Prince Kalman was sitting, contemplating his next move when suddenly Istvan stormed in, he must have rode hard to get here as soon as he did after the battle for Bucharest.
"Those traitorous rebel scum still live. The Wallachians still live, send me at once to finish off the heathens! he raged. When he got into these moods it was dangerous to cross with him.
"Very well, I have cavalry and infantry ready for an assault. I'll authorize the use of funds to hire some Balkan Mercenaries. Strengthening our position here is of the utmost importance and finishing off the rebels is a noble goal." said Kalman. As Istvan stormed out, Kalman began to think of ways he might be able to use the General, who was more and more proving himself to be capable beyond anyone else. Perhaps an opportunity would arise soon, but for now the best course of action would be to let him do as he willed.
((This was an fairly easy battle. 3 Spear Militia, 1 Peasant, 1 Magyar Cavalry, 2 Balkan Archers, 1 Slavic Mercenary vs. Peasants of the archer variety and standard variety.))
"Men, I want to remind you that our enemy today is nothing more than filthy godless peasants, who refuse to recognize the authority of Christ and Hungary. Cut down every last one of them, for the world is better off without these pagans. Let's finish the job before dawn breaks so the sun never rises on these curs again!"
The preparations had been made, the ladders and ram were ready, the only left to do was to put them into place. Dzsó was in charge of the Western group of ladders. When the order was given for a full advance, he did as he was instructed. Looking to his right, Dzsó saw the ram had caught on fire and was nearly burned to a husk at the same time both ladder groups reached the walls. "You peasants, with me, that ram's no good anymore, we'll have to capture the walls to open up these gates."
The walls were quickly taken by the much more experienced forces of Hungary and the gates opened for the Archers and Cavalry. By that time there was hardly anyone left defending the castle, and they were quickly overwhelmed by the arrows flying through the air and the cavalry decimating their forces with their lances.
Dzsó approached Istvan. "The villagers have been slaughtered as per your orders what are you going to do now sir?"
"Build a chapel and begin turning these pagans to the one, true God. I'll be setting up a watch post to keep watch on the Southern Borders, I leave the construction to you Dzsó. said Istvan. For now though, he would stay in the castle for a brief night, the watch post was a long ride away, and could wait to be set up.
A few months later in Sofia,"King Laszlo, are you sure now is the time to attack the enemy?" asked one of the King's many advisers.
"Yes, we could wait for more of them to die from starvation, but that's not necessary. I will be known as the King who united the region under one crown, not as the King who starved peasants to death because of his inability to take a simple castle!" Laszlo thought back on the past few years and wondered if this was the right time for action. He was of course concerned with leaving behind a name for himself, but the question was whether or not this was the right path. He shook his head, for too long he had been too cautious, now was the time for action!
((A much more even battle here. They had 2 units of Magyar Cavalry, some Slav Levies, and Peasant archers))
Not being a man of many words, after his short speech, Lazslo began the assault. Truly fate was on their side today as many of the peasant archers stood on the walls, completely unguarded. Soon the Hungarian Peasant archers and Magyar cavalry were returning fire on the Rebels. As the battle progressed, it became clear that the enemy Magyar Cavalry were targeting our forces on the rooftops. As soon as the gates were opened by the ram, King Laszlo and his knights charged forward, into the opposing cavalry. The cavalry waged battle against each other but it was clear that Lazslo and his knights were by far the superior force, despite being outnumbered two to one. The battle at the walls was still raging when suddenly, all of the enemies forces began to retreat, nearly at the same time. "God be praised for this victory!" shouted Laszlo as the Hungarians let out a mighty cheer.
((I wish these were the Venetians or Polish, I captured so many of them during that retreat it was ridiculous.))
In BudapestBudapest was an uneventful post, especially for one as skilled as Elek, but it was one of those things that needed to be done. If there was to be any action though, Poland or Venice must do something rash. To that end, he must find a diplomat willing to insult them, and he would.
Elek Marton was not the only one making plans for war though. On the other side of Hungary Prince Kalman was building his own forces, and preparing, to lead them to victory against any enemy.