Chapter 155 - Cut Off His Head!
Chapter 155 – Cut Off His Head!
Despite Lambert's death, the battle continued to wage on. Of course, in the middle of the chaos and bloodshed, nobody noticed that the commander of the Teutonic Order lay dead on the ground, not at first at least. However, the surrounding Teutonic knights and grenadiers quickly realized that their commanders were missing and gazed over to see Berengar wounded in one eye, staring down at his brother's corpse. You would think that the sight of their commander dying would weaken the crusader's resolve. However, it only enhanced it. The Heretic had killed his own brother; that was a grave sin, and as such, their zealotry took hold of them as they began to make their way to Berengar to avenge the loss of their commander.
However, the Grenadiers quickly halted the knight's advance to put their bayonets in their path and formed a wall between the enemy and their commander. A fierce clash broke out between Berengar's grenadiers and the Knights of the Teutonic Order; despite the Knight's being clad head to toe in plate armor, they soon found themselves being gunned down by a few of the rifled musketeers who stayed in the treeline and sniped the enemy targets from afar. These men were Berengar's marksman and would one day become his Jaeger Corps. For now, they pelted the heavily armored knights with lead projectiles while they clashed with the Grenadiers.
Eventually, the melee seemed to turn in favor of Berengar's army; after all, their commander was dead, and at this point, Berengar and his army had slaughtered the majority of the Knights and Men at Arms. As for the levies, they no longer had the resolve to fight. As such entire ranks of levies dropped their weapons as they realized they were greatly outmatched by the skill of Berengar's line infantry and their bayonets.. Noticing the decrease in Knights and Men at Arms, Berengar shouted to the chaotic battlefield as loud as possible.
"Any levy who turns on the Teutonic Order will be spared the death in which I have reserved for them!"
Berengar's officers and NCOs quickly relaid this news across the melee to the point where most of the Levies had taken up arms against the men who forced them into this deadly conflict. There was no love lost between the levies and the Teutonic Order, and given the option, they would gladly backstab the Knights and Men at arms who forced them out of their homes and away from their families into this slaughter.
Despite being surrounded by Berengar's forces and subjected to the treason of their levies, the Teutonic Order's zealotry was to be commended as they fought to the last man, taking as many enemies as they could with them. For a crusader surrendering to a heretic was worse than death, and these men exemplified that ideal. Before long, the Teutonic Order's army was completely wiped out down to the last man, yet the damage done to Berengar's forces was immense. He had lost well over 2000 men in the conflict; after all, the heavily armored knights had an enormous advantage in melee combat.
After the battle was over, Eckhard approached Berengar, whose wounds were being treated by a field medic. It stung like hell, but the distilled alcohol disinfected the wound to his right eye, and series of linen bandages were wrapped around it. For now, that was the best treatment he could receive. Seeing Berengar was rather calm about the whole situation, Eckhard asked him an important question on his mind.
"What should we do with the remains of your brother?"
Berengar thought about it for a few moments before a wicked idea formed in his head. Berengar's own arrogance had gotten the better of him in this conflict; he had charged towards his brother's position expecting to kill him easily; in the end, the price of his victory was that of his dominant eye and the life of his trusted steed. He needed a memento mori, a symbol to remind him that no matter what he accomplishes in life, he is only human and that death is inevitable. As such, he gave Eckhard a barbaric decree, one which made the man question the sanity of his Lord and Commander.
"Cut off his head and bring it to me; I will have his skull turned into a golden chalice! As for the rest of his body? Bury it in the mass grave with the rest of these foolish crusaders!"
Eckhard was immediately taken back by the notion; such a thing was not uncommon during the Dark Ages; However, the idea of decapitating someone and turning their skull into a drinking cup was a savage and barbaric notion during this time period. Still, the veteran Knight knew better than to disobey one of Berengar's commands. As such, he ordered some of the more unstable men in the army to perform the evil deed.
As for the levies they gathered before Berengar, after all, they were captured by Berengar's troops after the conflict was over and awaited his orders. Though he promised to spare them if they fought for him, one could never know if the young Count would keep his word. Seeing the destitute peasants forced into the armies of the Teutonic Order and compelled to fight against him, Berengar felt a great deal of pity for them, and as such, he rose from his seat. The bloody bandage over his right eye marred his otherwise charismatic appearance. Berengar gave a command for all of the levies to hear.
"I hold no ill will towards any of you; you all were forced against your will to fight against me and were dragged away from your families without your consent. Yet despite this, you have given me aid in this conflict, and as such I will reward you. Go home, and spread the word of my merciful and righteous actions."
With that said, the surviving levies of the Teutonic Order's army were freed and allowed to return to their homes, though some of them were not as lucky as the others. Many of them were wounded and would die of infection on their path back to their homes. However, Berengar had limited medical supplies, and he was far from a saint. The fact that he had spared their lives despite taking up arms against him was in itself mercy. After all, these men were not his enemies; if they were, he would never allow them to see the light of another day. For Berengar had learned a valuable lesson about showing mercy to one's enemies, a mistake he would never repeat so long as he drew breath in this world.