Chapter 284 - 221: Norman Knight

’It seems soldiers are more important than ordinary citizens,’ Eric thought, recalling the citizens’ dissatisfaction with the soldiers at noon. ’When a regime starts to rely more and more on violence, its downfall is not far off.’

The conversation ended. Eric planned to go back and rest, but Belem intended to spend the evening at the tavern; he had other plans for the night.

Eric’s cavalry commander, Guy, found a good place for him to rest.

It was an undamaged guild hall with resting chambers and complete facilities. It was said that the Cultivators of the Patulin Sect had controlled the city’s administration from here.

His personal knights had thoughtfully placed his share of the spoils in his room. According to the customs of the battlefield, one-third of the loot plundered by the knights belonged to the Count.

After arranging for patrols and the garrisoning of Piacenza, Eric went to bed to rest.

Even if the Patulin Sect’s Civilian Militia returned to Piacenza from their grain transport mission, Eric didn’t think they had the ability to capture a city garrisoned by knights.

This guild hall had originally belonged to the leather guild, so there was a faint but unignorable smell of leather in the air.

For an hour before falling asleep, Eric battled the smell.

Fortunately, he eventually fell asleep.

Then Eric had a dream. He dreamt that Matilda was stepping on his face with her leather shoes.

Eric woke up early. After washing up, he found Belem in the tavern among the wine barrels, his arm around a prostitute.

A prostitute who had been temporarily put out of work by the arrival of the Patulin Sect, only to resume her trade the day before.

The Patulin Sect opposed all carnal pleasures and considered women in her profession to be apostles of the Devil. They had been persecuted, but she was lucky; she had seduced a Priest into hiding her and her friends.

She had also stashed away some silver coins. Now that silver was in high demand, she no longer planned to be a prostitute. Instead, she wanted to open a new brothel in Piacenza and be her own boss.

She said she and Belem had a good talk last night, and that he would fund her venture. She then politely asked if Eric was also interested.

Belem said he had no reason to refuse a woman who had dreams and worked hard. He also emphasized that if they invested now, they would get to enjoy the services for free in the future.

Eric and Belem each led a contingent of knights out of Piacenza.

They set out to search for the Patulin Sect soldiers returning with the grain shipment.

Belem claimed he had drunk too much the night before. He said he planned to discuss a new business plan with the ambitious lady—a deal worth several hundred pounds. But first, he needed to find a bed and get some rest.

He demanded that they wait until the afternoon to set out.

Eric ignored Belem’s protests, and the two men each led a contingent of knights out of the city to search for the returning Patulin Sect soldiers.

It was late July, and the temperature was climbing.

Summer in Italy was different from summer in Normandy. A Norman summer was mild and cool, while a Milanese summer was far more muggy and humid, especially when wearing armor.

Even though it was morning, the leather and chain armor left both men and horses drenched in sweat, and dust swirled in the wind.

Around noon, they finally spotted a force that looked like a grain convoy.

The muggy heat made Belem drowsy, and he couldn’t help but yawn. But he couldn’t relax, as he was still in his armor. The branches and leaves of the trees blocked some of the sunlight, casting a dappled pattern on his body.

But this did nothing to lessen the oppressive heat. For the first time, his chain armor felt slightly suffocating.

He wanted to take it off, but he knew this was no ordinary march; it was a reconnaissance sweep.

He could feel his tunic underneath was completely soaked, and the stickiness was unbearable. He also reeked of stale beer. Because Eric had rushed him, he had only given himself a quick rinse before leaving and probably hadn’t washed it all off.

A wave of irritability washed over him.

’Where are those damned lowlifes?’

’Don’t tell me I have to waste the whole day out here.’

’All I want right now is to find a wench to lick the filth off my body.’

As time passed and the temperature continued to rise, this thought grew even stronger.

He had already come up with an excuse to give Eric.

However, it seemed Christ had no intention of letting him slack off and break His commandments.

His scouts discovered a mounted reconnaissance party, which surprised Belem somewhat.

’Citizen forces rarely have cavalry.’

’Could it be the army of the Lord of Milan?’

Belem was intrigued. He led his knights and began to tail the small unit.

Soon, they reached the edge of the forest. Belem cautiously stayed within the treeline. In the distance was a stretch of open ground.

But Belem quickly realized there was no need for such caution, as the enemy had clearly already spotted him.

On a gentle, not-too-steep slope in the distance, the enemy had already arranged their formation. Belem guessed they had probably wanted to find a higher slope but couldn’t.

There were three square formations on the slope. However, due to the midday light, Belem could only make out dense rows of shields, as well as archers on the flanks and in the gaps between the formations. They looked to be at least five hundred strong.

In the center of the formation, a large wooden Cross was held aloft. Among them seemed to be several figures dressed as priests.

Beyond the slope was a river. The fact that they had chosen the slope on this side of the river, rather than the far bank, indicated they were here to attack, not that they had just spotted Belem and hastily formed up to meet him.

The wind blew against the current, creating small, white-capped waves on the river. The enemy soldiers were shouting in their direction as grey clouds drifted over the green land. Belem noticed that they even had drummers among them.

"Did you hear that? These Italian fools think we’re like those second-rate Teuton knights! Let’s show them what we’re made of!"

"I’ll send them running back to lick a goat’s ass!"

"There’s no honor in fighting them. They’ll pay the price for wasting our time."

Belem led his troops out of the forest. He divided his two hundred knights into four small square formations. At the same time, he positioned the fifty Wales Longbowmen that Eric had forced him to bring, along with the thirty archers belonging to his personal knights, in the rear.

Belem personally led the rightmost formation of knights. At the sound of the horn, the knights began a frontal charge toward the citizens’ phalanxes.

He watched the enemy archers’ movements. As his men entered bowshot range, the formations suddenly wheeled, with two small squares of knights veering left and the other two right, bypassing the archers.

As amateur soldiers, the citizen archers were instantly thrown into disarray, almost instinctively trying to turn and face the new threat.