Chapter 8, Part V
The river crossing went unopposed and soon the Roman cavalry was scouting in advance of the army as it moved at a quick pace towards the Turkish camp.
The Marshall hoped the high speed and the far-flung cavalry forces together with the quick invasion would quell any enemy patrols and prevent the Sultan from readying his army.
The first day’s march went as planned, the cavalry could report of only light activity and only one enemy patrol had been spotted and eliminated.
As the army moved on towards the last known location of the Sultan, the enemy activity increased as could be expected, but the cavalry managed to contain most of them. It was likely that the Sultan now knew that they were in the province, but hopefully he was unaware of their position and most importantly that this was the entire force, not just a raiding party.
The day finally dawned when the secret could be kept no longer. The last action between the cavalry and their nimble adversaries had almost had the character of a minor battle and too many Sipahis had survived to tell the tale. As the sun sank behind them Konstantinos ordered the army to march through the night at half speed in order to catch the Ottomans before they prepared, hoping fervently that the exhaustion would not hamper his men too seriously.
As the sun rose the following morning over the Ottoman camp the Muslim warriors were greeted by the sight of the Christian army arrayed in battle formations on the low rise close to the city.
Camped in the shadow of the city walls the Sultan had no choice than to order his army into defensive formation, the city left him no room to maneuver.
Konstaninos waited for the sun to disperse the deep shadow below the wall, he wanted to see the enemy, and then he sounded the signal. As a massive wall of steel and flesh the infantry rolled down the gentle slope towards the waiting Turk. The enemy was haphazardly thrown into formations and only the Janissary appeared to have been able to get their lines straight before the battle.
The armies crashed and locked in a deadly struggle for supremacy. Both sides spared the cavalry for exploiting weaknesses, but soon they were caught in a game of cat and mouse trying to lure the opponent into a trap or uncover a flank of the infantry.
Konstantinos sat on his horse in front of the main cavalry force surveying the battle hoping prying that the shock would make up for the lack of training and morale in his army, what better way to make them believe than presenting them with a superior position to attack from?
Suddenly he saw it, the flaw the weakness in the Ottoman defense. Right below him, in the center, tow auxiliary regiments were being pushed in to cover a gap were two veteran companies had unlinked to the Janisarries on both sides. His men had disintegrated the veterans, but were being overwhelmed by the sheer number of auxiliaries and the gap would be plugged in no time, unless...
“General order those two formations to part ways at my signal,” he pointed towards the two formations in front of the Turkish reordering. The General nodded and a messenger on a fast horse shot forward towards the battle.
The young Marshall, the Emperor’s brother, signaled for his standard-bearer to lift the golden and purple pennant high and as he did a low clanking went through the ranks as hundreds of horsemen lowered their visors and adjusted their arms. Konstantinos followed the messenger with his eyes as he sped first to the left then to the right formation. Once he was satisfied that everything was in order he raised his hand.
Looking again to the filed to make certain he was right, he let his arm chop down and dug his heels into the flanks of his mount. The horse neighed in protest but moved forward at a trot followed by the rest of the cavalry.
A low rumble gave away their intentions even before the horse could be seen to move but it was not possible for the sultan to see the intended point of attack. Konstantinos managed to see further reinforcements being called forward by the Turk, then they entered the low dip at the bottom of the hill and all he could see was the men in front of them.
His own infantry before him parted like the red sea and the young Marshall felt a sudden awe. Then the view of the enemy auxiliaries opened up and he felled his lance feeling more than seeing that the men around him did the same.
Like a scythe of death the heavy Roman cavalry cut through the opposing forces opening up a gap in their lines. Behind him his generals committed whatever cavalry was occupied on the flanks to the charge and sent in the infantry reserves to follow up the charge and strengthen the infantry lines.
A low cheer rose from his tired men as they saw what he had wrought only to replaced by another rumble. Konstantinos was unable to see it, but he was later told what happened.
Just as his cavalry was fully engaged the Turk skillfully released his own horses, a force larger by far than what had been expected. They cut into the unprotected infantry reserves as they crossed form the marshalling point to the battle and then the Sipahis turned towards the rear of the Roman lines.
The Roman lines began to grumble even as they pushed through the hole in the Turkish line. The battle became a race against time, who would crumble first, the Turkish infantry, giving the Romans time to fight the Cavalry, or the Roman infantry, releasing the Ottoman forces to contain the peril in their midst.
Konstantinos saw the turmoil around him and knew he would have only moments before the ordered lines of the attack would disintegrate, he looked about and saw not far ahead the colorful forest of pennants and flags denoting the Sultan’s presence.
Lifting his arm and standing in the stirrups he pointed towards them, and bellowed
“To me To me, we charge the sultan.”
The remaining cavalry flocked around him and in a final effort pulled out of the quagmire of broken infantry and charged with their young Marshall, the last heir of the Royal family, towards the throng of Ottoman Generals and courtiers.
The cream of Roman nobility, the last remnants of the vaunted Roman army hacked and slashed their way through the Ottoman infantry, diminishing in numbers for every foot they gained. Behind them the Infantry realized the sacrifice of the cavalry and pressed further into the Ottoman lines, locking them, preventing them from coming to the aid of the Sultan.
The Cavalry finally broke through the infantry lines; ahead lay only the Sultan and his household guards, a regiment of Janissaries. Konstantinos spurred on his horse and raised his sword, his lance broken long ago in the initial charge. His men yelled at the top of their lungs and followed.
The Janissaries received the charge with competence and once again the cavalry was bogged down in a man-to-man struggle. Konstantinos dispatched a Turk with his sword and looked about, he could almost reach the Ottoman nobles, but not quite, he was amazed to see that the Sultan still remained, but then again, where should he go.
With a final effort he managed to break through and he charged at the young Sultan. Mehmet deftly blocked the first stroke, but the pure force of the young Marshall barreling into him on his horse forced him backwards dropping his ornate helmet. Konstantinos could vaguely hear the cries of dismay from the Janissaries and the low cheer from his own force.
Pressing his advantage he swung again on the bare head of the Sultan. Again the Sultan blocked, but the blade glanced of and hit him on the thigh quickly reddening his pure white silk.
Catching a blow on his dented shield the Marshall almost flung his sword sideways and below the raised arm of the Sultan. Mehmet coughed once as the blade bit into his side and then toppled from the saddle.
For a moment everything seemed to stop. A hush fell on the battlefield; the only sound heard was the crying of the wounded and the battle at the flanks too far away to have noticed.
Then everything started to happen very fast. The Janissaries flocked around the fallen body pushing the Romans away by sheer force, not trying to fight them, the Romans cheered and roused only to be met by an odd silent determination from the Ottomans.
What should have boosted the Roman army, and broken the Turkish morale had the opposite effect.
Heedless of their own safety the Turks counterattacked. Masses of Turkish infantry threw themselves at the Romans slowly forcing them backwards. The Ottomans suffered horrible casualties as the Romans fought back with a dying man’s despair, but still they came.
Finally as the battle moved from the walls and unto the plain, the Romans broke and were forced from the field running haphazardly towards the borders, leaving their wounded and dead behind.
As the night fell Konstantinos were able to gather a small part of the army in relative order and calm and survey the disaster. The Ottoman had been to worn out to pursue, and only time would tell how much his army were left. He knew the Ottomans had suffered equally hard, especially in that last effort, but the battle would still go down in history as lost, even if he had indeed managed to kill the Sultan.
Within a week the young Marshall was back in Morea ready to report another failure to seize Macedonia from the Turk.
