hair was braided this time, then twisted into a bun, and carefully tucked into a bonnet, covered with a chain mail hood, and finally put on a helmet full of gilt decorations.
The round-faced man who started the imperial war looked like the Archangel Gabriel in full armor.
Only his practical long knight sword is without any decoration, which shows that this duke dressed in gold and silver is not only satisfied with watching from a distance, but wants to participate in the battle in person.
The servants helped Frederick onto the horse and adjusted his long red velvet cloak, so large that it almost completely covered the horse's rump.
A shield with the family coat of arms is tied on his left hand, and a nine-foot lance is held in his right hand. Over the years, most people have only seen Frederick lift a wine glass or pick up a goose leg with his right hand, and they are surprised It was discovered that the Duke of Austria could hold such a heavy weapon steadily.
"This is where our fate is decided..."
Frederick, Commander-in-Chief, cleared his throat and wanted to say something memorable so that future chroniclers may record this great speech and how he inspired his troops to victory with bold words. into victory.
But when he saw that the army of the Kingdom of Hungary had gone to the battlefield, the beautiful words in his mind were stuck in his throat.
"What are they doing?" Frederick asked puzzled, "Who gave them the order to go out?"
"No one, Your Majesty," said Dietmar, the commander in charge of the left wing of the army, "while you were still sleeping, Your Majesty, they jumped into the river to take a bath, and then they all started yelling like barbarians Screaming, scurrying around, and finally ran to the battlefield!"
"They must want to occupy a favorable position on the battlefield." Cavalier Urik Valsi nodded and commented.
But Frederick misunderstood the man's meaning, "So Lord Valsi likes this kind of undisciplined and rude behavior?" He asked sternly, "Then you can join them, damn it, you can even do it Their commander! From now on, I make you commander-in-chief of the Hungarians and Cumans!"
"That auxiliary army is led by Sandor Kotsky, Your Majesty," the knight tried to refuse, "it would be an insult to the Hungarians..."
"Whether they are offended or not is your problem," Frederick told him firmly. "Is anyone else enjoying this indiscipline? Or can we finally put an end to this farce?"
No one dared to speak, the nervous Frederick Habsburg was not kidding, and the knight Ulik Varsi set off with his small party to meet the army sent by the King of Hungary.
It didn't take long for Frederick's entire army to set up a battle formation, and the legions lined up neatly, marching confidently to the designated battlefield.
The sun was already looming on the eastern horizon, and the sky was gradually brightening.Frederick lined up his army in a broad line two miles long, and the Bavarians and Czechs had also arrived.
The armies of Louis Wittelsbach and Johann Luxemburg crossed the Eicing on a front wider than that of the Austrians.
In the slowly falling dawn, two huge armies confronted each other.
The enemy's right flank consisted of thousands of Bavarian cavalry, behind them on the second front Konrad IV von Baierbrunn and his elite cavalry.
The enemy's left flank was Johann Luxemburg's Bohemian army, and the second front consisted of the infantry and cavalry of the Duke of Lower Bavaria.
The center of Louis Wittelsbach's coalition was the infantry from Bavaria and Schwarz. They were staggering in number, but had the disadvantage of not having a single rider.
Although the Cumans had previously raided the camp, the Bavarian-Bohemian army still numbered more than 8000, of which about [-] were infantry and only [-] cavalry.
Frederick's army had nearly [-] cavalry. He was surprised to see his cousin's unexpected army, and his heart felt like it was going to jump into his throat. Calm down a little.
"Our cavalry is three times as many as theirs." He proudly said to Henry.His younger brother commanded the Tyrolean and Carniola armies, next to Frederick, just behind the centre. "But we only have forty thousand infantry..."
"Infantry can never dictate the direction of a battle, Your Majesty," Henry, who admired heavy cavalry, said confidently, "Let Louis' [-] infantry come over, and we will bury them all!"
"That's right," Frederick nodded, "Although our brother Leopold has disappointed us, I don't seem to see the Lord of Nuremberg (Frederick IV Ho Henzollern) banner.
If he joins Louis with his knights, it will cause us a lot of trouble, but it seems that God is on our side for now! "
The early autumn breeze brought them low bells.
"The clock is ringing, it's time," Henry said, "If His Majesty wants to take the initiative, now is the time to attack."
"Yes, that's true." Frederick said softly to himself, as if he had just realized how big a war he was about to face.
His empty stomach had shrunk into a cold ball, and he was thankful for his foresight not to eat anything before the battle, otherwise he would have vomited it all up.
Reaching out to the saddle, he took a few sips of strong liquor to drive away all doubts and fears, then took a deep breath of the fresh, dewy air, and turned firmly to a herald beside him.
"Let the right flank strike at once!" ordered Frederick, "let us start the day with a rain of Cuman arrows, and then let the Hungarian cavalry attack with full force!
The troops of Salzburg and Styria stayed where they were for the time being, leaving only the Magyars on the right to attack the enemy flank! "
The herald bowed and rode to the right-wing corps led by Sandor Kotsky and Urik Varsi to deliver the commander-in-chief's order.
After receiving the order, Urik nodded with a pale face, and looked blankly at this group of strange aliens. He didn't know how these people fought, but he knew that he had to take action, so he immediately made a move. judge:
He let Sandor lead the attack with a large force, and he himself followed the Hungarian cavalry with a small force, lest anyone accuse him of shirking responsibility.
Sandor Kotsky rode ahead of Lakfey and the other captains, and immediately blew the battle horns of the Hungarian and Cuman armies.
More than 6000 cavalry marched amid thunderous roars and the sound of horseshoes, their blood was still boiling, and Istvan Lakfi's speech and example made them thirst for blood, as if they had never drank anything else since birth something the same.
"Kill the Czechs!" Sandor drew his sword and led his army directly to the enemy's left flank. None of them cared about the difference in numbers, they just wanted to kill and win eternal glory.
They are fighters and now is their time to truly live.In the sound of horns, in the sound of horseshoes, in the clang of metal, in the crack of bones, in the howl of wanton, in the roar of death, in the cry of victory, they stood for this moment Live and die for the moment.
At this point, their other problems become trivial and their biggest annoyance is easily forgotten as they focus on hitting the enemy with their attacks and then dodging them until someone yells "We won!" Just stopped.
At this point, their old wounds no longer hurt or itch, their strength has increased tenfold, their nightly nightmares are far away, and their anxiety and gloom are a thing of the past.
They were getting closer and closer to the broad front of the Bohemian army. Lakfee's heart was beating wildly in his chest. Under the layers of iron and cloth, his brain seemed to go blank all of a sudden.
His mind was no longer confused, and every thread of his thoughts was focused on the upcoming confrontation.His sword-holding hand reached behind his back, and with one decisive movement he pressed the face-covered helmet onto his head.
He knew that they had theoretically rehearsed their tactics hundreds or thousands of times, but he was still very worried now, not knowing what would happen in the fierce actual combat.After all they wanted to defeat the Czech army, and the Czechs wanted to finish them off.
"Bows!" Sandor yelled.
In an instant, four thousand Cuman cavalry archers lined up in a wide horizontal line, put the first arrow on the string of the short bow, and shot arrows at John Luxemburg's army.
The King of Bohemia sent his infantry to the forefront, forming a wall of shields with swift and deft movements.They managed to hold off most of the arrows, but some soldiers were still shot, and the Hungarian army continued to roar forward.
"Turn back!" The new order came, and the Kumans pulled their pony to the left just like the night attack two days ago, shortened the formation slightly, rode horizontally in front of the Czech army, and continued to suppress with bows and arrows with the enemy.
"Wedge formation!" shouted the captains of the Hungarian cavalry.The Cuman archers moved away from the front of the enemy infantry, and more than 2000 cavalry armed with lances shot out from behind, directly piercing through the shield wall.
The Hungarian cavalry pierced through the Czech formations like an arrow more powerful than ever before, penetrating deep into the enemy's body, writhing in it, further destroying the flesh.
After the devastating charge, Ulik Varsi's cavalry squad also broke into the Czech army, and finally the Cumans who turned their heads and charged. They exchanged bows for swords, sabers, axes and spears. Thousands of heavy cavalry advanced rapidly on the road opened up, trying to completely tear apart the entire enemy formation.
Soon the enemy's left flank was in hellish chaos, while the rest of the corps of both armies waited nervously, motionless.
"For St. George!" roared Lakfell, slashing again and again with his father's sword, splitting the Czech soldiers at his legs like firewood. "Saint George bless!"
Lorraine Toldi followed Lakfee, and at his side brandished a large spiked mace that most men could not lift with two hands.
The top of the mace was bigger than a child's head, and each blow of Lorranch easily shattered bones, smashed faces into pulp, and dented armor and helmets.
In the frenzy of the battle, all of them, not feeling the blows and cuts they were receiving, just continued to charge forward, the cavalry slowing down and the close combat becoming more and more fierce.
"St. George! St. Michael!" they roared, calling to their aid the mightiest warrior in Christianity. "Saint Laszlo!" Sometimes they added the name of the hero of their own kingdom.
"Saint Wenceslas!" the Czechs yelled back, trying to regroup their ranks.Although the Hungarian and Cuman cavalry raged in the formation, they did not surrender easily, but continued to fight.
The fighting lasted at least half an hour, and only a few of the attackers fell.Of course, Johan Luxemburg's Czech troops had done them no small damage, but their morale seemed unaffected, and they raised their arms, roaring, and went on the attack with renewed vigor.
The forward momentum seemed to have stopped, and Lakfei let his muscular steed gallop back and forth, tirelessly tearing out holes.
Just like what his master said, Tsaba was extremely ferocious on the battlefield, it kicked and stomped, more and more corpses and seriously injured were under its hooves, and the horse showed no sign of retreating.
"Look over there, Estevan!" Lorinche Toldi suddenly exclaimed, pointing forward with the big mace in his hand, with blood-clotting skull fragments, skin and hair stuck to it, "That's The flag of Wittelsbach!"
Lakfe kicked away the Czech he had just chopped off, and suddenly turned his head to look in the direction that Sekai fighter pointed.
Behind the Bohemian army is the Bavarian army, he thought, have we gone this far yet?
He knew that the strongest army of the enemy was the army of King Johann Luxemburg of Bohemia, and besides that, there were only barely fifteen hundred to two thousand cavalry on the battlefield, and the rest were infantry.
A thought flashed through Lakfee's mind: If we crush the Czechs and run over the Bavarians, we win!The rest of the team will definitely be demoralized, and then we just need to clear the field!
"Onward!" he cried, "onward, my brethren, onward! Kill 'em, cut them all down, onward!"
Then, the horn sounded suddenly.
To Lakfee's shock, what he heard was not the horn of attack, but the signal of retreat.
-
Frederick Habsburg looked at the distant battlefield, his heart pounding.
He admired the fighting skills of the Cumans, nodded frequently in recognition of the devastating charge of the Hungarian cavalry, indulged in the music of iron and blood, and watched the more than 6000 people tear the Czech army with his mouth wide open.
He also saw that his cousin's other armies did not move. Frederick himself understood military affairs. He knew that in such a situation, he could not act immediately and all games would be lost. This is what he learned from the chessboard.
"My lord!" said the Archbishop of Salzburg, Friedrich III. von Leibnitz, in a tense tone, "Your Majesty, the Hungarians are about to break through the Czech army!"
"I know, Archbishop, I can see clearly myself." He smiled with satisfaction. "They did a better job than I thought..."
"Frederick, don't you understand?" The archbishop changed to a more direct and serious tone, "Do you want Charlie's army to take all the battle achievements?"
The smile on the face of the Duke of Austria suddenly froze.
The Archbishop was right, he realized at once.For the rest of my life I'm going to have to listen to the crap that the Hungarians won the imperial crown for me!
Then Charlie will not only claim Pressburg, but also take back Mejimurie, maybe he will have his eye on Vienna, or even Passau!no i can't allow this...
"Herald!" He waved to a light rider waiting nearby. "Go to my brother Henry at once! Tell him to let the Hungarians retreat and then attack the Czech army with the whole army of Salzburg and Styria! Let the whole right wing attack, now, now!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The rider nodded and began to rush towards the legion on the right.
Then Frederick had another idea, and he beckoned another herald to come.
"Let Urik take a thousand retreating Hungarians and Cumans and stand with them on the right flank to provide protection for my brother Henry!"
He said hastily, "Put the rest back under Sandor Kotsky's command, and let them retreat all the way to the bridge across from Dornberg! Hold the bridge and don't go anywhere else, because the enemy is still there." Might go through there!"
Of course, Frederick himself knew very well that no one would attack from Dornberg, which was far from the battlefield, and sending the troops of the Kingdom of Hungary there would be tantamount to pulling them out of the entire battle.
Will this offend them?Maybe, let them sulk, Frederick thought, they've done enough.
While they complain, I shall be the sole Emperor in justification, while Charles Anjou can at most boast that the troops he sent out were of some use in the battle.
The horn sounded again, and the [-] cavalry who ignored the numerical disadvantage and fought bravely with the Czechs began to retreat.
-
"What the hell does this mean!?" Sandor Kotsky shouted with a red head. "If the Duke cares so much about that damned bridge, let him stand there with an army himself!"
The commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army was covered in blood and trembling with anger.
In response to the king's order, he led more than 6000 cavalry to fight bloody battles until now. He attacked the enemy two days ago without any loss, and almost completely defeated the Czech army with a single charge just now, in exchange for this kind of insult.
"I want to speak to Frederick Habsburg!" he demanded, growling.At this time Henry Habsburg has led the Styrian and Salzburg armies to the enemy, wanting to seize the battle results of the Hungarian army.
"Your Majesty has issued an order," the herald said solemnly, "The duty of the captain and commanders is to carry out his orders, not to doubt his thoughts!"
"Five thousand excellent fighters are on standby at any time. As long as you give an order, you can destroy any line of defense, but you want us to wait here? You bloody porkers!"
Sandor cursed tremblingly, spitting on the ground, trying to resist the urge to hammer the herald to death.
He had just killed people, a lot of people, and he didn't count or show any mercy, and the unstoppable force still lingered in his arms.
And this herald in clean clothes is no different to him from the foreigners in the Czech army, and he can kill him without any burden.
"Follow His Majesty's orders!" the herald repeated firmly, "otherwise you will be interrogated after the battle, and every one of your men will be guilty of your crimes!"
"You hateful Germans, you bastards without a father..." Sandor, who was disappointed and angry, shook his head, knowing that he had no other choice but to obey. "Come on, let's go!" he yelled to his bloodied warriors, "to that bloody bridge!"
-
Another herald overtook them when they were halfway there.
Before this, the bewildered Ulik Valsi thought he too would have to guard the bridge, but he was relieved by the order from the second herald, and it seems that Frederick did not Then be mad at him.
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Urik shouted excitedly, and quickly assembled his new team: about [-] Cuman light cavalry and [-] Hungarian heavy cavalry, Istvan Lakfi, his Bess, the entourage, and Lorraine Toldi were also chosen.
"Lord Lakfey!" Sandor rode up beside him, "Don't let them kill you!"
"I will try my best, Commander..."
"I'm afraid you don't understand me," said the Earl of Sandor, in a more cautious tone. "Frederick Habsburg has just informed us that he no longer needs us, that he has trampled on our honor. So please look at me with wide eyes, Master Lakfee!
If you think it's going to be a tough fight, or if you think the battle is going to end in defeat, don't try to be tough, get it?You have a bright future and don't need to die here for these poor bugs.
If the enemy gains the upper hand, run away and take everyone to the bridge, we will wait for you here, and then we will go straight back to Hungary! "
Lakfe didn't like this at all, he didn't really want to die for the Habsburgs, or spend years in a Bavarian dungeon, but he was still a warrior, doing what the king wanted and ordered .
He has always believed that he who is not willing to fall by the sword should not be a soldier.Lord Sandor's words were an insult to him, and he didn't know how to respond.Finally, Lakfe stretched out his right hand and pointed to the battlefield several miles away.
"Look, my lord, look at what we have done!" He said cheerfully. "The newly joined right wing will completely destroy the Czech army, and the Tyrolean and Austrian armies are not even out yet.
You don't have to worry, Commander," he flashed a narrow smile, "we've already won this battle, and all I have to do is end it. "
-
Although the King of Bohemia's army had held out for hours, the overall situation did seem to favor Frederick's army.These stubborn beer-drinking Czechs refused to be routed, and their king fought with his soldiers, unwilling to retreat.
Urik Varsi joined the Styrian and Salzburg armies with a thousand cavalrymen, charging and retreating behind them, fighting tirelessly all morning, while Sandor Kotzky He and his five thousand cavalry were just in a daze by the distant bridge.
When the bell towers in the surrounding villages and towns rang the bells of the Three Hours, the 12 soldiers were slightly taken aback: Did the battle really last so long?
The bell sounded as if some kind of divine judgment had begun, and in the next hour, the seventh hour of the battle, several decisive things happened.
The first was King of Bohemia, John of the House of Luxembourg.He fell off his steed and was nowhere to be found.After a moment of chaotic fighting between the warring parties, he miraculously appeared in front of everyone riding a horse.
It turned out that he had been helped back into the saddle by an Austrian nobleman who could have slit John's throat on the spot, but he didn't.He was later declared a traitor for his chivalrous actions.
Then there was a Czech knight, Plichta zoirotína, who was famous even as far as England for his racing achievements.
He too was thrown from his steed, but this time there was no one to lift him up, and the famous champion was impaled by a lance, and died on the field of Myrdorf.
After Pulitza's death, five hundred of his Czech soldiers were disorganized and captured by the troops of Esteban Lakfi and Lorinci Toldi, who led them to the right flank of Frederick's army, leaving They swore off the fight.
Champion Pulitzer's men, thoroughly educated in chivalry, swore on their honor not to interfere in the fight, and then sat despondently on the grass and watched the fight go on.
At this point they were pretty sure that the crown of the Holy Roman Empire would eventually fall on the head of Frederick Habsburg.
-
After seeing the growing advantage of Frederick's army, the elite Bavarian troops who had been waiting for several hours behind the Czech army finally moved.
Louis Wittelsbach, Duke of Lower Bavaria, joined the battle and instantly reversed the situation. Together with the Czechs, his infantry and cavalry began to counterattack Frederick's right flank. The Styrian and Salzburg armies were constantly attacked. retreat.
The original Frederick's right-wing army had advanced more than a mile, and it didn't take long for the reorganized Czech army to push them back to the position where the battle started.
The situation was reversed, and now Henry Habsburg was in a worse situation than Johann Luxemburg, and Frederick, who had been waiting for eight hours, could no longer stand idly by: he gave an order, and the army in the center of the town went to the Suppress the enemy on the right flank to attack.
With the sound of huge drums and horns, Louis Wittelsbach's [-] Bavarian infantry also moved into action.
This includes all kinds of adventurers, mercenaries from city-states and guilds, down-and-out knights, and blind fanatical followers.Although this is a motley army, their combat power is not bad.
At the same time, the Bavarian heavy cavalry on Louis' right flank also launched an attack, rushing towards the weakly defended Austrian left flank.
Thus, the battle between the two rival emperors began at dawn on St. Wenceslas' Day, but only in the afternoon did the whole army strike, and the Battle of the Four Kings officially began, each moment more violent and bloody.
-
Lakfe looked up at the fighting army in horror. "Have you seen it all, Lorraine?" He asked coldly. "What exactly is going on?"
Lorraine Toldi and Bess saw it too, and they couldn't believe their eyes, what on earth was this?
The Bavarian infantry did not evade Frederick's heavy cavalry, but did something they had never heard of: the soldiers had no idea of handling the knights, but aimed at their horses, cut off the horse's hooves head-on, and then Kill the fallen knight.
No one had anticipated this tactic, and the knights did not know how to respond to the growing chaos, and Frederick's main force began to dwindle dramatically.
From a distance, the horses can only be seen falling to the ground for some reason and never getting up again.It was a terrifying sight that made Lakfee's hair stand on end. Suddenly, Frederick's victory seemed to be slowly slipping away, and his possibility of becoming the sole emperor was no longer a certainty.
Lakfe felt that he was getting more and more tired. He could feel the weight of the armor and smell the pungent stench on his body. He had already peed on the saddle four times. No wonder it doesn't smell bad of blood and dirt.
His frantic passion that usually lasted until the end of the battle also suddenly disappeared, and he looked at the battlefield of Mildorf in front of him, only a deep sense of disillusionment.
He sensed that they were going to lose.
Lakfei looked to the east, and the [-] Hungarian cavalry were still guarding a bridge that no one would pass by.
In the intensified battle, Frederick and other commanders seemed to have completely forgotten about these people, and the cavalry had no intention of rejoining the battlefield on their own initiative.
Lakfee suddenly realized that no matter what happened, Sandor Kotsky would not come to the rescue. He regarded the order of the Duke of Austria as an insult. Escape when unfavorable.
Sandor doesn't want to fight anymore, he has made up his mind, so what should I do now?
A terrible bang interrupted his thoughts, followed by crashes, knocks and howls.Lakfei turned his head to the frontal battlefield, but couldn't figure out what was going on.
The center of the battlefield is like a vortex, constantly devouring the forward soldiers.Now everyone joined the fight, the armies mixed, without any tactics, just the clash of flesh and sword.
Most of them were no longer fighting for Frederick or Louis, the throne or some elusive ideal, they were fighting to come home alive, even if it cost dozens of wounds and broken bones. Bones, they also want to be alive at the end of this nightmare.
-
But Lakfei didn't know that the loud noise didn't come from this hellish central vortex, but from the left wing.
Konrad von Baible and his elite heavy cavalry, who had been waiting patiently behind the Bavarian right flank, attacked, but instead of charging from the front to join the Bavarian knights who were fighting the Austrian left flank, they The Austrians, who were at a disadvantage, circled around a large circle and smashed the left-wing army led by Dittmar with a direct blow.
Although Frederick Habsburg had a not-so-masculine pale face, blond curly hair, and soft voice, he fought like a lion on the battlefield.
He did not give up his ideals, he still firmly believed that this would be the day when he won the title of empire, no matter how tens of thousands of people or a few people were behind him, he didn't think he would lose.
He didn't know which side had the upper hand in the chaotic battle around him, but he believed that if they could keep at it, God would give them victory.
"Louis!" he yelled angrily, waving his sword again and again, "Louis, where are you coward? Come out! Come out! Duel with me! Just you and me, like David and Goliath, come Come on, come out!"
But Frederick couldn't find his cousin, who had become his sworn enemy, and he couldn't recognize his face, so he had to search through the confusion for a man with a gilded helmet and coat of arms who looked like himself. It's the duke's man.
However, before the battle began, Louis had already handed over the command to the Bohemian King Johann Luxemburg and his own warrior Seyfried Schweppermann (Seyfried Schweppermann), and he himself and his court knights wore Put on the inconspicuous armor and stay aside, not attracting anyone's attention.
The man who didn't like war but had the virtues of chivalry was now quietly watching from a distance as Frederick, his showy and flamboyant cousin, was buried under his own plans.
In the third hour of the afternoon, four hundred vigorous heavy cavalry, aided by Bavarian barges, crossed the Eicing, avoided the bridges guarded by Sandor Kotzky, and launched an overwhelming attack on the increasingly desperate crowd. final charge.
"Duke Leopold! Duke Leopold is here! We have won!" shouted the soldiers of Styria and Salzburg who were the first to see the procession rushing towards them. "He did not disappoint us! He has arrived! Long live Duke Leopold! Thank God!"
However, the heavy cavalry who arrived at the ninth hour joined the battle without raising any banners, and did not slow down when approaching, but, on the contrary, when they were only a few horses away from the right flank of the Austrian army, they pushed forward. The long hardwood lance began to accelerate at full speed.
"This is not Leopold, you idiots!" Lakfe realized the danger, "It's the enemy!"
The lord of Nuremberg, Frederick Hohenzollern, did not join the fray at the outset, having been hiding in the far north-west since dawn.
At the critical moment of this war, he rushed into the enemy line with his heavy cavalry that he had honed for several years, and with a single push, the future fate of the empire was decided.
The troops of Ulrich Walsey and Henry Habsburg realized that this was no reinforcement at all, but it was too late.
The heavy cavalry rushed directly to the right flank, and a team of less than 500 people completely defeated the Austrian coalition forces, ending the war that lasted for nearly ten hours.
Istvan Lakfi hastily raised his shield, trying to hide his entire upper body behind, his heels planted hard on his steed's thighs, ready to jump away at the wrong moment.
The next moment, the shield of Sekai Knight made a loud bang, and the lance against the shield hit his helmet with a force that could pierce the sky. He choked out a sob, and then there was another loud bang, The world in front of Bailong's eyes was dark.
-
When he opened his eyes again, he was running towards the bridge, and he didn't understand what was going on.
Just now he had thought he was dead, or at least had fallen off his horse, but now he was still in Tsaba's saddle, arms and legs intact, galloping on his back.
He was not alone, and nearly a thousand Hungarian and Cuman cavalry were galloping with him, and they all suffered a lot of wounds.And all around them, Frederick's entire right wing was in flight.
The lord of Nuremberg did not pursue them, and with his four hundred knights he continued to penetrate the enemy's lines, intending to penetrate into the vortex of chaos and kill the Duke of Habsburg or route his entire army.
Lakfe turned his head and looked to the side.
"Oh, no!" He couldn't help exclaiming after seeing Lorinche Toldi.
The burly man was impaled by a lance, which entered his right side of the abdomen and exited the left side of his back.Lorraine kept spitting blood, and his wounds kept making terrible noises, staining the saddle and his entire body red.
Such a powerful impact from the lance was enough to knock a buffalo down on the spot, but the warrior still rode straight on his horse, clutching the reins tightly, without saying a word.
As they approached the bridge, Lorraine fell out of the saddle and closed his eyes forever, somewhere on the south bank of the Eisin, far from home.
"Where are my followers?" Lakfee asked after joining the five thousand horsemen by the bridge, "Where is Bess?"
"He didn't escape with us, little chief," he heard the mournful voice of a Cuman, "and after he put you back in the saddle, those iron riders stepped him into another world."
You could have been my squire, Bess, my boy... Istvan thought, what should I say to your good mother when Charles Anjou's army returns home gray from a lost war Woolen cloth?
"Ride to heaven with St. Michael, my dear friends." Saikai Knight murmured tiredly, his whole body throbbed with throbbing pain.
He urged his steed to gallop again, not noticing the tears streaming from his eyes.
-
After the army at Nuremberg crushed the right flank of the Austrian army, the Czech soldiers who had been fighting before were also encouraged and rekindled their desire for victory. No one thought to question why Friedrich Hohenzollern joined the battle so late .
The left flank of the Duke of Austria was also shattered under the attack from the front and rear, and all those who survived were captured by the wind and rain.
The Chinese army also suffered a devastating blow. Thousands of horses and their owners lay in the red mud, but even so Frederick did not surrender and continued to fight with his soldiers.
Finally, a knight stabs his horse, and the war of the four kings ends.
When the Bavarian knights removed the emperor-like helmet of Frederick Habsburg and dragged the broken man before Louis Wittelsbach, the only Holy Roman Emperor greeted him with a warm message His cousin:
"I've never seen you so popular!"
(End of this chapter)
1322th and 9th of Saint Michael's Month (September), 27
Mühldorf, by the Inn and Eisin
-
Frederick came out of the main tent expectantly, convinced that the messenger his brother Henry had just spoken of was from Leopold.If they were lucky, Leopold would have told them that Schwartz's thousands of men would arrive in the morning.
But to the disappointment of the Habsburg anti-emperor, it was not a messenger, but a court emissary in ermine, riding on a horse, waving a white flag, from Louis' camp, accompanied by two A Bavarian soldier.
"Read it, let us listen!" Frederick waved his hand violently, and the messenger read the contents of the letter in his contrived voice.
After the usual false greeting, Louis said that he hoped to settle the claims dispute that had dragged on between the two of them for years, so he asked Frederick to accept the battle.
He suggested that the day of the battle be set for the next day, after the dawn of St. Wenceslas' Day (9.28).
"Hmph, what a chivalrous gesture!" Frederick said sarcastically.His cousin, a notorious coward, must have been persuaded by the ever belligerent King John to prepare for this battle.
And the idea of fighting on the Czechs' favorite St. Wenceslas Day resonated in his mind.Yes, it must be so.
John believes they can attack before Leopold arrives, but we still have a full day before my brother's army will surely arrive...
"How do you answer?" asked the impolite messenger.
Frederick thought for a moment what a dashing response it would have been if he had chopped off the man's head and sent it back to Louis in reply.
But in the end he dismissed the idea, for however much he wanted to humiliate his opponent, he had to admit that he too had to respond to his cousin's noble request in a dignified way.
"Tell the duke," he said, emphasizing Louis' status, "that Frederick Habsburg, king of the Romans, rightful holder of the Holy Roman throne, accepts the date of battle. Let us, in a manner worthy of knighthood, Fight with integrity and honor!"
"I will tell His Majesty." The envoy bowed in the saddle, and when he turned the horse's head, Frederick saw the contemptuous look on the man's face, and he really wanted to send his cousin's envoy a slap.
He stared fiercely at the messenger's back, and it took a long time before he calmed down again.
"Polish my armor and weapons!" he cried. "Tomorrow morning we shall face them!"
-
Istvan Lakfi has had to realize time and time again in his 20+ years of life that he is very easy to see people as wrong.
At first, he thought that Antal Barto was a pushy sycophant, but he found that there was no difference between him and him except that he was likable and had a strange way of treating people.
He was even more wrong about the Cumans, and now he had to admit that they were rare warriors, the most disciplined and important force in the army.
Their chieftain did not come with them, and the bodyguards were given strict orders to serve their commander to the best of their ability and not to bring disgrace to their tribe.
And the Kumans also proved themselves with actions.
As they obeyed Sandor Kotsky's orders to harass the enemy in the darkness before sunrise, Lackfell watched them in amazement under the stars, and retracted all his previous insults. muttered under his beard: "These people are more Hungarian than Hungarian..."
They were at the forefront even when the battle began on the morning of St. Wenceslas.Together with their ponies, they bathed in cold water, as if performing some strange ritual.
Then they put on their battle clothes, checked their weapons and the number of arrows in their quiver, and by the time the awakened Hungarian squires put their riders in armor, the Cumans were ready for battle.
Isstvan Lakfi also mounted, before the sun rose, and patted the thick neck of his brown gelding Zaba, swinging his arms a little to adjust to the weight of the new armor.
A year ago he had only a stuffed soft armor, a simple iron helmet and a pair of armored gloves.What now?On the battlefield of Mildorf, Lakfey was already a knight in full armor:
He wears a long, studded chainmail and a medium helmet on his head, without nose guards or hinged visors, though he has the option of wearing a heavy faceplate for close quarters combat,
The helmet temporarily hung from his back, which he could put on before the charge and put back after the devastating impact.He didn't want to wear it all the time because the gap in that helmet was so small that he couldn't see much.
His previous small buckler was now placed on the saddle as an auxiliary protection, replaced by a huge kite shield on his left hand, with the coat of arms of the Lakfey family on it, a white dragon with outstretched wings.
In his right hand he held his father's magpie, which had widowed many unfortunate women and orphaned many children over the years, and now it was about to be stained with blood again, and in Lakfey's way of fighting, blood Certainly not less.
The camp was waking up around them, Austrian and Styrian soldiers yawning and preparing.At this time, a group of Cumans approached Lakfei on horseback and handed him a sheepskin wine bag.
"What is this, wine?" Knight Sekai asked.His voice was hard and cold, because in the depths of his soul, he was ready to kill, and he couldn't hum happily.
"Yes, of course it's wine," one of the guards nodded, "Drink quickly, little chief!"
This is what the Kumans called Lakfei, Little Chief, but Lakfei didn't mind.He knew they weren't mocking his size, but an expression of respect.
It's always good to have a drink before a fight, so he took the wine bag and took a swig.
From the first sip, he felt like he was being played.This thick, sour-sweet, pungent thing was not wine, and his whole body was burning from inside to outside, and he almost spat it out, but somehow he swallowed it.He bared his teeth in disgust, and the Cuman dismounted laughing.
"What did you bastards give me to drink?" Lakfei asked with a bitter face, "Even if it's the Cuman wine, it's not so bad!?"
"This is no ordinary wine, little chief." The guard took back the wine bag. "This is the best Kumis!" After that, he took a big sip himself.
"What?" Lakfey was puzzled.
"Mare's milk," said another Cuman, "fermented kumis."
"You let me drink mare's milk?" Lakfey echoed in disbelief, but couldn't help showing a smile on his face, because he admitted that they made a good joke,
"For the sake of your unlucky mother!" He spat on the ground, "Okay, get out of here, and when the battle is over, I'll put arrows in your ass! Kumiss... you guys Little bastard..."
Seeing that the Kumans were all amused, he said to them again in a more serious tone:
"Enough of the joke! I have a question for you, listen carefully! Does anyone here want to go home now?" His shout made the ears of the thousand cavalrymen under him prick up.
"If so, tell me now, and you can go! Because I don't need cowardly worms! Who are you, worms or lions?"
"Lion!" someone yelled, but Lakfe was not satisfied.He rode ahead of everyone, gave his horse a little hop, and turned to face the crowd.
"From what I've just heard, there are only three or four lions at most among you, and the rest haven't made up their minds yet," he taunted, before raising his father's sword into the air and roaring louder:
"Answer me now so the bastards on the other side of the Eshin can hear you too and wake them up in wet pants! Are you worms or lions?"
"Lion!" Hundreds of people roared angrily, and then, Lakfei also roared with them, and soon, the throats of thousands of Kumans released thunderous sounds at the same time. "lion!"
"Okay!" Lakfee roared wildly, "Then today the lions will eat their prey!"
He himself was intoxicated by the roar of the warriors, kicked his spurs, and rode through the whole Hungarian and Cuman army with an inarticulate roar.
Lakfee swung his sword trying to warm up and prepare for the fight, while others misinterpreted this as further encouragement, and more and more people started roaring, but slowly, they stopped shouting "lion" and It's their commander "Lackfell".
Those who didn't know who this lunatic was scurrying in front of them were also aroused by Lakfee. They looked at the coat of arms on his shield and shouted more and more frantically: "White Dragon! White Dragon! dragon!"
When Lakfee returned to his cavalry team and gave the assembly order, more than 6000 riders were still cheering, some shouting his name and some shouting his family emblem.
A thousand Kuman riders gathered in a wide square and slowly moved from the edge of the camp to the grass field of the battlefield under the leadership of Esteban Lakfi.
Lakfee straightened his strong back. On the right was his old comrade-in-arms, the battle-tested Lorinche Toldi, and on the left was his loyal young soldier Bess.
He doesn't know what's in that kumiss, the man thought, but it puts him in a good mood.He looked at Beth, who was riding a horse confidently, and his eyes softened a little.
"I know I've put you to the test for a long time, my boy," he said lovingly, "but if we both survive, I promise I'll make you my squire!"
Hearing this, Bess was so excited that he couldn't even speak, but just nodded.His eyes shone like stars that were slowly disappearing in the sky.
Istvan Lakfi... The commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army, Sandor Kotsky, looked at the Sekai knight not far away and nodded in appreciation. He had just witnessed what happened at the door of the tent.
He is indeed a rare talent, no wonder the king made him a knight, when the sun comes up, I will see how he does...
-
Frederick Habsburg, Duke of Austria and Styria and rival Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, approached his troops in expensive ornate armor, his squires and servants bearing his shining harness His snow-white war horse was brought to the tent.
Before helping Frederick mount his horse, they fastened their masters' belts of weapons, so richly studded that the leather itself could not be seen.
Frederick's long blond curly hair was braided this time, then twisted into a bun, and carefully tucked into a bonnet, covered with a chain mail hood, and finally put on a helmet full of gilt decorations.
The round-faced man who started the imperial war looked like the Archangel Gabriel in full armor.
Only his practical long knight sword is without any decoration, which shows that this duke dressed in gold and silver is not only satisfied with watching from a distance, but wants to participate in the battle in person.
The servants helped Frederick onto the horse and adjusted his long red velvet cloak, so large that it almost completely covered the horse's rump.
A shield with the family coat of arms is tied on his left hand, and a nine-foot lance is held in his right hand. Over the years, most people have only seen Frederick lift a wine glass or pick up a goose leg with his right hand, and they are surprised It was discovered that the Duke of Austria could hold such a heavy weapon steadily.
"This is where our fate is decided..."
Frederick, Commander-in-Chief, cleared his throat and wanted to say something memorable so that future chroniclers may record this great speech and how he inspired his troops to victory with bold words. into victory.
But when he saw that the army of the Kingdom of Hungary had gone to the battlefield, the beautiful words in his mind were stuck in his throat.
"What are they doing?" Frederick asked puzzled, "Who gave them the order to go out?"
"No one, Your Majesty," said Dietmar, the commander in charge of the left wing of the army, "while you were still sleeping, Your Majesty, they jumped into the river to take a bath, and then they all started yelling like barbarians Screaming, scurrying around, and finally ran to the battlefield!"
"They must want to occupy a favorable position on the battlefield." Cavalier Urik Valsi nodded and commented.
But Frederick misunderstood the man's meaning, "So Lord Valsi likes this kind of undisciplined and rude behavior?" He asked sternly, "Then you can join them, damn it, you can even do it Their commander! From now on, I make you commander-in-chief of the Hungarians and Cumans!"
"That auxiliary army is led by Sandor Kotsky, Your Majesty," the knight tried to refuse, "it would be an insult to the Hungarians..."
"Whether they are offended or not is your problem," Frederick told him firmly. "Is anyone else enjoying this indiscipline? Or can we finally put an end to this farce?"
No one dared to speak, the nervous Frederick Habsburg was not kidding, and the knight Ulik Varsi set off with his small party to meet the army sent by the King of Hungary.
It didn't take long for Frederick's entire army to set up a battle formation, and the legions lined up neatly, marching confidently to the designated battlefield.
The sun was already looming on the eastern horizon, and the sky was gradually brightening.Frederick lined up his army in a broad line two miles long, and the Bavarians and Czechs had also arrived.
The armies of Louis Wittelsbach and Johann Luxemburg crossed the Eicing on a front wider than that of the Austrians.
In the slowly falling dawn, two huge armies confronted each other.
The enemy's right flank consisted of thousands of Bavarian cavalry, behind them on the second front Konrad IV von Baierbrunn and his elite cavalry.
The enemy's left flank was Johann Luxemburg's Bohemian army, and the second front consisted of the infantry and cavalry of the Duke of Lower Bavaria.
The center of Louis Wittelsbach's coalition was the infantry from Bavaria and Schwarz. They were staggering in number, but had the disadvantage of not having a single rider.
Although the Cumans had previously raided the camp, the Bavarian-Bohemian army still numbered more than 8000, of which about [-] were infantry and only [-] cavalry.
Frederick's army had nearly [-] cavalry. He was surprised to see his cousin's unexpected army, and his heart felt like it was going to jump into his throat. Calm down a little.
"Our cavalry is three times as many as theirs." He proudly said to Henry.His younger brother commanded the Tyrolean and Carniola armies, next to Frederick, just behind the centre. "But we only have forty thousand infantry..."
"Infantry can never dictate the direction of a battle, Your Majesty," Henry, who admired heavy cavalry, said confidently, "Let Louis' [-] infantry come over, and we will bury them all!"
"That's right," Frederick nodded, "Although our brother Leopold has disappointed us, I don't seem to see the Lord of Nuremberg (Frederick IV Ho Henzollern) banner.
If he joins Louis with his knights, it will cause us a lot of trouble, but it seems that God is on our side for now! "
The early autumn breeze brought them low bells.
"The clock is ringing, it's time," Henry said, "If His Majesty wants to take the initiative, now is the time to attack."
"Yes, that's true." Frederick said softly to himself, as if he had just realized how big a war he was about to face.
His empty stomach had shrunk into a cold ball, and he was thankful for his foresight not to eat anything before the battle, otherwise he would have vomited it all up.
Reaching out to the saddle, he took a few sips of strong liquor to drive away all doubts and fears, then took a deep breath of the fresh, dewy air, and turned firmly to a herald beside him.
"Let the right flank strike at once!" ordered Frederick, "let us start the day with a rain of Cuman arrows, and then let the Hungarian cavalry attack with full force!
The troops of Salzburg and Styria stayed where they were for the time being, leaving only the Magyars on the right to attack the enemy flank! "
The herald bowed and rode to the right-wing corps led by Sandor Kotsky and Urik Varsi to deliver the commander-in-chief's order.
After receiving the order, Urik nodded with a pale face, and looked blankly at this group of strange aliens. He didn't know how these people fought, but he knew that he had to take action, so he immediately made a move. judge:
He let Sandor lead the attack with a large force, and he himself followed the Hungarian cavalry with a small force, lest anyone accuse him of shirking responsibility.
Sandor Kotsky rode ahead of Lakfey and the other captains, and immediately blew the battle horns of the Hungarian and Cuman armies.
More than 6000 cavalry marched amid thunderous roars and the sound of horseshoes, their blood was still boiling, and Istvan Lakfi's speech and example made them thirst for blood, as if they had never drank anything else since birth something the same.
"Kill the Czechs!" Sandor drew his sword and led his army directly to the enemy's left flank. None of them cared about the difference in numbers, they just wanted to kill and win eternal glory.
They are fighters and now is their time to truly live.In the sound of horns, in the sound of horseshoes, in the clang of metal, in the crack of bones, in the howl of wanton, in the roar of death, in the cry of victory, they stood for this moment Live and die for the moment.
At this point, their other problems become trivial and their biggest annoyance is easily forgotten as they focus on hitting the enemy with their attacks and then dodging them until someone yells "We won!" Just stopped.
At this point, their old wounds no longer hurt or itch, their strength has increased tenfold, their nightly nightmares are far away, and their anxiety and gloom are a thing of the past.
They were getting closer and closer to the broad front of the Bohemian army. Lakfee's heart was beating wildly in his chest. Under the layers of iron and cloth, his brain seemed to go blank all of a sudden.
His mind was no longer confused, and every thread of his thoughts was focused on the upcoming confrontation.His sword-holding hand reached behind his back, and with one decisive movement he pressed the face-covered helmet onto his head.
He knew that they had theoretically rehearsed their tactics hundreds or thousands of times, but he was still very worried now, not knowing what would happen in the fierce actual combat.After all they wanted to defeat the Czech army, and the Czechs wanted to finish them off.
"Bows!" Sandor yelled.
In an instant, four thousand Cuman cavalry archers lined up in a wide horizontal line, put the first arrow on the string of the short bow, and shot arrows at John Luxemburg's army.
The King of Bohemia sent his infantry to the forefront, forming a wall of shields with swift and deft movements.They managed to hold off most of the arrows, but some soldiers were still shot, and the Hungarian army continued to roar forward.
"Turn back!" The new order came, and the Kumans pulled their pony to the left just like the night attack two days ago, shortened the formation slightly, rode horizontally in front of the Czech army, and continued to suppress with bows and arrows with the enemy.
"Wedge formation!" shouted the captains of the Hungarian cavalry.The Cuman archers moved away from the front of the enemy infantry, and more than 2000 cavalry armed with lances shot out from behind, directly piercing through the shield wall.
The Hungarian cavalry pierced through the Czech formations like an arrow more powerful than ever before, penetrating deep into the enemy's body, writhing in it, further destroying the flesh.
After the devastating charge, Ulik Varsi's cavalry squad also broke into the Czech army, and finally the Cumans who turned their heads and charged. They exchanged bows for swords, sabers, axes and spears. Thousands of heavy cavalry advanced rapidly on the road opened up, trying to completely tear apart the entire enemy formation.
Soon the enemy's left flank was in hellish chaos, while the rest of the corps of both armies waited nervously, motionless.
"For St. George!" roared Lakfell, slashing again and again with his father's sword, splitting the Czech soldiers at his legs like firewood. "Saint George bless!"
Lorraine Toldi followed Lakfee, and at his side brandished a large spiked mace that most men could not lift with two hands.
The top of the mace was bigger than a child's head, and each blow of Lorranch easily shattered bones, smashed faces into pulp, and dented armor and helmets.
In the frenzy of the battle, all of them, not feeling the blows and cuts they were receiving, just continued to charge forward, the cavalry slowing down and the close combat becoming more and more fierce.
"St. George! St. Michael!" they roared, calling to their aid the mightiest warrior in Christianity. "Saint Laszlo!" Sometimes they added the name of the hero of their own kingdom.
"Saint Wenceslas!" the Czechs yelled back, trying to regroup their ranks.Although the Hungarian and Cuman cavalry raged in the formation, they did not surrender easily, but continued to fight.
The fighting lasted at least half an hour, and only a few of the attackers fell.Of course, Johan Luxemburg's Czech troops had done them no small damage, but their morale seemed unaffected, and they raised their arms, roaring, and went on the attack with renewed vigor.
The forward momentum seemed to have stopped, and Lakfei let his muscular steed gallop back and forth, tirelessly tearing out holes.
Just like what his master said, Tsaba was extremely ferocious on the battlefield, it kicked and stomped, more and more corpses and seriously injured were under its hooves, and the horse showed no sign of retreating.
"Look over there, Estevan!" Lorinche Toldi suddenly exclaimed, pointing forward with the big mace in his hand, with blood-clotting skull fragments, skin and hair stuck to it, "That's The flag of Wittelsbach!"
Lakfe kicked away the Czech he had just chopped off, and suddenly turned his head to look in the direction that Sekai fighter pointed.
Behind the Bohemian army is the Bavarian army, he thought, have we gone this far yet?
He knew that the strongest army of the enemy was the army of King Johann Luxemburg of Bohemia, and besides that, there were only barely fifteen hundred to two thousand cavalry on the battlefield, and the rest were infantry.
A thought flashed through Lakfee's mind: If we crush the Czechs and run over the Bavarians, we win!The rest of the team will definitely be demoralized, and then we just need to clear the field!
"Onward!" he cried, "onward, my brethren, onward! Kill 'em, cut them all down, onward!"
Then, the horn sounded suddenly.
To Lakfee's shock, what he heard was not the horn of attack, but the signal of retreat.
-
Frederick Habsburg looked at the distant battlefield, his heart pounding.
He admired the fighting skills of the Cumans, nodded frequently in recognition of the devastating charge of the Hungarian cavalry, indulged in the music of iron and blood, and watched the more than 6000 people tear the Czech army with his mouth wide open.
He also saw that his cousin's other armies did not move. Frederick himself understood military affairs. He knew that in such a situation, he could not act immediately and all games would be lost. This is what he learned from the chessboard.
"My lord!" said the Archbishop of Salzburg, Friedrich III. von Leibnitz, in a tense tone, "Your Majesty, the Hungarians are about to break through the Czech army!"
"I know, Archbishop, I can see clearly myself." He smiled with satisfaction. "They did a better job than I thought..."
"Frederick, don't you understand?" The archbishop changed to a more direct and serious tone, "Do you want Charlie's army to take all the battle achievements?"
The smile on the face of the Duke of Austria suddenly froze.
The Archbishop was right, he realized at once.For the rest of my life I'm going to have to listen to the crap that the Hungarians won the imperial crown for me!
Then Charlie will not only claim Pressburg, but also take back Mejimurie, maybe he will have his eye on Vienna, or even Passau!no i can't allow this...
"Herald!" He waved to a light rider waiting nearby. "Go to my brother Henry at once! Tell him to let the Hungarians retreat and then attack the Czech army with the whole army of Salzburg and Styria! Let the whole right wing attack, now, now!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The rider nodded and began to rush towards the legion on the right.
Then Frederick had another idea, and he beckoned another herald to come.
"Let Urik take a thousand retreating Hungarians and Cumans and stand with them on the right flank to provide protection for my brother Henry!"
He said hastily, "Put the rest back under Sandor Kotsky's command, and let them retreat all the way to the bridge across from Dornberg! Hold the bridge and don't go anywhere else, because the enemy is still there." Might go through there!"
Of course, Frederick himself knew very well that no one would attack from Dornberg, which was far from the battlefield, and sending the troops of the Kingdom of Hungary there would be tantamount to pulling them out of the entire battle.
Will this offend them?Maybe, let them sulk, Frederick thought, they've done enough.
While they complain, I shall be the sole Emperor in justification, while Charles Anjou can at most boast that the troops he sent out were of some use in the battle.
The horn sounded again, and the [-] cavalry who ignored the numerical disadvantage and fought bravely with the Czechs began to retreat.
-
"What the hell does this mean!?" Sandor Kotsky shouted with a red head. "If the Duke cares so much about that damned bridge, let him stand there with an army himself!"
The commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army was covered in blood and trembling with anger.
In response to the king's order, he led more than 6000 cavalry to fight bloody battles until now. He attacked the enemy two days ago without any loss, and almost completely defeated the Czech army with a single charge just now, in exchange for this kind of insult.
"I want to speak to Frederick Habsburg!" he demanded, growling.At this time Henry Habsburg has led the Styrian and Salzburg armies to the enemy, wanting to seize the battle results of the Hungarian army.
"Your Majesty has issued an order," the herald said solemnly, "The duty of the captain and commanders is to carry out his orders, not to doubt his thoughts!"
"Five thousand excellent fighters are on standby at any time. As long as you give an order, you can destroy any line of defense, but you want us to wait here? You bloody porkers!"
Sandor cursed tremblingly, spitting on the ground, trying to resist the urge to hammer the herald to death.
He had just killed people, a lot of people, and he didn't count or show any mercy, and the unstoppable force still lingered in his arms.
And this herald in clean clothes is no different to him from the foreigners in the Czech army, and he can kill him without any burden.
"Follow His Majesty's orders!" the herald repeated firmly, "otherwise you will be interrogated after the battle, and every one of your men will be guilty of your crimes!"
"You hateful Germans, you bastards without a father..." Sandor, who was disappointed and angry, shook his head, knowing that he had no other choice but to obey. "Come on, let's go!" he yelled to his bloodied warriors, "to that bloody bridge!"
-
Another herald overtook them when they were halfway there.
Before this, the bewildered Ulik Valsi thought he too would have to guard the bridge, but he was relieved by the order from the second herald, and it seems that Frederick did not Then be mad at him.
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Urik shouted excitedly, and quickly assembled his new team: about [-] Cuman light cavalry and [-] Hungarian heavy cavalry, Istvan Lakfi, his Bess, the entourage, and Lorraine Toldi were also chosen.
"Lord Lakfey!" Sandor rode up beside him, "Don't let them kill you!"
"I will try my best, Commander..."
"I'm afraid you don't understand me," said the Earl of Sandor, in a more cautious tone. "Frederick Habsburg has just informed us that he no longer needs us, that he has trampled on our honor. So please look at me with wide eyes, Master Lakfee!
If you think it's going to be a tough fight, or if you think the battle is going to end in defeat, don't try to be tough, get it?You have a bright future and don't need to die here for these poor bugs.
If the enemy gains the upper hand, run away and take everyone to the bridge, we will wait for you here, and then we will go straight back to Hungary! "
Lakfe didn't like this at all, he didn't really want to die for the Habsburgs, or spend years in a Bavarian dungeon, but he was still a warrior, doing what the king wanted and ordered .
He has always believed that he who is not willing to fall by the sword should not be a soldier.Lord Sandor's words were an insult to him, and he didn't know how to respond.Finally, Lakfe stretched out his right hand and pointed to the battlefield several miles away.
"Look, my lord, look at what we have done!" He said cheerfully. "The newly joined right wing will completely destroy the Czech army, and the Tyrolean and Austrian armies are not even out yet.
You don't have to worry, Commander," he flashed a narrow smile, "we've already won this battle, and all I have to do is end it. "
-
Although the King of Bohemia's army had held out for hours, the overall situation did seem to favor Frederick's army.These stubborn beer-drinking Czechs refused to be routed, and their king fought with his soldiers, unwilling to retreat.
Urik Varsi joined the Styrian and Salzburg armies with a thousand cavalrymen, charging and retreating behind them, fighting tirelessly all morning, while Sandor Kotzky He and his five thousand cavalry were just in a daze by the distant bridge.
When the bell towers in the surrounding villages and towns rang the bells of the Three Hours, the 12 soldiers were slightly taken aback: Did the battle really last so long?
The bell sounded as if some kind of divine judgment had begun, and in the next hour, the seventh hour of the battle, several decisive things happened.
The first was King of Bohemia, John of the House of Luxembourg.He fell off his steed and was nowhere to be found.After a moment of chaotic fighting between the warring parties, he miraculously appeared in front of everyone riding a horse.
It turned out that he had been helped back into the saddle by an Austrian nobleman who could have slit John's throat on the spot, but he didn't.He was later declared a traitor for his chivalrous actions.
Then there was a Czech knight, Plichta zoirotína, who was famous even as far as England for his racing achievements.
He too was thrown from his steed, but this time there was no one to lift him up, and the famous champion was impaled by a lance, and died on the field of Myrdorf.
After Pulitza's death, five hundred of his Czech soldiers were disorganized and captured by the troops of Esteban Lakfi and Lorinci Toldi, who led them to the right flank of Frederick's army, leaving They swore off the fight.
Champion Pulitzer's men, thoroughly educated in chivalry, swore on their honor not to interfere in the fight, and then sat despondently on the grass and watched the fight go on.
At this point they were pretty sure that the crown of the Holy Roman Empire would eventually fall on the head of Frederick Habsburg.
-
After seeing the growing advantage of Frederick's army, the elite Bavarian troops who had been waiting for several hours behind the Czech army finally moved.
Louis Wittelsbach, Duke of Lower Bavaria, joined the battle and instantly reversed the situation. Together with the Czechs, his infantry and cavalry began to counterattack Frederick's right flank. The Styrian and Salzburg armies were constantly attacked. retreat.
The original Frederick's right-wing army had advanced more than a mile, and it didn't take long for the reorganized Czech army to push them back to the position where the battle started.
The situation was reversed, and now Henry Habsburg was in a worse situation than Johann Luxemburg, and Frederick, who had been waiting for eight hours, could no longer stand idly by: he gave an order, and the army in the center of the town went to the Suppress the enemy on the right flank to attack.
With the sound of huge drums and horns, Louis Wittelsbach's [-] Bavarian infantry also moved into action.
This includes all kinds of adventurers, mercenaries from city-states and guilds, down-and-out knights, and blind fanatical followers.Although this is a motley army, their combat power is not bad.
At the same time, the Bavarian heavy cavalry on Louis' right flank also launched an attack, rushing towards the weakly defended Austrian left flank.
Thus, the battle between the two rival emperors began at dawn on St. Wenceslas' Day, but only in the afternoon did the whole army strike, and the Battle of the Four Kings officially began, each moment more violent and bloody.
-
Lakfe looked up at the fighting army in horror. "Have you seen it all, Lorraine?" He asked coldly. "What exactly is going on?"
Lorraine Toldi and Bess saw it too, and they couldn't believe their eyes, what on earth was this?
The Bavarian infantry did not evade Frederick's heavy cavalry, but did something they had never heard of: the soldiers had no idea of handling the knights, but aimed at their horses, cut off the horse's hooves head-on, and then Kill the fallen knight.
No one had anticipated this tactic, and the knights did not know how to respond to the growing chaos, and Frederick's main force began to dwindle dramatically.
From a distance, the horses can only be seen falling to the ground for some reason and never getting up again.It was a terrifying sight that made Lakfee's hair stand on end. Suddenly, Frederick's victory seemed to be slowly slipping away, and his possibility of becoming the sole emperor was no longer a certainty.
Lakfe felt that he was getting more and more tired. He could feel the weight of the armor and smell the pungent stench on his body. He had already peed on the saddle four times. No wonder it doesn't smell bad of blood and dirt.
His frantic passion that usually lasted until the end of the battle also suddenly disappeared, and he looked at the battlefield of Mildorf in front of him, only a deep sense of disillusionment.
He sensed that they were going to lose.
Lakfei looked to the east, and the [-] Hungarian cavalry were still guarding a bridge that no one would pass by.
In the intensified battle, Frederick and other commanders seemed to have completely forgotten about these people, and the cavalry had no intention of rejoining the battlefield on their own initiative.
Lakfee suddenly realized that no matter what happened, Sandor Kotsky would not come to the rescue. He regarded the order of the Duke of Austria as an insult. Escape when unfavorable.
Sandor doesn't want to fight anymore, he has made up his mind, so what should I do now?
A terrible bang interrupted his thoughts, followed by crashes, knocks and howls.Lakfei turned his head to the frontal battlefield, but couldn't figure out what was going on.
The center of the battlefield is like a vortex, constantly devouring the forward soldiers.Now everyone joined the fight, the armies mixed, without any tactics, just the clash of flesh and sword.
Most of them were no longer fighting for Frederick or Louis, the throne or some elusive ideal, they were fighting to come home alive, even if it cost dozens of wounds and broken bones. Bones, they also want to be alive at the end of this nightmare.
-
But Lakfei didn't know that the loud noise didn't come from this hellish central vortex, but from the left wing.
Konrad von Baible and his elite heavy cavalry, who had been waiting patiently behind the Bavarian right flank, attacked, but instead of charging from the front to join the Bavarian knights who were fighting the Austrian left flank, they The Austrians, who were at a disadvantage, circled around a large circle and smashed the left-wing army led by Dittmar with a direct blow.
Although Frederick Habsburg had a not-so-masculine pale face, blond curly hair, and soft voice, he fought like a lion on the battlefield.
He did not give up his ideals, he still firmly believed that this would be the day when he won the title of empire, no matter how tens of thousands of people or a few people were behind him, he didn't think he would lose.
He didn't know which side had the upper hand in the chaotic battle around him, but he believed that if they could keep at it, God would give them victory.
"Louis!" he yelled angrily, waving his sword again and again, "Louis, where are you coward? Come out! Come out! Duel with me! Just you and me, like David and Goliath, come Come on, come out!"
But Frederick couldn't find his cousin, who had become his sworn enemy, and he couldn't recognize his face, so he had to search through the confusion for a man with a gilded helmet and coat of arms who looked like himself. It's the duke's man.
However, before the battle began, Louis had already handed over the command to the Bohemian King Johann Luxemburg and his own warrior Seyfried Schweppermann (Seyfried Schweppermann), and he himself and his court knights wore Put on the inconspicuous armor and stay aside, not attracting anyone's attention.
The man who didn't like war but had the virtues of chivalry was now quietly watching from a distance as Frederick, his showy and flamboyant cousin, was buried under his own plans.
In the third hour of the afternoon, four hundred vigorous heavy cavalry, aided by Bavarian barges, crossed the Eicing, avoided the bridges guarded by Sandor Kotzky, and launched an overwhelming attack on the increasingly desperate crowd. final charge.
"Duke Leopold! Duke Leopold is here! We have won!" shouted the soldiers of Styria and Salzburg who were the first to see the procession rushing towards them. "He did not disappoint us! He has arrived! Long live Duke Leopold! Thank God!"
However, the heavy cavalry who arrived at the ninth hour joined the battle without raising any banners, and did not slow down when approaching, but, on the contrary, when they were only a few horses away from the right flank of the Austrian army, they pushed forward. The long hardwood lance began to accelerate at full speed.
"This is not Leopold, you idiots!" Lakfe realized the danger, "It's the enemy!"
The lord of Nuremberg, Frederick Hohenzollern, did not join the fray at the outset, having been hiding in the far north-west since dawn.
At the critical moment of this war, he rushed into the enemy line with his heavy cavalry that he had honed for several years, and with a single push, the future fate of the empire was decided.
The troops of Ulrich Walsey and Henry Habsburg realized that this was no reinforcement at all, but it was too late.
The heavy cavalry rushed directly to the right flank, and a team of less than 500 people completely defeated the Austrian coalition forces, ending the war that lasted for nearly ten hours.
Istvan Lakfi hastily raised his shield, trying to hide his entire upper body behind, his heels planted hard on his steed's thighs, ready to jump away at the wrong moment.
The next moment, the shield of Sekai Knight made a loud bang, and the lance against the shield hit his helmet with a force that could pierce the sky. He choked out a sob, and then there was another loud bang, The world in front of Bailong's eyes was dark.
-
When he opened his eyes again, he was running towards the bridge, and he didn't understand what was going on.
Just now he had thought he was dead, or at least had fallen off his horse, but now he was still in Tsaba's saddle, arms and legs intact, galloping on his back.
He was not alone, and nearly a thousand Hungarian and Cuman cavalry were galloping with him, and they all suffered a lot of wounds.And all around them, Frederick's entire right wing was in flight.
The lord of Nuremberg did not pursue them, and with his four hundred knights he continued to penetrate the enemy's lines, intending to penetrate into the vortex of chaos and kill the Duke of Habsburg or route his entire army.
Lakfe turned his head and looked to the side.
"Oh, no!" He couldn't help exclaiming after seeing Lorinche Toldi.
The burly man was impaled by a lance, which entered his right side of the abdomen and exited the left side of his back.Lorraine kept spitting blood, and his wounds kept making terrible noises, staining the saddle and his entire body red.
Such a powerful impact from the lance was enough to knock a buffalo down on the spot, but the warrior still rode straight on his horse, clutching the reins tightly, without saying a word.
As they approached the bridge, Lorraine fell out of the saddle and closed his eyes forever, somewhere on the south bank of the Eisin, far from home.
"Where are my followers?" Lakfee asked after joining the five thousand horsemen by the bridge, "Where is Bess?"
"He didn't escape with us, little chief," he heard the mournful voice of a Cuman, "and after he put you back in the saddle, those iron riders stepped him into another world."
You could have been my squire, Bess, my boy... Istvan thought, what should I say to your good mother when Charles Anjou's army returns home gray from a lost war Woolen cloth?
"Ride to heaven with St. Michael, my dear friends." Saikai Knight murmured tiredly, his whole body throbbed with throbbing pain.
He urged his steed to gallop again, not noticing the tears streaming from his eyes.
-
After the army at Nuremberg crushed the right flank of the Austrian army, the Czech soldiers who had been fighting before were also encouraged and rekindled their desire for victory. No one thought to question why Friedrich Hohenzollern joined the battle so late .
The left flank of the Duke of Austria was also shattered under the attack from the front and rear, and all those who survived were captured by the wind and rain.
The Chinese army also suffered a devastating blow. Thousands of horses and their owners lay in the red mud, but even so Frederick did not surrender and continued to fight with his soldiers.
Finally, a knight stabs his horse, and the war of the four kings ends.
When the Bavarian knights removed the emperor-like helmet of Frederick Habsburg and dragged the broken man before Louis Wittelsbach, the only Holy Roman Emperor greeted him with a warm message His cousin:
"I've never seen you so popular!"
(End of this chapter)
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