Eagle Byzantium

"Ah!" A rebel soldier next to Hector suddenly raised his neck and screamed tremblingly. A horse arrow shot from behind wedged into his back. The guy then shook his arm a few times, He fell off his horse. Then mixed with the increasingly louder scoldings after the dark night, the sound of horse arrows piercing the air became more dense and ferocious on both sides of Hector. He lowered his body, gritted his teeth and looked at the shaking horse's head, quickly The receding grassland is still dark except for the dark grass. He looked back in horror. The pursuers were probably more than a hundred feet behind him. They were probably general cavalry from the Red Hand Company. They came to pursue him with bows and arrows, and the colorful feathers that symbolized their glory The feathers and gold and silver epaulettes flashed in the night.

No, they didn't want to capture him at all, but wanted to kill him neatly with horse arrows.

"Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!' A loud horse whistle came from behind, and Hector's horse, which had two companions with the same disease beside him, turned around, but was hit by several horse arrows shot mercilessly. Shoot, the arrow pierces the blood of a person's chest The sound of meat was clearly audible, and Hector was so frightened that he almost cried, but he believed that he was getting closer to the life-saving pass: according to the code of conduct in Gawain's army, this cavalry came to pursue him. It won't go very far into enemy territory.

So when the whistle for the horses sounded again, the bridle rope in Hector's hand was obviously shaking and tearing, and the person under his crotch also became violent. When he heard the familiar voice, he wanted to return to his companions in the military camp. ,"ah!" Hector grew out of fear, pulled out the gleaming dagger, and stabbed the horse's buttocks twice. The horse was dripping with blood and screamed a few times, and could only continue to succumb to the stranger's control. Take control and keep running forward!

"Stop chasing." At this moment, a squadron flag officer of the Red Hand Cavalry reined in his horse and shouted. The comrades holding torches all around also stopped their horses. They raised their eyes and looked up at the rolling peaks of the pass under the night sky. , seemed to be vibrating and trembling, and long and shrill screams came one after another, like the howls of wolves, The flag officer's sweat suddenly flowed down. He leaned over and watched his mount kicking the ground restlessly, while the long grass around him was shaking and undulating. "This is not a pack of wolves, it should be Turks coming, many, many." ....." After saying that, he and all the cavalry turned around and rushed back towards the starting point of Ashrun.

Soon, Hector saw that in the wilderness around the pass, countless torches were as terrifying as swarms of fireflies on a summer night. Thousands of Turks covered in felts swept in, probably from Melili. Seeing this scene, the only three remaining rebels who set out from Tenneburg were even happier than seeing the Holy Apostles. They ignored Hector's dissuasion and rode towards the Turks' vanguard. He rushed towards him, shouting something in Turkic language.

But hundreds of Turkic vanguard cavalry did not want to communicate with them. They made wolf-like battle calls on horseback, and shot arrows like a storm. Soon, the three rebels, both men and horses, were shot. The hedgehog staggered and fell dead in the grass.

Hector was so horrified that he hurriedly dismounted, knelt on the ground, tore off the leather saddle and blanket from the horse's back, struck it with a fire sickle, waved it in his hand, and shouted in Turkic dialect, "I am Ashrun" Come on, survivors, the enemy slaughtered everyone in the village."

Whispering, several arrows mixed with strong winds flew around Hector and the "torch" he was waving, with a fluttering sound, and the firelight was also blown everywhere. Hector closed his eyes tightly Kneeling on the grass with eyes closed He couldn't even care about the burning pain from the sparks falling on the back of his neck. In the midst of his rapid breathing, several Turks carrying quivers and sabers surrounded him, "How many enemies are there?" It seemed that he believed him.

"I am a loyal Ani, and I am definitely on your side. Gawain captured Corgisson and destroyed everything I owned (in fact, he was just a small gentry before, and Gawain never confiscated him property) and kidnapped me into serving in the military uniform Take me to see your General Attaberg, or any of the Marash nobles, and I will tell him all the inside information about the opponent's task force." Hector threw the burning leather aside. , beating his chest to show his loyalty.

Finally, he was taken to the rear queue, where he met the Turkic Attaberg general Qudb Ud al-Din, and indeed there was an Armenian nobleman named Firouz who was the commander of Marash. "Is it true that Gawain's task force is trying to cross the mountain pass and raid Melitene Fortress? How many people do they have, what are the regulations of the camp, who is the commander, and what is his flag like?"

"They have about 3,500 people, most of whom are cavalry or people who can fight on horseback. They are currently in the Ashlumbu camp they just captured. Their commander is Vesate Melo, a Greek warrior from Italy. , was quite familiar with the Greek army’s tactics. Although he was young, It's not big, but it has high prestige and can command its subordinates to defend the Ashrun camp well. We must attack their infantry guarding the village and induce the Armenians in the opponent's team to defect. As long as we defeat Melo's infantry detachment. , it is not difficult for us to drive away the other cavalry."

After listening to the traitor's statement, Kudb nodded, and then Firouz rewarded him with ten gold coins and verbally praised this "Hector" as "the flower of the Ani nation, an absolute hero". Then the two joint commanders began to discuss, "We have 7,000 combat-skilled soldiers, enough to recover Ashrun and annihilate Gawain's task force. His Highness Merrick is sitting in Melitene, commanding a full 20,000 soldiers, ready to go south to support Samosata and defeat the red-bearded Norman chieftain who is heading north. Our victory here can ensure that His Highness Merrick's flank is worry-free."

"In the south, there are more than 2,000 soldiers of Saliki. Use fast horses to call him to join our attack team. Also, send an urgent letter to the Kesia Fortress, asking them to send troops to cut off the return route of Gawain's task force." Firouz raised his hand and added.

In the early morning, the thirty cavalrymen came to Ashrun exhausted, holding flags and shouting. Some of the soldiers on duty were digging trenches, while others moved the horse fence to let in the cavalry. Then, Melo, who was standing on the earth wall to supervise the craftsmen to erect five cannons, received the news that the enemy was at the foot of the mountain pass and could attack at any time.

"Send out more scouts to grasp the enemy's military strength and attack time at any time. The rest of you should not slack off and continue to deploy according to the established plan. Deploy! We are better than those Turkic bandits in calmness and tactics. There is no need to be afraid of horses. Stick to the fight to the end." Melo raised his scepter and ordered loudly, and asked his guards to raise the "Christian Fish Battle Flag". After seeing the high-flying general flag, all the infantry in the village sped up. Some dug and piled up earth desperately, and some used pedal saws to sharpen wooden stakes to block horses. There were urgent trumpets everywhere, exaggerating the tense atmosphere before the fierce battle. (To be continued ~^~)