Chapter 2: The Battle of Utrech
I am Mikhail Sorvinnus. Drinker of the eternal spring and adviser to the Reich. It has been 2 years to the day since I began my quest to restore Germinicae, and I record now my work over the past few years. And bloody years they have been. Reich Gelder at my urging has launched a crusade against the pagan blasphemers and their leaders. Many sieges and smaller skirmishes erupt across the kingdom as we slowly push them back and retake what was once ours and spread the word of the lord throughout a once faithful land. The battles are numerous, too many to write down here and still have time to giude our great nation to greater glory and virtue. However on battle worthy of merit does exist, and that is the battle for the city Utrech where the foul leader of the pagan fools resided.
This we knew carried with it a blessing. To cut the head of the blasphemous serpent before it choked us in our sleep. Little time there was and haste was needed so an army was assemble and headed by a trusted general of the Reich to Utrech. Where the heathen resided. However much was spared in the creation of the force and, as has become standard. Conscripts, and worse made up the bulk of fighting men present. But such was the necessity.
A might host it was, with three great battering rams to smash the puny wooden walls the pagans had erected. Yes there were many fighting men present, and though victory was assured it was to be a grim day nonetheless. But this army had one great strength if any, it had diversity. The conscripts who hailed from the peasant class, serfs more suited to tiling a field that bearing arms, but they have spirit and there are many of them. Germanic longbowmen, these skilled hunstmen have they're own standing in the army and are the finest archers in the kingdom they would be a great help in the battle to come. Even the good general himself and his retinue of nobles were present along with a troop of squires that assisted them on this battlefield. However there were some "diversities" that could have been done with out...
The raiders is their official classification. Normally such vile terrible bandits would be hunted down and hung rather than have the honor of fighting and dying for the motherland's benefit. I should not have to suffer their very presence and I find that of all the men assembled in such a force, they should be the last amongst them. If you ask me. They are no better than the pagans cowering behind the walls. Cuthroats, murderers, betrayers and thieves, aye that is what they are. It is they that will do the dying today for not even the conscripts are below them, but enough of this, I waste valuable space in this diary even talking about them and I will not allow them in any way to delay the tale any longer.
The men pushed the rams up and did then come under fire from the archers behind the walls, our longbowmen promptly answered with several volleys of their own which did send the pagans running disrupting their volleys and in return saving our men's lives. Cowards. They shoot our valiant troops but at first sight of return fire they run! I expected little else from men such as these. The Longbowmen felled many of them, as they deserved.
Upon breaking down the gates and two mighty portions of the wall a battle ensued. The archers that were present shooting our troops now drew swords and engaged our troops in a melee. Pagans they may be, but at the least they are well equipped. The leader of these men, Alatheus is his name, arrived with his retinue of men and here the spear armed conscripts proved their worth felling the evil man and many of his guard. The consripts had shown their spirit, many a song will be sung about the common man with naught but spear, shield, and the clothes on his back threw down a man of position and an evil one at that.
The raiders were moved up with most of the light fighting now over, it was now their turn. The mounted ones chased down what was left of a unit of archers that fled the main battle and were now attempting to fire more arrows at our troops, they utterly crushed the pagan fools without a loss. While a fight between some reinforcement sent for from the city center to contain us at the walls and the raiders broke out. It was for all intensive purposes a gritty fight. But before these equally evil but much more robust men the pagan dogs fell like flies. Can they be so low?
They may be evil men, but one thing I will give them is that they are excellent fighters and all that were left fled before them. All save one, and if ever honor existed in these heathens it was in him. For he stood alone against the advancing horde of cuthroats felling as many as 4 of the dogs on his own as they marched up the road. An impressive feat, who knows how many of the dead conscripts outside the walls fell to his bow. Where all others ran he stood and carried out his duty, may god spare him from the damnation of hell and sentence him only to purgatory for his misguided actions. I did afterwards find out his name, he is Elytiir the archer and now many shall know of his valour.
But no matter how noble he may have been he was still a pagan a heart, and an enemy, following his comrades example he fell back to the city square where we would loose his last arrows. Aye, it was quite a fight that broke out in the city center all the remaining pagan combatants had assembled in the city center and were prepared to defend the plaza and their flag to the death, they would not rout now as they have in the past.
A long battle full blood and violence of the worst kind took place. The pillaging raiders set against the pagan blasphemers and every dirty unnoble action thinkable (and some acts unthinkable to win a fight) were used. Methods that even the most dishonest ill meaning man would look on in disgust of were used. Aye, it was the worst kind of fight, the kind of fight that was to the last man. The kind that leaves many dead and more wounded. The kind of fight that all these despicable pillagers were good for! Swords drawn they killed every man in the square without mercy through a show of force and skill at arms, claiming the city.
The last among them to fall was the archer and skilled huntsmen Elytiir. His Bloody knuckles still clutching his sword hilt. He lie on the ground with an empty quiver broken bow and the mask still on his face. We would keep the mask on him, to show him that much respect before the almighty. The lord would not see his face so that he may be spared from the shame of defeat by raiders and following the pagan religion and it's false gods. Taken out finally by the raiders mounted troops in a charge, for the men of foot were too full of cowardice to approach him. They sat on their mounts in quiet respect, for they knew a great warrior had just passed.
But many more would die, in our reclamation. A holy scourge of our lands, to strengthen our borders and our men. For I fear we will need that strength, a great evil weighs heavily on my mind, something worse than these worshipers of a false god. I will see Germanicae ready for it when it comes. In the second age of reclamation, I am Mikhail Sorvinnus and I shall continue to write down the events of this war...