Swiss Arms

Swiss Arms

Chapter 125

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Sir Danton von Seitegren

Life didn't always go as everyone planned. In fact, Danton would say that a lot of things didn't go right. Otherwise, hardships wouldn't exist.

It wasn't the southernmost market town in the duchy, but it came close.

It, however, served as a hub for all towns and villages between Munich and the Alps. This meant that the people here were familiar with many of the roads and villages that he did not know about, including which one the Tyrolian army might take.

"So?" he asked as he turned around. He wasn't in his full plate armor right now, preferring to go in a simple brigandine.

"None of the men-at-arms and knights we brought with us have been seen leaving the premise of the camp," his right hand man and men-at-arms Michael replied.

"So. We don't have a spy among us at least," he grunted. "That is a relief."

And a problem.

If there was a spy among his troops, then he could feel relieved that at the very least he'll be able to take care of one of them instead of having one in his liege lord's army. Since he didn't and everyone was sure there was a spy reporting back to the Duke of Tyrol, this spy was right now close to his liege lord and thus able to report back movements without being so easily spotted.

He took a deep breath in and sighed.

At the same time, it meant that all of the people he'd drafted from his lord's readied men-at-arms and knights were loyal men ready to die for their lord's cause.

It was a relief to know he was surrounded by loyal men and, if things took a very bad turn, die among comrade-in-arms instead of being backstabbed by infiltrators and spies.

"What about you, herr?" Michael asked with a frown. "You said you would meet with the mayor."

"I did," Danton grunted. "And the man was of no help whatsoever."

Michael narrowed his eyes. "Is he uncooperative?"

"No. That's not it," he sighed. "He told me that Holzkirchen would not be the most direct path to Munich, though it was the most used route from Tyrol to Munich."

His lieutenant frowned. "Then…?"

"If we really do make Holzkirchen our base of operation until the duke arrives with his army, then we may need to travel further than expected before we can scout out our enemies."

"That would put a lot of strain on the horses," he noted.

"Aye," Danton said. "That is a part of the problem."

"Just a part?"

"Yes. Just a part. The bigger problem right now is that the people from around Holzkirchen have already seen what could be enemy scouts."

Michael froze. "... But we just got here!"

What the man was trying to say was that they, who were from Munich and thus closer to Holzkirchen than the enemy, just got here. Either Tyrol had been moving far earlier than they and the duke thought or the Tyrolians were moving with some ungodly speed to strike first and strike hard.

"Start sending out the scouts. I want everything between south and east covered. I have a map here with all of the bridges along the Mangfall river, which is east of this town. The mayor told me that the river is heavily forested, so make sure the scouts you send out are keen eyed folks. Got it?"

"Yes, herr!"

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It didn't even take a week before one of his scouts found their enemy.

Or rather, his scouts didn't come back.

"So what do we know?" he asked as he looked around the tent where other knights under his command stood waiting.

"All scouts from the south came back, herr," Michael, his ever competent right hand man, replied. "On the other hand, scouts from the southeast and east have not returned. A single scout from the northeast came back, checking out the road between Rosenheim to Munich, but it doesn't seem like the enemy is using that route."

That made Danton frown. The enemy was obviously in the forest to the east… but why not northeast? That way laid the fastest route to Munich from Rosenheim, which itself was just north of the Tyrolian valley.

… Were they following the river?

No, that didn't make any sense. Moving an army of any decent size by hugging the river wouldn't work. Not only were there no roads that followed the river, the river itself was surrounded by thick and dense forests.

So what was going on?

"It's obvious that their vanguard have ambushes ready in the forest," he hummed. "Which puts us at a disadvantage. Going all the way around the forest will add half a day to travel, and any advance we meet in the northeast will…"

"Leave Munich vulnerable," his rival knight, Jeremiah, caught on. "By taking over the forest, they essentially bought themselves a wall that our horses cannot cross easily and a trap for anyone who enters. It's unlikely Tyrolians can cover the entire length of the forest, but since we don't know where they are, it's the same thing as the whole forest being an enemy territory."

"Yes," Danton muttered. "But we can't afford to go completely around the forest each time we leave as a group."

"Then we should focus on one or two bridges and make sure to completely take them over," Jeremiah suggested.

… It was a simple plan but it was a plan that he appreciated. If the enemy was trying to be tricky, sometimes, the only move they could make to achieve their goal was to power through it.

After all, if he stayed put in Holzkirchen without going out to harry the enemy vanguard and army, then he wouldn't be buying any time for his liege. That was the entire point of their presence here!

"Very well, let's do as you say," he nodded to Jeremiah. "There are three main bridges, but the closest one in southeast of us no more than an hour's ride. We'll take it over and station troops there."

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At least that had been the plan.

Danton had gathered the troops and sallied out from Holzkirchen to secure the bridge. The entire journey across the isolated forests and farmlands had been peaceful without any sight of their enemies.

And then they got to the bridge and the forest surrounding the river.

It was high noon when it happened.

With no enemy in sight, he ordered his men to start chopping down some of the trees nearby to create barricades. While the river itself made for a difficult but ultimately non-fatal crossing, the bridge would make any crossing easy, so it was only natural for them to barricade it as much as possible.

And just as the first tree fell, his soldiers started to fall with crossbow bolts sticking out of their bodies.

"There!" he shouted as he whirled his horse around after spotting one of the ambushers. They wore leaf-covered cloaks! That's why they couldn't see them before!

And as soon as his eyes adjusted… he realized that he had fucked up.

The twangs of releasing crossbows filled the air. His solders brought up their shields, and those who did survived. Those who didn't bring up their shields in time either fell lifelessly from a fatal strike or screamed as they fell.

And even some of the men-at-arms who had brought their shields up fell anyway, bolts sticking out of their sides.

"We're surrounded!" he shouted from the head of a hundred strong group. "To the left!"

The men-at-arms and knights on their left quickly turned to face the enemy while the other half and those in the front turned to protect their comrades' backs with their bodies and shields.

"Advance!"

Those still on their horses thundered around while the footmen almost jogged as they moved cautiously with the shields held high.

Thickly forested this place may be, it wasn't thick enough to stop horses from flanking them.

They still had time to reach the ambushing crossbowmen before they re-.

T-T-T-TWANG!

-load?

The advancing men-at-arms and knights hesitated as even more crossbow bolts came flying out of the forest and struck their shields.

It's been less than ten seconds since they shot! How did they?! Did they have add-?!

TTT-T-TWANG!

His eyes widened as he saw one bolt coming for his chest. He whirled but -.

Danton fell out of his horse and tumbled onto the ground. George, his warhorse, stumbled and then fell over to the side with a gurgling neigh. He got up as quickly as he could in his armor and saw it. The two bolts that had been meant for him. Or had George been their target?

All he knew was that George was dead, he was on the ground without his warhorse, and t-.

TWAN-N-N-NG!

He stumbled.

Pain blossomed across his back.

He looked around saw his men's formation breaking apart.

No. He was … he needed to -.

He stumbled again, backwards this time, as he felt something striking him in the chest.

Danton looked down.

Ah.

That was a bolt.

He let out a wheezing gasp before he fell sideways.

As he felt his breath leave him and the light began to fade, he saw crossbowmen in green leaf cloaks standing up from all around him and coming out of the forest. Their crossbows were still aimed at them.

'Don't. Stop. We surrender…' he wanted to say.

They kept firing.

The last moments of Danton's life was watching men who had trained for years to fight for their liege lord dying in vain against peasants wielding crossbows that shot way far too quickly to be normal.