Eagle Byzantium

This news frightened His Royal Highness and he collapsed on his chair.

It turned out that after the secret meeting at Maidensburg, Gawain personally handed out an exquisite silver plate to each of Branas and Melo, and strictly stipulated the time for gathering and marching, because the military operations of the two brigades were divided. It is carried out along the way, so precise coordination in time is extremely important. Even though most generals in this era are not aware of the importance of this, Gawain is different, "From now on, the silver platter in the hands of both of you, It represents my order!”

Therefore, during the concealed march, all 4,000 members of the Guardian Brigade left the port of the Syria Gate, boarded the fleets of Wein Moha and Andreev, plus several hired Amalfi merchant ships, and quickly crossed Ys. The Gulf of Si, landed at the port of Malrus in the county of Adana, and then quickly marched to the city of Mamistra, where the county who reached a secret agreement with Gawain, Under the advance planning of Countess Gottschild, a large number of light boats were gathered at the mouth of the lower reaches of the Felamis River, and many cargo boats were even rented from the local church. Then the entire brigade boarded the boats, and many uncles on both sides of the river were The people of the country were hired to pull the boat with ropes, so that it could successfully sail upstream and attack the river island southeast of Kastabala City like lightning.

The other route, the Red Hand Brigade commanded by Melo, took the land pass of the Syria Gate, advanced directly to the city of Issus for supplies, and then went straight to the southwest corner of the city of Kastabala.

When Prince Reuben got the news, the two brigades were already like iron pincers, less than twenty miles away from the castle, and they quickly closed in!

"Gawain has deceived me," Reuben wailed angrily.

The entire meeting tent was suddenly in chaos. Some nobles were keenly aware that this was a carefully planned siege plan by the Pilgrim group. Now "there was a large number of Norman troops in front of them, and Gawain's two men followed Castabala to cover up the attack." So, while the outflanking situation has not yet formed, Your Highness, you will withdraw to Sahara immediately. The cavalry in the front turned to become our vanguard, attacking while advancing towards Castabala, while our infantry militia camp cooperated from the rear to block the Norman pursuit as long as it could reach the castle. If we join forces with General Mamikonyan and become mutual horns, then the enemy will be helpless against us. "

At this time, a prince's personal attendant expressed a different opinion, "The strongest team of the Normans is their knights. If we withdraw the cavalry and turn around, it will not only depress the morale of the army, but also expose our civilian army and baggage." In the Norman Afraid of huge losses under the charge, it is better to let Saliki's cavalry rush to the city of Lavodela to hold the direction of the Norman advance, and then His Royal Highness leads the infantry battalion to retreat calmly, and Mami. General Konyan responded."

"But Tubosaina has been captured by the enemy, and what is the situation of La Vodela?" Just when Ruben was hesitant, the third letter from the castle arrived, also written in cipher text, It said, "A large number of Normans came to attack our castle, but were repelled by our heroic defenders. Now the enemy is surrounding and setting up equipment. Please send reinforcements as soon as possible, Your Highness!"

The decision was made in an instant. Ruben immediately sent a document to General Saliki's camp in front of him, and sent two thousand lightly-armed civilian troops to rush to the rescue. He also issued a fatal order to "hold on to Lavodela and block Novo with all his strength." Man people".

Afterwards, Reuben ordered all the soldiers in the camp to pack up, escort the baggage, and prepare to turn around. As a result, the camp was suddenly filled with people. The nobles and civilian soldiers wanted to take away all the livestock, all the baggage, and all the property. It was too big and chaotic. The road to Castabara was jammed with livestock, carriages and cluttered military servants. There was a continuous sound of yelling and whipping. It was not until evening that the camp was converted into a marching team. . As a result, before the difficult and congested march of three miles, even more shocking news came: ahead, in the wilderness between our army and Castabala City, a large number of cavalry also appeared with red-handed battle flags!

Ruben was about to vomit blood. "Send all the riders in the camp to conduct a careful reconnaissance. It might be Mamikonyan's team. Don't let it be rain or shine. If something goes wrong, all of them will be killed." Be responsible."

The results of the reconnaissance became clear after half an hour: there were no errors in the previous reports. They were standing in the wilderness ahead, blocking the entire army's retreat. It was none other than the Seleucid cavalry led by Gawain himself.

Gawain assembled a total of 2,500 cavalry, including 1,200 Red Hand cavalry. Polybius, Oson, and Monomachus also assembled about 1,000 Genate cavalry. In addition, there were 200 light cavalry reinforcements from Baldwin. These soldiers were originally stationed near the Cilicia Gate, pretending to go north. Now they all marched like thunder from the key city of Sis on the west bank of the Sanus River, determined to capture and kill Reuben's main force. Because they had purchased a large number of Turkish horses from the Giliki territory, most of Gawain's cavalry had two horses each, one for the men and one for the armor, weapons, and forks. The flags fluttered in the wind, and the men and horses galloped like lightning, causing the entire Armenian village and town on the east bank of the Sanus River to be terrified and the people to flee like a tide. "Don't attack and seize any enemy strongholds along the way, and don't fight any resistance. Just bypass them. We have only one goal, and that is to kill Reuben, the hyena!" On Quicksilver's back, Gawain's eye-catching white cloak was like a flying flag. He stretched his arms forward and kept shouting this sentence to all the cavalry. As a result, the entire cavalry galloped more than fifty miles in one day and night, and rushed to five miles in front of Reuben's camp before stopping.

"Set up the forks." Then Gawain gave the order, and he asked the cavalry to occupy the gentle hills across the wilderness and line up the forks carried by the second warhorse in front of the formation. Then everyone dismounted and put on armor: the Jinat cavalry was in the center, the Saint Cyril Company and the New Baptist Company were on the left and right wings, and the 200 cavalrymen who came to support Baldwin circled and galloped around the wilderness, stirring up huge flying dust, frightening and confusing the enemy.

Then, all the cavalry in the front row drew their bows, and in front of them, the sun was rising, and the chaotic Armenian camp was surging like a tide...

Then it was like this: Reuben selected the elite from the camp, and also formed three wings on the left, center and right, and attacked fiercely. The Jinat cavalry in the center of Gawain's formation all dismounted and stood in formation, firing arrows like rain, and with the help of the forked wood, they repeatedly repelled and blocked the assault of the Armenian central forces. Then the two Red Hand cavalry companies took turns using war horses, holding spears to flank and attack from the left and right, crushing and ravaging the Armenian militia infantry. This tactic has been tried and tested - after fighting for half a day, Reuben's army suffered heavy casualties and could not advance at all.

"Call Saliki's cavalry over!" Reuben, who was supervising the battle, lost his composure and shouted hysterically. (To be continued ~^~)