Chapter 53 Chapter Nineteen

Zbyszko hastily asked how many cavalry and infantry they had, what formation they were in, and how far apart they were; at this moment the Muds told him that they had only one hundred and fifty warriors in all, of which fifty The cavalry, led not by crusader knights, but by secular knights, marched in ranks, with empty chariots save for some spare wheels; Opened the road, searched the woods and bushes; and the Zumud at last said that the force was only about a quarter of a mile away from us. Zbyszko was not too pleased to hear that they were advancing in a tight lineup.Experience had taught him that it was not easy to break through a well-ordered Germanic procession, which, whether retreating or fighting, would defend itself like a wild boar pursued by hounds.On the other hand, he was glad to hear that they were separated by only a quarter of a mile, for he reckoned that the men he sent to cut off their back had already done so--so If the Germans were routed, none of them could escape.As for the outposts in front of the troops, he did not care much, for he knew from the beginning that this was going to happen, and he was prepared; Quietly catch them one by one.

But this last order seemed unnecessary, as the scouts were already advancing with haste.The Shimud people hiding in the bushes by the roadside had a clear view of the advancing team, and they were now stopping to discuss at the turning point.In the lead was a strong, red-bearded German, who made a sign to them, and told them to be silent, and to listen.Obviously he hesitated for a while, wondering whether he should go deep into the forest or not.At last, as he heard only the pecking of the woodpeckers, he evidently thought that the birds would not be so free to work if someone had been hiding in the woods.So he waved the procession on.

Zbyszko waited until they had approached the second turning, went to the side of the road, and at the head of his well-armed troops, Macko, Czechs, and two noble volunteers from Lenkavitri, Three young knights from Cuihanov and a dozen or so nobles of Shimud with excellent weapons.There is no need to continue to hide.Zbyszko had only to stand in the middle of the road, waiting for the Germans to jump on them as soon as they appeared, and break up their ranks.He thought that his Zemudians could deal with the Germans as long as they fought. There was a moment of silence, only the usual voices in the forest were breaking the silence, and soon I heard the voices of people coming from the east; although the distance was still quite far, as the group of people got closer and closer, the voice became more and more clear .

Zbyszko seized the opportunity and took the team to the center of the road to form a wedge.Zbyszko himself was at the tip of the wedge, followed by Macko and the Czechs, and after that came a row of three, and after that a row of four, all well equipped.Everything was in place except the "wooden" spears for the knights, which, however, were a great hindrance in forest warfare; they were now preparing the first attack with the Shimud A light spear of the kind used by men, and a sword and an ax in the saddle are ready for use in the heat of combat. Halava listened intently; then he whispered to Macko:

"They're still singing, they're dying!" "But to my surprise, the trees blocked our view from them," Macko replied. Zbyszko now felt that it was no longer necessary to remain silent, and he turned and replied: "Because the road passes over the river bank, it always twists and turns." "But how happy they are!" repeated the Czech. From the tone, one could conclude that the Germans were singing obscene songs.It could also be heard that there were only a dozen or so singers singing, and they always sang a refrain, making the singing sound like thunder echoing far and wide in the forest.

Thus the Germans marched joyously and carelessly to their deaths. "We'll see them soon," Macko said. His face suddenly sank, revealing a ferocious expression like a wolf.He had always had a grudge against the Crusader knights, for he had once been shot at by the Grand Master when he had taken a letter from Prince Witout's sister to rescue Zbyszko.At this moment his blood boiled, and his body was aroused with vengeful anger. "Whoever meets him first will be doomed," thought Hlavar, glancing at the old knight. Then the wind blew a clear, repeating Germanic voice:

"Be Dalada! Be Dalada!" The Czech immediately recognized that it was a familiar song: Bi den rosen, er wol mac, Tandaradei! Merkanwamir'z houlet lac.… The singing stopped suddenly, for there was a croaking sound on both sides of the road, as if the crows were holding a meeting in this corner of the forest.The crusader knight could not understand where all these crows came from, and why they were not coming out of the tops of the trees, but out of the ground.In fact, the first line of soldiers appeared around the corner, and when they saw many strange riders facing them, they stopped there as if rooted.

At that moment Zbyszko sat down in the saddle, kicked the horse with spurs, and galloped forward, shouting: "Come on!" The rest of the people rode off with him.The woods resounded with the terrible cries of the Zmuds.Only two hundred paces separated Zbyszko from the enemy, and in the blink of an eye the enemy raised a forest of spears at Zbyszko's cavalry; Attacks from both sides of the forest.These Polish knights might have admired the quick tactics of the Germans, but they had no time to wait and see, because their horses were all galloping towards the dense German phalanx.

Zbyszko was relieved that the German cavalry were near the ranks, behind the troops; in fact, although they rushed to the rescue at once, they could neither arrive in time nor bypass the infantry to meet the first attack. .The Shimuds rushed out of the bushes like mountains and seas, and surrounded them like a nest of poisonous wasps whose hive has been trampled over by a careless traveler.At this moment Zbyszko and his men threw themselves on the infantry with all their might. The attack didn't work.The Germans stuck the ends of their heavy spears and axes in the ground, and held them firmly, so that the swift horses of the Zemudians could not break through this wall.Matsko's horse took a tomahawk on the shin, raised its fore hoof, stood up on its hind legs, and then fell face to face, sank in the mud, and death flew for a while over the old knight's head. ; but he has rich experience, has seen many battles, and is very adaptable.So he quickly slid his foot out of the stirrup, and grabbed the tip of the short spear that was stabbing him with his strong hand, not only preventing it from piercing his chest, but allowing him to borrow the force.So as soon as he was free, he bounded among the horses, drew his sword, and swooped down like a hawk on a flock of cranes, slashing furiously at spears and tomahawks.

In the midst of this fierce fight, Zbyszko leaned back on his horse, thrust out with his spear--it broke; and he also drew his sword.The Czech believed in the axe the most, and he threw the ax into the Germanic crowd.For a while, he was unarmed.One of the two "Vrodikas" who accompanied him was killed; the other, seeing this, howled like a wolf, and astride his bloodstained horse , simply stood up, and blindly rushed among the Germanic crowd for a while.The Shimud nobles used their sharp knives to cut the spear points and wooden handles. Behind the spear points and wooden handles, they saw those "Knehet" (ordinary soldiers) with frightened faces, but angry eyebrows, full of determination and tenacious.But the knights still couldn't break through the formation of the Germans.The Zemudians, who were in charge of the flank attack, also quickly retreated from the Germans, as if fleeing from a poisonous snake.Of course they immediately charged the Germans with greater force, but without success.Some of them climbed the trees in the blink of an eye and shot arrows at the Knechts, but the German commander, seeing this, ordered his soldiers to retreat in the direction of the cavalry.The Germanic also began to shoot arrows, and now and then the Mudd fell down, clutching at the moss in agony, or writhing like a fish out of water.The Germans were surrounded on all sides, and there was no hope of victory, but they knew how to defend themselves, and at least a few managed to escape the disaster by retreating to the shore, if possible.

None of the Germans thought of capitulation, for they never let their captives go; and they knew that no mercy could be expected from a people driven to despair and rebellion.So they retreated silently, all together, shoulder to shoulder, raising and lowering their javelins and broadaxes; retreated to the side of their cavalry, but their cavalry was fighting a desperate battle with another enemy army. At this moment a miracle happened which decided the fate of this bloody battle.This was caused by a young "Vrodika" of Lenkavitri, who, seeing his companion killed in action, was so frantic that he stooped from his horse and picked up his companion's body, intending to place it in a safer place. to avoid the corpse being crushed by horseshoes, and wait until the battle is over before collecting the corpse.But just at that moment he went mad again, and completely lost his senses, so instead of leaving the road, he rushed at the German soldiers, and flung the corpse at the points of their guns, leaving the corpse full of holes; The tip was also bent under the weight of the corpse, and before the "Knehet" could draw his spear, the roaring man charged in, broke through the formation, and blew up like a great storm. People are turned on their backs. In the blink of an eye, a dozen hands were stretched out to him, and a dozen spears pierced his horse's belly, but the formation was disrupted, and a nearby German nobleman rushed into the German column; Then Zbyszko and the Czechs all rushed in, and the confusion became more and more terrible.The rest of the Shimud nobles followed suit, grabbing the corpse and throwing it at the point of the enemy's spear, while the Shimud attacked the flank again.The ranks of the Germans, which had been well ordered, were shaken, shook like a house with its walls torn apart, and crumbled like a log split by a wedge. The battle suddenly turned into a massacre, and the Germanic lances and broad axes were useless in close combat.Instead, the cavalrymen's swords were cut across their helmets and necks.The horses charged straight into the crowd, trampling the hapless Germans to pieces.It is easy for cavalry to slash down while sitting on a horse, and they all take advantage of this opportunity to slash and kill the enemy non-stop.Ferocious warriors came from both sides of the woods, wearing wolf skins and thirsting for blood like wolves in their hearts.Their howling drowned out the pleas for life of the dying.The vanquished threw down their weapons, some tried to escape into the forest, some pretended to be dead and lay on the ground, some stood upright with snow-white faces and bloodshot eyes, and some prayed.One of them, "Knehet", obviously went crazy, even played the flute, looked up, laughed, and was later smashed in the head by a Shimud stick.The forest ceased to rustle, and death enveloped the land. At last the little army of crusading knights vanished into nothingness; only now and then from the woods came the sound of little bands fighting, or a frightening cry of despair.Zbyszko, Macko, and all the cavalry now galloped towards the opposing cavalry.They were still defending themselves, forming a cone.This was the tactic which the Germans always adopted whenever they were surrounded by a superior enemy.The knights of the Crusader cavalry had good horses; they were better equipped than the infantry; and they should be commended for their bravery and tenacity in fighting.None of them had a white cloak, and they all came from the Prussian middle class and minor nobles. Once the knights were recruited, they had to come out to fight.Most of their horses were also armed, and some had armor; but all had iron hoods on their heads, with a steel horn protruding from the centre.Their commander was a tall and strong knight, clad in a dark blue mail, and a helmet of the same color, with a steel visor covering his face. A downpour of arrows fell on them from the depths of the forest, but it did them no harm.The Zemudian infantry and cavalry came closer and closer like a wall, and surrounded them tightly, but the Germans held on desperately, stabbing furiously with their long swords, and a circle of corpses lay in front of the horses' hooves.The soldiers attacking on the front line wanted to rest and recuperate, but they couldn't.It was crowded and chaotic all around.Dangling spears, shining swords, dazzled.The horses started neighing, chewing, beating posts, kicking.Then the Shimud nobles rushed forward; Zbyszko, Halava, and the Majurs also rushed forward.Under their violent blows, the group of Germans began to shake, like a forest under the blow of a storm, but they were like loggers, hacking and chopping in the depths of the forest, enduring with all their strength. Fatigue and heat continued slowly. Macko ordered his men to collect the long-handled battle axes of the Germans on the battlefield, and distributed them to about thirty brave warriors, and let them charge towards the crowd of Germans. "Chop the horse's legs!" he shouted.Immediately there was a peculiar effect.The swords of the Germanic knights could not reach the Zemudians, but the Zemudians' tomahawks were mercilessly splitting the horse's legs.Only then did the knight in the blue armor realize that the battle was coming to an end, and that he had only two ways out - fight a bloody path and retreat, or stay and die. He took the first way, and for an instant all his knights turned their faces in the direction from which they had come.Shimude immediately chased after them.But the Germans, slung their shields over their shoulders, slashed at the front to both sides, broke through the attacking ranks, and sped eastward like a hurricane.But the troops of the tribe that intercepted the rear rushed forward and attacked them head-on. It was knocked down.The road to the castle was clear, but it was not safe to escape there, and it was too far, for the Zemudian horses were much faster than the German horses.The knight in the blue armor knew it all. "Unlucky!" he said to himself. "None shall escape; perhaps I may pay the price of my own blood to save them." Then he called his men to a halt, and, not caring whether anyone obeyed his order, turned and met the enemy. Zbyszko took the lead and ran towards him, and the German cracked his visor, but neither smashed it nor wounded Zbyszko.At this moment Zbyszko, not only did not fight back, but seized the knight by the waist, and tried to drag him off his horse, trying to capture him alive.But because of the excessive force, the horse's girth came loose, and both riders fell to the ground.They wrestled for a while, and Zbyszko's extraordinary strength of arms overwhelmed his opponent at once; he pressed his knees on his belly, and knocked him to the ground like a wolf in the woods does to a dog that dares to attack a wolf. But there was no need to pin down the German, he was already unconscious.At this moment Macko and the Czech arrived galloping.Zbyszko shouted: "Quick, here! Get a rope!" The Czech jumped off his horse, but when he saw that the German was not moving, he did not bind him, but disarmed him, untied his arms and straps, and pulled out the "mitzy" from the straps. Ricaudia," he cut open his girdle, and at last twisted away his helmet. Seeing the knight's face, he sprang back, stood up, and cried: "My lord! My lord! Come and see!" "De Rausch!" cried Zbyszko. Pale and motionless, de Lauche lay there like a corpse, his eyes closed and his face covered with sweat.