El Campeador

by Griff Hosker

  Rodrigo had not been idle since Graus and he had read of methods used by the Romans to reduce fortresses. “Climbing ladders is wasteful. We should build mobile towers which can be pushed into place next to the walls. That way knights can climb inside, safe from arrows and spears. The platform at the top will allow four or five men across the battlements and, as you have shown us, Will, four or five men who protect each other are a formidable force. If we have six such towers and we mine beneath the walls then I think that we can take the fortress with little loss of life. We spend too long training young warriors to have them perish in their first battle!”

  That was Rodrigo, whilst I never stopped training, he not only did not stop training he never stopped working to become better at his job. He was the mastermind behind the prince and his ambitions. It also paid dividends for, as I look back, I cannot think of a single battle which he lost when he led!

  As I had learned when we had fought Toledo, it takes a long time to assemble a huge army. The main difference, this time, was that the four of us had nothing to do but ride behind and guard the banner of El Campeador. As the acknowledged champion of Castile that afforded us other benefits too. We would have our servants, horses and baggage with those of the royal family. It was not unusual to have a raid on a baggage train but the royal baggage was always the best guarded. We rode at the head of the long metal snake behind light horsemen who were chosen because they knew the land through which we would be travelling. Don Raimundo of Porto would be meeting us at Porto and this time he and all of the local lords would be joining us. The last time had seen just a handful of his men and those of Don Luis of Sangalhos accompany our chevauchée. This time we meant business and it showed.

  The lessons of the advance to Toledo had been learned too and outriders guarded our flanks once we cross the Douro river. Inevitably the Muslims would know that we were coming and would prepare for a siege. Those who were not necessary for the defence of the town would be sent to strongholds further south while supplies would be laid in. The summer campaign season meant that there would be little around Coimbra for us to forage and that was why Rodrigo had come up with the idea of a second chevauchée while the siege towers were being built. He and Prince Sancho had devised the strategy and we all thought that it would work. It would be Prince Sancho’s knights and the men of Sangalhos, led by Rodrigo, who would raid.

  Once we reached the fortress King Ferdinand asked for its surrender and, of course, they refused. It was a formality, but the offer had to be made for we were Christians and we were showing the Muslims that we were civilised. The entrenchments were begun, and they would go from the Mondego river to the west of Coimbra’s walls to the same river on the eastern side. Of course, they still had a bridge and that could be used to reinforce the garrison. Once the ditches had been dug then work began on the towers while King Ferdinand had men build rafts which were filled with kindling and inflammable material. They were lit and sent downstream. Our bows and crossbows prevented the defenders from dousing the flames and soon the bridge was an inferno. The next morning, as we prepared to raid, all that remained of the bridge were smoking timbers and the stone abutments sticking up from the river. The fortress was now cut off from reinforcements while our horses meant we could range up and down the river and ford at will.

  Leaving our spare horses and war gear at the camp we headed to the river crossing we had used the last time we had raided. This time we were led by Rodrigo rather than Prince Sancho and it showed in our approach. We camped less than five miles from the bridge and he sent in some of Don Luis’ men to, not only secure the bridge, but also to ensure that no riders left the town. The attack on Coimbra would have drawn the attention of every Moor in the taifa of Badajoz to the fortress and he did not want word of our raid to leak out until we had made our first attack and he intended to ride hard for Corisco on the Zezere river. There was a bridge there and he intended to destroy it and that would allow us free rein to raid and plunder between the two rivers.

  This time Rodrigo himself was the van and he rode Babieca ahead of all but Álvar along the old Roman roads of Lusitania. He trusted his own eyes more than any scout. We did not carry spears for they would encumber us and, instead, we just had swords. I was close behind Rodrigo and his cousin so that I saw all that he did but a heartbeat after him. I know from our many conversations that he always felt more confident with my men and I riding behind him as he knew that whatever danger came, we would react in the right way. We saw no riders but, as we galloped through some of the larger villages, we saw men who wisely decided to hide until we had passed. In that way, we achieved complete surprise as no one was able to send word ahead of us. The first the Moors knew was as we galloped through their thoroughfares. We had had a hard ride with just three stops for water and food as we approached the small settlement that was Corisco. The bridge was a small one and, as we approached it, Rodrigo commented that it looked to have been a rebuilt Roman one. As with all such undertakings it was not as good as the original had been.

  He reined in at the northern end of the bridge. All of our horses were the worse for wear and I knew that we could go no further that night. While Álvar and half of the men secured the village and others found wood and kindling, Rodrigo led the four of us to examine the bridge. There were stone footings, but the rest was made of wood and it had become bone dry in the summer heat. He turned to Don Iago of Astorga, “Have the kindling placed on top of the bridge and light it from the southern end.”

  “Aye, lord.”

  As the reliable knight began to shout out orders Rodrigo and I took off our helmets and slipped our coifs over our backs. It was a relief for the heavy metal and the heat made it tiring to wear them especially as we had not needed them. Of course, we could not take a chance that we would not need them for we were in a taifa state.

  He turned to Álvar and me, “So far the plan is working.”

  As Álvar nodded his agreement, the first flames leapt up from the kindling. I pointed, “That will tell them quicker than any rider that we are abroad and that the river here can be forded.”

  “True but we need to battle them in any case. Let us see if they are confident enough to take us here. We need to rest for the night and in the morning I will send Don Luis’ men to scout out another juicy target. I intend to leave ten knights here.”

  Álvar shook his head, “They will not like that.” The knights who followed El Campeador were keen to fight behind the hero of Graus.

  “They will obey, and I will rotate them for the last thing I wish is to be caught here in an ambush. The ten knights can be our early warning against men fording here.”

  We secured the settlement and slaughtered some of their sheep for our food. We would not take all of their animals, but they would go hungry in the winter. That was the purpose of the raid, to tell them that they were better off under the protection of King Ferdinand than their emir, al-Aftas. I had been away from Rodrigo for more than four months and I saw now that our paths had diverged slightly. His reading and his incredibly quick mind had devised plans and strategies which were breath-taking. The difference between us was clearly visible. After we had eaten, he sat with his knights and they discussed strategy. I sat with my handful of men and we discussed what we had managed to take from the village. The truth was very little.

  Iago was philosophical about it all. “We will take more when we meet their warriors and, of course, when we defeat them and take their tribute, we shall all be richer.”

  I said nothing but Juan shook his head, “You are remarkably confident for a man who, a year ago, had not two coins to rub together.”

  Iago nodded towards me, “And then Will Redbeard and Don Rodrigo returned to our lives and with it our fortunes improved. Who knows, I may soon have enough to marry.”

  That attracted all of our attention for although we knew that he and Anna were close I had thought it more of a dalliance than anything else but then I remembered Maria’s words. “You do
not need to have more money to marry, Iago. You are rich enough and I do not mind if Anna ceases to be a servant for I can always hire another.”

  Geoffrey also wished to be wed and he asked, “Does that mean I could marry Isabella?”

  “Of course, and you need not come to war with us. Abu here could look after our horses.”

  “No, lord, I am of this company and I will continue to ride with you. A man does not desert his brothers, especially not over a woman.”

  I was pleased with his answer for my handful of men had bonded well and done so very quickly. Apart from the colour of his skin and his one arm, Abu was no different from any of them and they bantered and joked with each other despite the apparent gulf in their beliefs. As we rode, the next day, towards the small town which Don Luis’ men had found, I felt much happier about our prospects. Rodrigo had his cadre of warriors who followed him and, on a much smaller scale, I had mine, too.

  I asked Abu about the people whose lives we had disrupted, “How will they view us, Abu?”

  He nodded, “I know why you ask, lord, and it is not an easy question to answer. No man likes to have food taken from his table and for his children to go hungry. They will not be happy but as El Campeador has left them some food to tide them over they will not resent us as much as they might. They have their lives and some food. Don Rodrigo is a clever man and a wise man. He took just enough animals to feed us and no more. The people will complain to their lord when we have gone and hope for better protection.”

  “Thank you.” I had asked the question as I wished confirmation of that which I already believed. I knew that if others had led this chevauchée then there would have been a great slaughter of both men and animals. That was not Rodrigo’s way for he saw that, in the long run, it would not benefit us. He was unique amongst the Christian knights.

  Don Luis’ men arrived back at the third hour of the day. Downstream there was another, smaller river, the Alge, which fed into the Zezere. A little way north lay a small town, without a wall but with a tower. It was a target. We left ten unhappy knights guarding the crossing and then headed along the river for the ten-mile ride. We did not slow as we approached the town but we thundered in on horses well refreshed after a night’s rest. The horn on the tower sounded the alarm and some people escaped to the tower but not many. A few desultory arrows were sent in our direction, but they did no harm for we wore mail and our horses each wore the tijfaf and they suffered no hurt. Once again, we took what we needed for food and headed back to Corisco.

  We left the next morning and headed north and east. Rodrigo was making the people of Badajoz taifa believe that we were a larger force than we really were. We moved quickly from place to place. We killed fewer than a handful of men in each place but word would have leaked back to the city of Badajoz and the Emir there. He would know that Coimbra was besieged but our attacks might make him think that this was a larger invasion rather than the diversion it was. We were giving the Prince the time to build the towers. We spent six days raiding the land. We ate well and we lost neither man nor horse. We did not slaughter those we found but we did begin to draw the Emir’s men towards the northeast of the taifa. It was as we were heading home and approaching the bridge at Penacova that we saw signs of pursuit.

  Once Rodrigo discovered that the Moors were following us and that they were there in numbers he had two choices: fight or run. I think that if we had lost numbers of men then he would have run but the foray had helped to tone up the men and honed them. This would be an opportunity to show their skill.

  The road to Penacova and its vital bridge followed the river along the slope of a heavily forested valley side. As with all such forests, the trees grew the thickest next to the road where they received the maximum sunlight. Further in the forest, trees fought each other for light and the strongest survived. It meant that there was little undergrowth further in and there was space for horses between the trees. After sending the servants and the baggage along the road to Penacova he led us into the forest and placed us in a long line which was hidden from the road. He and the men who followed him anchored the western end for the bridge was to the east, and Don Juan of Burgos held the eastern end, closer to the bridge. Rodrigo now had a young would-be warrior, Diego, who carried the horn and it was he who would sound it for the attack. We were far enough back from the eaves of the forest to be hidden. I was not as confident as Rodrigo, but I knew that as the Moors headed along the road, they would be looking ahead to the bridge for signs of us. Rodrigo had only led us into the forest once the road had turned from the north to the east. They would see, ahead of them, the servants, the horses and the baggage. They would look temptingly close and invite a speedy attack. I hoped that Geoffrey and Abu were amongst other servants who would fight as hard as they would.

  The fact that we would use swords and not spears would help us. Spears were hard to use in the confines of a wood. In addition, we would be attacking the right side of the column of Moors who followed us and that meant our swords would not have to deal with the enemy shields. We had the chance to disarm them. With surprise and our charging warhorses, we could disrupt their column. What we did not know was the make-up of the column but all of us assumed that, at the fore, where Don Juan of Burgos would attack, would be the horse archers. The middle, where Iago of Astorga would lead the attack, would have the leader of the column and his bodyguard. They would have the harder task but Rodrigo had placed us in the greatest danger for we would be attacking deep in the heart of their formation and we risked becoming surrounded.

  We heard the jingle of horse furniture and the chatter of horse archers as they trotted past. I saw that the archers each had an arrow nocked. If they stared to their right then they might see us but they were already seeking a target ahead. Their eyes were on the bridge and the rest would assume that, as they were not attacked then the road was safe. They would discover their error soon enough. Rodrigo used his clever mind to estimate when the horse archers were close to Don Juan. He was helped by the fact that the column began to move faster as the archers closed with our servants.

  “Now, Diego, sound the horn, and when you have sounded it stay close to Juan and Pedro!” Thus warned the youngest warrior we had with us sounded the horn and I dug my heels into Berber’s flanks.

  I leaned forward and held my shield before me to protect Berber and me from the worst of the foliage through which we would have to pass. My sword was slightly behind me so that it would not catch on the branches. Rodrigo and I rode the same way and that was not a surprise for I had taught him most of what he knew. The road was just five paces from the edge of the forest and as we burst out, I saw that we had taken them completely by surprise. True, the horn had told them of danger, but a forest does strange things to noise and they knew not whence came the attack. The Berbers we struck had not even had time to draw their swords and their shields were on the wrong side. I had to rein in Berber for there was a solid line of horses and men before me. I brought my sword above my head and swung it down diagonally across the Moor before me. The blade bit into his shoulder and neck, slicing through the mail as though it was not even there. He involuntarily jerked his hands to the left and dragged his horse across the next three warriors. I kicked hard and Berber burst through the gap. My right hand was not idle and I swept it across the back of the warrior to my right who was trying to fend off Juan. His back arched and I swung Berber around. I was able to watch Rodrigo as he and Álvar hacked and slashed through the Moors. Not as strong as me, Rodrigo had greater skill with a sword and he used the razor-sharp edge of Tizona to slice through the Moors as though they were made of butter.

  As I turned to face west, I saw that Rodrigo and Álvar had managed to completely sever the Moorish line. Diego was tucked in behind them, the horn held tightly in his hand, ready to be used. He had ignored Rodrigo’s command to stay close to Juan and Pedro. While I had taken out two men with my attack the two of them had accounted for six men. I urged Berber to get to th
eir side for they faced the bulk of the Moorish warriors. I shouted, “Iago, to me!” There were just five men between Rodrigo and me. The Moors were shocked and demoralised for they had seen at least ten of those around them die. An eleventh joined them as I swung my father’s sword above the Moorish shield and across the throat of the next warrior. Iago’s mighty sword split the head of another as Pedro accounted for a third and the last two leapt their horses into the river to escape what they saw as certain death. I saw other Moors and their horses in the river. Some had jumped and some had fallen. I did not look behind me, but I had no doubt that Don Juan and the rest of the knights had won the battle there. We now had to extract El Campeador from the Moors who were trying to get at him.

  As I nudged my horse next to Rodrigo, Iago did the same to Álvar and it meant that we had four men blocking the road. Rodrigo could not now be outflanked, and I saw that I had arrived just in time for his shield was badly cut about and his jubbah showed where blades had ripped it. The huge mailed Moor he faced had begun his swing at Rodrigo’s already damaged shield just as I arrived and I was able to block it with my own shield. My exercises had strengthened not only my shoulders but my left arm too. In addition, my shield was now covered in the metal recovered from arrows sent at me in the battle of Graus. I quite like the irony of the fact that a weapon sent to kill me now afforded me protection. The warrior was taken by surprise when his long sword jarred against my shield and even more surprised when I stood in my stirrups and brought my sword over my head. He blocked it with his shield, but I rained blow after blow upon it with such force that he could not control his horse. When Berber bit at it the horse turned and fled into the forest. As he did so Juan joined me, and we now had the road completely blocked.