Spoobir
Thread of the Month March 2018
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2007
Medieval Times
In the year 1246 the ruthless King Ludwig of Germany had only one thought on his mind: Conquest! He was a cruel and callous leader and a brilliant military tactition, the most feared king in all of Europe. He quickly quelled the small independant states to the east of Germany then turned his greedy eyes south, towards Italy.
It was in the Winter of 1248 when he sent his first raiding forces down through the mountains. It had been one of the harshest winters in living memory and many of his troops perished during the mountain crossing. Ludwig sent his most trusted general; Johann von Thielmann along with a small force, to attack any towns they came across. Vernazza was one of those towns.
Even as von Thielmann surrounded the hapless village, the villagers inside prepared their defense. The approach of the Germans had been forewarned and Captain Paladin of the Italian militia had brought 70 men with him to aid in the defence. He was a renowned warrior who had become a local hero after defeating a rampaging bandit army some years before. As he watched the Germans assembling he realised there was no hope, every man in the village who could hold a weapon was assembled before him and they were still outnumbered 2 to 1. The German troops were also well trained and well armed. Never the less, they would fight on!
von Thielmann laughed as he surveyed the village, these pitiful Italians would die like dogs. Tactics would not be needed here, he sounded an all out charge.
The hunters of the village had been gathered together with their bows. The desperately loosed volleys into the advancing Germans but even the arrows which found their mark and were not deflected by armour or shield were unable to make any dent in the German numbers
Paladin and his militia buckled as the charge hit them, many were thrown down or killed. The German horsemen pressed forward whilst spearmen followed behind. von Thielmann was enjoying himself as he cut down the peasants before him although he was purposefully steering clear of the other side of the village where Paladin and his men were putting up a fight.
Eventually the peasants broke and fled in fear back towards the center of the village. The horsemen pursued them, and were hacking them down when the numbers finally told and Paladin was killed with a spear thrust to the stomach.
All resistance was over now but von Thielmann did not stop the slaughter until every single man was dead. He raised his sword in triumph and screamed his victory into the sky!
Over the next six months, Ludwig's troops continued south into Italy towards Venice. No one could stad in their way, it seemed.
To be continued...
cool story
