CHAPTER VI.
Zbyszko inquired hurriedly, how many horsemen and infantry were amongthem, in what manner they were advancing, and above all the exactdistance; and he learned from the Zmudzian that their number did notexceed one hundred and fifty warriors and that about fifty of that numberwere horsemen led by a Knight of the Cross, who appears to be of thesecular knights; that they were marching in ranks and had empty wagonswith a supply of wheels upon them; and that at a distance in front of thedetachment were bodies of archers composed of eight men who frequentlyleft the road and searched the woods and thickets, and finally that thedetachment was about one quarter of a mile distant.
Zbyszko was not particularly pleased with the information of the mannerof their advancing in battle array. He knew by experience how difficultit was to break the ordered German ranks, and how such a crowd couldretreat and fight in the same manner as a wild-boar that defends itselfwhen brought to bay by dogs. On the other hand, he was glad of the newsthat they were only a quarter of a mile distant, because he calculatedthat the people who were detached to cut off their retreat had alreadydone so,--and, in case of the Germans being routed, not a single soulcould escape. As to the outpost at the head of the detachment he did notcare much, because he knew from the first that such would be the case andwas prepared for them; he had given orders to his men to allow them toadvance, and if they were engaged in searching the thickets to capturethem quietly one by one.
But the last order seemed unnecessary; the scouts advanced without delay.The Zmudzians who were hidden in the growths near the highway had aperfect view of the advancing party when they halted at the turning andtook counsel. The chief, a powerful red-bearded German, who signalled tothem to keep silence, began to listen. It was visible for a moment thathe hesitated whether to penetrate the forest or not. At last, as therewas only audible the hammering of the woodpeckers, and he apparentlythought that the birds would not be working so freely if people werehidden among the trees. Therefore he waved his hand for the detachment togo forward.
Zbyszko waited until they were near the second turning, then heapproached the road, at the head of his well-armed men, including Macko,the Bohemian, and the two noble volunteers from Lenkawice, and threeyoung knights from Ciechanow, and a dozen of the better armed Zmudziannobles. Further concealment was not necessary. Nothing remained forZbyszko but to station himself in the middle of the road and, as soon asthe Germans appeared, to fall upon them, and break their ranks. If thatmight be accomplished, he was sure that his Zmudzians would take care ofthe Germans.
There was silence for a little while, which was only disturbed by theusual forest noises, but soon there were heard the voices of peopleproceeding from the east side; they were yet a considerable distance awaybut the voices grew little by little more distinct as they approached.
Without losing a moment's time, Zbyszko and his men placed themselves inthe form of a wedge in the middle of the road. Zbyszko himself formed thesharp end and directly behind him were Macko and the Bohemian, in the rowbehind them were three men, behind those were four; all of them were wellarmed. Nothing was wanting but the "wooden" lances of the knights whichcould greatly impede the advance of the enemy in forest marches, insteadof those long handled lances; theirs were shorter and lighter. Zmudzianweapons were well adapted for the first attack, and the swords and axesat their saddles were handy for combat at close quarters.
Hlawa was wide awake and listening; then he whispered to Macko:
"They are singing, they shall be destroyed."
"But what surprises me is that the woods obscure them from our sight,"replied Macko.
Then Zbyszko, who considered further hiding and silence unnecessary,replied:
"Because the road leads along the stream; that is the reason for itsfrequent windings."
"But how merrily they are singing!" repeated the Bohemian.
One could judge from the melody that the Germans were singing profanesongs indeed. It could also be distinguished that the singers were notmore than about a dozen, and that they all repeated only one burden whichresounded far and wide in the forest, like a thunderstorm.
Thus they went to death, rejoicing and lusty.
"We shall soon see them," said Macko.
Then his face suddenly darkened and assumed a wolf-like and savageexpression. He had a grudge against the knights for the shots which hehad received at the time when he went to Zbyszko's rescue, on thatoccasion when he was the carrier of letters from Prince Witold's sisterto the grand master. Therefore his blood began to boil, and a desire forvengeance overflowed his soul.
The fellow who first attacks will not fare well, thought Hlawa, as helooked at the old knight.
Meanwhile the wind carried the sound of the phrase which the singersrepeated:
"Tandaradei! Tandaradei!" The Bohemian at once recognized the song knownto him:
"Bi den rosen er wol mac Tandaradei! Merken wa mir'z houlet lac...."
Then the song was interrupted, because upon both sides of the road washeard such a croaking noise that it seemed as if the crows were holdingparliament in that corner of the forest. The Germans were wonderingwhence so many crows came, and why they proceeded from the ground and notfrom the tops of the trees. In fact the first line of the soldiersappeared at the turning and halted as though nailed to the spot, whenthey observed unknown horsemen facing them.
At the same moment Zbyszko sat down in his saddle, spurred his horse, andrushed forward, crying:
"At them!"
The others galloped with him. The terrible shouting of the Zmudzianwarriors was heard from the woods. Only a space of about two hundred feetseparated Zbyszko from the enemy, who, in the twinkling of an eye,lowered a forest of lances toward Zbyszko's horsemen; the remaining linesplaced themselves with the utmost dispatch on both sides to protectthemselves against an attack from the direction of the forest. The Polishknights might have admired the dexterity of the German tactics, but therewas no time for contemplation, owing to the great speed and impetus oftheir horses in their charge upon the close phalanx of the Germans.
Happily for Zbyszko, the German cavalry were in the rear of the divisionnear the wagon train; in fact, they hastened at once to their assistance,but they could neither reach them in time nor pass beyond them so as tobe of any assistance at the first attack. The Zmudzians, pouring from thethickets, surrounded them like a swarm of poisonous wasps upon whose nesta careless traveler had trod. Meanwhile Zbyszko and his men threwthemselves upon the infantry.
The attack was without effect. The Germans planted the ends of theirheavy lances and battle-axes in the ground, held them fast and even sothat the Zmudzian light horses could not break the wall. Macko's horse,which received a blow from a battle-axe in the shin, reared and stood upon his hind legs, then fell forward burying his nostrils in the ground.For a while death was hovering above the old knight; but he wasexperienced and had seen many battles, and was full of resources inaccidents. So he freed his legs from the stirrups, and grasped with hispowerful hand the sharp end of the pike which was ready to strike him,and instead of penetrating his chest it served him as a support. Then hefreed himself, and, springing among the horsemen, he obtained a sword andfell upon the pikes and battle-axes with such fury as an eagle swoopsupon a flock of long-beaked cranes.
At the moment of attack Zbyszko sat back on his horse, charged with hisspear--and broke it; then he also got a sword. The Bohemian, who, aboveall, believed in the efficacy of an axe, threw it in the midst of theGermans. For a while he remained without arms. One of two _wlodykas_ whoaccompanied him was slain in the onset; at the sight of that, the otherlost his reason and raved so that he began to howl like a wolf, stood upupon his blood-covered horse and charged blindly into the midst of thethrong. The Zmudzian noblemen cut with their sharp blades the spearheadsand wooden handles, behind which they observed the faces of the _knechts_(common soldiers) upon which was depicted alarm, and at the same timethey were frowning with determination and stubbornness. But t
he ranksremained unbroken. Also the Zmudzians, who made a flank attack, quicklyretreated from before the Germans, as one runs away from a venomoussnake. Indeed they returned immediately with yet greater impetuosity, butthey did not succeed. Some of them climbed up the trees in the twinklingof an eye and directed their arrows into the midst of the _knechts_, butwhen their leader saw this he ordered the soldiers to retreat toward thecavalry. The German ranks also began to shoot, and from time to time aZmudzian would fall down and tear the moss in agony, or wriggle like afish drawn from the water. The Germans, indeed, could not count upon avictory, but they knew the efficacy of defending themselves, so that, ifpossible, a small number, at least, might manage to escape disaster andreach the shore.
Nobody thought of surrendering, because they did not spare prisoners,they knew that they could not count upon mercy from people who weredriven to despair and rebellion. They therefore retreated in silence, inclose rank, shoulder to shoulder, now raising, now lowering theirjavelins and broad axes, hewing, shooting with their crossbows as much asthe confusion of the fighting permitted them, and continuing to retreatslowly toward their horsemen, who were engaged in life and death battlewith another section of the enemy.
Meanwhile something strange occurred which decided the fortune of thestubborn fight. It was caused by the young _wlodyka_ of Lenkawice, whobecame mad at the death of his companion; he did not dismount, but bentdown and lifted up the body of his companion with the object ofdepositing it in a safe place to save it from mutilation, and so that hemight find it after the battle was over. But at that very moment a freshwave of madness came over him and he entirely lost his mind, so thatinstead of leaving the road, he rushed toward the German soldiers andthrew the body upon the points of their pikes, which penetrated thecorpse in various parts, and the weight caused them to bend, and beforethe Germans were able to withdraw their weapons, the raving man fell in,breaking the ranks and overturning the men like a tempest.
In the twinkling of an eye, half a score of hands were extended towardhim and as many pikes penetrated the flanks of his horse, but the rankswere thrown into disorder, and one Zmudz noble who was near, rushedthrough and immediately after him came Zbyszko, then the Bohemian, andthe terrible confusion increased every moment. Other _bojars_ followedthe example, seized corpses and thrust them against the enemies' arms,whilst the Zmudzians again attacked the flanks. The order which hadhitherto reigned in the German ranks wavered; it began to shake like ahouse whose walls are cracked; it was cleft like a log by a wedge, andfinally it burst open.
In a moment the fighting turned to slaughter, the long German pikes andbroad axes were of no use at close quarters. Instead of it the swords ofthe horsemen fell upon helmet and neck. The horses pressed into the midstof the throng, upsetting and trampling the unfortunate Germans. It waseasy for the horsemen to strike from above and they took advantage of theopportunity and ceaselessly cut the enemy. From the woods on both sidescontinually arrived wild warriors, clothed in wolves' skins, and with awolfish desire for blood in their hearts. Their howling drowned thevoices praying for mercy and those of the dying. The conquered threw awaytheir arms; some tried to escape into the forest, others feigned deathand fell to the earth, others stood erect, their faces white as snow, andbloodshot eyes, whilst others prayed. One of them, apparently demented,began to play the pipe, then looked upward and smiled, until a Zmudziancrushed his head with a club. The forest ceased to rustle and deathdominated it.
Finally the small army of the Knights of the Cross melted away; only attimes there were heard voices of small bands fighting in the woods, or aterrible cry of despair. Zbyszko, Macko and all their horsemen nowgalloped toward the cavalry. They were still defending themselves,placing themselves in the form of a wedge. The Germans were alwaysaccustomed to adopt that manoeuvre when surrounded by an overwhelmingforce of the enemy. The cavalry were mounted upon good horses and werebetter armed than the infantry; they fought manfully and obstinately anddeserved admiration. There was none with a white mantle among them, butthey were of the middle classes and small nobility of the Germans whowere obliged to go to war when called upon by the Order. Most of theirhorses were also armed, some had body armor; but all had iron head coverswith a spike of steel protruding from the centre. Their leader was atall, sturdy knight; he wore a dark blue coat of mail and a helmet of thesame color, with a lowered steel visor.
A rain of arrows was showered upon them from the depths of the forest.But they did but little harm. The Zmudzian infantry and cavalry camenearer and surrounded them like a wall, but they defended themselves,cutting and thrusting with their long swords so furiously that in frontof the horses' hoofs lay a ring of corpses. The first lines of theattackers wanted to retire, but they were unable to do so. There was apress and confusion all around. The eyes became dazzled by the glint ofthe spears and the flash of the swords. The horses began to neigh, bite,rear and kick. Then the Zmudz noblemen charged down; Zbyszko, Hlawa andthe Mazovians fell upon them. By dint of the press, the German throngbegan to waver, and swayed like trees before a storm, but they hewed likechoppers of firewood in the forest thickets, and advanced slowly amidstfatigue and excessive heat.
But Macko ordered his men to gather together the long-handled Germanbattle-axes from the battlefield, and armed with them thirty of his wildwarriors pressed on eagerly toward the Germans. "Strike the horses'legs!" he shouted. A terrible effect was soon apparent. The Germanknights were unable to reach the Zmudzians with their swords, at the sametime the battle-axes were crushing the horses' legs. It was then that theblue knight recognized that the end of the battle was at hand, and thathe had only two resources left--either to fight his way through the armyand retreat, or to remain and perish.
He chose the first plan, and in a moment his knights turned their facesin the direction whence they came. The Zmudzians fell upon their rear.Nevertheless the Germans threw their shields upon their shoulders and cutin front and to the sides, and broke through the ranks of the attackingparty, and hurricane-like, fled toward the east. But that division whichhad been despatched for that purpose, rushed to meet them; but by dint ofsuperior fighting and the greater weight of the horses, they fell in amoment like flax before a storm. The road to the castle was open, butescape thither was insecure and too far away, because the Zmudzian horseswere fleeter than those of the Germans. The blue knight was quite awareof it.
"Woe!" he said to himself. "Here none will escape; perhaps I may purchasetheir salvation with my own blood."
Then he shouted to his men to halt, and himself turned around toward thefoe, not caring whether any one overheard his command.
Zbyszko galloped up to him first, the German struck him upon the visor,but without breaking it or harming Zbyszko. At the same time, Zbyszko,instead of giving stroke for stroke, grasped the knight by the middle,but, in the attempt to take him alive, engaged in a close struggle,during which the girth of his horse gave way from the intense strain ofthe contest, and both fell to the ground. For a while they wrestled; butthe extraordinary strength of the young man soon prevailed against hisantagonist; he pressed his knees against his stomach, holding him down asa wolf does a dog who dares to oppose him in the woods.
But there was no need to hold him, because the German fainted. MeanwhileMacko and the Bohemian arrived at a gallop. Zbyszko shouted: "Quick,here! A rope!"
The Bohemian dismounted, but seeing the helplessness of the German, hedid not bind him, but disarmed him and unbuckled his armlets and hisbelt, and with the attached "_misericordia_," (dagger of mercy) cut thegorget, and lastly he unscrewed the helmet.
But he had scarcely glanced in the face of the knight, when he startedback and exclaimed:
"Master! master! please only look here!"
"De Lorche!" shouted Zbyszko.
And there lay de Lorche pale and motionless as a corpse, with closed eyesand face covered with perspiration.
The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance Page 52
