Temple Sword

Chapter 201 Slavonia

1323, Moon of the Holy Virgin (August)
North of Zagreb, Slavonia
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Ever since the news that the old king seal was replaced by the new king seal reached Janos Babonik's ears, he had been worried that his power would be taken away.

Since then, he has been unable to eat and sleep, thinking about his precarious title of Governor-General at all times.

He knew that Charlie was not at all happy with him lately, and his spies told him that a formidable army had left Visegrad, passing through Sopron, recruiting without stopping, led by Miklos Gutekler With Germany heading south, Janos knew he had to act.

If they thought I was going to sit back and watch my life's work go to waste, they were so wrong!So he thought, and immediately sent messengers to each of his relatives, to his grown son, and to his former ally Istvan Kotmanich.

However, the governor of Bosnia, who had allied with him a year earlier to fight against Muladen Subis, had no intention of opposing the wishes of the Hungarian king this time.There was no threat to his power in Bosnia, and he had no reason to betray his sovereign.

In the end, the Babonicks were left alone.In desperation, the Governor of Slavonia emptied most of his coffers and commissioned his men to hire mercenaries.

It was only then that rumors were already spreading among his cities, maybe someone from the court of Visegrad paid to spread it, who knows, but the truth is, everyone knew about the army sent by the king this time How horrible.

They say that in the army of the bloodthirsty Hound Miklos Gutkleder there are some of the most fearsome knights in the empire, such as the white dragon István Rakfi, and the former Templar and Lily Knight Ann. Tal Bartor, a legendary warrior no one can hurt.

After hearing the news, people deserted Babonik's house in droves, and in the end, even Governor Janos' steward deserted him.

For three days on No.20 of this Holy Virgin month, Janos Babonik led his army of less than [-] soldiers to fight.

His army finally camped north of Zagreb, on the south bank of the Lonia, a tributary of the Sava, connected only by a narrow stone bridge.

The governor didn't want to be trapped in the castle. Doing so would obviously do more harm than good. No one would come to help them. When the food in the city was exhausted or a disease broke out, they could only become lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

"We will fight them in the open, under the watchful eye of God," said Janos, calling his commanders and captains to his camp tent, "and the river will supply the flanks of our army. Adequate protection, they could not have crossed the bridge and the river at the same time.

If they try to squeeze the stone bridge, we can take them down one by one, maybe there are more of them, but we have the terrain advantage! "

As soon as the voice fell, the horn of the sentinel sounded nearby.The officers rushed out of the tent and saw the situation outside. The blood on their faces disappeared the fastest among them was the governor himself.

On the hilltops blocking the northern horizon, the vanguard of the Anjou army emerged.

Few people in the world could see Miklos Gutkled's smile, and most of them died soon after seeing this scene.

He only smiles when he smells victory, and before he takes down his prey with his sword or other weapon, he looks them in the eye and smiles.

This time Miklos knew he had won when his vanguard captain informed him of the number and position of the enemy.As he listened to the report, he couldn't help but put that horrible, devilish smile of satisfaction on his face.

On the north bank of the river was a large plain, where the whole army could camp, and be out of range of the enemy's bows.

The plain lies at the foot of broad mountains, densely forested to the north, and Miklos Gutkled, a more experienced and cunning commander than Bianos Babonik, heard of the vanguard According to the report of the army, he can hide more than half of the army in the forest.

"We camped at the foot of the mountain on the north bank of the river with three thousand soldiers and all our servants," he announced. All the heavy cavalry are hiding in the forest, waiting for further orders.

I want them to underestimate our strength and not know our true numbers until we have a battle plan ready. "

"However, Lord General!" the person riding on his right said cautiously, "Everyone in the enemy camp knows that there are Lord Lakfey and Lord Barto in your army, if they hide in the woods, it may make people suspicious The veracity of the rumors."

"Really?" Miklos looked at him thoughtfully, "Okay, then we'd better let them take a good look first."

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Janos Babonik tried his best to conceal his true thoughts, watching what happened on the other side of the river with a nauseated stomach.

The riders who appeared on the top of the hill in the morning disappeared soon after. Three hours later, a large number of people and horses reappeared in his field of vision, holding flags, spears, riding horses, and troops dressed in leather and iron armor came down from the hillside. Occupied the open space below.

Then, they began to unload the goods on the wagon at the foot of the mountain, and began to set up the camp without haste.

"They're telling us they're not scared at all," muttered Janos Babonik, "these pompous bastards..."

When the whole camp was established on the north shore, the servants erected a main red and white tent on the top of the hill, with the banner of Charles Anjou on it, and the entrance flanked by the Gutclards The Silverfang Banner, so that all may see who the true lord of the land is.

Janos snorted when he saw this, and turned his back to the river bank.When he was about to walk into his tent and prepare for the battle ahead, one of his captains shouted, "My lord governor, look! Three riders holding white flags!"

The man stopped, turned and walked back.Among the [-] soldiers and servants on the opposite bank, three riders rode out slowly, waving white flags, and approached the only stone bridge connecting the two banks.

"Maybe they want to negotiate," said the captain eagerly, "maybe they didn't come to fight us."

"Stop daydreaming," Janos Babonik put his hands over his eyes to block the sun. "The riders here are not ordinary people. We'd better go forward and confront them."

At the north end of the bridge, three court knights waited in their saddles. All three were powerful warriors who had proven themselves on the battlefield alone.

The trio was headed by Miklos Gutklade, clad in iron, riding on his black steed, with a white banner casually raised in his left hand.

On his left is Antar Bator and on his right is Ishtwan Lakfi, in helmet, cape and full armor.

While waiting for the representatives of the other party to arrive, they took a good close look at the stone bridge and the river bank.The stone bridge seemed solid enough to bear considerable weight, but it could only hold up to three riders or four infantry abreast.

Therefore, they cannot rely on this bridge alone to launch an attack.The banks were gravel, not steep, and it looked as though they could cross without difficulty.

"Fool," muttered Miklos as he watched Janos Babonik appear on the other side with his two riders, "he must have thought he was safe on the other side of the river and didn't know that his What will your face look like..."

The riders on the other side stopped in the middle of the bridge, so Miklos signaled to his commanders, and also went to the middle of the bridge.

(End of this chapter)