eastern european eagle

Chapter 590 Battle of Juru

After crossing the Somme, the British army was not far from Paris. France quickly assembled 12000 troops and headed to Ruhr, northwest of Paris, to resist the enemy.

They had chosen a very defensive position in the open country. Behind them lay the relatively flat open country. But in front of them the plateau dropped away sharply, and the woodland surrounding the two villages protected the French flanks. If the English hoped to continue their march towards Paris, they had no choice but to mount their horses and engage in another head-on confrontation.

The French were very confident in their superiority in strength and numbers. They thought that this would be enough to dissuade the enemy from launching an attack. So they broke up their battle formation and began looking for a place to stay for the night in a nearby village. The English were still worried about a surprise attack. They remained in their battle formation at night. They were fully armed until it was dark and they could no longer see the enemy in the distance. Only then were they allowed to break up their formation and find a place to stay for the night. The two armies were too close. As the English prepared to camp for the night, they could clearly hear the French: "Every Frenchman was shouting as usual, calling to his companions, his followers and his friends."

Seeing the other side so relaxed, some English people thought that they could do the same thing. At this time, the king quickly stood up and extinguished the momentum of lax discipline, ordering the whole army to keep quiet. Those who violated this order would be punished.

This time Stefan led 25000 people to attack Paris, and they only needed to deal with these people in front of them.

Stefan was up before dawn. Before he could organize his army to face the enemy, he had to prepare himself mentally. He put on all his armor except his helmet. Unlike the rusted armor of his men, his armor was "shining." Over his armor, he wore a gorgeous sleeveless tunic with the combined arms of England and France. In this way, he was ready to launch the war that would determine his right to the French throne.

Every Englishman, including the king himself, would fight on foot. All horses, baggage, soldiers too young to fight, and wounded men who could not take up arms to defend themselves were placed behind the battle line, under the command of a man who commanded a squad of 10 hoplites and 20 archers. Anyone who could lift a sword or draw a bow was deployed according to the king's battle plan.

Unlike the French, who had so many flags that some had to be taken down because they got in the way, the English had only a few, easily identifiable flags.

As he had done the afternoon before the battle, Stefan mounted his horse and marched up and down his lines, exhorting and encouraging his warriors to do their best.

"You should remember that you were born on the land of England. Your father and mother, wife and children live there and wait for their return. For these people, you should do your best to triumph in glory and praise. England's former kings have defeated the French many times in the past; today, everyone should do their part to defend the glory of the king and the royal family."

This inspiring speech had the desired effect. A huge cry broke out among the ranks: "Sire, we pray to God that he will grant you long life, victory over our enemies!" The contrast between the two armies could not be more obvious. On one side stood row after row of immovable French hoplites. They were covered from head to toe in polished mail, equipped with swords and lances shortened for foot combat, and above their heads flew brightly colored pennants, pennants, and flags. The archers and crossbowmen hired for service stood behind the hoplites and on the wings of the army, waiting to fire at the enemy as they were accompanied by firearms, catapults, and other war machines brought from nearby towns.

On the other side is London, England, where neatly-uniformed soldiers and a large number of English longbowmen, musketeers, and heavy artillery are all waiting in formation for the order to attack.

Stefan ordered the baggage, horses, royal chaplains and their surrounding personnel to move to the rear of the army. This way, when the battle began, they would not be left alone and would be spared from being plundered. After most of the baggage wagons were in place, the king ordered all the chaplains in the army to pray for the war.

While the priest's prayer was still ringing in the king's ears, Stefan gave the army the order to prepare for the attack. He shouted loudly: "In the name of Almighty God and St. George, raise the flag and move forward! This day, God will help us!"

The soldiers shouted, the musicians blew trumpets and beat drums, and the entire army advanced in battle formation towards the French lines. Although it seemed incredible, the English actually took up their new position without any opposition. The French were now within range of the enemy's longbows.

The French cavalry, though disorganized and outnumbered, charged the English ranger positions. It was a disastrous attempt, as the French knights were unable to outflank them. Nevertheless, the full plate armor of the men-at-arms enabled them to advance to within 1000 yards or so of the English lines amid a "terrible hail of arrows." A full plate of steel was considered such good protection at the time that men-at-arms did not generally use shields.

To protect themselves as much as possible from arrows, the French had to cover their visors to avoid being shot, because the eye holes and air holes in their helmets were one of the weakest points in the entire armor. This bowed posture restricted their breathing and vision. Then they had to march all the way to the English position wearing very heavy armor, stepping on the clay. Eventually, the formation of the French armored men fell into disarray, and some knights had to step over the fallen comrades.

The exhausted French soldiers were knocked to the ground by the British and could not get up. As the melee progressed, the French second-line troops also joined the attack. As the French armored soldiers behind the front line entered the battlefield, the already narrow battlefield became more and more crowded, and the French army's mobility and combat capabilities became increasingly poor.

Thousands of French men-at-arms were captured or killed. The battle lasted about three hours, but in the end the commanders of the French second line were killed or captured, just like the commanders of the first line.

(End of this chapter)