Eagle Byzantium

Behind the Emperor's shield wall, between the leather-covered kite shields, the soldiers in the rear saw that the enemy's chariots had magically and quickly erected towers, and they began to stir in their respective positions, their heads shaking everywhere, and they felt great hesitation and surprise in their hearts.

Soon, bronze gun muzzles began to extend from under the enemy's towers, shining brightly in the sun, and aiming at their own side from a high position. Seeing this scene, the Emperor's soldiers looked up and couldn't help but show panic on their raised faces, "No retreat, no retreat!" The Pronia knights and the Emperor's bureaucrats who were holding the line rode their horses and raised their whips to whip them, but many lightly armed soldiers and foreign mercenaries quickly abandoned their standing positions and rushed back to their own chariots. Many people ran and looked back, fearing that they were still within the range of the Persian perfume bottles behind them.

"No retreat, no retreat!" The supervisors kept shouting and waving their hands beside the boxes and wheels of the emperor's chariot, but it was of no use. Most of the more than 4,000 soldiers in the shield array jumped over the trenches in rows, and some were stuck at the entrance, so they climbed over the vehicles and earthen ramparts to climb back. The whole scene was very chaotic.

The emperor, who received the news, was also shocked and hurriedly brought the imperial camp and guards to revive the momentum.

Under the sky where stone bullets kept flying, the large antlers arranged at the attack outlet of Gao Wen's chariot were moved away, and the red-handed cavalrymen were slightly hunched over and squatting on the saddle, carrying sharp and proud thorn spears. The horses' heads and chests were covered with fine armor plates, and the corners of the battle flags hit the soldiers' armor, making a fluttering sound - along the open attack outlet, on the opposite side of the flat plain, most of the soldiers behind the emperor's shield wall had already fled like a receding tide.

The emperor's soldiers who were still in place were also hesitating. Some of them were trembling and holding their spears, while others were barely pulling the bowstrings behind their shields.

"Bang, bang, bang", the fire on the tower of Gawain's chariot began to move one after another, and the perfume bottle began to shoot rapidly, and black lead bullets hit the depths behind the emperor's shield wall like lightning and raindrops.

The emperor who rushed to the scene saw only people crawling and climbing in front of him. In the open space further ahead, his soldiers who were still loyal to their duties in the battle line were being slaughtered: people were constantly hit by the lead bullets shot from the perfume bottle, and their clothes and weapons were torn apart like the claws of the devil, and their bodies were pierced. Some fell straight to the ground, some were knocked away in an instant, and some stood there, looking at the death of their comrades and the clouds of dust thrown by the lead bullets and were at a loss.

On the tower of his own camp, Gawain also stood there, watching the battlefield silently from the side.

A large cloud of gunpowder was sprayed out, and the sound was deafening. The flamethrowers behind the chariots fired a volley to show their strength, and then the Red Hand Cavalry shouted in unison. After the dense artillery fire and arrows, they quickly rushed out of the chariots and formed a continuous team. On both sides, there were border residents and Oghuz volunteers holding bows and spears to cover them. Half a minute later, the emperor's shield wall, which was almost unguarded, was completely washed away like a flood: countless horses trampled on corpses, and many cavalrymen even rushed to the trench of the emperor's chariots in one go, throwing and stabbing with lances, and then drawing swords and hammers to chop and smash, killing the lagging emperor's soldiers in the trenches.

The Immortal Army and the Orphan Army archers of the Emperor also climbed onto the vehicles. They had to bravely calm down this depressing situation. At the same time, hundreds of fire throwers of Gawain's side also rushed to the rear of the Red Hand Cavalry and half-knelt down. The two sides began to shoot fiercely with long trenches between them. For a while, sparks and smoke were reveled and filled everywhere. After shooting for an hour, when Gawain's infantry and cavalry retreated, hundreds of well-made shields of the Emperor's side were also dragged away as trophies.

In the next two days, Gawain took the initiative to send out forty covered wagons and five hundred elite fire throwers, and arranged a protruding "temporary camp" along the front of his own wagon fortress. He also built a wooden tower on the vehicle, hoisted the perfume bottle cannon on it, controlled the surrounding battlefield from a high position, and hid the elite cavalry in it, waiting for an opportunity to attack - as a result, the soldiers of the Emperor's side no longer dared to leave the fortress, nor did they dare to dig trenches and set up camps, and the project was delayed.

As a result, the two armies entered a long stalemate, neither of them doing anything.

The emperor was countered, while Gawain was not confident enough to fight a decisive battle because of insufficient military strength.

Time slowly entered mid-April, the weather became warmer, but fortunately it did not rain, and the camp was still comfortable. The emperor and Gawain almost unanimously set up a camp market in the safe area of ​​the camp, and also introduced prostitutes from their respective territories: Gawain came from the baths of Seleucia, and the emperor summoned dancers from Attalia and Smyrna.

In the long camp battle, the soldiers not only had to endure the heavy and boring work of digging trenches and sentries, but also had to endure the torture of lust after filling their stomachs. They must be given space and opportunities to relax in turn.

After wasting a lot of time in this way, at the end of April, the emperor received a report on the battle situation: part of the infantry and cavalry of Gawain's third brigade (the defenders) who were besieging Anglasburg suddenly appeared on Gawain's "old road" to Philomelon. According to the scouts' report, this team carried baggage carts and a lot of luggage, and seemed to be trying to advance to the side of our camp to assemble.

"This means that Gawain's reserve troops have arrived at the foot of Angras Castle, taking over the traitor Branas and continuing to besiege Angras, while Branas and his brigade are going to withdraw and threaten my flank? Damn... I should have given Diogenes more jurisdiction and troops." After receiving such information, the emperor felt a little regretful. Then he pondered in front of the sand table for a while, "After all... I have to acknowledge the combat effectiveness of Gawain's brigade. Branas' brigade should have 4,000 people. If they succeed, it will be like stabbing a sharp dagger in my ribs. So I must send out another camp of 6,000 to 8,000 people to resist this additional enemy brigade."

After repeated consideration, the emperor decided to let General Matthew allocate 8,000 soldiers to set up an additional camp outside his own flank to prepare to stop Branas' attack.

Meanwhile, news of the battles in Paphlagonia and Sinope kept coming in: the two generals, Harold and Marinus, each commanded an army, but the coordination between them was not very good, and neither could command the other. Now one was trapped in the port of Sinope, and the other was imprisoned in the newly built fortress of Kastamonu. The entire surrounding countryside and roads were under the rule of Theodorus, who was said to have really put on the lion's crown given by Gawain, and resurrected the former "usurper Leo" (he found a cave monk to impersonate him, Anyway, everyone was familiar with the route) as their banner, and they distributed "farmers' land" in the newly occupied villages and military towns. The team expanded rapidly. Not only did Theodore's original farmers and soldiers seize a large amount of land, but many ordinary farmers who were eager for property also joined his team like a torrential rain. "In almost one day, Trebizond's army doubled in size. They forged weapons in Amisus and Puverar. Farmers and shepherds walked into the barracks for training and were willing to fight for the rebels." (To be continued ~^~)