The Alchemist's Revenge

by Martin Archer

  It was an anxiety-provoking situation for all of my men despite our greatly improved morale. They were watching Venetian galleys as they unloaded soldiers and sailors to the west of us and exhausted archers with wet bowstrings and newly issued swords were coming along the strand from the east to reinforce us. No one knew which force would end up being the strongest.

  We were not initially sure who the men were who were being landed, only that they were coming off Venetian galleys and were almost certainly about to attack us. They could be Greek soldiers instead of Venetian sailors. Whoever they might be, they were coming ashore in the rain on the western side of the strand. We all thought they were probably Venetians from the looks of their tunics.

  The galley-landed arrivals had it easy. All they had to do was wade ashore through the surf. Our “Evens,” on the other hand, had already double-timed for some miles along the top of the wall when they reached the harbour and could look down at our galleys below them on the strand. Then they had to keep going along the wall to reach a gate in the wall further to our east so they could get down the strand and hurry back to join us.

  The “Evens” could not use the harbour’s regular gate because, as Lieutenant Jones and his men had discovered, it opened out on to the western part of the harbour’s strand where our enemies were landing. As a result, they had to run about a mile or more further along the wall to the next gate, exit there, and then run back to the galleys which had been pulled ashore in the middle of the harbour’s strand.

  When they finally reached our galleys, the exhausted “Evens” were stopped momentarily at the line of empty shade tents immediately east of our galleys. There they were told to quickly pick up whatever weapons Harold and his sergeants pointed to, and then to thread their way in the rain through our empty galleys to join our defensive line sheltering from the rain under the shade tents lined up to the west of them. “And run, goddammit, run.”

  Our “Evens” were still arriving and being fed into our defensive line as fast as possible. If they all got here and were in place before the Venetians attacked, the battle would occur with approximately the same amount of men on both sides—and that was very encouraging because most of my men were “Marines” trained to fight both on land and sea. The Venetians, on the other hand, were a sea-people without a land army.

  In other words, the situation was becoming more and more encouraging. Indeed, now that we had some useful archers, it was possible that we could score a big win if our attackers were mostly Venetian galley crews instead of experienced Greek soldiers wearing armour. I even began thinking about how, at some point, we might suddenly run down to the shoreline and take some of the Venetian galleys as prizes.

  But then things got complicated just as the Venetian captains moving their men into place to attack us. The Commander’s apprentice, Nicholas Greenway, came out of nowhere and rushed up to me with new orders from George that countermanded his original orders.

  We were, Nicholas said, to immediately send all the pikes back to the men defending the outer wall. According to young Nicholas, the pikes with their long handles and hooked blades were especially effective against men climbing ladders. We were also no longer required to send any of our swords and shields. It was the pikes the men on the wall needed most.

  Mass confusion was the result of George’s newest order. There was little wonder in that—it was the third weapons order to arrive in less than an hour and once again changed everything.

  Some of the men who had come in earlier had already left carrying the swords and shields they were ordered to fetch from their galleys. The later arriving archers from further down the wall, however, arrived to find the swords and shields they had been sent to fetch had already been removed from their galleys and were now being issued to the “Evens” of other companies.

  As you might imagine, the men sent to bring back their galley’s swords and shields were upset and arguing that their mates fighting the Greeks on the wall would be unarmed and defeated if they did not return quickly with the weapons and shields they had been sent to fetch from their galleys. And they were even more upset when they were ordered not to immediately return to their companies to fight alongside of their mates as their captains had ordered them to do, but rather to seek shelter from the rain under the shade tents and get ready to fight the Venetians.

  Compounding the confusion, those of the late-arriving sword fetchers who were still at the harbour were more than a little surprised when some of those same mates of theirs, their galley company’s Evens, began showing up expecting to use the very same swords at the harbour to fight the Venetians. And making it even more confusing, many those of the original sword fetchers who were “Evens” had been intercepted on their way back by their galley’s lieutenants and ordered to return to the harbour with their swords and shields.

  And now, to top it off, the Commander’s apprentice sergeant and a third body of men had come from the companies on the wall seeking all of the available pikes.

  Tempers were flaring and uncertainty ruled. It was a disorganized and unruly mess, and the Venetians were beginning to form up and about to attack us.

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Getting ready for the fight.

  Richard understood the situation as soon as George’s apprentice explained the ever-changing circumstances and revelations that had led to the ever-changing orders. He and Harold immediately started to sort things out. They did not get very far.

  There was a lot of shouting and pointing as the newly-landed Venetians began walking in groups of about a hundred across the strand towards the line of sheltering archers. Even as they did, exhausted “Evens” from the more distant enclosures along the wall were still coming out of the gate to the east of the Company’s galleys and running across the strand to pick up weapons and join the Company’s defensive line.

  Only a few of the pike carriers had departed with the pikes they had been sent to fetch when Richard over-ruled George’s order and ordered the pikes and the archers carrying them to remain “until we see this lot off.”

  The Venetians were about to attack, Richard thought, both to help the Greeks and because they knew this was a chance to destroy or greatly weaken the Company, their greatest single competitor. Accordingly, he had ordered the archers and weapons to stay with the Company’s galleys as soon as he realized the Venetians attack was imminent.

  Richard’s reasoning was simple and similar to George’s—losing so many of the Company’s galleys to the attacking Venetians would be disaster that could destroy the Company, a disaster that might be avoided by having the pikes and their carriers in the battle lines defending the galleys.

  In contrast, losing the battle on the outer wall would merely be a great embarrassment since the Company’s survivors could then either retreat to defend the inner wall or return to the harbour to launch the empty galleys and row away from the city altogether to fight again another day.

  In any event, it was Richard’s decision to make and he made it—he ordered everyone and all the weapons to stay and fight at the harbour instead of hurrying back to help George and the mates fight on the walls.

  Nicholas was sent hurrying back to George to report his decision.

  “Tell him we will come as soon as possible.”

  ****** Lieutenant Paul Jones of Galley 39

  My men and I were spread out along the front of a two-men-deep battle line of sword and pike carriers from the “Evens” of galleys 71, 9, and 32. We had our longbows and were part of a loose line of archers. A few minutes earlier my men and I had each been issued one dry bowstring.

  Immediately behind us were two lines of sailors and archers with swords and shields in a tight-knit battle formation. Some of them had only just arrived and were trying to catch their breaths after double-timing all the way along the wall from the other side of the city. We were all under the sails and out of the rain.

  All of a sudden the men around me were getting to their feet and pointing. Lit
tle wonder. Some of the Venetian companies had begun moving towards us, and the others seemed to be picking up their weapons and getting ready to follow them. They were the same bunch that had scared the shite out of me earlier when my men and I came through the city gate and walked out on to the strand.

  The men behind us were still carrying their longbows, but did not have them strung because all of their strings were still wet. Similarly sheltering with us under the sails, and strung out all along the line on either side of us, were some of the archers from other galley companies. They had arrived right after we did and had also been given dry strings. Altogether there were about a hundred of us with bowstrings capable of pushing out arrows.

  We, the archers with dry bowstrings that is, were sitting in front of the two lines of sword and pike carriers with our arrows laid out and ready. Initially, we would sit on our arses and use both feet to hold our bows and use both arms to draw them. At least that was the plan.

  Shooting arrows whilst sitting was not very accurate, but it would have given additional distance to our arrows. On the other hand, accuracy was not that important so long as we could put an arrow into a close-packed mob of men and be fairly certain it would hit someone. When the Venetians got close enough we would scramble to our feet so we could push out our arrows faster and with much more accuracy.

  Standing immediately behind us shoulder to shoulder, and also being sheltered from the rain by the sails hanging above us, were two lines of sailors and archers carrying swords and shields. Amongst them were a number of men with some of the Company’s long-handled pikes with hooked blades.

  The pikes were carried by the men in the third line such that a pike would be sticking out from between every two or three of the men who were carrying swords and shields. But that ratio was not certain due to the lack of pikes and the last minute arrival of more “Evens” carrying their newly issued swords and shields. In any event, and what was important, using what amounted to only three lines of defenders allowed everyone to remain under the shelter of the sails and out of the rain.

  Commander Ryder came down the line a second time when some of the Venetians began moving forward and again reminded everyone that those of the men with swords and pikes were to move forward and take up positions in front of the men with functioning longbows just before the Venetians reached us.

  In other words, we archers were to stay in place and the others were to step past us and out into the rain. That way they would have a bit of momentum, and also would be less likely to being trapped and unable to defend themselves by having a sail pulled down on top of them. We archers, on the other hand, would remain under the sails in order to keep our bowstrings dry so we could continue to push out our arrows. It sounded like a reasonable plan.

  It did not exactly happen that way, as everyone now knows, but those were the orders at the time and I did my best to see that my men followed them. Not since the Company fought near here many years ago had anyone in the Company waited under sails for a battle to begin. And that, as I heard it, was when the sails were used to keep the Company’s men out the sun whilst waiting for the fighting to begin outside this very same city.

  According to Commander Ryder, who made it point to continue walking up and down along the line and explain what was happening to us, our attackers were Venetian galley crews who had come ashore to try to take our galleys. They had come, he told us, to destroy our Company so the Venetians could earn more coins for themselves by carrying the passengers and cargos we were now carrying.

  What the Commander told us was probably true and explained why we had been ordered here to help defend our galleys. Indeed, the Venetians galley crews were well-known to me and my men. We had constantly seen them in the taverns of the ports we visited, and also when they were loading passengers and cargos in those ports—passengers and cargos that we could have carried and earning coins that we could have earned.

  Knowing we were facing the crews of Venetian galleys was somewhat encouraging, however. That was because we knew the Venetians for what they were—armed sailors who were only good at taking unarmed transports, guarding the Venetian merchants who sailed with them, and using slaves to do their rowing.

  We also knew that almost all of the Venetians had no experience or training whatsoever when it came to fighting on land or actually using their weapons. In other words, they were not like us, Marines trained to fight both on land and at sea. Indeed, so far as we were concerned, the only similarity between them and us was that they bought their indulgences from Latin-gobbling priests just as we did and used the same taverns and street women.

  Usually just the appearance of the Venetians’ galleys, the launching of a few crossbow bolts to prove they were serious, and the swords they were waving about over their heads, was enough to cause a rival transport company’s unarmed sailors to surrender if they could not escape by sailing or rowing away. And that, according to Commander Ryder, was what the Venetians were trying to do—make us fearful and flee.

  “They think we are no better than poxed French sailors, do they?” the Commander roared. “Well, by God they are about to be learnt a lesson they will never forget, eh lads?”

  We cheered.

  Commander Ryder was right; Venetian sailors thinking they could make us fearful so we would flee was insulting and there was no half way about it. Venetians? Can you believe it? They must be either daft or stupid. In any event, it made us angry and more determined than ever to come to grips with them. I could see it and feel it as I once again checked out my men. With a few exceptions, very few, they were ready to fight.

  In any event, some kind of signal most have been given by the Venetian commander because a few minutes later groups of eighty to one hundred men each, probably the men who had arrived together on a specific Venetian galley, began casually walking across the strand towards us in the warm rain.

  Almost immediately, Commander Ryder and his apprentice moved out in front of the archers to stand in the rain and watch the approaching Venetians. They all seemed to be carrying swords and many of them were carrying small and rounded galley shields similar to ours. Some of the poor sods were wearing helmets, but very few.

  As the first group of Venetians approached the first of the piles of rocks that had been set out to mark the beginning of our arrows’ “killing ground,” the Commander turned around and loudly gave us an order as he walked back to join the archers standing under the sails. The sergeants, of course, immediately repeated the order all along the line.

  “Archers with dry strings on your feet.” … “Wait for it.” … “Hold your pushing.” … “Do not push until the signal is given.”

  Someone handed the Commander a bow as soon as he was out of the rain and had turned to watch the Venetians walking towards us.

  The first group of Venetians continued casually walking and talking until they were about two hundred paces from us. Then they stopped. By then several more of the Venetian groups had casually crossed into our killing ground and were walking up to join the first group. They were obviously coming to form up at what their commander intended to be the start line for their attack.

  Some of the other Venetian groups were walking across the strand towards us and some had not even gotten started, when Commander Ryder gave the order. He did so after six or seven groups of enemy soldier had walked past the piles of rocks that marked the beginning of the killing ground we could reach with our arrows and three or four more groups were about to do so. By then it was clear, at least to me, that there were several thousand of Venetians in all and they would be forming a start line where the first group had stopped.

  The Venetians’ move towards us through the rain was, at first, quite confusing because it was so casual. It was also a great mistake on their part because, being mostly sailors, they were wearing neither armour nor chain—and because we had somehow found dry bowstrings for about a hundred of our best archers. Mostly it was a mistake, however, because they had walked into our killing
ground to form up.

  About half of the Venetian companies were inside our killing ground, and the rest were still walking casually towards it, when Commander Ryder gave the order and the sergeants began repeating it.

  “Pick your man” ... “Push” … “Pick your man.” .. “Push” … Pick your man. …”

  Our archers’ arrows began reaching out to the Venetians who were close enough to be hit. The Venetians in our killing ground immediately began faltering as our archers pushed out their arrows. And most of the men walking to join them stopped and began backing up. We were not the handful of poorly armed sailors they had been told to expect.

  We could hear the Venetians closest to us as they began to scream and go down. There was little wonder in that—a hundred of the Company’s archers could put over a thousand well-aimed arrows into an enemy force in less than a minute. And that was what we did.

  Chapter Forty

  Galley 39’s men move forward.

  Our massive and continuing flight of arrows seemed to catch the Venetians by surprise. They were still in the early stages of gathering to form up for their attack when our arrows suddenly began falling on them. Whoever was leading the Venetians had obviously not appreciated the distance a Company archer could get with his “longs” when his arm was fresh and both of his feet were planted solidly on the ground.

  Some of the Venetians responded to the unexpected arrival of death and destruction by breaking and running back the way they had come. Others just stopped in confusion and waited until they and their mates had taken a few more arrows. A few, however, started to run towards us—and then, as our arrows began to take the thrusters, thought better of it and turned around to try to run to safety. Some of them succeeded.

  ****** Lieutenant Commander Richard Ryder