Chapter 274 Battle of Daruvar

The confrontation between the two sides was inevitable. The two armies confronted each other in Daruvar, 60 kilometers away from Salageb.

On the Croatian side, there were 10,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, 2,000 Venetian reinforcements, and a total of 15,000 troops; on the Roman side, there were 14,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 1,000 noble troops willing to be loyal to Rome, with a total of 19,000 troops. In addition, there were 2,000 Cossacks looting in the west.

The two sides confronted each other in Daruvar for two days. Louis knew that defense was the only way to survive, so he ordered the army not to go out to fight and to hold on for help.

But the nobles under his command could not stand it. If they had ignored the previous provocations, they would have ignored them, but who could have thought that the other side had so many tricks. First, they insulted them as cowards, and then asked someone to give each of them a piece of women's clothing, which was the most revealing.

How could this be tolerated? Two nobles led their troops directly to fight, but one was taken away by artillery, and the other was caught and stripped naked and thrown at the door of their camp. This made the nobles more hateful. They believed that the failure was caused by the king's refusal to come out, and they unanimously demanded that Louis fight to the death with the Roman army.

Louis could not resist and had to bite the bullet. The two sides fought on the plain of Daruvar, and Louis also spoke to the soldiers.

"This is a decisive battle between us and the pagans in the East. Croatia's independence must not be buried in our hands. Kill them, God will bless us."

Peter also spoke to the army.

"Roman warriors, you have won one victory after another in the East. Now, new opportunities are in front of you. For more land, more wealth, and more honor, attack!"

Both sides began to attack, and the cavalry was the first to start fighting. The two sides fought back and forth. Croatia was mainly composed of noble cavalry. They were equipped with better armor and weapons. Under the threat of national destruction, they burst out with amazing combat effectiveness, so they once had the upper hand in the battle against Rome.

Louis did not expect that the army was so capable. Not only did they resist the attack in a day, but they were also able to push back a little. This gave him hope and he believed that they would definitely defeat the Roman army.

At night, the excited Croatian cavalry attacked the Roman camp under the cover of darkness. However, they were soon repelled, and Peter's army fell into a rare state of low morale.

"Look at what you look like. One failure is like this. Even genius generals like Hadrian or Basil have failed, not to mention that this is not called a failure now. Cheer up, tomorrow will be different."

Peter's words boosted some morale. Little Croatia was only in the upper hand this time, and the real battle had just begun.

The next morning, some cavalrymen fought without authorization without orders from above, intending to break the enemy's army while the enemy was not yet stable. But they found that the enemy this time was much more difficult to fight than yesterday, and they also used artillery and muskets much more frequently, but less than one-tenth or one-twelve of the soldiers returned.

Even so, they led all their troops to attack Rome. They planned to reproduce yesterday's glory.

They attacked forward, while the other side just moved forward steadily, and then formed a formation for defense and attack. The muskets and light artillery showed their power and continued to injure the enemy. The spearmen outside did not allow the cavalry to continue to advance, so they could only circle outside, hoping to find a flaw.

On the north side of the battlefield, the right-wing army commanded by Constantine gradually repelled the Croatian attack. Seeing this, Louis hurriedly ordered part of the army to support the left-wing army. He did not defeat the army at the beginning, and the underestimation of the enemy brought by yesterday's victory finally showed their flaws in front of the Roman army.

"Hurry, now."

The shouting of a Roman officer kicked off the counterattack, and the large square gradually moved forward. The muskets and artillery were still attacking the enemy, and the continuous offensive frightened some timid Croatian soldiers, who put down their weapons and ran away.

If one person ran away, there would be a second and a third. After all, it was not a standing army. The miscellaneous elements in it made the command system very complicated, and the nobles did not obey each other. The king could only mediate to barely maintain the balance, but now it was about to lose balance.

The Roman army gradually counterattacked. Constantine had repelled the cavalry in the north, and then turned to attack the central army, directly blocking their retreat.

"No, impossible!"

Louis saw that his army was divided, surrounded and annihilated by Rome, and he had no way to do anything. Now he was powerless to turn the tide. The only thing to do now was to run quickly, the faster the better.

"Charge, kill them, and grab things."

Some soldiers rushed to the Croatian camp quickly, and Louis was also very fast. He disappeared in an instant, but he had not taken away the 20,000 ducats, seals, flags and other things in the camp, which was also a consolation prize for the Roman army. By the evening, all the battles were over and entered the stage of cleaning the battlefield.

The Battle of Daruvar lasted for two days. 6,000 Croatian soldiers died, 2,000 were missing and escaped, and 7,000 were captured. Rome only suffered 1,100 casualties, and more than 600 of them were Croatian nobles, which was a huge profit.

This battle directly broke the Croatian defense, and the road to Salageb was unobstructed. Two days later, the Hungarian army that had entered Croatia gave Peter a big surprise.

After Louis fled the battlefield with his personal soldiers, he wanted to return to Salageb quickly. But when he passed through a forest, he was caught by the Hungarian army ambushed there. Although he had sent troops to the border, some troops were still able to enter the country when they could not react. After catching Louis, they went to the Roman army camp to report. This was also what the prince told them. It was reasonable to earn some extra money.

"Thank you for your hard work. Go and get the money."

After confirming that this was Louis, Peter asked someone to take 100,000 gold coins to them, which was also his transaction money.

Then, Peter walked in front of him. Showing a sinister smile.

"This should be the first time we meet. Let me introduce myself. My name is Peter. I am Caesar of the Roman Empire and the Despot of Illyria."

Louis also understood the Latin introduction, but he didn't want to say a word to this person. So he didn't say a word.

"It seems that he doesn't want to talk. It doesn't matter. You won't have to say anything soon."

For Louis, Peter thought of hundreds of ways. It is impossible to release him, which is asking for trouble; exiling him to a monastery is not safe, what if he is rescued by someone. So, it is better to have an accident.

"I know what you are thinking, but this is the world, and your ancestors have made many mistakes, so just treat it as atonement."

Peter waved his hand and dragged Louis away. The next day, the news that King Louis of Croatia was killed on the battlefield spread.