Chapter 49: Larymach’s Surprise Attack (Bonus Chapter—Please Vote)

"Why are there so few of them?"

"This definitely isn't their main force. Just let them through."

Leo watched the small detachment winding through the valley, unable to keep his palms from sweating. The bearded Godfrey was indeed cautious: even with victory seeming all but certain, he still sent a vanguard ahead to scout the way.

Fortunately, Leo had arrived early enough.

Behind him, his soldiers lay concealed among the trees, all armored and ready for battle. Yet instead of Godfrey himself, it was only his scouts who had appeared.

On the other side of the mountain path, Enrico and his Corsican infantry waited in hiding.

"Could they already know we're here?" Giovanni asked, anxiety evident. "With so large a force on the move, the enemy must have noticed. If that's so, aren't we just waiting here to die?"

"How could that be?" Leo replied. "We haven't encountered a single enemy scout on the way here."

Still, Leo's assurance did little to calm Giovanni's nerves. The vision haunting his mind was that of the swift, elusive Muslim cavalry. To every Christian, the Arab light horsemen were a waking nightmare.

But Godfrey was not such a man—or rather, the Germans of the north had yet to adopt such ways of war.

As the vanguard passed and still the main army did not appear, Leo grew uneasy. Could this be a trap? No matter what, the main army shouldn't be so far behind its scouts. Were they, perhaps, lying in wait for them? Or had they taken the Emilia Road instead?

"Giovanni, do you have any ideas?" Leo turned to him. "The enemy's main force still hasn't shown itself. Could they be waiting for us to reveal ourselves? Or did they go by the Emilia Road?"

"How should I know?" Giovanni's tone was tinged with irritation. After squatting half the day in these woods, his patience was wearing thin.

Just as Giovanni was about to speak again, a commotion arose on the far left. Hearing the noise, Leo immediately crept toward it. When he reached the left flank, he saw a force approaching.

It was the army of Lorraine.

Yet, contrary to expectation, Lorraine's troops appeared anything but splendid. All the soldiers were grimy, even the knights, their armor tattered and cloaks thick with dust.

None of them wore their full equipment; armor and weapons were slung across pack horses to lighten their burden. Many knights wore only sleeveless mail, slouched on their mounts as if utterly spent.

"Quick, eat something, drink some water," the veteran soldiers whispered, stooping as they moved through the ranks, urging the younger men.

Nearly every young soldier devoured his last scrap of black bread and washed it down with a little water—so that hunger or thirst would not sap their strength in battle.

After they finished, each man checked his weapons one last time.

When all were ready, Leo donned his armor as well. He shed his clerical robe, pulling on heavy chainmail. The iron plates weighed on him, and with his weapons hung at his side, he felt as though he bore another man upon his back.

"My lord, your weapons."

Corrado brought Leo a longsword and a lance. Taking them, Leo swung into the saddle. Grape, his horse, stamped restlessly, as though it too sensed the excitement of the coming fight.

"Easy, easy..." Leo stroked Grape's mane, glancing over at Matilda.

She had also donned armor. Though she would not join the battle herself, her presence heartened the Tuscan knights.

While Leo and his companions readied themselves, Godfrey too felt a creeping unease.

The forest was too quiet.

"Tell the men behind to hurry," he commanded his messenger. "We must get through this mountain pass quickly."

"Yes, sir."

The messenger nodded and hurried back to relay the order.

Yet, just as Godfrey finished speaking, a sudden commotion arose on the hillside above. At once, his guards tensed.

"Quick, bring the equipment!" they called for the servants, while the knights summoned their squires.

But time was not on their side.

"Attack! Attack!"

A shrill cry rang out from the heights, followed by the blaring of war horns echoing across the mountains.

In an instant, every Lorraine soldier's hair stood on end.

They saw armed knights charging down both sides of the mountain path, bearing down like hammer blows upon their Duke, the bearded Godfrey.

The mark of an elite force is whether it can face the bloodiest hand-to-hand combat without flinching.

The heavy foot soldiers scattered almost at once. They wore little armor—how could flesh and bone withstand such an onslaught? Faced with the tide of armored knights, they retreated in terror.

Yet in that moment, the knights of Lorraine showed what it meant to be battle-hardened veterans.

"Protect the Duke—!"

Without hesitation, the Lorraine knights, led by their elder comrades, rallied around Godfrey.

Cries rose on all sides as the knights formed a living wall about their Duke.

The dismounted knights took the front, raising their shields. In a heartbeat, a shield wall appeared before the Tuscan cavalry.

Leo's men were no less bold. Perhaps it was their confidence in their own strength; perhaps their horses ran too fast to stop. Either way, they did not halt but spurred onward, crashing directly into the shield wall.

In that moment, men and horses were thrown in all directions.

The Lorraine formation shattered almost instantly. They had lacked the time to form a solid shield wall or the support of heavy infantry. Against the full force of a cavalry charge, they broke like butter beneath a hot knife.

Yet the Tuscan knights paid a price as well. They had not expected the Lorrainers to be so tenacious, holding back the horsemen with nothing but their battered bodies.

Leo, who had charged forward with his knights, drove his lance into a Lorraine knight's chest. Yet the man did not let go, clutching the shaft with death's grip, eyes bulging with defiance.

Twice Leo wrenched at the lance, unable to free it. At last, he abandoned it, drew his sword, and struck the knight down.

As the Lorraine knight fell in the mud, Leo lifted his head to the chaos around him.

Dust filled the air; he could barely see. The cries of men and horses, the clash of steel, rang in his ears.

Pisan infantry joined the fray, following the knights to mop up the scattered enemy, tearing the once-solid shield wall to shreds, then wiping it out completely.

Amid the turmoil, the Duke of Lorraine's banner could still be made out.

"The Duke of Lorraine! Capture the Duke!" Leo shouted, sword raised toward the banner.

They saw several knights fighting desperately to carve a bloody path through the chaos, escorting the bearded Godfrey himself.

The knights around Leo instantly gave chase.

But the Lorrainers would not let them pass so easily.

Some of the Lorraine knights, who had been thrown to the ground, rose from the mud and rejoined the fight.

Their dogged resolve chilled Leo to the marrow. He had not expected the knights of Lorraine to be so difficult to overcome.

But with Enrico's arrival, the tide of battle shifted.

"Move aside! Move aside!"

Though a knight himself, Enrico fought on foot with his Corsican light infantry.

They wielded javelins, surging out from behind the Lorraine lines.

Leo's knights immediately wheeled their horses and withdrew from combat.

Barely had they fallen back when the Corsicans loosed their javelins. Hundreds flew, whistling through the air like scythes through a wheat field. The Lorraine knights fell in swathes.

At last, Leo saw his chance to pursue.

"Corrado, Rossi!" he called, summoning his two captains and a dozen knights, all breathless from the fight.

"With me! With me! The Duke of Lorraine is just ahead!"

"After them! After them!"

Flushed with victory, the Tuscan knights' spirits soared.

To press the advantage and capture the enemy commander was a temptation no knight could resist—especially when the prize was the bearded Godfrey himself.

Spurring their horses, they gave chase, following close behind the fleeing Godfrey.

Godfrey, meanwhile, was galloping toward Lucca.

"As long as we reach Lucca, we'll be safe!"