Hello guys. Just looking for some opinions on this. I just put out a preview to a novel I am working on and figured I would run it by you guys as well. It's about the Ottoman War and includes many famous battles including Kosovo, Varna, Constantinople and Nandorfehervar/Belgrade. Allot of you guys will probably get a kick out of the fact that it includes some early use of firearms.
Just so you know, while this IS a historical novel, based on historical evidence, pretty much everything in this particular chapter is hear say. First, the conflict that covers most of the chapter is a fictional example of a series of events that took place throughout the 1420s and 30s, most of which there is little to no known documentation describing, just record that it was going on. In other words, it is just a fictional example of what was really going on. Not to say that there was or wasn't an event that occurred exactly like this interpretation. We just don't know. The purpose of the example is to give you an up close and personal picture of the real situation.
Secondly, there is no known meeting between Janos and Giovanni at that time. At least, none that I know of. I included it since it's highly likely that the 2 of them would have met in that time period and it makes a good early opportunity to spell out what the stories main characters were all about. The vast majority of the book is modeled off of historical records. This is just one of the few parts that's entirely hear say.
Have fun and I welcome your opinions. I also welcome any challenges to consistency with history if any of you spot any potential errors, part of the reason for this post.
An R-Rated part is censored with a dotted line.
BTW. Don't worry about the grammar. grammar clean up is actually a pretty long and intense process that tends to be the final part of writing a book.
..................................
..................................
The Good Warrior. Summer, 1429
It was a calm summer morning in a small valley village. The community was filled with small huts, wooden houses, sheds and a few stone buildings. The roads and walkways were paved with gravel to keep it in tact during rainfall. Wagons, farm equipment and livestock littered the community. A small Orthodox church was located at the center of town.
The men were dressed in short work pants, suspenders and tunics. Most men were thick bearded with rough hair, sometimes in naturally formed dreadlocks result of poor hygiene. The more wealthy men had short beards, mustaches and shoulder length haircuts.
The women were dressed in colorful dresses that nearly touched the ground when they stood and had thick scarfs wrapped around their heads so that not a single stran of hair could be seen. Most of the boys were play sword fighting with sticks while the girls sat under trees telling each other stories or playing in gardens or with animals.
The village sat on the side of a flowing stream that went through the valley and small farms surrounded the village clear in to the hills.
The village watchmen sat on a porch playing chess and doing exercises on this peaceful summer day.
The valley was like that of a fairytale. Meadows full of beautiful flowers, bees and fruit trees littered the area. The housing and farming development was accompanied by small roads for wagons and buggies to travel.
Beyond the village, a preteen girl was out picking strawberries on a farm for her parents, who promised her a delicious strawberry desert as a reward for her assistance in church services earlier in the week. She had been told by her parents to stay on the property to prevent harm by wild animals and to keep from getting in trouble with the neighbors. As tempting as it was for her to step out of bounds, she remained obedient to her parents and picked strawberries only in their property.
Her father had gone in to town to buy supplies while her mother was in the house sewing damaged cloths while keeping her ears pealed of her daughters activities and those of their livestock.
The strawberry patch on the farm was surrounded by tall grass and woods beyond it. A trail went from the side of the strawberry patch clear in to the woods. Since the girl wanted to make shorter trips in the hotter part of the day, she chose to pick the outer rows of strawberries first. As she continued to pick strawberries, a grown man's hand suddenly covered her mouth firmly and she found herself being held down firmly by the man and in the blink of an eye, she had completely forgotten about picking strawberries and filled with terror, not knowing who had grabbed her or what he wanted. Was this one of the monsters in the stories that she had heard perhaps?
The man very quietly but firmly said something to her. She did not understand the language, but she got the feeling that it had something to do with her keeping quiet. She instinctively knew that she would be killed if she made the slightest sound.
The man holding her sat her up and a second set of hands cut a piece of her dress away with a large knife and slipped it under the hand that held her mouth and tightly gagged her with it. Then the hand carefully moved away from her mouth but it was replaced with the knife at her throat. The man with the knife carefully walked in front of her without moving the knife from her throat, looked down at her and said something again. Again, she couldn't understand what he said, but knew it had to do with keeping quiet. Now that she could see their faces, she was almost certain who they were. The man had a slender turban around his head which was tied at the back and the excess of it hung down over his shoulder. His cloths were baggy, he wore a curved single edge sword and a wheel lock pistol in his belt and a full length rifle over his shoulder. This was all suspicious but what really gave away who they were was the knife at her throat. It was polished to a mirror shine yet despite it's polish, it had a weird pattern in the metal, similar to wood grains on knotted wood.
This reminded her of what her father would tell them when he visited home from his services in the Hungarian army. He told them that they had killed an Ottoman commander who was wielding a mighty sword that was cutting right through their shields and armor. After killing the man, they took the mans sword and presented it to their lord. He had described the sword as being very shiny but having a weird wood-like pattern in the metal. She also remembered her father telling her that his lord told them that it was a Damascus sword and that they were legendary for their ability to penetrate armor without being damaged.
Is this a Damascus blade that he is holding at my throat? If so, he must be an important man. It then occurred to her that he was in deed much better dressed and much better equipped then the other soldiers that she saw.
That's when she realized that they were approaching her house where her mother was. At this point, she didn't care if they were going to kill her, she was going to scream anyway, but the Turkish commander caught on and quickly tackled her mouth again.
The soldiers entered the house with bows drawn. They clearly didn't want to create a disturbance with gunfire as this would arouse the nearby community.
Then the girl heard some stomping and tumbling and the whining of her mother. The little girl was crying though the Turk's tear covered hand covering her mouth prevented her cries from being able to be heard at a distance.
Then a Turkish soldier came out and said something to the commander. Then the commander picked the little girl up, still holding her mouth and walked her through the strawberry patch and in to the house where she found her mother hog tied on the ground in tears and with signs of recent battering on her face suggesting that the Turks beat her before hog tying her.
The little girl was then hog tied along with her mother.
Then the men began talking to each other in Arabic:
"You two, watch this house until I send a runner." said the commander. "You, find a good spot in those brushes over there to watch the town with your rifle." The rest of you will accompany me in to town.
Then one of the men looked at the mother and said in Turkish: "Man, we're going to have some fun tonight." Then another Turkish soldier said to the commander: "Sir, that reminds me. The younger girl looks really sweet. Can I have her?" The commander replied: "That's enough. We'll talk about this later. Besides, you may find girls you like more before we're done here. Right now, let's focus on our mission." Then the men began laughing in a perverted tone as they began to take positions and move out.
As the commander and his men left the building and began moving towards the town, a woman screaming could be heard in the distance. The commander paused, became wide eyed and said in a raised voice: "LET'S MOVE!"
They charged through some hay fields, jumping over fences and cutting through farms, seeing their comrades struggle with and terrorize locals along the way. They soon made it to the village.
They went in to the stores where they beat up the men in them and tossed them out in to the streets as did the other units involved as they entered the village from different directions.
Turkish soldiers marching in formations with guns drawn herded the terrified villagers together in the middle of the village. Struggling boys were tossed in to a pile and hogtied with rope from the stores. As this was happening, a Turkish soldier rode in to town on an Arabian stallion. He was dressed in fine linens and velvet. His turban was large with a jewel at the center and feathers sticking up. He wore a thick, bushy beard. Some lower ranking soldiers who appeared to be of western decent laid out a carpet and knelt down for him to step on their shoulders.
Once on the carpet, the commander from before approached him and bowed before him. The higher ranking Turk said to the commander: "Why was the town alerted of our coming?" The commander replied: "I do not yet know. What I know is that myself and my men heard a woman screaming as we approached the village. The high ranking turk replied: "Then investigate. I expect you to find out who is responsible for allowing this. You know that I do not tolerate this sort of behavior among our ranks." The commander replied: "Yes sir. I know and I will not fail you. The high-ranking Turk replied: "Good." Then turning to the captivated villagers, the high-ranking Turk spoke in the Hungarian language so the towns people could understand him: "This village is now under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire. You will be provided a translato....
Then a resilient preteen boy finished chewing away the cloth he was gagged with and said: "My dad is going to KILL you!"
The high-ranking Turk, without a word, quickly drew a decorated rifle from his horse, aimed it at the boy when a man in the crowd of captives began to scream. The Turkish soldiers quickly apprehended the man and held him down, knowing they might get in trouble for hitting the man in front of the high-ranking turk. The high-ranking Turk said to the boy: "Well, now we know who your father is." The boy paused and was then relieved to see the high-ranking Turk put his rifle away. Then, he shouted to the commander, as if to make his voice heard by the whole town: "Bring me the fathers head." A translator repeated his words in Turkish to the commander. This being a vocal practice used for terror purposes.
The father began to scream and struggle as he was dragged to the commander. The commander drew his sword. The preteen boy began to scream. Seeing this, the high-ranking Turk yelled: "HALT" to the commander. Then, in a soft and caring voice, he said to the preteen boy: "Oh, is that sword too big and terrifying for you? Alright, I wont make them behead your father with that large and scary weapon." The Turks became confused. Then he said to the commander: "Put your sword away. The confused commander put his sword away. Then after a short pause, the high-ranking Turk said in a calm voice: "Behead him with your knife."
The commander, apparently use to carrying out horrible executions, showed no hesitation as he drew his knife and gradually cut the boy's father's head off over several terror filled seconds time, causing the child utmost mental trauma *************************************************************
The high-ranking Turk said to the towns people: "Does anyone else wish to disrespect us?"
The people were silent. Then he started issuing orders to his men to prepare the people for departure in to slavery when a Turk guarding the rooftops yelled out: "RIDERS COMING FROM THE NORTH! The commander yelled: "IDENTIFY THEM." After several seconds the rooftop guard replied: "ARMORED CAVALRY, AND THEY LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE SOME BATTLE WAGONS. THEY ARE MOVING FAST....WAIT!" Then after a few more seconds, he continued: "THEY ARE FLYING THE ITALIAN AND HUNGARIAN FLAGS!"The high-ranking Turk yelled: "IT'S THAT MERCENARY GROUP! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!" The commander yelled: "SECURE THE PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH AND TAKE DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS! GO, GO!"
As the people were gathered in to the church, the rooftop watchman yelled: "They are breaking up! Battle wagons are staying on the roads. Cavalry cutting through the meadows.
The Turks began taking up hidden positions around town while others remained in front of the buildings. The high-ranking turk took up position in a stone building and the commander took up a first floor indoor position that was strategically placed so that he could deliver commands throughout the village.
The town went quiet for a few minutes before they started hearing occasional shots in the distance, including one near the strawberry patch of the little girls house.
Some of the Turks began joking among themselves that the sharpshooters were busy when the rooftop watchman: "The cavalry has..." Then a led ball struck him in the neck and he began gagging and tumbling around before falling off of the roof and landed in front of his comrades where he continued gagging for a few seconds before passing away.
The commander heard the commotion and sent a runner to find out what happened. After receiving the news, he asked his men to figure out what the guard was trying to say when he got shot. Perhaps he never needed to give that order. As he turned around, he got a glimpse through a window in a nearby room of the cavalry, standing still in the nearby meadows and farm crops less then 200 yards away. Knowing the crafty reputation of this mercenary force, he was spooked by the motionless sight of the cavalry. Peaking his head outside of the door, he saw the battle wagons now guarding every road in and out of the village. It was clear to him now, they were surrounded. He thought: "No matter, we have too many sharpshooters in the brushes." When something occurred to him: "How were they able to hit our guard at 200 yards?" Taking another glance at the battle wagons, it became clear to him. The battle wagons were more then half empty. Soldiers secretly unloaded out of them while in rout to the village and the shots heard earlier were not fired by the Turkish sharpshooters, but shots fired AT the Turkish sharpshooters. The commander, knowing how few his options were, ran across the enemy guarded road to meet with the high-ranking Turk and give him the news.
"You fool!" yelled the high-ranking Turk. "Don't you realize that they want you to think that. Our forces are too well trained to allow something like that!" The commander replied: "With all do respect sir, recent history suggests otherwise. This mercenary group has repeatedly emerged victorious in engagements against us just like this one."
The high ranking Turk, now terrified, realizing that their recent atrocities against the villagers would be exposed and revenge sought if captured, became terrified and moving about frantically. The commander knew nothing of how to deal with a higher-ranking Turk then himself when out of control, so he chose to just leave the high-ranking Turk be and mount a suicide resistance. He ran outside and yelled to his men: "We can't win this battle. Do as you will, but I suggest you die fighting, for if you are captured, you may die a horrible death! Then the Turks gathered in to small groups and led full-hearted dashes against the battle wagons. As they charged, gunfire and arrows cut them down and the few who made it to the battle wagons were chopped up by swords or shot by the still hidden sharpshooters. Then the cavalry began to charge back and fourth through the village with lances drawn, apparently attempting to draw fire before dismounting, and going around kicking in doors and dragging hiding Turks out. Seeing this ahead of time, the commander, who managed to get to safety in his original post after the dash, drew his pistol to take his own life when a mercenary charging towards his building, saw him through the window and thinking he was trying to shoot him, fired at the commander with his pistol and the led ball hit one of his arms, fracturing the bone as it glanced off and landed in the other arm causing the commander to fire his gun in to the roof. The mercenary busted in to the room and drug the Ottoman commander out in to the streets with the rest of the Turks to find a small group of mercenary cavalry nearby. Among them was a colorful soldier dressed in shiny silver armor of high quality, white leather and a raven symbol on his armor. That raven told him everything. It was Janos Hunyadi, the terror of the Turks who had a growing reputation for eliminating Turkish activity in the area, and a wanted man in Ottoman Turkey.
Janos rested quietly on his horse as the town was secured and his cavalry force returned to formation. Then he asked one of the cavalry soldiers to get the towns people out of the church and asked another to find some surgeons to give the towns people some medical attention.
The towns people were cared for in the church but kept inside as they were cared for. The mercenary soldiers inquired of the towns people of the wear abouts of their family members who were missing and went from house to house throughout the valley freeing the people throughout the area and giving them medical attention as needed before bringing them to the camp in front of the church where they were kept and cared for.
Janos entered the church and looked about. The people seamed terrified and some battered, but no serious injuries. Still, one person did catch his eyes. It was a young boy, speechless but in tears. Janos knew this sight all too well. This was someone filled with ultimate hate and sorrow. While he pittied the boy, he also realized that the child had recently had the kind of experience that breeds monsters.
To be continued.
Just so you know, while this IS a historical novel, based on historical evidence, pretty much everything in this particular chapter is hear say. First, the conflict that covers most of the chapter is a fictional example of a series of events that took place throughout the 1420s and 30s, most of which there is little to no known documentation describing, just record that it was going on. In other words, it is just a fictional example of what was really going on. Not to say that there was or wasn't an event that occurred exactly like this interpretation. We just don't know. The purpose of the example is to give you an up close and personal picture of the real situation.
Secondly, there is no known meeting between Janos and Giovanni at that time. At least, none that I know of. I included it since it's highly likely that the 2 of them would have met in that time period and it makes a good early opportunity to spell out what the stories main characters were all about. The vast majority of the book is modeled off of historical records. This is just one of the few parts that's entirely hear say.
Have fun and I welcome your opinions. I also welcome any challenges to consistency with history if any of you spot any potential errors, part of the reason for this post.
An R-Rated part is censored with a dotted line.
BTW. Don't worry about the grammar. grammar clean up is actually a pretty long and intense process that tends to be the final part of writing a book.
..................................
..................................
The Good Warrior. Summer, 1429
It was a calm summer morning in a small valley village. The community was filled with small huts, wooden houses, sheds and a few stone buildings. The roads and walkways were paved with gravel to keep it in tact during rainfall. Wagons, farm equipment and livestock littered the community. A small Orthodox church was located at the center of town.
The men were dressed in short work pants, suspenders and tunics. Most men were thick bearded with rough hair, sometimes in naturally formed dreadlocks result of poor hygiene. The more wealthy men had short beards, mustaches and shoulder length haircuts.
The women were dressed in colorful dresses that nearly touched the ground when they stood and had thick scarfs wrapped around their heads so that not a single stran of hair could be seen. Most of the boys were play sword fighting with sticks while the girls sat under trees telling each other stories or playing in gardens or with animals.
The village sat on the side of a flowing stream that went through the valley and small farms surrounded the village clear in to the hills.
The village watchmen sat on a porch playing chess and doing exercises on this peaceful summer day.
The valley was like that of a fairytale. Meadows full of beautiful flowers, bees and fruit trees littered the area. The housing and farming development was accompanied by small roads for wagons and buggies to travel.
Beyond the village, a preteen girl was out picking strawberries on a farm for her parents, who promised her a delicious strawberry desert as a reward for her assistance in church services earlier in the week. She had been told by her parents to stay on the property to prevent harm by wild animals and to keep from getting in trouble with the neighbors. As tempting as it was for her to step out of bounds, she remained obedient to her parents and picked strawberries only in their property.
Her father had gone in to town to buy supplies while her mother was in the house sewing damaged cloths while keeping her ears pealed of her daughters activities and those of their livestock.
The strawberry patch on the farm was surrounded by tall grass and woods beyond it. A trail went from the side of the strawberry patch clear in to the woods. Since the girl wanted to make shorter trips in the hotter part of the day, she chose to pick the outer rows of strawberries first. As she continued to pick strawberries, a grown man's hand suddenly covered her mouth firmly and she found herself being held down firmly by the man and in the blink of an eye, she had completely forgotten about picking strawberries and filled with terror, not knowing who had grabbed her or what he wanted. Was this one of the monsters in the stories that she had heard perhaps?
The man very quietly but firmly said something to her. She did not understand the language, but she got the feeling that it had something to do with her keeping quiet. She instinctively knew that she would be killed if she made the slightest sound.
The man holding her sat her up and a second set of hands cut a piece of her dress away with a large knife and slipped it under the hand that held her mouth and tightly gagged her with it. Then the hand carefully moved away from her mouth but it was replaced with the knife at her throat. The man with the knife carefully walked in front of her without moving the knife from her throat, looked down at her and said something again. Again, she couldn't understand what he said, but knew it had to do with keeping quiet. Now that she could see their faces, she was almost certain who they were. The man had a slender turban around his head which was tied at the back and the excess of it hung down over his shoulder. His cloths were baggy, he wore a curved single edge sword and a wheel lock pistol in his belt and a full length rifle over his shoulder. This was all suspicious but what really gave away who they were was the knife at her throat. It was polished to a mirror shine yet despite it's polish, it had a weird pattern in the metal, similar to wood grains on knotted wood.
This reminded her of what her father would tell them when he visited home from his services in the Hungarian army. He told them that they had killed an Ottoman commander who was wielding a mighty sword that was cutting right through their shields and armor. After killing the man, they took the mans sword and presented it to their lord. He had described the sword as being very shiny but having a weird wood-like pattern in the metal. She also remembered her father telling her that his lord told them that it was a Damascus sword and that they were legendary for their ability to penetrate armor without being damaged.
Is this a Damascus blade that he is holding at my throat? If so, he must be an important man. It then occurred to her that he was in deed much better dressed and much better equipped then the other soldiers that she saw.
That's when she realized that they were approaching her house where her mother was. At this point, she didn't care if they were going to kill her, she was going to scream anyway, but the Turkish commander caught on and quickly tackled her mouth again.
The soldiers entered the house with bows drawn. They clearly didn't want to create a disturbance with gunfire as this would arouse the nearby community.
Then the girl heard some stomping and tumbling and the whining of her mother. The little girl was crying though the Turk's tear covered hand covering her mouth prevented her cries from being able to be heard at a distance.
Then a Turkish soldier came out and said something to the commander. Then the commander picked the little girl up, still holding her mouth and walked her through the strawberry patch and in to the house where she found her mother hog tied on the ground in tears and with signs of recent battering on her face suggesting that the Turks beat her before hog tying her.
The little girl was then hog tied along with her mother.
Then the men began talking to each other in Arabic:
"You two, watch this house until I send a runner." said the commander. "You, find a good spot in those brushes over there to watch the town with your rifle." The rest of you will accompany me in to town.
Then one of the men looked at the mother and said in Turkish: "Man, we're going to have some fun tonight." Then another Turkish soldier said to the commander: "Sir, that reminds me. The younger girl looks really sweet. Can I have her?" The commander replied: "That's enough. We'll talk about this later. Besides, you may find girls you like more before we're done here. Right now, let's focus on our mission." Then the men began laughing in a perverted tone as they began to take positions and move out.
As the commander and his men left the building and began moving towards the town, a woman screaming could be heard in the distance. The commander paused, became wide eyed and said in a raised voice: "LET'S MOVE!"
They charged through some hay fields, jumping over fences and cutting through farms, seeing their comrades struggle with and terrorize locals along the way. They soon made it to the village.
They went in to the stores where they beat up the men in them and tossed them out in to the streets as did the other units involved as they entered the village from different directions.
Turkish soldiers marching in formations with guns drawn herded the terrified villagers together in the middle of the village. Struggling boys were tossed in to a pile and hogtied with rope from the stores. As this was happening, a Turkish soldier rode in to town on an Arabian stallion. He was dressed in fine linens and velvet. His turban was large with a jewel at the center and feathers sticking up. He wore a thick, bushy beard. Some lower ranking soldiers who appeared to be of western decent laid out a carpet and knelt down for him to step on their shoulders.
Once on the carpet, the commander from before approached him and bowed before him. The higher ranking Turk said to the commander: "Why was the town alerted of our coming?" The commander replied: "I do not yet know. What I know is that myself and my men heard a woman screaming as we approached the village. The high ranking turk replied: "Then investigate. I expect you to find out who is responsible for allowing this. You know that I do not tolerate this sort of behavior among our ranks." The commander replied: "Yes sir. I know and I will not fail you. The high-ranking Turk replied: "Good." Then turning to the captivated villagers, the high-ranking Turk spoke in the Hungarian language so the towns people could understand him: "This village is now under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire. You will be provided a translato....
Then a resilient preteen boy finished chewing away the cloth he was gagged with and said: "My dad is going to KILL you!"
The high-ranking Turk, without a word, quickly drew a decorated rifle from his horse, aimed it at the boy when a man in the crowd of captives began to scream. The Turkish soldiers quickly apprehended the man and held him down, knowing they might get in trouble for hitting the man in front of the high-ranking turk. The high-ranking Turk said to the boy: "Well, now we know who your father is." The boy paused and was then relieved to see the high-ranking Turk put his rifle away. Then, he shouted to the commander, as if to make his voice heard by the whole town: "Bring me the fathers head." A translator repeated his words in Turkish to the commander. This being a vocal practice used for terror purposes.
The father began to scream and struggle as he was dragged to the commander. The commander drew his sword. The preteen boy began to scream. Seeing this, the high-ranking Turk yelled: "HALT" to the commander. Then, in a soft and caring voice, he said to the preteen boy: "Oh, is that sword too big and terrifying for you? Alright, I wont make them behead your father with that large and scary weapon." The Turks became confused. Then he said to the commander: "Put your sword away. The confused commander put his sword away. Then after a short pause, the high-ranking Turk said in a calm voice: "Behead him with your knife."
The commander, apparently use to carrying out horrible executions, showed no hesitation as he drew his knife and gradually cut the boy's father's head off over several terror filled seconds time, causing the child utmost mental trauma *************************************************************
The high-ranking Turk said to the towns people: "Does anyone else wish to disrespect us?"
The people were silent. Then he started issuing orders to his men to prepare the people for departure in to slavery when a Turk guarding the rooftops yelled out: "RIDERS COMING FROM THE NORTH! The commander yelled: "IDENTIFY THEM." After several seconds the rooftop guard replied: "ARMORED CAVALRY, AND THEY LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE SOME BATTLE WAGONS. THEY ARE MOVING FAST....WAIT!" Then after a few more seconds, he continued: "THEY ARE FLYING THE ITALIAN AND HUNGARIAN FLAGS!"The high-ranking Turk yelled: "IT'S THAT MERCENARY GROUP! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!" The commander yelled: "SECURE THE PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH AND TAKE DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS! GO, GO!"
As the people were gathered in to the church, the rooftop watchman yelled: "They are breaking up! Battle wagons are staying on the roads. Cavalry cutting through the meadows.
The Turks began taking up hidden positions around town while others remained in front of the buildings. The high-ranking turk took up position in a stone building and the commander took up a first floor indoor position that was strategically placed so that he could deliver commands throughout the village.
The town went quiet for a few minutes before they started hearing occasional shots in the distance, including one near the strawberry patch of the little girls house.
Some of the Turks began joking among themselves that the sharpshooters were busy when the rooftop watchman: "The cavalry has..." Then a led ball struck him in the neck and he began gagging and tumbling around before falling off of the roof and landed in front of his comrades where he continued gagging for a few seconds before passing away.
The commander heard the commotion and sent a runner to find out what happened. After receiving the news, he asked his men to figure out what the guard was trying to say when he got shot. Perhaps he never needed to give that order. As he turned around, he got a glimpse through a window in a nearby room of the cavalry, standing still in the nearby meadows and farm crops less then 200 yards away. Knowing the crafty reputation of this mercenary force, he was spooked by the motionless sight of the cavalry. Peaking his head outside of the door, he saw the battle wagons now guarding every road in and out of the village. It was clear to him now, they were surrounded. He thought: "No matter, we have too many sharpshooters in the brushes." When something occurred to him: "How were they able to hit our guard at 200 yards?" Taking another glance at the battle wagons, it became clear to him. The battle wagons were more then half empty. Soldiers secretly unloaded out of them while in rout to the village and the shots heard earlier were not fired by the Turkish sharpshooters, but shots fired AT the Turkish sharpshooters. The commander, knowing how few his options were, ran across the enemy guarded road to meet with the high-ranking Turk and give him the news.
"You fool!" yelled the high-ranking Turk. "Don't you realize that they want you to think that. Our forces are too well trained to allow something like that!" The commander replied: "With all do respect sir, recent history suggests otherwise. This mercenary group has repeatedly emerged victorious in engagements against us just like this one."
The high ranking Turk, now terrified, realizing that their recent atrocities against the villagers would be exposed and revenge sought if captured, became terrified and moving about frantically. The commander knew nothing of how to deal with a higher-ranking Turk then himself when out of control, so he chose to just leave the high-ranking Turk be and mount a suicide resistance. He ran outside and yelled to his men: "We can't win this battle. Do as you will, but I suggest you die fighting, for if you are captured, you may die a horrible death! Then the Turks gathered in to small groups and led full-hearted dashes against the battle wagons. As they charged, gunfire and arrows cut them down and the few who made it to the battle wagons were chopped up by swords or shot by the still hidden sharpshooters. Then the cavalry began to charge back and fourth through the village with lances drawn, apparently attempting to draw fire before dismounting, and going around kicking in doors and dragging hiding Turks out. Seeing this ahead of time, the commander, who managed to get to safety in his original post after the dash, drew his pistol to take his own life when a mercenary charging towards his building, saw him through the window and thinking he was trying to shoot him, fired at the commander with his pistol and the led ball hit one of his arms, fracturing the bone as it glanced off and landed in the other arm causing the commander to fire his gun in to the roof. The mercenary busted in to the room and drug the Ottoman commander out in to the streets with the rest of the Turks to find a small group of mercenary cavalry nearby. Among them was a colorful soldier dressed in shiny silver armor of high quality, white leather and a raven symbol on his armor. That raven told him everything. It was Janos Hunyadi, the terror of the Turks who had a growing reputation for eliminating Turkish activity in the area, and a wanted man in Ottoman Turkey.
Janos rested quietly on his horse as the town was secured and his cavalry force returned to formation. Then he asked one of the cavalry soldiers to get the towns people out of the church and asked another to find some surgeons to give the towns people some medical attention.
The towns people were cared for in the church but kept inside as they were cared for. The mercenary soldiers inquired of the towns people of the wear abouts of their family members who were missing and went from house to house throughout the valley freeing the people throughout the area and giving them medical attention as needed before bringing them to the camp in front of the church where they were kept and cared for.
Janos entered the church and looked about. The people seamed terrified and some battered, but no serious injuries. Still, one person did catch his eyes. It was a young boy, speechless but in tears. Janos knew this sight all too well. This was someone filled with ultimate hate and sorrow. While he pittied the boy, he also realized that the child had recently had the kind of experience that breeds monsters.
To be continued.
