THE BATTLE
As the September mists lifted from the coasts of the Bay of Drinit, the armies found themselves deployed in order of battle, separated by the shallow and readily fordable River Drin. All along the line, the Venetian army began a controlled advance under the watchful eye of their commander, Niccolo Urlife. The Count winced as he saw the heavy Ottoman guns belch forth fire, smoke, and death again and again at his advancing pike phalanx and their screening musketeers. The musketeers were severely damaged, and three of their captains killed. The fine Venetian pikes also lost captain Hal Bardini, whose body was shattered by one of the heavy projectiles. The Venetian musketeers to the far west of the line used their superior range to draw the fire of opposing Ottoman bow armed rabble units, exchanging a singularly ineffective fire.
The Venetian naval attachment arrived off the coast and began rowing slowly Southwards. The flagship of the squadron was the Galley "Lido", appropriately named for the sandy barrier islands that protected Venice and its lagoon from the ravages of the sea, as the lagoon protected the city from invaders. She was captained by Albanian merchant and leader of the Venetian dockworkers, "Boss" Schakz. Accompanying the vanguard of the Venetian navy was one of the new Galleasses, the "San Marco", named for the patron saint of "La Serenissima", with Loren Polo as her captain. Under sails or oars, the ship was slow and ponderous, and had been towed to the site of the battle by the Lido. However, the tow rope had been detached so that the Galleas and Galley could both operate independent of one another. Unlike the galleys, which mounted a few heavy cannon in the bow and depended mainly upon the soldiers they carried for their effectiveness, the heavily constructed Galleasses mounted cannon in a turret in the bow, along the sides, and also in a castle in the stern, giving them far greater long range firepower. Polo hoped to give an effective demonstration of this against the mass of Turkish troops he could see deployed along the coast. It would however, be some time before either ship would be able to maneuver into range,
Then, as the Venetian troops began to ford the Drin, disaster struck the Venetian cause. One of the Ottoman cannons, it's muzzle set for too high an elevation to hit the Pikes as they forded the river, sent it's projectile sailing well over the heads of the phalanx, and into the largely open ground beyond. However, as the ball bounced, it struck a rock, and a large fragment of granite flew up and struck Leonardo Da Caprio hard in the anterior iliac crest area, causing a severe bone contusion. Pale faced and sweaty, he mumbled "although I may be grievously wounded, I have yet the heart to go on!" However, he instead fainted, and was borne from the field. (Ed Note: Each time a Leader Check card is turned, the commanders must check for injury - the more units under their command that have taken hits, the more likely it is their commander will be hit also. Here, I rolled a "1" on a D20!) It was not until after the battle that it was found that the injuries of the Dodge's son were fortunately not serious after all. The sudden loss of command severely disrupted the advance of the Venetian center, greatly slowing it's advance. (Ed Note: with their commander killed, all of the units in his command are now leaderless, and lose the efficiencies of impetus utilization allowed to units that stay "in command".) Meantime, Mustafa led the light cavalry of his Raider command forward across the Drin to begin harassing the Eastern flank of the Venetian army.
Deprived of higher command, the Venetian center stalled for over 90 minutes to the delight of the Ottoman gunners, who had difficulty adjusting their guns to bear on the pikemen as they held their position along the brushy banks of the Drin. (Ed. Note: I won very little impetus, and several turns ended early. In Piquet, this happens if both players roll the same number on their D20 impetus rolls) The Venetian ships continued to row slowly southwards, still far out of range of the Ottoman rabble deployed near the coasts. Thus, the only real action during this time took place on the Eastern end of the battlefield, in the foothills of the mountains. Mustafa al Rancid led his cloud of light cavalry forwards to draw out and harass the Venetian troopers. Having heard of the grossly ineffective archery displayed by the Ottoman mounted troops in raids over the past year, Paolo Loredan ordered his light cavalry mounted arquebusier screen to trot forwards into range with the heathen raiders, and slow them with their fire. This, however, proved completely ineffective. With a sneer, Mustafa in turn ordered the Akinjis of Anatolia to charge home upon the impudent infidels. Caught in dispersed formation and unloaded, the issue was never seriously in doubt, and the Arquebusiers were soon streaming towards the rear in full rout, losing captain Di Tulio in the action. The day was almost half done, and the Venetians had made no progress whatsoever in clearing the way to lift the siege of Durazzo!
The eastern end of the battlefield erupted into whirlwind of light cavalry action as Loreclan thrust his sword in the direction of the victorious but disorganized Akinjis, and called upon the Stradiots Di Oro to "slam their charge home" upon the heathens. The tide of the melee swung back and forth before the Stradiots finally gained the upper hand, putting the opposing Akinjis to rout. Losses were surprisingly light for such an evenly matched conflict. Not to be outdone, Mustafa flung forwards his fanatic Dellis to sweep away the still jumbled up Stradiots Di Oro. With all the swiftness their winged shields promised, the Dellis slammed into the ill-prepared Stradiots, putting them to flight with heavy losses. Their charge was supported by deadly fire from the Tartars of Crimea, all expert marksmen. In all, 3 of the 4 Stradiot captains were killed or severely injured. (Ed. Note: In Piquet, cavalry are disordered after a melee, even if they win. This makes them very vulnerable until they can rally)
Flushed with pride at the exploits of his troops, Mustafa al Rancid allowed himself a contented belch. He'd been disgusted with the complete lack of marksmanship by his light cavalry during the summer's raids, and had instituted weekly archery competitions between the units of his command. It seemed that the prizes he'd distributed, as well as the abundant supplies of arrows he'd provided for practice had had the desired effect of greatly improving the firepower of his cavalry! And those local peaches tasted so good! (Ed Note: In Piquet, before the battle each unit rolls for a "Base Die Value" varying from a D4 up to a D10, which is then further modified based upon the unit's training and weapons. This yields final die types for Fire, Melee, and Morale. Joe rolled really well for the BDV's of his light cavalry this game, especially the Tartars!) In the center, there continued to be little significant action. The pikemen stayed hunkered down along the river banks, and the Topjidis of the Sultan's artillery remained unable to effectively target them. Along the coast however, the superior weapons of the Venetian musketeers began to tell, as a total of 3 Guardians of the Koran in the Azabs were felled by their accurate fire.
As the sun's golden chariot continued on its path across the clear fall sky, things began to look grim for the Venetians of Niccolo Urlife. The Ottoman artillery finally brought effective fire onto the pikemen, captains Cremonese and Puglia falling to their fire. Infuriated rather than intimidated, the phalanx finally moved free of the river banks.... and straight towards the Ottoman gunners! On their flanks, while the City Arquebusiers of Verdi and Scarlati also moved forwards to or across the river Drin, another captain in the covering musketeers of Tintorello fell to the Thracian Mountaineers, and Count Urlife ordered the remnants to fall back into reserve, out of the fight for the rest of the day. Back on the battle's Eastern end, Mustafa al Rancid sensed that his Moment of Greatness had at last arrived.
Standing straight up in his stirrups, he seized the Banner of the Prophet, and shouted forth with all his might, "ALLAH AKBAR!!!!" Soon, all over the battlefield, the Faithful took up the chant, intoxicated with religious zeal. (Ed Note: An optional "Allah Akbar" card had been added to the deck for the Ottomans. This makes all their troops fight better after it's turned, until the first Arab unit loses a melee) The sharpshooting Tartars of Crimea let loose their deluge of arrows upon the unfortunate remaining unit of light cavalry in Venetian employ, the Stradiots of Titian. Armed only with spears and maces, the tough Albanians were thoroughly fenestrated with Turkish shafts, 3 of their leaders falling in the space of half an hour. With the Glory of Allah, the words of Mohammed, and, it may be confessed, thoughts of plunder to come, Mustafa al Rancid cantered over to the recently victorious but still somewhat disordered Dellis, and, boldly, or perhaps some might say, rashly, flung them in a disordered hell for leather charge at the last viable cavalry unit on the Eastern end of the field, the mercenary Reiters of hauptman Von Kleibern. Coolly disdaining their famed Caracole tactics, Van Kleibern's troops held their pistol fire until the tide of the fanatic horsemen broke upon their superior order and armor, and then each of the men rapidly discharged all of their three loaded pistols into the faces of their adversaries.
The carnage was terrible to behold, as only a small handful of the Dellis were left to flee in utter rout, not stopping before they reached the camp outside the walls of Durazzo the following day. The defeat of these fanatics caused an almost palpable sigh in the ranks of the Ottoman host, like the wind departing the sails of a great ship. At the same time, a horrid sucking noise was heard coming from the entourage surrounding Mustafa al Rancid! They had been following up behind the Dellis, fanning the flames of their zeal, when Mustafa was struck in the chest by a stray pistol shot from the melee with the Reiters. As luck would have it, the ball slipped between the ribs and into the chest of the unfortunate prince. Most veterans knew that awful sound, and were aware that few survived such a terrible injury. The Sultan's surgeon's, however, were skilled and there was still some small chance that Mustafa's life might be saved by prompt action, and thus his escort galloped off with the unconscious prince flung across the saddle of his fine charger, leaving the entire wing without any higher command. On their own initiative, the feudal Sipahis began crossing the Drin to support their light cavalry brethren. Despite the tragic turn of events, there were now no cavalry remaining in good order on the Venetian flank, and the prospect of annihilating the infidel was still within their grasp!
Paolo Loredan saw things in much the same way. With the Feudal Sipahis continuing to advance upon him, it was vital that he restore order to his remaining cavalry as soon as possible. He gaily sauntered over towards the weakened but still potentially useful Stradioti di Oro, and, making use of his long relationship with its troopers, succeeded in rallying them. In so doing, a Tartar arrow passed through one of the puffed sleeves of his doublet without injuring him. (Ed Note: He had to check for casulaties, needing a 2 or better on a D20, and rolled a 2!) He had no success with the dour Reiters, who were as unimpressed with his exhortions to reform as they were with his personal life. As the Crimean Tartars moved in for a closer shot at the helpless pistoliers, Loreclan flung the newly rallied Stradioti Di Oro upon them. In return, the Tartar commander, Yuraslav Imaslav, slashed his arms and face as a sign of frenzy and called upon his men to fight with the fury of demons! Inspired, the Tartars countercharged.
(Ed. Note: Joe turned two "Heroic Moment" cards in a row, followed by a "Light cavalry Move" card!)
Arab arrows and sword contested against Christian mace and spear in a swirling, see-saw melee. A ragged volley of point blank bowfire disordered the Stradiots, but thereafter the more heavily armed if understrength Albanians slowly gained the upper hand. The Tartars of Crimea were thrown first into disorder in their turn, and then finally broke into a cloud of fugitives. Actual casualties on each side were slight despite the long action.
Seeing the advance of the Feudal Sipahis, Izzo Morano began to swing his wild Schiavonni forwards to support the dwindling cavalry of Loreclan. Nobody's fool, he'd waited until his troops might have the situation turn to his favor. He knew that his men were indifferent shots, but fine swordsmen, and when deployed in deep formations for fire by rotation, Morano believed that they would likely be able to stand up to all but the cream of the Ottoman horse - as long as their flanks were secure. In the event, the opportunity to test his hypothesis soon arose - The Schiavonni drawn from nearby Scutari were put to the test by the Sipahis of Thrace. Seeing the arquebus armed troops without any support from more heavily equipped infantry, their commander seized the apparent opportunity and attacked the Scutarians head on.
The Schiavonni coolly emptied their arquebuses into the Sipahis and drew their swords. Nobles Brente of Oman and lian of Mombasa went down in the hail of fire, along with many of their vassals. The Sipahis' charge wavered, and then broke, the survivors hastening for the safety of the Drin. Shortly thereafter, the routing Tartars fleeing across their front, the Schiavonni of Ragusa also fired with unexpectedly deadly effect, downing many of the survivors and 2 chieftains. (Ed. Note: Hot dice here!)
Well satisfied with events on his flank, Paolo Loreclan attempted to restore order to his Stradiots and the recalcitrant Reiters, but to no avail. As he capered around in extravagant caprices, he narrowly missed being thrown from his horse when it's leg caught in a burrow.
(Ed: Rolled another "2" needing a 2 or better to avoid injury!)
The Stradiots were exhausted, and the Reiters merely laughed at him while their formation remained more an incohesive mass than anything else.
In the center, the Pikes of the City of Venice charged home upon the Ottoman's guns, and to no one's surprise, swept them away. The supporting City Arquebusiers of Verdi demonstrated how they had earned their reputation as crack shots, as 2 devastating volleys killed 3 leaders in the Bosnian Arquebusiers. Their morale shattered, the Turkish light infantry fled for the camp outside of Durazzo. Things were looking much better for the Venetian cause!
The fighting had been so intense, that it was only now that both Niccolo Urlife and Mohammed Farouk noticed the failing light of an autumn day fast ending. Urlife hoped to turn his advantage to crushing victory, whilst Farouk hoped to bloody the Venetian's noses some more and then withdraw after dusk to a new defensive position along the coastal road to Durazzo. Although they had played no concrete role in the action, the Venetian ships advancing up the bay would soon be able to dominate the coast with their fire, and the Ottoman Naval support he had asked for had failed to materialize. Farouk later found out that the ships had arrived outside of Durazzo, but were so short of all supplies that they were not yet fit for action.
And so it was that Hassan al Rancid was looking at the Venetian Pikes striking at the center of his line and the road to Durazzo itself. His usual bad temper was certainly not improved by the aftermath of the prior evening's debauchery, but even he could figure out how to handle this crisis! With a few minor adjustments to the dispositions of his troops, he brought the Pikes under fire from no less than 3 units; the Tufcengi, the Jannisaries of the Spoon, and the Thracian musketeers. A volcano of fire and dark, acrid smoke erupted in the center of the Ottoman line, and when it had cleared, almost half the pikemen had been cut down, their bodies piled in neatly ordered ranks as they had stood. They had had their vengeance upon the Sultan's artillery, but at what price?
Back on the Eastern flank, yet another fanatic leader arose among the cavalry of the faithful, as Walid Undat screamed to his Arab Faithful of a jihad against the infidel, and he and his frenzied men surged forwards to engage the more heavily equipped but outnumbered and still disarrayed Stradiots Di Oro.
(Ed: Another "Heroic Moment" for the Turks)
The Stradiots, now in their third melee of the day, had no heart for further combat and were routed with heavy losses, losing their Standard of St. John to the heathen. Perhaps the opportunity to gain the flank of the Venetian Tanzirs (pigs) had not passed after all!
In the center, as the Ottoman troops struggled to reload their cumbersome firearms, the command of the rapidly diminishing Pike phalanx had devolved upon one of the few remaining officers, the elder son of a Venetian glass merchant, Gona Casta cle Dice. Things didn't look good from his perspective. If they pikes held their ground, there would probably be little left of them after another deadly hail of Ottoman lead. If they retreated, the road to Durazzo would remain blocked, and they would still likely suffer from the fire of the long ranged muskets of the enemy. Therefore, de Dice resolved to fling his ragtag but still disciplined force at the Thracian musketeers. He reasoned that if he could break them, the resolve of the whole Ottoman army might well start to crumble, and he and his pikes would be spared further massacre at the hands of the Turkish firearms. "For Honor and Glory!", he harangued his troops, as they charged hard upon the astonished Thracians. In the ensuing combat, the tired but desperate pikes succeeded in skewering half of the heathen, but yet the followers of the Koran held firm. Did not Allah promise a place in his paradise to those who fell in battle while serving his cause?
Dusk descended upon the battlefield with all of its usual autumnal suddenness, and the long days fighting at last took its toll upon the combatants of both sides. Their courage failing them at last, both the Venetian Pikes in the center and the Arab Faithful on the Eastern flank retreated. (Ed. Note: They both failed a special kind of morale check triggered by "Courage Check" cards) This left no opposing troops within in combat range, and with the setting of the sun, the din of fighting died out all across the battlefield, to be replaced by the pitiful cries of the many wounded. The hard fought battle of Lezhe was over.
AFTERMATH
Mustafa Al Rancid did not survive the day. The Sultan's physicians cleansed his wounds with spirits and sealed the open wound in his chest with aromatic gums, but they held out little hope for his recovery, and shortly thereafter he began coughing up blood and passed into the hands of Allah before midnight. The Sultan's grief was great, but his rage was controlled. Not a single physician was beheaded or strangled, although he did have them all tortured mildly in order that the palace intriguers not get the idea that he was going soft! It may be imagined that the grief of Mustafa's brothers was somewhat less than that of their father.
As the night thickened, the artillery pieces were recovered by the Topjidis and their laborers pressed into service from the ranks of the Azab foot. Mohammed Farouk was pleased to blunt the Venetian thrust so cheaply, almost all the losses for the Turks coming from light foot and cavalry units, while the Ventian pikes recovered from the field would allow hundreds of tents to be pitched quickly. The next battle would most likely see these remaining Ventians behind the walls of Durazzo, along with those already manning the walls. The loss of Mustafa was tragic, now the Sultan had but two sons, and perhaps would rethink the need for the Venetian city. But that my friends, is another story...
In the Venetian camp, Niccolo Urlife was also well satisfied with the day's fighting. At one point, it had seemed to him that the morale of the Ottomans must soon break, and send the levies fleeing from the field. (Ed Note: I kept waiting for the "Major Morale Check" card to show up in Joe's deck as Joe's Turks by then had many more units in rout or off the table, and he was out of morale chips! The MMC is especially nasty if there are no remaining chips, and the difference in the number of units on each side that have been routed, eliminated, or retreated off the board determines how hard it is for each unit to pass the check.) It did not seem God's will that this should come to pass, so what sense was there in dwelling upon it? From the standpoint of a Condotiere, a victory that left his personal retainers untouched, and required his continued services was the best kind of all. Rubbing his hands, he contemplated the terms of his contract. La Serenissima was a harsh but generous and dependable paymaster. After a well deserved bottle of passable Dalmatian wine, he began to plan his further advance upon the besieged city of Durazzo.
At sea, Loren Polo was frustrated that he had not had a chance to demonstrate the firepower of his cumbersome but heavily armed San Marco. Aboard his flagship, the Lido, "Boss" Schakz had similar regrets, but he figured that it wouldn't be long before there was another battle. With no guarantee that the Ottoman navy wouldn't appear in the Adriatic any day, things were likely to get more interesting soon. To pass the time, he composed the "Ballad of the Lido", which became very popular among the Venetian rowers:
The Lido left the dock that day and its pitiful shacks,
Durazzo bound, and she isn't turning back,
Cruised down the Bay of Drinit, saw the battle, made the stop
Just long enough to take the sail down off the top
Next stop Durazzo town, the Lido put her oars down,
pulling San Marco by the rope. Saying:
One last fight ought to do it
Get our shots in, nothing to it
Once more on Durazzo road!
One more time ought to get it
One more fight, don't forget it
Once more on Durazzo Road!
More "See You in September"
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© Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum
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