Polish Court, the Golden Circle Regents
May, 1453
“As you all know,” started Urban Cyryl with a touch of omniscience in his voice, “the assault against Prussia has gone exceedingly well. The Teutonic’s are now in full retreat, and their armies are hiding out in the country sides while every major city has fallen under siege. Marienverder, Memel, Danzig, Konigsberg, and Heilsberg are surrounded. They are without morale and honour…”
“Yes!” interrupted the Senior Regent. They had taken to merely calling him El Regento because of his Spanish origins, as he had a long name that nobody could properly pronounce. “We understand, get on with the important parts!”
“Such an outburst,” Jarek said.
“Nonsense, I’m growing old here! We have things to do! Get to the gist of it, old boy!”
Urban eyed him down angrily and continued with his lecturing.
“So far, this is what our maps are displaying. They do not show the Livonian front.” He lay out visuals upon the meeting table:
“Are you telling me,” started El Regento, “that the war has already been won?”
“Essentially. But we must not underestimate the Livonian Knight Brothers; it is said that the city of Riga is preparing to surrender to their siege, and the good Archbishop Stodwescher’s attempts have been in vain, for they have not managed to capture any Livonian provinces.”
“Does this include the Lithuanians? What do we pay Aras Dapkunaite for?”
“Aras Dapkunaite can only do so much when we only provide so much for them. He is deep within Wendenskie as we speak, attempting to fend off hordes of the Livonian troops until relief can arrive.”
“Then send the other Lithuanian General! The one whose name I cannot recall.”
Urban chuckled at the irony. “Then the concentration of our Lithuanian forces in the east is too strong, and the western front becomes destabilisied, and there is the potential that Memel could be relieved by Livonians.”
“Better than to lose a Senior Commander, I can tell you that.” El Regento shuffled about in his seat. He was a bit pot-bellied, so it was rather repulsive.
“No, good noble, sacrifices must be made for the country.”
“Nonsense! The country needs to work together; needs to save each other.”
“What would you know about the country?” Jarek protested, standing up to face the Regent. “You are bloody Spanish! You can’t even speak Polish properly without that ridiculous accent!”
“Don’t you stand up at me,” the Regent warned. “This isn’t how you’re going to win any wars.”
“We’ve already won the war, you blundering moron, it is now just a case of solidifying our hold over enemy lands.”
“Hush, child. I am a Senior Regent. I could have you expelled from these chambers, and from the Golden Circle, should I so choose.”
“Hold fast,” Urban said. “That is where you are wrong, Andalucian. The laws of the Golden Circle agree that a majority of Senior Regents must agree on a decision before it is implemented.”
“This is nonsense,” he growled in defeat. “This is why the Golden Circle is utterly useless in these times that the King is away. All these implementations are put in place to strip us of all our powers. We can’t do anything with this bureaucracy-choked nonsense.” The Regent’s nostrils flared up as he spoke.
“What do you propose then, my good Andalucian?”
“Don’t butter-coat me, equal.” The Regent drew his long-sword. It was flimsy, but still strong, and made of Toledan steel. He pointed to Mazuri, and then slowly traced a lineinto Ostpreussen. “Send the word that these men are to break off. Tell Kazimierz that we have overviewed the situation, and that the best course of action is to split the Grand Army into a Relief force. We can title it Support, if you so wish.”
“What will the purpose of this be?” Jarek asked.
“While you lot have all been doing absolutely nothing, my scouts are reporting that the Teutonics are massing forces in the hills. It will only be so long before they overrun the Mercenary Division at Konigsberg.”
“That is nonsense,” Jarek said. “The Mercenaries are highly trained. They can easily repulse them, just like the rest of our armies have done.”
“No.” El Regento slapped Jarek on the cheek lightly with the flat of his sword. “Listen boy. You are not listening. I ask you to listen, and I expect you to listen.” He pointed to each of the battle-sites; the Battle for Danzig, the Ambush at Mazuri, the Memel Chevauchees, and the Defence of Ostpreussen. “All of these locations, all of these battle-sites have one thing in common. We all won, and we had superior numbers every time. Do not try to deny the fact that this has had something to do with our victory. I’d vest that it had everything to do with our victory, and so I would suggest you send message to split the Grand Army, and to move it deeper into Teutonic territory, and closer to the Livonian front, so that we can support the troops better. We don’t need a mass congregation of men in one province on the outskirts where we can easily hire Mercenaries or conscript Peasants to reinforce our men just over the border.”
“A long-winded soliloquy,” Urban said. “But you speak some truth after all.”
“Were you expecting otherwise?”
“Yes, I was, you crazy Andalucian.”
“For your information, I am from Toledo. Toledo and Anadalucia refer to different areas of Spain, you ignorant man.”
“Nobody is concerned with Spain, El Regento,” Jarek said mockingly. Ever word dripped with sarcasm. “Once we’ve conquered all of Europe, and we’re knocking on Spain’s back-door, then we can worry about your people. Until then, we just have some funny Spanish-man serving in our court.”
Urban stood between the two to avoid any conflicts.
“I think it is best that we go to dinner now. Wake up the rest of the Regents, if they are not already. I’m sure cutting their afternoon naps early will help prepare them for when the King gets back.”
Polish Camp, Marienverder
Tent of King Kazimierz IV,
28th May
“I would like to know the meaning of this intrusion.”
“I am a messenger, and I have come from the Golden Circle.”
Kazimierz inspected the man. “Yes, that much is apparent. You bear their seal, so your authenticity has been verified. What business does the Golden Circle want?”
“They are saying that you should…”
“They are saying I should what now?”
The page re-worded the letter. “They are suggesting that the Grand Army break-off into two sub-divisions, and that the other sub-division mobilises to reinforce Captain Johann and his men immediately.”
“Why is this? Surely, there must be some reason behind it?”
“In order to spread our troops more evenly among the provinces, and because… well…”
“Out with it, child.”
“There have been… rumours.”
“Rumours?”
“Yes. Rumours – that von Erlichschausen has been sighted near Konigsberg, and that his men are massing in secret.”
“Erlichschausen is a fool, and I will be the first to claim his head. Not Johann.”
“Then now is your chance, my King. You should leave someone in charge of the Grand Army, and take a company of your best men North to help relieve any conflicts Captain Johann has fallen into.”
“Nothing major,” Kazimierz stated, dismissing the page with his hand. “Get out of my tent now. I wish to urinate.”
“My King! Surely even you cannot be ignorant to the dangers posed by neglecting the Northern Front!”
“What in the dawn of Azazel are you talking about?”
“The Livonians are so close to Memel and Konigsberg; they can easily swoop in across the Lithuanian border, raid our main camps, and then swoop back out before we can retaliate. We need solid, permanent, maintainable defences.”
“Are you trying to convince me otherwise?”
“What?”
“I understand that we need a good defence if we are to starve out the enemy! But we can’t do that just by running all willy-nilly around the country, mimicking and mocking our enemies.”
“It is not a matter of mocking our enemies nature.”
“If we split, the small, degenerate pockets of resistance can easily overwhelm us.”
“They are nothing; they are all focused in the North, around Konigsberg, where they are going to attack Captain Johann, and where they are going to rout his men.”
“Hold fast.” The King raised a finger in protest. “Just before, you stated these were rumours.”
“Uh,” the page struggled, “We have significant… evidence, to reinforce these rumours…. but they are not totally verifiable!”
“So this is just more lies formulated by my own circle of nobles to detract me from what is important?”
“No….”
“Yes, I believe it is, page. Begone.”
“Very well, sir. Just no that the longer you put off reinforcing your own men, the faster they will die, and the worse this war will end for you.” The page stormed out, leaving the King there red-faced, and in contemplation.
Somewhere in the Konigsberg Foothills
29th May, 1454
“Is there any news on the whereabouts of Martin I?”
“No my lord. Intelligence is limited.”
“Yes,” sighed Erlichschausen. “Thank you, squire. I have gathered that from the fact that we are hiding in these foothills.”
“Sorry my lord, I only meant it as a jest.”
“Your next jest will be your last, at this rate.”
“Is that a threat my lord? You do NOT want to see me when I’ve been threatened.”
“Yes,” sighed Erlichschausen. “Thank you, squire. We could have done without the counter-threats.”
“Sorry my lord, I only meant it as a jest.”
“Stop you,” the Grandmaster said. “How many able-men have we amassed in the past three weeks?”
“Less than the enemy has.”
“That’s not what I asked, squire.”
“Well, milord…”
“…”
“…”
“Yes?”
“I’m still thinking?”
“Thinking about what, squire?”
“How many men we’ve amassed.”
“I don’t want your personal opinion on it, I want a number.” The Squire sat there, clutching the beard at his chin in deep thought. The Grandmaster sighed, and rubbed his temples painfully. “I miss the comforts of home.”
“Me too, milord. I miss my sister.”
“You what?”
“I miss my sister.”
Erlichschausen was quiet.
“Yeah, we lived together. It’s a lonely life for siblings without parents.”
Erlichschausen was quiet.
“She’s so young too. Nobody wants to take her in.”
“Squire, I demand to know how many men are in our camp.”
“I’ll grab the paper-work.” The Squire rifled through a bunch of parchment in the chest laying in the far-corner of the tent. He placed some in a pile, re-sorted the parchment it again, tied it up, and flung it back into the chest. “We should have roughly 4000 men, if I’m not misreading this. Also, this is of note. This is what we predict the Polish forces to be at this time:”
“You are literate, squire?”
“Yes, milord. Von Ampringen taught me at a young age. He was a noble man.”
“And a gracious fighter… I only wonder how his head was taken without anyones knowledge. We hadn’t even charged yet, and already he was dead…”
“Perhaps it was a ruse, milord?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” the squire started, “In my study of the histories of the world, there have been many ruses where the enemy has been tricked. They can demoralise an army.”
“I see. That is intriguing.”
“Yes. Entire battles have been won thanks to these so-called ruses.”
Erlichschausen stroked his beard. “You have given me an idea, squire. What is your name?”
“Adawulf Nolan.”
“Adawulf Nolan? That is an odd name.”
“it’s a funny story, actually,” the squire began. “Me father was an English-men, me mother German….”
“I said it was odd. I did not ask for its origins. You serve me now, and you will be one of my acting advisors. Is that made clear?”
“Really? I take Martin’s position?”
“No,” Erlichschausen stated. “You are Martin’s fill-in. We are going to re-take Konigsberg, though it may cost us our life.”
“WE are going to re-take Konigsberg? I don’t want to be apart of this…”
“Nor I, but the Poles invaded our lands, raped our women, burnt our crops, all over some imagined altercation. We don’t have an imagined altercation. We have a casus-belli for their heads.”
“Very good, milord. You’ll make solid rhetoric yet.”
Erlichschausen looked at the squire. “Yes, write this down. We are going to defeat the Konigsberg menace.”