| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Battle of the Rhine was a battle during the Fifth Crusade, and took place on July 9, 1359, between the legions of the Roman Republic, and the forces of the Egyptian Empire, and Norse Kingdom. In this battle, the combined Egyptian-Norse forces, commanded by Pharaoh Setnamset and Kaiserin Elsa, crossed the Rhine and defeated the Romans, commanded by General Marcus Claudi. The crossing is considered one of the greatest military engineering feats in history, and was one of the first examples of a fully multinational war effort.
Background[]
In response to the Norse conquest of Finland, the Russian Tsardom appealed to Rome for aide, who granted it, leading the Christian Church to declare it the "Fifth Crusade". However, by the time the Romans arrived in the East, the Norse had left Russia. The Norse forces, commanded by Kaiserin Elsa Isshond, then successfully conquered Denmark, and began pushing through Germania with little oppostion. With much of the Roman legion deployed in the Eastern provinces, to assist Russia, they were forced to turn and redploy.
During all of this, the Egyptian Imperial Army left Egyptian territory, and crussed into Russia. After defeating a Russian army in the Ukraine, Setnamset marched West, to link up with his Norse allies. The two forces met in Southwestern Germania (neither side fully knew the exact location), and joined up, before advancing East towards the Rhine, where they intended to cross into Gaul.
In response, the Romans managed to gather another twenty legions, mostly from the Southern provinces, and deploy to meet the threat. It is held that during this time, the Senate was in a panic, as the pagan army was moving at a faster rate than the legions, and if they crossed the Rhine, they could potentially enter Italy at their leisure.
Command[]
The battle was noted for its three different commanders, each from three distinct nations. Commanding the Romans was veteran general Marcus Claudi, who had been a centurion in the Fourth Crusade decades prior. Accoridng to sources, Claudi was described as a "stern, blunt man" who had a very strict, disciplinary policy with the legionnares. A devout Christian, he was said to have openly challenged the pagan gods to prove their existence by defeating him. After the battle, blame did not fall on him, but he still resigned, possibly to avoid such blame.
Kaiserin Elsa Isshond commanded the Norse armies, with her younger sister Princess Anna being her second in command. The Egyptian commander was Pharaoh Setnamset of the 26th Dynasty. They were held to be in their late twenties and early thirties respectively. Its said that the two had a good working relationship, and regularly engaged and consulted each other before going into battle. Its been suggested that Setnamset may have been attracted to Elsa (or possible Anna).
Under royal order, the other Egyptian and Norse commanders were to be in constant communication with each other, and any intelligence one side gained, was to be shared with the other.
Prelude[]
Knowing that the pagans were nearing the Rhine, Claudi decided to set up at the river, though he decided not to cross it, fearing it would hamper any potential retreats. Instead, he set up camp at the river's narrowest point, where it was believed the pagans were have to cross. Claudi is said to have attempted to build fortifications throughout the bank, but it proved to long, and he couldn't be sure where exactly they'd land. The hope was that they could at least delay the pagans long enough for the Eastern reinforcements to arrive, where the Romans would be able to attack on two sides.
The Egyptian-Norse force arrived at the opposing river bank, where they also made camp. Scouts traveled up and down the river, looking for an ideal place to cross, though both monarchs decided that the current bank was the best they could hope for. Neither of them wanted to wait on the bank longer than necessary, and to cross as soon as possible, because they couldn't be sure how far away the Eastern forces were.
Crossing[]
Both Setnamset and Elsa knew that if they tried to row across, they would be vulnerable to Roman artillery and ranged weapons. To that end, they sought means of crossing that would be faster, and more efficient. Row boats were immediately stricken, as they were too small, and left the soldiers vulnerable. Rafts were considered, but were refused for a similar reason. An idea was entertained that the Egyptian elephants could be tall and powerful enough to simply walk through the river, but Setnamset was reluctant based on a couple factors: first, the elephants would be easy targets to Roman artillery; second, the elephants he had were not trained for large water crossing, and he had no way of knowing for sure how they would behave in such a situation. Ultimately, Elsa ordered shipwrights she had brought with her to collaborate with the Egyptian engineers under Setnamset to find a way to cross. She also ordered riders to go North to the coast, where the Norse fleet had been sailing, to travel down the Rhine.
The collaboration was lead by Bjorn Liefsson and Raset Nekhbekre, both of whom were noted as being skilled, experienced engineers. Eventually, as word came of the approaching Norse ships, an idea was formed of linking the ships with wooden planks, which could be used as one item. This would consist of two ships being put parallel to each other, about three meters apart, and then the planks being hammered onto the opposing rims, essentially forming massive rafts, each capable of carrying 100 men at a time. A total of twenty of these rafts were built over the course of a month, and some rafts would be used by nailing together a total of six boats, capable of carrying up to 200 men at a time. To advance, they would be pushed by the elephants, where in the back of the raft, they would be less vulnerable.
When they had their means of crossing, it then became a matter of when. Both Elsa and Setnamset knew that regardless fo the means, they would be vulnerable to ranged weapons, so it was decided that a night crossing would be ideal. Setnamset took a calculated risk with the elephants, going off the assurance of the handlers that the elephants could handle such a crossing. The Roman watch was still stationed at night, and they knew to look for the torchlight to signify a crossing, so the decision to instead snuff out the torchlight, and drive the elephants in the direction of the Roman light was made; they would cross on a half-moon, where they would be less visible. As they could not move the rafts backwards, and immediately after the initial crossing with the rafts, which would bring ashore roughly 4,000 men, the rest of the army would row across.
On the night of July 8, 1359, both Elsa and Setnamset gave the order to cross the river. Crossing the river with the rafts took roughly fifteen minutes according to Egyptian records, where the unexpectedly large assault caught the Romans offguard. The rest of the army then promptly rowed across to join the battle.
Battle[]
Armies[]
As both the Romans and the Egyptians kept diligent records, at least a general estimation of the troop size can be made. According to Roman records, the Roman army consisted of twenty legions (one of the largest Roman forces ever deployed in a single battle), totalling approximately 120,000 men. This consisted of 95,000 infantry and 25,000 cavalry.
While in total, they outnumbered the Romans, the individual pagan armies were notably smaller. The Egyptian numbered at about 80,000, consisting of 70,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry, and about 50 elephants. The Norse army numbered at 70,000, consisting primarily of infantry, with only about few thousand cavalry.