Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

"Without the French army commanded by a foreigner, there is no fear at all. My grandfather saw French knights at Nicopolis, and that's all. With the cannon of the Sirians, the army Only then can the shortcomings be made up and the complete combat capability can be obtained." Jihangir thought to himself.

He wanted the jihad to continue, preferably until all the Europeans had been driven out and the Moroccan and Tlemcen Sultanates had been "liberated".

Liberation is put in quotation marks here because Cihangir does not intend to return power to the Marin and Zayani families after victory.

Wouldn't it be nice to be the governor of the Maghreb by yourself?

If Prince Mohammed disagrees, it is not impossible to go alone.

Anyway, the Maghreb Mountains are high and the emperor is far away, so it is impossible for Osman to make an expedition to punish him as a disobedient minister.

Jihangir is a very ambitious official second generation.And he can also see that with the corruption of the Sipasi fiefdom system, the combat effectiveness of this group is constantly declining.Because they were becoming less and less reliable on the battlefield, the sultans had to start anew and cultivate the Janissaries with pagans as seeds.

Whether in terms of interests or emotions, it was difficult for Cihangir to accept that a group of pagans gradually replaced the group he represented, and became more and more important in the Ottoman political map.

So, instead of sitting back and watching this irreversible general trend and constantly changing in a direction that is not good for you, it is better to fight hard, break the original barriers, and start a career in a new place.

To achieve his goals, he must have enough military support, so Jihangir was extremely greedy and belligerent in this jihad.

Because only by continuously gaining prestige through wars and plundering a lot of spoils can you win the hearts of the army and have more prestige than Prince Muhammad.

So far, Cihangir considers his progress to be smooth.He has been richly rewarded from the previous two raids of Jazair and more recently Sidi Bel Abbes.Through a fair distribution system, every Sipasi cavalry has been paid satisfactorily.

Now the [-] Sipasi cavalry unit commanded by Cihangir has almost obeyed the pasha.

With almost half of the troops of the Ottoman Jihad Army at hand, if you rely on the looted gold and silver to recruit enough local mercenaries, then Cihangir will have the capital to be on an equal footing with Prince Muhammad

However, to realize his great dream, Cihangir must take the lead in attacking Oran City.

The galloping Sipasi cavalry turned a sharp turn along the road between the valleys, and the vast coastal plain suddenly opened up in front of them.

But the feeling of refreshment brought by the magnificent scenery only lasted for two seconds, and the Sipasi cavalry, including Jihangir Pasha, were immediately filled with doubts.

What about Tamzula, a small village that was supposed to be located not far from the mouth of the valley?

Why did it become a "castle"?

This "castle" is small in size, probably only two to three square kilometers in area. The pentagonal city wall has five corners, each with a sharp triangular platform protruding outward.

The wall of the "castle" is not high, only about five meters, and it cannot be compared with the Theodosius wall of Constantinople that the Ottomans often look at.However, a ditch five meters deep and ten meters wide was excavated under the city wall, so it was not easy for infantry to climb up this "castle".

Looking down from the mountain, the shape of this "castle" looks like a star with complex edges and corners, so Cihangir called it "Star Fortress", which is also a crooked way to call it the correct name in history.

The Mulhollan people were able to build a "highway" through the Taylor Atlas Mountains in more than a month with the help of the Nubian worm. Ma Youfu, who has the gene of the "infrastructure madman" of the Sires, coupled with Naturally, Rashid's civil engineering hack can also build a bastion, or it can also be called a star fort, in the same time, to block the opponent's only way out of the mountain to the north.

It's just that time is tight after all, so there are many compromises in the engineering of this bastion.

For example, the thickness and height of the city walls have shrunk.

The thickness is reduced a little, but it doesn't hurt.Ottoman is indeed the country with the most advanced and popular firearms among the Mulholland countries today, and even pays more attention to the development of gunpowder weapons than other European countries except France.But even so, the opponent's artillery could not blast away the low and sloped bastion wall in a short time.

As for height, it's tricky.

In order to save construction time and cost, the height of the city wall was reduced, which naturally reduced the difficulty of climbing.For an army that was still dominated by cold weapons in the late Middle Ages, it was much easier to attack this kind of fortress than to attack a typical castle with tall walls.

However, the cost of building high walls is high, and the cost of digging holes is much cheaper.

So Ma Youfu dug a moat five meters deep and ten meters wide around the bastion—if water was introduced, it would be a moat.

A real bastion often has a defense system of two to three layers, but Ma Youfu only used the youth version of the one-layer design in order to rush work.

However, coupled with the dominant artillery, it is enough to defend against the Ottomans' attack.

Cihangir looked at the star-like fortress from afar, and saw the Crusader flag fluttering on the city wall. His previous high spirits suddenly turned into anger and unwillingness.

"The enemy actually noticed our actions in advance! Damn it, which bastard leaked our plan? The true god will abandon him, curse him, and let him fall into Hell after death, without escape!"

After cursing for a while, Cihangir was not reckless enough to use cavalry to test the quality of the bastion.He ordered his subordinates to conduct a survey of the surrounding area to see if the enemy had played tricks and ambushed other troops nearby to launch a sneak attack when his side attacked the city.

In addition, he also sent several cavalry back the same way to inform Prince Muhammad.

The Mulholland army, which was four kilometers away, soon got the bad news from Jihangir.

Prince Ottoman and the Mamluk general looked at each other, their eyes filled with complex emotions such as shock, unwillingness, sourness, frustration, and regret.

It took a while for the two commanders to calm down.

"How could Ma Youfu predict our plan? We have done a good job of keeping secrets and have the absolute support of the local people... Does the enemy have eyes in the sky?" Mustaine set up a pergola, looked up at the sky, and said I didn't see anything, but there seemed to be small black dots looming under the flowing and changing clouds.

It's a pity that he didn't realize that the black dot was Ma Youfu's secret weapon - the hot air balloon unit.

As if feeling that his conjecture was too absurd, Mustain laughed at himself and said, "Your Highness, it seems that our attack on Oran has been very disadvantageous from the very beginning."

Despite the setback, Mustain did not retreat immediately.

Because the fertile intermountain basin behind him, as well as the city of Sidi Bel Abbes, have been completely controlled by the Mulhollan Mujahideen.Since they are already invincible, even if they encounter difficulties, they should try to overcome them.Otherwise, it would be a joke to cancel a long-term preparation and huge investment plan because a small and strange fortress of the enemy lies on the only way.

Prince Mohammed had much the same idea as Mustain.How could the three giant magic stone-shooting cannons that were finally transported to the mountain be satisfied with capturing a small town like Sidi Bel Abbes?

That star-shaped fortress with a unique shape is probably also a whimsical idea of ​​the people of Seres.Prince Muhammad was also aroused to be competitive at this time, and wanted to see whether his own magic cannon was more powerful, or the opponent's new fortress was more powerful.

"Tell Jihangir Pasha to dismount and rest where he is, and prepare to attack when the army arrives. We have an army of 1000 and [-] artillery pieces of various types. If you don't believe it, we can't take down a small fortress that can hold more than [-] people at most! "

After hearing the order to march from His Royal Highness, the Mulholran fighters who had just won immediately gave thunderous cheers, especially the Janissaries guards around Prince Muhammad showed fanaticism and wanted to fight. Bursting.The Sipasi cavalry had already shown their hands in the previous attack on Sidi Bel Abbes. Today, it is time for them to make contributions.

The cheers of the Praetorian Guards were extremely contagious and spread all the way back.The army that stretched for several kilometers continued to erupt into cheers eager for victory, and the entire Atlas Mountains seemed to be shocked by this fighting spirit.

Chapter 470 Five: Yeniceri Attacks!

The fighting spirit of the Mulholran Jihad continued to advance.It's just that after arriving at the mountain pass and facing the Crusader fortress, they seemed a little flustered.

Because at the exit of the valley between the two mountains, it is impossible to fully deploy this huge army.If you want to drive a large force out of the valley to besiege the enemy's fortress, it is bound to be attacked by enemy artillery.

Prince Mohammad observed that eighteen cannons were deployed on the enemy's walls.Although the number is not as good as our own, the enemy's artillery is all of one type. According to the information provided by the Crusader captives, the artillery equipped for infantry units is called the 1432-pound infantry artillery of the 12 type, referred to as the 32 type.

Although Prince Mohammed now has [-] artillery pieces of various types, except for the three magical giant stone-shooting cannons that have been specially modified, the other artillery pieces are small in caliber and short in barrel. Compared with the advanced French artillery, they are like small toys. Stone shot cannon.

These cannons, like bows and crossbows, are only part of long-range firepower, and it is impossible to use them to attack the city.

Muhammad and Mustain discussed the siege plan while waiting for the artillery unit behind to move the giant stone-shooting cannon to the front.

However, after discussion and discussion, there was no good solution in the end.

Facing such a fortress with an excellent location, there was no other way but to attack hard.

"Your Highness, let my people go first."

The volunteers were tall, with European faces and fairer skin than the Anatolians.He wore the white cloth hat of the Janissaries, with a spoon pinned to the golden brim.

The army culture of the Janissary Guards is closely related to eating.The pattern of the military flag is a cooking pot, which symbolizes that the brothers of Paozhe are planing and eating in one pot. They are intimate and share life and death.It is not surprising that the commander of the Yeniceri Army is called "Cholbaji (meaning 'spoon' in Turkish)".This symbolizes the rights and duties of distributing food and nurturing soldiers.

Therefore, the identity of the person who took the initiative to challenge the battle is obvious.

He was the commander of the third battalion of the Janissaries, and was also authorized by Prince Mohammed to command all five battalions of the Praetorian Guards that came to the Maghreb region.

He was Djordje Petrovich, a Serb.It’s just that like other Yenicheri, Giorghe has become a fanatical follower of the Ottoman Sultan since he was forcibly expelled from his home at the age of 12, converted to Mulhollan, and underwent a series of brainwashing and learning.

However, Giorgi had just stood up, and Cihangir Pasha, who regarded Yenicheri as his competitor, immediately said: "Your Highness, our Sipasi cavalry is also the best infantry after dismounting. We are enough." Take that fort!"

"That star-shaped fortress is clearly designed carefully. Do you think it is as easy as capturing Sidi Bel Abbes?" Giorgi retorted.

Prince Muhammad did not allow the two subordinates to continue to quarrel, and directly issued an order: "Giorge, let Yenicheri prepare."

Although he didn't know the specific target of Cihangir, but since the fall of Jazhail, he has noticed the restless ambition of the other party.Before letting Jihangir attack Sidi Bel Abes, it was to appease these rebellious Sipasi cavalry.After the feat of capturing Oran, Prince Muhammad will leave it to his Janissaries.

Yenicheri is a member of the royal family and only accepts the command of the sultan or the prince. Since His Highness Muhammad made such a statement, it showed his determination to take down the fortress himself, and Cihangir had no choice but to give up.

After setting up the artillery positions, the offensive officially started.

Relying on the range advantage, the Ottoman artillery began long-range bombardment of the Crusaders' bastion.It's just that the longer distance means that the power and accuracy drop rapidly. Three consecutive rounds of shelling did not cause much damage to Ma Youfu's carefully designed bastion.

As for the smaller and more backward stone-shooting guns, at this distance, it is even more impossible to cause any damage to the bastion defenders.Even shells that can hit the city wall are quite rare.

However, Prince Mohammed did not dare to move the artillery forward to avoid being attacked by the Crusaders' artillery.

After an hour of bombardment, the Janissaries were also ready to attack.

These Sudanese guards have undergone strict military training, and the commanders at all levels are usually assumed by extraordinary people. Whether it is a melee weapon such as a scimitar or a long halberd, or a long-range weapon such as a compound bow, crossbow, or fire door gun, they can Skilled use.

In normal battles, the Janissaries are not equipped with heavy armor for the sake of mobility, and the armor rate is not as good as that of the Sipasi cavalry.However, in situations such as siege battles that require strong attacks, they will also wear full-body heavy armor to go into battle.

In fact, depending on the combat environment, choosing different weapons and equipment is also a major feature of Yenicheri.

After putting on the chain mail that strengthened the defense with armor plates on the chest and abdomen, the Yenicheri picked up their shields and scimitars and began to gather in front of the army formation.

Of course, this attack is not limited to the thousand Yenicheri.Another thousand Azabu infantrymen will accompany the Praetorian Guards to attack, provide long-range fire support, and perform miscellaneous tasks such as filling trenches and erecting siege ladders.

Azab infantry is a standing mercenary that only serves the Ottoman Sultan. Compared with the Yaya infantry recruited from rural youths, it has stronger combat capabilities and is the main source of Ottoman infantry today.

In fact, according to the usual practice, the precious Janissary Guards should not be invested at the beginning of the siege.When the cannons are almost bombarded and the cannon fodder of the Azab infantry has exhausted the enemy, it is the time to join the Imperial Guards to make a final decision.

But this time, Prince Mohammad broke the convention and put the most elite troops into battle during the first attack.

This is because he has fallen into a state of mental imbalance at this time.

The Crusaders built this fortress at the mountain pass, which shows that all the so-called "secret" plans of one's own side were actually under the control of the other side.The strategy of going around the Atlas Mountains and attacking Port of Oran from south to north is almost impossible to succeed now.

The time spent before, the large amount of manpower and material resources invested, and the expectation of victory in the heart have now become massive sunk costs.

This made Prince Mohammed very unwilling.He still hopes to reverse the current unfavorable situation, so that the previous efforts will not be wasted.

Ma Youfu has already built a fort here, so Oran Port must have assembled a heavy army, and it is no longer a city that can be succeeded by a sneak attack.

However, if the target of the campaign is changed to the Crusader fortress in front, with the advantage of [-] troops, there is still a great chance of success.

The location of this fortress is too critical. If it is in the hands of the Crusaders, it will be an iron gate guarding the mountain.But if it is in the hands of the Mulhollan Jihad Army, it will be a solid stronghold for the northward attack on Oran Port.

As long as the Mulholland Jihad Army can obtain this fortress, the southern port of Oran will open its door wide. Even if it cannot capture the richest port city in the Tlemcen Sultanate now, it will allow its own side to have a huge advantage. strategic advantage.

However, the speed must be fast.

Now there are less than [-] defenders in the fortress, and Prince Muhammad believes that his side can still take it by virtue of its numerical advantage.But if the defenders of Oran City get the news and send troops to support them, the hope of victory will become extremely slim.

"Attack!" With Prince Muhammad's order, the majestic horn sounded.

Under the cover of the Azabu infantry on both wings, the Yeniceri Legion marched towards the Crusader bastion in neat steps.

When approaching a distance of 250 meters, some of the Azabu infantry stopped and began to projectile with the compound bow in their hands, suppressing the long-range firepower of the bastion.

The compound bow of the Ottomans is a very efficient weapon, even compared with the English longbow blessed by elf technology in this world, it is not inferior.

In fact, the basic requirement to become an Azabi infantry is to have a Turkish composite bow, just like a knight must have a horse and armor.

Even in the arquebus era 100 years later, the compound bow still played an important role in the Ottoman army.

This round of ejection did not produce much effect.Because the crusaders stationed at the bastion, even the lowest soldiers, were equipped with helmets and half-body plate armor. Except for a few unlucky ones who were shot in the gap between the joints by arrows, there were basically no casualties.

But the Ottomans did not realize this.The Crusaders made few counterattacks, only a few arrows were shot back, and a few Azabu cannon fodder were killed.