It has been a little over half a year since we left ourselves in suspense. Now the decisive battle has been played out. It was as brief as the previous game. As we left it, the emir, Ibn Ali al-Mumit al-Masaffah, was descending from the mountain pass with his whole army (save a few troops left as a garrison for his castle), and he had just arrayed them with the infantry in the center and his cavalry as the wings. The emir with his askaris were facing king Merlin, while his Turcomen opposed prince Richard, and the bulk of the Muslim infantry faced the Military Order allies of the king.
Chapter Seven
The tiny battle opened with an exchange of missiles. The most deadly concentration of these was from the Turcomen opposite prince Richard's retinue. His lighter armed halberdiers suffered particularly, and over-all his casualties were high enough to sow panic in the rest of his infantry. His own marksmen brought down a couple of Turcomen horses and a rider, but then panicked with the rest and bolted for the river bottoms at their rear.
On the right flank, king Merlin faced the smaller but more deadly force of the emir. His crossbowmen scored a hit on one of Al-Masaffah's askaris, who then had to extricate himself from his stricken horse. The bow shot from the askaris caused almost equal damage to king Merlin's infantry as that suffered by his son at the opposite end of their battle line, but aside from the banner bearer and a couple of other cravens, his line held steady, even in spite of seeing their banner running for the river behind them. King Merlin took a swipe with the flat of his sword at his disappointing banner bearer as he scampered by, and perhaps that *clonk* on the helmet shook him to his senses; he rallied himself and headed back toward the fight which had swiftly broken out while he had been regaining his courage.
After the exchange of missiles, a general advance of the remainder of the allied line was declared. Richard's horsemen pushed between the gaps in his infantry company. The Military Orders charged, and king Merlin also charged with his cavalry through gaps opened by his infantry doubling up. The infidel cavalry met the Franks at the charge. A rain of javelins descended with arrows from the foot archers upon their enemies as they closed. But the effect was abysmal. The Muslim foot archers on the right bolted from the line and ran for the mountain pass. The rest of the emir's infantry stood before the charge for a short but furious melee in which they were generally worsted.
King Merlin and Al-Masaffah engage in battle
Prince Richard's horsemen and the Turcomen charge into each other
Other than the dismounted knight commander and a solitary footman, the whole of the prince's infantry are seen routing away on the right side of the picture.
Prince Richard attacking a Turcoman
Prince Richard overthrows a Turcoman
In the center of his cavalry, the prince now faces a stubborn, dismounted foe. The bulk of the Turcomen are about to pose a threat to his flank and rear. The knight commander (lower left) is ridden down after a brief encounter. He panicked again, but it was too late and nowhere to run. Seeing his officer run, the solitary footman turned again also and ran for the river, only to receive a Turcoman arrow in the back, which killed him on the spot. So much for Richard's infantry, all gone without accounting for more than a single enemy.
The Military Orders closing with the Muslim infantry
The knight on the left will lose his horse in the melee, the sole Military Order casualty. Everything else favors the Christians today.
The emir meets an opponent.
Al-Masaffah overthrows his man
The knight's horse was felled then in the next moment the knight himself was vanquished. On the emir's right one of his askaris engaged the foot commander of the king's infantry and overcame him swiftly.
Al-Masaffah attacks king Merlin!
His right-hand askari is just as swiftly dispatched by three of the king's stout footmen. Rather than being dismayed by this loss, the emir moves diagonally to attack the king. Merlin's men close in on Al-Masaffah's shielded side. His two remaining mounted askaris are forced back by infantry attacks.
The emir's infantry are worsted
But the king's champion loses his horse. He battles on foot. As Muslim infantry casualties mount, the rest of the archers run away.
Another view of the allied cavalry breaking up the emir's infantry
Sir Alexander, prince Richard's champion, kept charging when all others had been stopped, and overcame each opponent unfortunate enough to end up in front of his lance.
Richard's end of the line at about this same moment in the battle
King Merlin reels before Al-Masaffah's attack
Without the support of his immediate troops, the king would likely have been vanquished.
Everything suddenly collapsed
The emir's banner bearer went down and his infantry became instantly disheartened. They all bolted for the hills at their rear.
The Turcomen saw this discomfiture and joined the rout
The panic became general
A halberd unhorsed another askari on the emir's right. He was now alone so he turned his horse in an attempt to quit the cursed field.
"Too many hounds are the death of the Fox"
A Teutonic knight turned aside from his victorious combat with the infidel infantry and rode into the flank of the emir's horse. At almost the same instant a halberd brought the animal down, trapping Al-Masaffah beneath him. The Teutonic knight rode his destrier over the stricken emir until he was trampled to death.
All over the field, the Military Orders slaughtered the wounded infidel, leaving none alive.
Casualties were not that bad among the realm's men. Merlin lost two infantry killed, but several were severely wounded. Richard had three of his infantry killed.
The survivors of the Muslim force, of which there were quite a number, continued their retreat through the mountains until they regained the dead emir's fortress. There they saw the most eminent of their ranks hailed as "emir" or robber chieftain. And for the next few months things returned to how they had been before Ibn Ali al-Mumit al-Masaffah had become too big to ignore. The fortress is still the home of banditti, and the new chieftain does not give up the "Valkyrie".
Her sister is inconsolable, made worse by the fact that the marriage to prince Conrad was held as part of the victory celebrations. She feels that there is nothing to celebrate. And makes Conrad's domestic life miserable with her nagging him to do something toward a rescue.
The royal presence is disturbed by the importuning of king Merlin's daughter-in-law. She has been contacted from an erstwhile warrior of prince Richard's, who openly renounced Christianity and embraced Islam, but not in his heart. He has managed to deliver a written message from the "Valkyrie" to her sister. If aid can be brought somehow within the walls, the warrior pretending to be Muslim will direct the rescuer(s) to the harem and they, together, and undoubtedly with her help, will break the girl out.
When this developing rescue plan is brought to his attention, finally king Merlin stirs himself in order to end the continual rebuke that he and his court receive from Conrad's wife. A campaign is planned. It will partake of two parts. First a demonstration before the walls of the robber fortress will be made by all troops that can possibly be spared from defending the realm's two main castles. Secondly, while this outward distraction is conducted, an intrepid warrior will climb a knotted rope lowered from the battlements by the renegade within. These two men will bring arms for the "Valkyrie", deliver her from prison, armed, and then those three ought to be able to make their way to the rope and descend.
The demonstration before the walls will even include the belfrey acquired a few years before from the failed siege by the Black Knight against Merlin's castle. This machine is capable of being disassembled and has been stored all the while. It will be conveyed to the robbers' castle, reassembled and used with intent. Should all go well, the distraction of the robbers could, by the grace of God, also result in their eradication, and another fortress added to the greater glory of God and the security of the realm....
