Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 816 A Different Kind of Crusade
While Ludwig and others surrendered, the others were also looking for their own way out.

Many nobles only learned after being captured that the previous failed "ambush" was deliberately arranged by Princess Jeanne, with the aim of making them believe that they had defeated the Ming army's vanguard and could advance unimpeded.

At the time, no one noticed anything unusual because these people behaved exactly as stereotypically expected. However, Princess Jeanne later told them that since those men were originally French knights she had arranged, their behavior was bound to be similar. Only the artillerymen in the group were professional Ming soldiers.

The peasants led by the French knights were actually local farmers. The locals weren't particularly interested in fighting. The inhabitants of the northern forest had some trade relations with the Wu King's controlled territory, but the area had long been fragmented, with each village and town accustomed to acting independently and unwilling to easily participate in wars between great lords.

As for the southern Osnin Mountains, although it had been managed by the officials under the King of Wu for two years, the locals preferred farming to fighting. Moreover, it was currently harvest time in the orchards, so their interest in joining the army was not high. Only some knights and minor lords from the southern plains were able to leave their jobs to participate in the war.

As a result, when the Crusaders reached the north side of the mountain, they went on a killing spree, sparing even the people in the monastery. The locals were shocked and rushed to them for help, hoping to join the Ming army to defend their homes. But the Ming army here was very different from the "feudal army" they remembered that randomly conscripted villagers.

For the regular main force of the Ming army, bringing them along might seem like a large and powerful force, but upon closer examination, it might actually disappoint them: for an army of this caliber, suddenly having a group of poorly trained, undisciplined, and difficult-to-unify-command people would not only be of little help but would also be a hindrance.

However, Princess Jeanne quickly thought of a better opportunity for them to demonstrate their abilities: to participate in a feint attack. When assigning tasks, she specifically instructed everyone to shout loudly, creating the appearance of a large crowd to intimidate the enemy. She also warned against rushing into battle if conditions weren't right. She worried that if a real fight broke out, these hastily armed local villagers might suffer unexpected and severe losses, and given their level of discipline, they probably wouldn't be able to maintain order and coordination.

On Sigismund's side, there are still some elite soldiers who form the core. If they are directly overrun and relentlessly pursued, the losses will be enormous. Therefore, instead of asking them to complete any tactical tasks, it's better to make it clear that we're just there to intimidate them. If the enemy actually attacks, everyone should just run away; we don't expect them to kill any enemies.

The locals performed even better than she had anticipated. The villagers deeply resented the Crusaders, resulting in exceptionally high morale. They weren't intimidated after the initial engagement; instead, they put considerable pressure on the enemy. Some of them were even quite skilled in combat, capable of covering the French knights' retreat.

Princess Jeanne was very curious and, after asking around, discovered that they were actually hunters from the mountains. Some were forest rangers employed by the monastery, while others were poachers from the local villages.

In this era, by convention, the produce of mountains and forests belonged to the local lords, and commoners hunting in the forests were considered poachers. However, because the lords were generally incompetent in their management, this phenomenon was actually quite common. Some lords would organize forest rangers—not to protect the forests or the environment, but to catch those who poached their property.

Of course, the forest rangers themselves were often required to hunt, deliver furs and meat to the lord, or assist the lord in his hunting activities. Therefore, many times, these forest rangers themselves were hunters who had been recruited and were familiar with the local environment.

The monastery on the North Mountain, because its abbot was relatively enlightened and didn't concern himself with these matters, had a very blurred boundary between the two. Moreover, because the forests around the North Mountain were very dense and relatively undeveloped, worrying about the animals being hunted to extinction was a luxury; on the contrary, dealing with pests was often the most important task. Therefore, these hunters frequently gathered to deal with herds of wild boars, wolves, and the like.

What city dwellers might not understand is that in the countryside of this era, these animals were not only not scarce, but often became a plague. Some were even enormous, impossible for ordinary people to hunt with melee weapons, threatening people's safety. In many places, there are legends of giant wolves and giant wild boars, and tales of famous knights and hunters battling them. Even in the age of firearms, such cases were not uncommon, demonstrating how difficult the situation was to control.

When the monastery was destroyed, some of the hunters on duty were killed, while others escaped, quickly spreading the news throughout the mountains. The other hunters were furious and became more proactive in their battles.

Sigismund and others consistently believed that the "Ming army" was a peasant army, and their performance further solidified the Crusaders' leadership's opinion. From any perspective, these men did indeed resemble a group of angry peasants, a common sight in Europe. Although they had the advantage of terrain and were somewhat more capable than ordinary peasants, they were still no match for the regular armies of the great nobles. This resulted in them failing to reach a correct conclusion despite numerous battles.

The deception proceeded very smoothly. The only problem arose when the French knights took it upon themselves to do something else, nearly causing the plan to fail right from the start.

According to Princess Jeanne's plan, the peasants would launch the first attack, creating momentum everywhere; once the Crusaders counterattacked, the knights would then step in and charge the enemy. This would serve two purposes: firstly, to further convince Sigismund and others who insisted that the Wu vassal was backed by France that this side was indeed the main force of the Ming army; secondly, as a backup plan, if the local residents performed poorly and were hastily defeated, it would put some pressure on the enemy, forcing them to abandon the pursuit and then withdraw.

As a result, the knights, despite knowing the enemy was close at hand, continued drinking and revelry. They even somehow brought several dancers to the battlefield, where they gathered to dance. Even Sigismund had learned to be more cautious, sending scouts to investigate suspicious locations along the roads; yet they remained completely unprepared, allowing the enemy to sneak up on them directly.

When the mercenaries fled into the woods, the knights who were supposed to be on duty weren't even carrying weapons; instead, they were singing with musical instruments. Fortunately, the mercenaries weren't very strong fighters, so a bigger problem wasn't caused. However, this outcome still made Princess Jeanne very embarrassed. After all, her elite troops not only failed to demonstrate their fighting prowess but also ultimately needed the help of farmers and hunters to escape. Not only would it be a laughingstock among the Ming army, but even if nobles and knights from other countries knew, they would surely laugh at them.

Therefore, Princess Jeanne had no choice but to strictly enforce discipline. The knights who had led the idea, as well as the dancers, were all whipped. Those who had gathered to play, from La Hire down, were all severely reprimanded and punished. In this way, just before the decisive battle, these troublemakers were finally subdued. The knights were quite embarrassed, which is why they worked so hard afterward.

As for the main Ming army that played a crucial role in this operation, forcing Sigismund to turn back, they had already set off for their destination via other routes more than a week earlier. In Princess Jeanne's plan, the North Mountain Pass area was undoubtedly the place where Sigismund and his forces would be most vigilant, making it unsuitable for an ambush—of course, completely lacking ambushes or sentries wouldn't work either, as that would seem too contrived. Therefore, she assigned some elite soldiers to guard the area, offering only minimal resistance before retreating upon encountering the main Crusader force. Meanwhile, according to their reported schedules, the other armies, bypassing Sigismund's scouts, successfully circled around to their rear from the forests between the two mountains.

The greatest contributors to this operation were the lumberjacks and hunters who knew the mountain paths. Although the mountains weren't particularly steep, the forests of Europe were notoriously difficult to navigate. It was thanks to their guidance that the Ming army was able to pass through the region covertly. Therefore, in return, the accompanying civil officials publicly announced the King of Wu's decree, exempting all the people in this mountainous area from taxes for three years.

Furthermore, the nobles learned that, according to Seres tradition, the "profits of mountains and lakes" also belonged to the monarch and were managed by "Yu officials." However, over time, this rule was gradually relaxed, and by the Han Dynasty, it had evolved into management based on the seasons, requiring only the payment of taxes.

According to the new decree of the King of Wu, the "mountain and lake" resources in the Teutoburg Forest, which originally belonged to the royal family, were now open to the local people. The captured nobles were even more surprised than the locals, but considering their past contributions, it was perhaps understandable…

However, most local residents are not actually listening to the proclamations here. Although the main part of the battle has ended, many stragglers are still fleeing in all directions. The locals are doing their best to capture them, partly for revenge and partly to prevent them from causing further trouble.

Soon after, they saw several knights under Princess Jeanne escorting Count Rudolf of the Habsburg family to the camp.

Rudolf's armor was a dull gray, with several dents. His silk robe, which he had bought from Dadu (Beijing) and wore every day, was nowhere to be seen, and even patches of his beard had been burned off, making him look quite comical. In contrast, Ludwig and his men, having surrendered promptly, still had bright and shiny armor, and looked quite respectable.

They weren't ashamed of their behavior at all; instead, they went to check on Rudolf and mocked his disheveled appearance.

Ludwig and the others all spoke Latin, and they quickly began chatting with the young nobleman leading the group.

The captain of the "centurion" rank told them he came from Lorraine. This time, as the most crucial blow of the war, Princess Jeanne assembled over two hundred French knights and heavy cavalry she had previously recruited, and selected over three hundred elite soldiers from the military households of Lorraine. Together with the two hundred or so German and Bohemian knights who had come with the southern army, they were able to put together this attack.

This finally relieved Ludwig and the others—it meant they had been defeated by the knights, not by the peasants. The crucial issue of saving face was finally resolved.

As for Rudolf's situation, the captain told them that Rudolf had actually managed to escape the Ming army's encirclement. However, he didn't realize that the locals who came to help from the outer perimeter were actually in greater danger than the regular army.

Before the war, Princess Jeanne had instructed her troops to capture as many prisoners as possible alive, as this would allow them to collect more ransom for post-war reconstruction. While the Ming soldiers who had come from afar heeded this order, the local militia found it difficult to follow it. They harbored a direct hatred for the Crusaders, and many were blinded by rage, disregarding orders and killing any fleeing enemy they encountered.

When Rudolf fled with his personal guards, they were separated by the Ming army. Disoriented, he ran into the forest and was captured by several mountain villagers. Initially, the villagers intended to kill him with machetes, but Rudolf's armor was custom-made by a master craftsman from Milan. These villagers were untrained and didn't know how to locate the seams in his armor or remove the securing straps. They hacked wildly, breaking their inferior iron swords, but still couldn't harm him.

Seeing that sharp weapons weren't working, they had to look for blunt weapons. But during their feigned attack, they had discarded their flails and pitchforks—which, according to them, were relatively valuable agricultural tools, so they hadn't really wanted to throw them away. However, during the feigned retreat, for some reason, everyone panicked and started running around in disarray. Although they weren't caught by the Crusaders thanks to their familiarity with the terrain, they had inexplicably lost their pitchforks and other weapons that could somewhat counter the knights.

Having no other option, they tied Rudolf up and tried to break him with stones, only to find that the tin can was incredibly hard; the stones couldn't break it, only managing to create a few dents. Enraged, they decided to burn Rudolf alive. However, the flames, while igniting his clothes, also burned through the ropes. Rudolf rolled around wildly, and the farmers couldn't stop him, leading to utter chaos.

After they finally extinguished the flames, someone came up with a plan: they took out the large iron pot that the village had bought during their trade with King Wu, intending to boil Rudolf. But just as the pot was set up, Princess Jeanne, drawn by the commotion, came looking for them.

The villagers insisted that he was their prisoner, and Princess Jeanne hadn't thought to bring any money. So, her companions pooled together 43 grosso silver coins, offering to buy Rudolf back. Only then did the villagers release him. This is why he was in such a sorry state.

At this point, even the captain of the knights couldn't help but chuckle, and the nobles burst into laughter upon hearing the figure, saying that he might be the noble with the lowest ransom.

Amidst the laughter of the crowd, an unprecedented crusade came to an end.

(End of this chapter)