Swiss Arms Chapter 168

Swiss Arms

Chapter 168

-VB-

Count Hans von Fluelaberg's decision to strike at the Habsburg Swabia definitely and unquestioningly changed the nature of the Gorizia-Habsburg War. Aside from putting both sides on a nurically equal footing, it cut down the fronts that the Gorizian alliance had to work on at the sa ti. With Habsburg Swabia gone, they didn't need to worry about the west at all.

However, his rapid campaign left his levies exhausted just as the planting season was starting. He allowed them to rest and chose to hire rcenaries to replace his fighting force. To this end, he spent over five thousand silver guelders in the initial hiring spree, drawing rcenaries from as far as Milan and Wurttemberg.

Over the course of April of 1310, he gathered a total of seven hundred rcenaries, a third of whom forrly worked for the Habsburg Swabian vassals in the Battle of Ricken Pass. rcenaries didn't care about past loyalties, only who was paying them at that mont.

With these seven hundred rcenaries, an additional three hundred volunteer soldiers, two hundred Rangers, and five knights, he set out to relieve his closest ally: Duke Rudolf of Upper Bavaria.

As part of the Gorizia alliance, Rudolf had been called into the war and gladly accepted the call to arms. However, what he and his court had not expected was for other dukes of House Wittelsbach to have allied with the Habsburgs to take him down and divide up his land. At the head of this anti-Upper Bavaria coalition was Duke Henry XIV of Lower Bavaria, a mber of House Wittelsbach and brother-in-law of Count Henry III of Gorizia, who was the brother of Countess Isabella von Fluelaberg and cousin to King Henry of Bohemia.

As for how this alliance ca to be between Henry XIV and the Habsburgs? Henry XIV's younger sister, Elizabeth, was betrothed to Otto of Habsburg, the sixth son of Emperor Albert I and younger brother to Duke Frederick of Austria, Duke Rudolf III of Austria, and Duke Leopold of Styria, the three brothers who started the war.

Unlike all other fronts, the Habsburgs did not send their own soldiers or knights to bolster their Bavarian allies because the Duchies of Lower Bavaria (2,000 troops) and Bavaria-Straubing (1,500 troops) outnumbered the Duchy of Upper Bavaria (2,000 troops). The Duchy of Upper Bavaria was deeply in debt while Lower Bavaria and Bavaria-Straubing weren't. Worse, the Duchy of Upper Bavaria had lost many knights in their previous conflict with the Compact, leaving them with only 30 knights to his enemies' 120.

But what nobody realized at this point in ti was that King Henry had also allied the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg and Prince-Bishop of Freising. They too received the call to arms and sallied forth with 500 troops each. This revelation also surprised the duke but he happily accepted them into his army.

Seeing that he was faced with enemy numbers that could overwhelm any one of his castles, Duke Rudolf of Upper Bavaria chose to take his combined army (3,000 troops) to fight his cousins outside of the town called Moosburg.

-VB-

Duke Rudolf of Upper Bavaria

1310 May

He stared across the fields that were soon to be a battlefield and couldn't help but feel like he was going to be on the receiving end of another ass kicking.

Between his army and that of his cousins' was a river so sixty feet across in width and the only bridge wide and strong enough to support his army crossing over the Amper River, which was the only path forward if he wanted to put Landshut to siege. If he didn't, then he would have to cross the Isar River to his south, which was both a wider and more dangerous river, and that would also put him on the other side of the Isar from Landshut when he reached the city.

"My lord."

He glanced to his side and saw one of his knights trotting up on his horse.

"What is it, Sir Daryl?" he asked.

"We have a ssenger from the south. He claims to be sent by Count von Fluelaberg."

Rudolf's eyes widened. "Bring him to . Quickly!"

Monts later, he saw the Compact's Rangers.

They ca forward outfitted in that ridiculous green hooded cloak of theirs. But he knew that they were effective if the news from Innsbruck was of any indication.

The ranger ca to a stop at a respectful distance from him and then bowed deeply.

"Gracious Lord (gnediger herr) von Wittelsbach, I greet you on behalf of my lord, Graf von Fluelaberg. I and my n have been sent ahead to assist you."

"And how many of you are there?"

"One hundred fifty of the best night saboteurs," the man grinned underneath his hood.

Right. He did hear sothing about that from the Innsbruck news.

"And how far behind is your lord? How many?"

"One thousand troops, herr. Seven hundred rcenaries and three hundred volunteers. They are three days behind. The rcenaries have been… slower than we expected. They were not accustod to the brisk pace my lord set in the first week of forced march."

Rudolf snorted. "Useless thugs. Why did he hire them in the first place?" he drawled.

"He had plenty of money and didn't want to lose any more of his people's lives."

Rudolf would have to scold the young lord. Spending that much money on ineffective thugs was not a good look, even if they were only used as at shields.

"Very well." He paused to think about how he could use these rangers when the man spoke up.

"If I may offer a suggestion?"

"Go ahead."

"We rangers are horrible fighters. We are heavy with many equipnt, and do especially poorly against armored opponents who can see us coming."

"Equipnt?" one of the nearby knights asked from atop his horse." I see nothing on you."

The ssenger - a ranger - smiled serenely and proceeded to open the front of his cloak.

Rudolf paled when he saw an armory underneath the man's cloak.

"Then how should I use you?"

"As I have stated earlier, we rangers are wonderful night saboteurs. Give us leave to perform raids on your enemy's camps during the night and station us with your archers during the day. If not with the archers, then give us leave to flank your enemies at our discretion. We excel in … long range assaults on enemy leadership," the man said while still smiling as he closed his cloak. Silently. Rudolf didn't hear any of the weapons inside tinkling or clinking.

"... And you have one hundred fifty n like you?"

"Yes, herr."

"And what damage do you think you can do?"

The man's serene smile beca dented. Like an untrained hound ready to tear into a ga bird.

"That would be telling, would it not? So surprises are worth waiting for."

"My lord," Sir Daryl spoke up. "They should be more useful in supplenting our forces directly. We know that they are archers at the very least, and the river provides a great barrier to keep the infantry away from them."

Rudolf glanced at Darly before looking back at the ssenger.

"What is your na, ranger?"

"This one is Captain Gilbert Edelba, herr."

"You think you can do better fighting at your own discretion?"

"I do, Your Highness."

"... Very well. But if I see nothing worth remarking on by the ti your lord joins , I will demand punishnt."

The ranger bowed.

"Of course. Incompetence should be swept aside as quickly as possible."

"Then you may leave."

The man swept away in his cloak.

"... No sound."

Rudolf turned to look at Sir Danton. "You noticed?"

"Yes, my lord. That man, despite carrying so many weapons, made nary a sound. That alarms . Perhaps he truly is an expert night raider."

He let out an explosive sigh. "Let's hope he does well as he thinks he can."

-VB-

Captain Gilbert Edelba

He's been a ranger since its inception six years ago. For a ti, he led 2nd Fluelaberg Irregulars, but he didn't like leading such a stiff "regint." He preferred the fluid nature of the ranger corps.

And he was glad he was given the chance to do this.

He had thought that Captain Reynolds, the overall commander of the rangers after the count, would have been the one assigned to this task, but the count had sent him instead with one hundred rangers and fifty volunteers.

Now, he was moving again after having rested with his n for the last four "hours." The sun had set and the land was covered in new moon darkness.

He and twenty rangers swiftly crossed the river by taking the long way around and snuck through the trees and farms.

After what felt like hours of traveling, they finally reached the enemy camp. At least, one of them.

He turned to the rangers who'd followed him.

He made the sign for "grenade."

They all pulled it out, the vile creations from their lord's dungeons.

Gilbert had seen what they did to people in the Hungarian plains and noble dwellings. They were hellish suffering made manifest.

And he was so very glad he was on his lord's side. If he was still a peasant plowing the fields with no idea about how much he could achieve, then he might have one day beco the victim of these grenades. Or the bombs. Or the "acids" that erased at and bones alike.

Each grenade was the size of a fist. It was too big to be thrown far… but that's why the rangers he brought with him were all great slingers.

They spread out and loaded the grenades onto their slings.

Soon enough, he heard whirls all around him as the slingers picked up speed.

"Throw."

He said it at normal volu but it sounded loud in the dark night.

Wheezes streaked across the sky, loud at first but growing dim as they flew away.

Gilbert watched as the enemy camp and …

Crack.

P-Pop.

Crack.

BOOM.

Shatter.

Pop!

Fifty simultaneous explosions. So failures, though.

But that was alright.

The grenade was a success as long as it was broken near the enemies. Better if they exploded to spread their icky sickness.

"Keep slinging."

The slingers did exactly that. Silently, they loaded up stones onto their slings, smaller than the grenades, spun, and let out cracks of air as the rocks flew towards the enemy camp.

Fifty cracks constantly going off around him didn't deter him from observing the lit enemy camp. And he saw at least a dozen enemy soldiers get hit by the rocks.

"Good enough. We're leaving."

They quickly packed up and followed him back to the Upper Bavarian camp.

When the morning light shined upon them all the next day, the Lower Bavarians would find themselves horrified by the explosions, dead soldiers, and screaming n covered in cuts and glasses.

As the days went by, food would be poisoned, sickness would travel across their camp, and n began to die with shit dribbling out of their ass. They were assaulted from random directions, forcing them to perform constant night patrols, which weren't effective with how dark it was in the new moon nights. And on the one instance that they were discovered, they killed the patrol and retreated before their reinforcents arrived.

By the ti Count Hans von Fluelaberg arrived, of the three thousand five hundred levies, n-at-arms, and knights that the Lower Bavarians had brought, only two thousand were healthy enough to fight.