Fierce Battle

"Kill all who can still move beneath the Lord's gaze!"

"Show no mercy to these treacherous Greeks. They have run rampant across the Mediterranean Sea, colluding with heathen dogs, selling who knows how many pilgrims over the years. Killing them is not murder—it is redemption."

"The Lord has granted us strength to purge all heresy!"

The Crusader soldiers shouted all manner of ringing slogans. Whether they believed them or not, they had to regard their brothers in faith as mortal enemies.

They crossed the sea on wooden gangplanks and charged into the harbor beneath the cover of the Venetian fleet, clashing with the Greek defenders within, who held favorable ground and stood ready for battle.

Their cross-emblazoned shields slammed into the Greek shield wall marked by the Double-Headed Eagle. Like two raging torrents colliding, they sent crimson spray flying.

"For the Empress! Forward, forward!"

"Defeat every invader and drive them into the sea!"

"Don't let them gain a foothold on the beach!"

The Empire's generals rallied their troops. Following the deployment laid out in "General Strategy," they used heavy infantry at the front to halt the enemy's advance, while crossbow bolts and arrows rained down from the city's towers and walls.

Many Crusaders were shot full of arrows like hedgehogs. One Venetian warship was struck by a ballista bolt that pierced straight through its deck.

After a long Fierce Battle, the first wave of attacks ended in the Crusaders' retreat.

The Varangian Guard, mostly drawn from the Rus' principalities, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and even Albion, were tall, powerfully built men clad in heavy armor. In close combat, they were absolute masters.

Even dismounted knights from Gaul and Germania could gain no advantage against them in battle.

Watching the battle from across the Golden Horn, Bela III sneered. "The Greeks have