In Search of Nibelungen - part VII

"Wotcha doin here" formed on his scarred lips. I lip read it perfectly.

No voice came with the movement as his face was tense with exertion as he drove his long broadsword into my chest. It felt cool. It was greasy with my blood as I clutched my chest as he drew the blade out. My left hand fumbled instinctively to block the hole formed; when with a sucking kiss the blade came free of my chest. Blood trickled through my fingers. Warm blood. My blood. It tickled the hairs on the back of my hand. I shuddered. I felt wet warm blood on my back also. The blade had gone right through. I could feel my blood pulsing in the major wounds and seeping from several others, I could smell its rich fresh tang, not even fine Eau de Charouse and a liberal coating of gunpowder could cover it. Only just aware of what was happening I knew I had reached the end.

Parts of my mind and body started to act independently. My senses dissociated. Time slowed down and almost stopped.

My long term memory started playing my life before my eyes. What am I doing here? I am here do die [remember not to answer rhetorical questions]. "Do your lessons and say your prayers or you will come to a bad end" said old Father Petre our first tutor. "Scaramouche" he swore after sitting down. Later we stood on a ladder and watched through a high window as he spoke to Mother. "I will not teach those unruly twins they left pigs dung on my cushion. They have no sense with all their wild tricks. They are idle, rash, have no conscience, no reason and I quit." He saw me as he left "You will die soon unless you listen to the little voice of reason in your head". I laughed then but have been disturbed ever since.

"Has the pansy wilted?" the Sices du Sices would say. They would spread their mock concern all over the court. Losing one son is unlucky two smacks of carelessness. Your bad taste and poor planning in having eight sons may have been serendipitous they would say to Mother and Father. Father would be philosophical. Mother would be sad, Lucerne would be even more restricted. She would be reminded of the loss of her favourite. And now I would die here in the Eisen mud. My fine silk suit was liberally covered form top to bottom in blood, gore, and all kinds of muck.

Another shirt bites the dust. Not even redeemable in shanty-town for rags. Not even Pistol could get anything for it. I could hear him try: " fine silk shirt, one owner only, low mileage, only worn to church on feast days - why is it for sale you may ask? Fashions have changed moved on and that spot is just a little collateral damage; a bit of high jinks nothing to trouble yourself about."

Why did I challenge the scarred veteran?

Scarred veterans raised the vision of Captain Max at the Leveque War College. On those hot dreamy summer days he would sneak up behind you, yell "think fast" and king hit his fist at your head. If you didn't dodge or parry the results were nasty. None of our year died but I was knocked out once. When Amvrose brought me to, I leapt at Max. He deftly pinned me to a wall. Then as he painfully screwed my arm up my back he explained that he was doing this for my benefit. "You must learn to do vot werks, if vot you do not verk, then if you not dead you change" he hissed in my ear. I won't press charges against you if you do detention for the rest of the month. I reluctantly assented. My elder cousins had told me that the staff of the College had the right to assault any student and that no student had the right to strike back without permission.. Detention involved being used as a punching bag by Max and his favourites. What had I learnt? To drink too much cheap wine and watch out for Max. But I had toughened up and my feet remembered those long detentions. Think fast.

Think fast. Time started slowly forward. My feet had already responded
and I now turned my right side to face. In a different situation we might have been mistaken for dancers, the master demonstrating to his adolescent charge were his hand goes on her shoulder. Her hand fits inside his shoulder her other on his chest then they push away and the Rumba goes on.

The cool winter's sun shone from my right and cast my chest into shadow. I didn't need to look down. I felt the warm blood oozing on my left hand. I looked into the soldiers dispassionate eyes "We have come from all over the World to defend Freiburg with our blood, now it is your turn to bleed" I said. It made him start back and a flicker of fear crossed his face. He struck well and low. Think fast. I parried the blow with a deft block to the left. He struck again but it was only a flesh wound. Think fast. Then I darted forward before he could recover from the follow through of his blow and wounded his flank.

Think fast. I circled to his wounded side and started to hit successively.

My weakest blow he tried to desperately parry but I still got through soon
he was in the same wounded state I was. But I was master now I confidently struck and parried and struck again. Then he was at my feet, dead. His now sightless eyes watched me still. Nine Thousand odd men looked at me over his body. But the were on the other side of this field of gore, corpses and mud. I turned in a daze. Four thousand of our side were watching and cheering. I forced one foot in front of the other and picked my way among the body bits back up the slope and into our lines. Unknown faces smiled and me and willing but strange hands helped me across the barricades. I have never been so elated or fatigued in all my life. And this was only the start of the battle.

The rest of the battle was a blur. I saw Eduarde capture the enemy standard and take it through our lines. Franz drew our line and broke their line and fought several personal duels. Pyorgi seemed to always be dancing and cavorting at the front, on the embankment. Pistol and Giancarlo dropped out of my sight - although I learned later that Giancarlo had actually taken up our banner. We continually took damage from the enemy soldiers, shrapnel and bullets. Medics occasionally appeared to partly revive us. Amvrose appeared to me and fixed my chest so that I could breathe easier.

The battle had started well for us but the enemy soon rallied, it looked as if the tide of the opposing numbers was going to overwhelm us, but with men rallying around the banners held by Eduarde and Giancarlo, we prevailed. Miraculously we all survived. The final encounters were against fresh reserves making them particularly tough. All battle I had been thinking of strategy and I had tantalising and brilliant ideas. But in my dazed state they wouldn't crystallise or get past my tongue.

So what was I doing here? Following Franz von Tannen and seeing that his Dracheneisen mine didn't fall into the wrong hands? Hanging around with these companions learning to do something useful? I don't know.

I cast my mind back. Had it only been two weeks ago that we had met the Nibelungen? They had sent two of their number Erich and Wulf with us to Freiburg. we travelled through a quiet and vacant land. Although early winter it was sunny and reasonably mild. all the military encampments were empty and the roads deserted. The peasants subdued. It seemed the whole land was holding it's breath.

Then we saw the refugees. From Freiburg with news. Armies were marching on it. Freiburg was under siege. Franz spoke "Freedom is worth defending." A small crowd of fellows joined us travelling towards our Eisen home. We picked up the pace and we went as fast as horses carrying the likes of Pistol and Pyorgi could. More and more refugees and Franz rallied more men by the time we crested a low hill and could look down the valley of the Rotstrom. It was not a pleasant sight. Through various smokes we could make out the army of Stefan Heilgrund to the south of the city numbering about 25,000. To the north of the city we could see the army of Fauner Posen about 35,000. The distant crump of their artillery let us know that their siege train was there also. Heilgrund's hadn't appeared.

As the city was encircled we needed to get through the lines. we chose Heilgrund's because we had met him and it was an easier path. We dressed like the Nibelungen and with them and their hammers in the lead we passed through Heilgrund's lines. No Eisenfürst messes with the Nibelungen lightly. Passing by Stefan and his aides camp he looked at us. Franz silently saluted them and they saluted back.

Once through the hastily erected earthworks the city was in chaos. Besides fires, smoke looting and shelling throngs of people crowded the streets. Some were residents with some belongings preparing to flee at night through Heilgrund's lines. Some were soldiers or guards preparing to defend what was theirs or the city. One bystander bemoaned the absence of Kelby Loring. Another told us that Drachenheim manor was about to be looted.

We pressed as fast as possible to the manor and arrived in time to enter the shattered door to witness the devastation there. On the floor a looter
lay with a smoking pistol sans his head. Armin lay nearby with his old blunderbuss. His last poignant words were to save the city as all else had been lost.

All the furniture in the manor appeared to have been used in a vain attempt to stave in the door in the cellar. The door appeared to have been finely buffed, a mute tribute to the massed pistols and muskets used on it. Leaving this ruin and crossing the river we saw a mass of boats. One stood out to our eyes. The "stolen kiss" had lived up to its name and Pistol swore that it was Bad Bob at its tiller [although I thought it was Gentleman Jim].

We arrived at the Stein and Wilma Probst was trying to keep some order. She drew us aside. Heilgrund and Posen must have found out that Trague's mine is exhausted. Trague will no longer be an Eisenfürst. Just then Trague appeared "The experiment is almost complete and now its ruined" he wailed.

"My book is almost complete why can't this have waited a bit longer". we tried to comfort him with the news that he now had a new mine just under his doormat. He seemed to regain himself and called out for Kelby Loring.

"He has forgotten more strategy and tactics than you'll ever know" he called.

Nobody had seen him since the day before yesterday. We went to the Wachunde office and it had suffered considerable damage. We helped one of the Wachunde out from the rubble. He informed us that Kelby had gone to the Drachens's Tooth. We set out. We met a large mob of never-do-wells nearby on the bridge. Pistol easily infiltrated the mob. He found out that they were howling for the blood of Kelby and he was holed up across the street and that pistol shots kept on killing members of the mob. Pistol returned to tell us this liberally spattered in exploded brains etc. The mob became aware of our presence and pistol dissolved amongst them. A melee broke out. I attempted to get the "Cold Porridge Kampegruppe" forward to the action. The rest of the party took out the ringleaders of the mob and Pistol encouraged the rest to flee from the back. I turned around to find the fracas over. Pistol then asked about powder storage. I said at the College we had a visiting lecturer Guy Fawkes who told us that barrels of gunpowder must be carefully stored especially in late autumn and winter.

We stored Don Carlos gunpowder near the river. We stopped some looters and deserters. Kelby was installed as general.

We then went as envoys and spoke to Stefan Heilgrund. For 1000 stone of Dracheneisen [out of estimated 40,000] he promised not to attack unless Posen threatened to take the Stein. Next we went to Posen's camp and were thrown out after Eduarde made his proposal. We were saved this time out of her respect for the flag of truce. If we are ever seen again by her we will be killed.

Strategically there are three areas on the northern flank. With non-aggression with Heilgrund; the Mansions was reinforced from 2 to 4 thousand, the north east ridge from 2 to 4 thousand and similarly with the merchants quarters. Kelby expected Posen to strike one place hard and then seek to exploit the opportunities after breaking through. We took our position in the north-east ridge and set up communications. Barracks on the south was stripped of some men stripped of some men. There was a report of a detachment of Posen heading out upstream but I couldn't make anything of it. They wouldn't be able to pass through Heilgrund's forces.

And so the battle came to pass, it was vicious, but we held the day.

Think fast. We had approached the river. Horns blew. A force of boats appeared swiftly from upstream full of Posen soldiers. We acted instantly. 20 kegs of Don Carlos's gunpowder were placed on the old butchers bridge [under repair] where the explosion would bring down the central spans and block the river. I manned the battery onshore. The final preparations as the boats sped down them firing volleys and our party climbing with the charges of powder. Our battery fired true and discomforted them. As Franz, Pyorgi, Pistol, Eduarde and Giancarlo worked their way off the bridge under fire; I covered them with artillery from the flank. It worked like a dream and the massive explosion caught two boats and blocked the river. The assault was repelled.

Dear Lucerne,

I hope to get the text above to you soon. It is only a draft of course. I am amused that we have all been made Knight Defenders of Freiburg. Also we have been given membership of the Freiburg City Guard with uniforms etc. Pistol is sure to make unpredictable use of that!

Erich and Wulf the Nibelungen surprised us by announcing that due to the change of the times we would each be given an item of Dracheneisen. This means that yesterday I was a stranger here but today I have the privileges of being born here. More than this I have the privilege of nobility here as if my parents were Eisen. I suggested that Franz be made Knight Commander Defender of Freiburg. I think I will ask for a breastplate as I am sick of some swordsman cutting up the front of my shirt, some nameless brute blooding my waistcoat or carrying some damsel in distress who leaves the omnipresent Eisen mud on my jabot. Of course Drachenheim manor will be lost to us to allow mining to take place but we have been offered Erhart's old holdings.

Till next time, I remain your loving brother,

Herr Deni Rois e Reines du Rogne, Knight Defender of Freiburg, Freiburg City Guard.

Dandelion

*

Witnesses to above include Pyorgi, Pistol, Eduarde, Gian Carlo, Franz, Dandelion

PS I seem to have misunderstood the Nibelungen and I will receive a non-armour item. I will ask for a surgeons scalpel, Eisen needs as many surgeons as it can get.