Ten thousand against thirty thousand men.
It seems like there is a disparity in numbers.
There is thirty thousand men under the banner of Dozsa but the ten thousand men that is attacking them are armed.
If a Duke had entered this war, that ten thousand men number probably had to be revised.
They have weapons, they have tools, they have military formation and things that a real army would have.
Thirty thousand men might seem a lot and powerful, but these are thirty thousand peasant men and women, young and old, child and adult.
These are not what you called an effective fighting force. It is the kind of force you use as cannon fodder I nay war between nobles' lords.
But these are the kind of people that followed Dozsa in his rebellion against the crown.
The peasant is numerous but winning against armed army, cavalry army…..that is not an easy feat
This disparity of numbers of people is offset by the quality of men on the other side. Those people alone could kil five to ten men
When a person with sharp sword and wearing battle armour fight against peasant who wears coarse cloth and uses hoes and pick, the one who wins would be the one with sharp sword and wearing battle armour.
Not to mention there is also those who uses spears and cavalry. The rebel army also has some cavalry, but these cavalries belong to the retinue under their leader George.
And it is not many.
Around five hundred horses give or take.
Though to be honest, Miklos does not have deep understanding of how many men that this rebel army has and how many horses they have.
All that he knows is based on hearsay.
Today, he nearly died.
He was charged by a group of men, and he fought like his life depended on it.
And then he was shoved.
At least he thinks he was shoved.
He could not really confirm it.
Because he himself did not remember how it happens.
All he knows is he loses his consciousness and then waking up, he is now among bodies.
All around him are dead men. Some are lying beside him, blood still dripping hot, but the breath is gone and some are cold
And he himself is now covered in blood and mud. He looks at the faces of these people. Men and women, young and old and then he gulped.
He understands then what had happened.
He was under the bodies of men, men that he knew. Some of whom is his childhood playmate, some of them are children of miner's uncle he knew.
He did not know what happened.
No, he knew what happened.
It took him only a few second for him to understand something.
And the moment he understood, there is something burning in his heart.
Guilt?
Anger?
Regret?
He really could not pinpoint the emotions he is feeling right.
All of these are people... he knew.
And these people…. these people knew him. And knowing them, he kind of understood what these people had done.
The kind of things he would also do for them
The cold and heartless has always been the nobles.
And the people of hovels and of huts, of thatched houses and mud hut…. they are the most vulgar, yet the affection is real
Poor people are not always good, but one thing is certain. They are clearly better than the nobles.
The noble whether they were good or not, their happiness, their luxury, all of them, isn't that based on the suffering that they suffered?
A poor man could be petty, he could be a traitor, he could be a betrayer, but tehri harm affects only a few people.
Nobles' words and pen, kills thousand, their orders could bring hundreds of families into the brink of death.
And while poor people are not all good, these people that he knew, are all good people. Good people that are forced by the circumstances they are in
And so, he understood what they had done.
What they had done for him.
And knowing it, he felt like his tongue could not speak, and his feet and hand do not know what to do.
These people cover him up. With their bodies.
He was unconscious.
And maybe the enemy saw him among the bodies and thought he was dead.
He looks around him and saw all the uncles and the youths.
Some of whom he trained and some of whom he cared for.
And for a few minutes, he was just there, blanking out and all the sounds and colours in the world seems to have disappeared and all that is left is this moment
And then from this hill of bodies, he saw someone he used to know
Henrik the son of the baker.
He saw this young man once.
He was not a young man that is suitable for the battlefield.
That is his assessment of him a few months ago
As for his past, there is only little Miklos knows about Henrik
Sometimes, he would help his father hauling wheats and grains and sometimes he works in the farm.
Sometimes he would make trouble. That is the impression he had. after all the contact between them is limited.
They do not run with the same crowd. Henrik had his cliques that he runs around with and Miklos has the sons of miners and gatherers that he hangs out with
But clearly from the very beginning, Henrik did not show any indication that he is suitable to become a soldier.
And not someone who could survive long in the battlefield. Oen could only hope that he would be lucky.
But what he sees now is something miraculous.
He had just seen Henrik, the son of the baker fought against a squire using a sharp sword, without an armour and in that fight, the son of the baker fought almost effortlessly
At least in his eyes, it almost looks effortless dodging and deflecting, redirecting strikes like it was nothing.
It reminded him of knights he had seen before.
This is something amazing.
Right now he did not care how Henrik could do this.
All he knows the line of defence around this area is probably crumbling.
He did not know much but he at least knows some of the methods of fighting in battlefield after participating in this war for quite some time
He did not remember Henrik to have such talent.
If he did, he might have been recruited by Lord George. However, right now, all of these doesn't matter
There is one wisdom that he had learned since he rebel and fought in the battlefield.
One of them is to choose your battle wisely and the other to stick with your own.
But there is another lesson that he had learned and that is stick with the strongest person you know.
This is a lesson one of the veteran rebels tells him.
If you are weak and led by a weak man that person would drag you all to hell. But if there is a tiger among you, even if you are sheep the morale and bravery that this person would bestow upon you would make the way forward easier.
At least, he would not drag you all to hell
Miklos thought of all of this and then he looks around him. Before, he was dazed. Now, there is a look of determination
The one who is wrong is not his father, is not these people and it is not him. It is the world!
He looks around and then he made a decision
"I will survive. Whatever it takes!" he looks at the uncles and people he knew among the bodies, their bodies over him, almost like they were shielding him
These bodies hide him from death.
It is almost like they have sacrificed themselves for him.
Miklos close his eyes and he etched the memories of this scene forever in his mind. Like he wanted to sear it deep in his memories.
There is not only determination.
But anger.
And anger is useful.
At times, it would make you lose your bearings. But at times it focuses you and force you to move
And right now, that is what he needs.
A reason to move. Not fear but anger and burning desire to avenge these people. These people are not people he doesn't know
All of these are people he knows and people he used to break bread with.
"I must stick with Henrik"
That is the plan he has.
He is a peasant man. He does not know strategies like those learned men and those men of letters and of high birth.
He did not even know how to read
But he knows the game of life.
And he knows his strength and he knows his own weakness.
He is a great tracker, he could hear the hooves of a horse from dozens of miles away, he could guess what kind of beast lurks in a bush just by looking at the trails it leaves behind but…. he does not know how to fight like Henrik.
And he did not have a sword as sharp as that sword in Henrik hand.
In that few moment he saw, he took in everything he sees and commit it to memories
..