Battle of Hamburg (1080)

The Battle of Hamburg was fought in the summer of 1080 in Part 1 of the series. Denmark's Prince Charles led the Danish army against the Rebel City's Captain Wilhelmus.

Background
As a starting point of expanding Danish territory, King Knud sends an Army, lead by Prince Charles, to seize Hamburg Castle from the hands of the German Rebels, who currently controls it. Knud sends his spy, Kolbein of Holmr, to the city ahead of the battle. Holmr manages to infiltrate the Castle, reporting his findings to the King, and his Armies.

Pre-Battle Preperation
Prince Charles reaches Hamburg Castle in the morning of the 13th of July, 1080 AD. He forms his spear infantry into an attacking column, with the weaker Militia troops at the front and back of the formation to protect the main force from archer fire, and Mercenaries in the centre that form the bulk of his infantry. He places his Archer units behind the column, keeping them out of harms way until the spears can breach the castle gates and Charle's Bodyguard unit stands by on the rear, right flank of the infantry column.

Wilhelmus, using basic siege defence tactics puts Archers on the castle walls, and spearmen deployed at the Plaza.

Engagement
Start of the Battle

With the gates sabotaged, Wilhelmus' immediately descend from the castle walls, falling back to a more tactical position on the streets and plaza, and he brings a spear unit forward from the centre to protect the gate.

Charles marches his spears towards the gate, however, they eventually fall under fire from the towers. They push forward despite the loss of a few troops until a lapse in orders causes the entire army to halt its advance. This breakdown leads to a number of men to be pick off from the towers until a runner is sent forward from Charles' position ordering the army to continue its march. When the force arrives at the gates the Sabotage caused by the King's spy Kolbein of Holmr allow them to open the gates and enter the castle.

Defensive Gambit
Wilhelmus pushes his archers to close range of Charles' spear militia, in an effort to fire off a devastating volley to destroy the enemy front lines, however, the Danish Spearmen charge in before the archers are able to unload their bows, forcing the archers to fight them in melee, giving the infantry a hefty advantage. One of the Mercenaries breaks off from the advance to attack a unit of Rebel Spear Militia who have gained a flanking position against Charles' column. The advance of Charle's troops force the Rebel infantry to abandon the towers, clearing the way for the rear guard, including Charles to advance.

Moving up From the Gate
Prince Charles and his Royal guard charge through the gate to engage the rebel archers and support the infantry. With the Rebel archers pinning Charles' Spear infantry, the Wilhelmus advances his second unit of Archers forward, once in position they release flaming arrows at the enemy line. Seeing this, Charles takes his Guard unit and circumvents the line, obtaining a flanking position to the left of the engagement. Having lost half its strength, the fighting unit of archers retreats to the plaza, allowing Charles' spears to advance the the second archers' positions. With the line now broken, the remainder of the Danish infantry diverts it's force to the Rebel Spear Militia off the flank of the initial column.

Charging round the left of the castle, Prince Charles and his Guards attack the Archers that have regrouped at the castle Plaza, engaging into melee with the already depleted unit, the engagement doesn't last long, and the Archers break allowing themselves to be captured by Charles' Guard. The Forward unit of Danish Spears successfully routs the Second archer unit, and with the help of the Danish Royal Guard, captures many of them as well.

Charles moves his bodyguard off the plaza to the right hand flank of the castle, and moves to support the bulk of the infantry which is still fighting the Rebel Spear Militia unit near the front gates. As he approaches his infantry manage to rout the Rebels spearmen captures many of their number. Having captured many of the Rebel archers at the plaza, the Forward unit of Spear Militia comes under fire from towers within the castle, after sustaining significant losses, the unit is ordered to retreat and form up with the rest of the force.

Seizing the Plaza
Charles then brings forward the Mercenaries, forming an infantry line at the choke point in the main street, an archer line directly behind them, and a flanking position for his Guard to the right of the line. The remaining spearmen line up behind the archers.The Danish Archers loose several volleys into the Rebel spears, who advance forward to engage. Unexpectedly, Wilhelmus does not engage the line but rather goes after Charles' Royal Guard. The forward Mercenaries pursue and engage Wilhelmus' guards. Charles' bodyguard falls back to the gate, to avoid melee engagement with spear troops. With Wilhelmus in combat a unit of spears moves forward to capture the plaza unhindered. Another unit of Mercenary Spearmen, still by the gate, flanks Wilhelmus' guard who form a Schiltrom in a final defensive tactic. Both Archer units begin firing on Wilhelmus' guard again, forcing them to break the Schiltrom formation. The Archers then cease fire, and the infantry resume their charge, surrounding Wilhelmus.

Conclusion
Having managed to capture the plaza and destroy almost all of his force, Wilhelm surrenders to the Danish Army. He and what is left of his army is captured, and the Castle is seized.

Battle Statistics (Per Unit)
(Statistics are after casualties have healed)

The Fate of Hamburg
The Danish army peacefully occupies the castle, gaining 286 Florins from the coffers and subduing the population under Danish rule. Little resentment is made about the change of government. Due to the fact that Hamburg borders the region of Frankfurt, which is under the control of the Holy Roman Empire, Denmark now has a land border with the Reich.