People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 116 Night Attack
Baldwin IV on his horse.

Behind him, the servants set up the imperial tent and erected the king's banner, surrounded by four small golden crosses, which looked even more sacred in the dazzling afternoon sun.

Whenever the soldiers who are fighting hard on the front line look back at this flag, they will be encouraged. This is also the helpless move of the True Cross being taken away by the Northern Crusaders.

It is very common for a large-scale battle to last for three or two days.

Of course, this includes the "confrontation" phase, as well as sporadic and small-scale local battles.

The real decisive battle is limited by the physical strength of the soldiers, and the winner is often decided within a few hours.

No one will be like a red-eyed gambler at the gambling table at the beginning of a war, pushing out all the chips.

Although Saladin is not an outstanding military genius, he has also personally led troops to fight many battles, and he is definitely a commander above the passing line.

He won't make such low-level mistakes.

A bishop with rich experience in warfare was keenly aware of the movement of the Saracen cavalry: "The cavalry of Saracen has moved. They want to swallow the cavalry led by Baron Lothar!"

The bishop held a mace in his hand and wore a set of exquisite cloth visors under his large white robe. Before he became a bishop, he was actually a brave knight.

"Leave them alone."

Baldwin IV said in a deep voice: "I believe in Baron Lothar's ability to lead troops. He will not be easily surrounded by Saracens' cavalry."

"Don't care about the enemy's harassment. If they come, shoot them with a bow and crossbow. Everyone is not allowed to leave their posts without authorization. We will rely on the camp to hold on!"

Baldwin IV was categorical.

Before coming, Lothar had discussed with Baldwin IV how to use the infantry advantage to counter the enemy's cavalry advantage.

In the huge crusader formation, the supplies on the baggage car were removed, and the car board was dismantled to make a fender. When facing the heretics, the entire army rarely showed a defensive posture.

Such a posture made the general of the Saracens give up the idea of ​​attacking after he tried to launch several offensives to lure the enemy and dropped dozens of corpses in front of the formation.

It is impossible for the Crusaders and the Saracens to spend forever here.

Because the Crusaders had too few cavalry to raid the Saracens' logistics convoy, the supply line behind the Crusaders was exposed to the Saracens' horseshoes.

No matter how much supplies the Crusaders carry, they will run out sooner or later.

Looking at this scene, Adil frowned deeply: "King Baldwin, does this leper put all his hopes on that Baron Lothar?"

"It's hard to imagine that a king would trust his servants so much."

He remembered the conversation with Lothar that day again.

He couldn't help chuckling and said, "I'm not the biggest enemy of you Franks, but you seem to be our biggest enemy."

A moment later, news came that the Crusaders cavalry pierced through the encirclement of a Mamluk cavalry that intercepted them, and had withdrawn from the battlefield in an orderly manner.

"Retreat?"

His expression changed slightly.

Immediately realized that Lothar had the idea of ​​taking out [-] cavalry to contain the [-] elite Mamluks.

"But don't you think it's too beautiful?"

Their falcons are everywhere in the sky, and countless sharp eagle eyes can ensure that they can catch all the movements of the crusaders in time.

As long as the falcon warning is arranged in advance, Lothar and his cavalry will not be able to exert the effect of surprise attack at all.

At that time, it is only necessary to send a thousand cavalry to prepare for the opponent's impact in advance.

evening.

The confrontation between the Crusaders and the Saracens has lasted throughout the day.

Except for the confrontation between the cavalry, the combined damage to the infantry on both sides was less than 100.

It's getting late.

The soldiers set up bonfires in their respective camps, and most of the soldiers in each phalanx were from the same country, or at least spoke the same language.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem is distinct from the rest of the Western European kingdoms in one respect.

The rest of the Western European kingdoms went out to fight, more like Zhou Tianzi led a group of princes, big and small, even if the king sent thousands of knights to fight, these thousands of knights often brought their attendants and sergeants to fight on their own.

But in Jerusalem, the state-owned army occupies the majority, such as the sergeants of the two major knight orders, and the city defense army of Jerusalem-this allows the king to integrate the soldiers under these lords according to occupational classification.

Ryan and Mordel, with their ax guards, sat around the campfire.

Someone nearby whispered: "What kind of battle is this fighting? The warriors under the command of the heavenly father are like a tortoise, with their limbs and heads curled up in the tortoise shell. Where has all our courage gone?"

"That's right, Old John had a finger shot off by the damn heretics today. The broken shield couldn't stop their arrows at all. We let them attack like a target."

"And our cavalry, those high-ranking knights and lords, disappeared today except for the first appearance. Could it be that they were surrounded and wiped out by heretics?"

"My God, how can we fight against heretics without knights."

Ryan couldn't bear it, and cursed: "You cowardly idiots, fighting all day today, the number of people who died is not as many as ours who died in a charge on the battlefield. What's so scary?"

Not to be outdone, the soldier said, "My lord knight, you have well-protected armor and helmets. Even if your shield is shot through by the enemy, you don't have to worry about being shot dead. But what about us?"

Model held Ryan and dissuaded him in a low voice: "It's enough to take care of our own formation. Those people are the cannon fodder recruited by the palace minister."

What happened here is just a microcosm.

The confrontation all day is a serious blow to the morale of the Crusaders.

The scorching sun, too many new recruits with no combat experience, and the lack of shield protection were all factors that reduced the crusaders' fighting enthusiasm, which was originally motivated by religious enthusiasm.

And Saladin's soldiers also gradually felt tired during the long siege and confrontation.

in a valley.

Lothar looked up at the night sky, and the falcon that seemed to appear in the sky all the time during the day finally disappeared.

Fortunately, the Saracens had not yet developed the technique of training owls as falcons.

In fact, no one is worried that someone will launch a night attack. Even if you don't suffer from night blindness in this era, it is difficult to see things clearly at night.

"Light a fire and eat!"

Lothar ordered loudly.

The knights and cavalry huddled around the bonfire to rest, everyone's face was full of puzzlement, after breaking through the siege, they never fought a big battle again.

Instead, he came to the shade to rest. When the enemy approached, he retreated. When the horse was tired, he changed to a replacement mount.

This is completely different from their usual fighting methods, which makes every knight feel deeply puzzled.

Lothar whispered: "Everyone, I know you have doubts in your hearts, but please answer me a question first, where is the strongest place for the Saracens?"

Someone disdainfully said: "The Saracens are just an army of slaves. They have no strength. In the daytime battle, didn't we easily crush them?"

But more people replied almost unanimously: "It's Falcon, Grand Leader."

Lothar nodded: "That's right, the Saracens' falcons are their eyes and ears, which enables their 'scouts' to transmit the situation on the battlefield to the enemy's generals very quickly."

"Unless we can charge and defeat the enemy in one wave - we did the same in the battle against the Saracens in previous years, but what you need to know is that the number of troops under Saladin's command is similar to that in the battle of Mengisa, But the quality has long been different.”

"If it's 20 serf conscripts, maybe we only need a wave of charges to drive them into chaos and trample on each other. But unfortunately, the opponent is also a well-trained army."

"The reason why the Battle of Spring Valley failed is because of this."

Someone wondered: "Is that so?"

"I thought it was His Majesty the King who lost the favor of Heavenly Father."

Lothar sighed secretly, and said loudly: "Your Majesty has never committed any crimes. He is the ruler of the holy city of Jerusalem. How could he lose the favor of the heavenly father?"

"Everyone, the enemy's falcons are everywhere during the day, so we have no chance to launch a surprise attack at all, only at night."

"Baron, what are you kidding, are we raiding with torches?"

"I'm afraid we'll head in the wrong direction and run headlong into our own camp."

The knights were puzzled.

Lothar said loudly: "Please be quiet, I know the difficulty of night raids. So, let the will of the heavenly father decide whether we should carry out this raid at night!"

After he finished speaking, he ordered someone to carry out an iron cross and hold it high on the slope.

Immediately, he took the lead in kneeling on one knee, reciting a few scriptures he had memorized in a low voice.

"Does your lord still work as a priest?"

"I don't understand. Could it be that my lord has no plans at all and can only hope for miracles?"

The knights whispered.

"and many more!"

"Look!"

"what is that?"

The knights were astonished. They saw bursts of golden light from the cross erected on the slope. The light was not dazzling, it could even be said to be weak, but everyone could see it clearly.

"By God, I seem...I seem to be able to see things at night? Is this my illusion?"

"No, it's true!"

"It's a miracle, it's a real miracle!"

"Baron Lothar, this is a miracle from the Heavenly Father, asking us to punish the heretics and protect the Holy Land!"

"Heavenly Father has approved the Grand Master's plan! The next battle must be won!"

"Lothar! Lothar! Lothar!"

The knights cheered and shouted the name like crazy.

Amalric's heart was surging, he opened his mouth, and the shout reached his throat, but he didn't have the face to shout out after all.

"Lothar! Lothar! Lothar!"

Shouts sounded from his ears.

Looking back, he suddenly found that his younger brother, Guy, who had always been proud and arrogant, was raising his armed sword, fanatically following the crowd and cheering.

Lothar raised his hand, and the shouts of the knights died down.

He looked around at the crowd, the voice under the helmet was muffled.

"Everyone, please follow me to attack Saladin's camp at night."

At this moment, he no longer considered any personal gain or loss. He had too many lives in his hands. If the cavalry was wiped out, the battle would be lost. Tens of thousands of crusaders might all be lost here.

Lothar subconsciously looked to his side, fully armed, only showing the cold eyes of Prajna.

The two looked at each other and nodded.

Fringila, who is working hard to maintain the spell: "?"

(End of this chapter)