Eagle Byzantium

The vanguard of the Provencal soldiers clashed with Kupasukexin on the mountainside battle line, with their swords intertwined and making a shocking sound. The Provencals slashed fiercely, and one soldier after another jumped up and swung his sword at the enemy, just like a modern stack of warriors, while Kupasukexin's front line soldiers stacked up in a shield formation and resisted calmly. People were crawling on the shields: several of Raymond's subordinates stepped directly on the shoulders of both sides, uncovered the shields that the Turks were protecting their heads, and drew their swords to slash, but were soon shot down one by one by the additional Turkic dismounted cavalry.

The Jinat soldiers and Paulicians who followed in droves also shot arrows at the top of the mountain, but the Turks who obviously occupied the high ground of the hill shot faster, more accurately and more fiercely. The arrows were as dense as cow hair, and they shot down over the heads of the crowd like boiling water. Many of Gawain and Cabeamia's troops were injured and fell down, and they were crowded with Raymond's army. The attack formation could not be deployed, and they could not attack left and right, which was really difficult to play.

After two or three attacks, the damage was quite serious. Raymond's warhorse was hit by three arrows on the forehead and died, but after he retreated, he was still eager to fight, calling for a change of horses, and then organizing the next round of offensive. "This is not feasible, Marquis, let's stop fighting and rest for the time being." Gawain drove his horse over and persuaded.

"Nonsense, nonsense, retreating in the face of battle, is, is simply not reaching the Holy Land." Raymond was relentless.

But Gawain continued to persuade him sternly: Rose Ridge is not the core battlefield after all. Even if we cannot win, as long as we separate the enemy's battle situation in the two places and prevent them from supporting each other, we will achieve our goal. If our army wins the fortress at the river mouth, the enemy here will naturally collapse without a fight. If our army is not in a good position on the battlefield over there, even if our army captures Rose Ridge, it will be useless and will be useless except for wasting soldiers.

After this admonition, Raymond finally calmed down. He and his subordinate Pence gathered their soldiers and retreated to rest - while Gawain led the cavalry up, ignoring the shouting and insults of the Turks on the ridge, and lined up in a defensive line, quietly confronting the team of Emir Kupasiksin.

At the same time, on the battlefield of the river mouth fortress, the Norman and Armenian cavalry, who were the first to attack, held up rows of lances, and the roar of people and horses was layered. The huge sound waves raised by the horses' hooves swept across the surface, almost overwhelming the roar of the waves of the Orontes River.

The two thousand soldiers of the Futuwa Guild on the opposite side also stretched out their spears in rows, and those in front buried their shields of various colors in the soft sand to prevent the cavalry from trampling, forming an extremely solid line. The following scene, in Gawain's eyes, was like an iron fist hitting an iron ball covered with steel needles, with blood splattering everywhere. The Norman cavalry standard-bearers in the front almost all crashed into the spear forest, their armor shattered, and they died bravely. The cavalrymen who followed closely behind drew their swords and battle axes and bravely followed up, hoping to cut a bloody gap in the array of Futuwa's fanatical spearmen.

However, the Antioch Turkic army chose the position on this side too well: it was located between the two high towers at the bridgehead, and the land was about several hundred feet wide, so there was no danger of being attacked from the flank. The soldiers in the front were killed by the surprise attack, and the people in the back bravely took over. In the end, the "steel needles" were broken countless times, and the "iron fists" were also bleeding. The Turkic defenders on the towers on both sides also took the opportunity to throw stones and poison arrows. After the courage and strength of the fierce attack were exhausted, Tancred still could not tear the enemy's iron wall defense and could only choose to retreat.

Hugh, who was supervising the battle, saw this scene and raised the scepter in his hand. Admar shouted to encourage - Stephen and the two Roberts desperately gathered hundreds of cavalry (they only had these war horses), took over Tancred's battle, and launched a second round of assault on the Futuwa spearmen at the bridgehead.

The defenders began to shoot and stab the horses frantically, so the teams of these lords were quickly defeated. Adhmar saw that Stephen and his men were showing signs of passive avoidance of the battle, and he could not help but get angry. He personally put on his armor and robes, held up a cross and shouted, and ran towards the front line where arrows and stones were flying. Seeing the figure of the priest fighting for his life, Stephen and his men, even those without horses, all walked, holding shields and long swords, rushed to the bridgehead, and fought with the defenders. "Don't be afraid of the enemy's arrows. Under the protection of the Lord, they can't penetrate your armor at all. Don't forget that you are warriors with a sacred mission, and you are not afraid of any weapons of the pagans." Among the figures that kept jumping out, Adhmar loudly encouraged everyone's fighting spirit, and then the servant holding the holy box for him was pierced through the neck by an arrow flying from the tower, and fell to death at Adhmar's feet with convulsions.

However, under the desperate fighting of the pilgrims, the Futuwa spearmen repelled the attack again and defended the bridge tower, but they also suffered heavy casualties. Even Adsonius Emir, who was always commanding on the tower, felt that if the pilgrims attacked again, the pressure would be very heavy, so he also sent flag signals to the other side of the Orontes River.

The sandy land on the entire bridge shore was covered with corpses and limbs everywhere, soaked in blood, emitting boiling hot steam and making a terrifying hissing sound. The Futuwa spearmen experienced a hard battle, but saw the pilgrims on the opposite side, with Baldwin's silver swan battle flag as a mark, all the infantry armor was strict, the shields were mighty, and they formed a dense battle line, roaring again, and approached them step by step.

At this critical moment, excited shouts erupted behind everyone, and there was a sudden sound of horse hooves - it was Rosellon and Kaziknuz, leading 700 elite cavalry, across the river. The huge stone bridge came to the bridge head with great power.

"The glorious and invincible Red Hand Brigade, let's press forward too!" Over there, Melo and Birrell waved their arms and battle flags, followed by the Banda detachment holding densely packed large infantry spears. , all shouted out "Princess in Purple and the Three Saints" The slogan "Apostle's Blessing" also followed the pace of Baldwin's team through the smoke and corpses of the enemy and ourselves, heading towards the narrow battlefield at the end of the bridge. The arrows continuously shot from the tower passed over their heads and the tips of their spears, making sharp The whistling sound.

At the same time, Hugh led hundreds of elite cavalry and gathered on the shore about a thousand feet away from the bridge. There, Vallott, a counselor of the French royal palace, rode his horse back and forth bravely in the fast-flowing river several times, " Sir Hugh, this is a passable place for Asase!”

Xiu nodded, and then pulled out his sword. The cape style cape swayed in the wind, "Soldiers of the Lord, we must make breakthroughs on the front as well as on the side. The brave men here follow my banner!"

"Glory belongs to the great Paris!" The knights of the royal family shouted such a banner, followed the king's brother's war horse, and rushed into the Orontes River. Many of them could only reveal half of their bodies, and the war horse could only show the top of its head. , but still carrying heavy armor, bravely wading into the water to attack. (To be continued ~^~.)