The Second Prussian Crusade and the Rebirth of the Teutonic Order
Hymn of War
The ambitions of Poland towards Prussia were gaining dangerous supporters. The Polish army itself outnumbered the Lithuanian army, and Poland was attempting to transform this private war into a full-fledged Crusade against Lithuania through their allegiances, whether the Pope openly supports it or not. This is not good, but it began while Lithuania advanced to conquer one of the last independent Rus territories bordering them, and no matter what, Rimvydas II won't give up that almost finished conquest because of the damn Poles.
They had to assault the walls of Lepiel to ensure the conclusion of such conquest as the massive Polish army advanced against the Lithuanian forces, an assault that came at a cost of thousand of lives, the Russian defenders fighting to their last and bringing down many Lithuanians in their last stand. Outnumbered but not severely, the Lithuanian Army prepared for this difficult battle ahead, having not time to retreat after the conquest of the region, and weary.
Fortunately, with the extensive reserves in the treasury, a massive warband of Russians was hired to bolster the Lithuanian ranks. All the Lithuanian force in Lepiel had to do was to hold their ground long enough for the reinforcements to arrive.
It was a massive and bloody battle, one that could verily define the entire course of this Crusade. The numerical superiority of the Polish light cavalry was the greatest disadvantage for Lithuania, and they were suffering the greater losses from the start due to the numberful enemy archers, in spite of the Polish commanders being much inferior in competence to the Lithuanian ones. Yet they couldn't rout, they had to stand strong until the mercenary army arrives.
Poland won the battle at Lepiel, but they shall not win the war. The retreating Lithuanian Army, after suffering heavy losses, prepares for a stand at Vilnius, the destination of the Rus mercenaries and of a Polish Army hastily advancing in an attempt to crush the defeated Lithuanian Army before the reinforcements arrive. The next battle is a battle Lithuania cannot lose!
The mercenaries bolstered their ranks, but even then, things were not looking well for Lithuania, because their army still was demoralized by their previous defeat, while the Polish forces, driven with a great fervor, were mostly fresh. Yet, led by superior generals, Lithuania made their stand bravely and capably, and the Poles were paying a high price in lives now. The greatest problem was the outnumbered right flank, which fought bravely and with distinction to hold their ground, but would inevitably collapse. How long the Lithuanian right flank could hold while demoralized and outnumbered at 4:1 would determine the outcome of this very important battle.
Although he entrusted his best generals to lead each flank, Rimvydas also participated of the battle, if reluctantly because of a fear of death and cowardice unfit for such a muscular and strong man. It was a hard battle, and he learned some valuable lessons when leading one hundred of the Royal Lithuanian Cavalry into a charge... from behind. The brave Rus mercenaries, lightly armored, were holding out against a flanking attack as well now that the right flank of Lithuania collapsed, while the left flank defended their ground bravely and successfully in spite of being considerably outnumbered.
Yet Rimvydas' fear worked against him as the Polish cavalry intercepted his rearguard, and where once he was leading the cavalry from behind, he and his horse now were being chased and engaged directly, forcing him to man up and fight rather than die like a coward, for fear would mean certain death at that moment, and his death could shatter the morale of his troops in this already hard-fought battle.
Surprising many, Rimvydas II fought with great valor when his life depended on it, bypassing for that moment his usual cowardice. His unexpected and brave advance after killing some of his pursuers, and his act of leading a cavalry charge up front against the exposed flank of an enemy army were even more inspiring because of how unexpected it was for him to display such bravery in battle, granting much prestige to "The Martyr", defender of the last pagan Kingdom on Europe, whose acts of bravery, whose heart with newfound courage shall be remembered as the Polish armies retreat, their crusade finally defeated. Yet arrogantly, they still refused to recognize their defeat, and prepared more and more of their men to die for their false god.
Over twenty thousand Polish crusaders were utterly exterminated, hunted down until none was left alive other than deserters. The gods have granted victory for Lithuania! To Krakow! Let their desperate prayers fall on deaf ears!
Meanwhile, thanks to the Lithuanian master of spies and hitmen, from Holland, new tactics and better means of military organization were "borrowed".
Yet, even as the original crusader forces were wiped out, more fanatics were being levied to die, and the Rus mercenaries were too expensive to stay in the army much longer, and soon would have to be dismissed.
The Lithuanian army marched right to the gates of the royal castle in Krakow, besieging their capital, and yearning to pillage their churches, the source of such drivel that propels them to defy Lithuania. Rimvydas looks at the sights of Krakow visible from outside, confident one day he or his offspring shall march triumphantly inside this city as conqueror.
However, the Polish King levied another, smaller army to put an end to the siege of Krakow. Confident in the superior skills of his generals, Rimvydas did not take the coward's path of retreating before the Polish force arrived, a risky decision considering the outcome of the last battle where Lithuania was outnumbered.
Through trickery, the Polish force had their advance delayed, lured out of Krakow by levies raised in Prussia tasked to circumvent the Polish forces and reach the siege of Krakow. They performed such task admirably, and the Polish army advanced against Krakow while reinforcements were on the way. The resulting battle was another great victory for Lithuania.
However, Poland hired a large mercenary army near Krakow, and thus the siege was cancelled, and instead the Lithuanian army marched in pursuit of such mercenaries while they were vulnerable.
The mercenaries were defeated, but now, in their attempt to drag all of Christendom against Lithuania, the Poles convinced Bohemia, the same country responsible for the successful crusasde for their "holy" city of Jerusalem, to join this conflict before the Potato was further roasted.
On an unrelated note, part of Bohemia belonged to the independent Kingdom of Jerusalem, ruled by a Bohemian from the same dynasty. Hopefully this will not mean another ally for Poland. The Mongol Empire has forever changed the Middle East and Central Asia, where Tengri is the most worshipped god, but the religion of "peace" still resists, and is far from defeated. a French Kingdom of Anatolia, the independent Oriental Orthodox Armenia born of decades of war and sacrifice for their freedom, the somehow still alive Eastern Roman Empire and the opportunistic Venice are other important players in this region.
Why is there always a kingcomrade? What a hypocrite, defying the sovereign rule of Lithuania, then sending preachers?
Slowly Rimvydas was learning to overcome his fear, to crush both Polish and other crusader armies and to personally fight in the thick of the battle. Personally slaughtering hundreds of skirmishers in a dangerous charge have demonstrated that he may yet change as a person, and overcome his own fear. Such deeds were remembered.
While Persian revolts threatened to expel the Mongol Empire from the Middle East, the Muslims, far from admitting defeated, declared another Jihad, this time for Mesopotamia. Fighting countless rebellions, the Mongols may lose this conflict. What happened there served as a valuable lesson for the future of Lithuania, and is a good example of why the first Rimvydas was so reluctant about expansion into heathen territories.
Sensing the way the Mongol Empire has grown weaker, an enemy once thought to have been utterly vanquished by Lithuania and peasant revolts once again rises, this time over a completely different frontline for their false religion, and with a much riskier goal. Hopefully, no matter how many hard times the Mongol Empire faces, the Teutonic Order will never carve enough territory through conquest to become a threat again.
Also, Orthodox Christianity is pretty dead outside of Russia, because of the utter collapse of the ERE.
The war continued for a long time, Poland refusing to give up after countless crushing defeats, and from the fight, Rimvydas learned hatred. Merciless pursuing routing armies, charging against their ranks in a manner where his hatred of the enemy was greater than his fears, he would become a greater general, but with wroth came recklessness and risk.
The bastard continued calling more and more allies to his private Crusade...
Rimvydas, a man who lived in fear of death for most of his life, ironically died shortly after overcoming his craven and cowardly ways, in a brave charge against enemy forces during the battle, a battle his own son Butavas I, young but extremely talented, was participating of. His Altaic and Lithuanian forefathers would be proud.
Butavas, superior to most in both intelligence and strength, finds a perfect future spouse, another gifted kid that will ensure the continuation of such truly royal bloodline of Lithuanian-Altaic übermensch, and perhaps ensure his future heir shall have a 180 IQ.
The war was won, but the Poles were too dumb to realize that.
But the King of Poland would soon face the consequences of his completely failed crusade.
Yet, when the first significant armies allied to Poland arrived in the battlefield, it became obvious why Poland haven't given up. Lithuania, despite all victories so far, still was under the threat of losing Prussia, for more and more legions of crusaders from many different kingdoms marched to the Baltic coast. The royal treasury would be needed again.
Cuman horse archers were hired to bring to the Lithuanian Army enough power to stand a chance against those over twenty thousand crusaders in another decisive battle.
Rimvydas II died bravely in battle, but not before having one last child with one of his concubines. This would mean trouble because of Gavelkind succession unless that children was given a duchy... or the poisoned blade of a Lithuanian hitman.
The ensuing battle was essentially a slaughter from the start, the swarm of Cuman horse archers delivering massive losses while the Lithuanian army tried to distract the enemy masses and leave them more vulnerable to the Cumans.
Yet, after all these immense losses, the arrogant King of Poland still refused to give up, and even more arrogantly, he assumed he was winning the war? Hah! Hunt them down like the skulls of pig they are!
Rather than giving up, the King of Poland continued to drag more countries into this failure. This would only increase his shame once he has no choice but to surrender.
After winning that decisive battle, the Cumans were dismissed as they would be too expensive, and the Lithuanian forces were raised again to finish the job. Also, somehow the Piasts have spread into Italy.
Damn. Hunt them down!
And so, the arrogant King met his demise, captured and humiliated by Butavas I, he was forced to surrender, paying a heavy tribute to Lithuania after being dragged around and publically shunned in a tour in Vilnius. This was a great victory for Lithuania and for all the Baltic gods and their faithful! Finally, after so many years of war, after so many good men dead, it ended.
Yet, after such glorious victory that showed to several crusading kingdoms who the Baltics belong to, after such great morale boost, the Romuva religion still was very far away from becoming more than a stubborn remnant of the past, limited to where it has always been practiced and no further than that. Arkona was still very far, and to free it from the Christ-men a bloody war with Denmark, probably as powerful and strong in their alliances as Poland, would be needed. Yet now an immediate conquest of a Polish border territory was far more tempting, for the Polish kingdom was severely weakened, and the gold paid in tribute was far from enough considering that all of Prussia would have been lost to Poland had they won.
It is time to teach Poland a lesson they won't forget...
TO BE CONTINUED