The second round of siege was launched at two o'clock in the evening. But the offensive did not go as smoothly as John had imagined.

For the first time, the heavy cavalry cavalry charge of the Phoenix Legion encountered obstacles.

It was not until the heavy cavalry had rushed into the enemy line in the darkness of night that they discovered that the Ottomans had formed a full six rows of infantry phalanx with their backs to the central square of Combrigne, and that the ability of the spears to hinder the cavalry was finally revealed. Because they did not penetrate the line, the knights quickly fell into a dilemma, including Giovanni himself, and they were also deeply encircled.

Mounted horses seem to be indestructible, but there are still many drawbacks in melee combat, and hitting a horse's leg with a blunt object can easily make a knight on horseback fall. But Giovanni has a lot of experience, and he doesn't lack a way to overcome his current disadvantage. In addition to the cavalry spear as the weapon of choice when charging, the heavy cavalry was also equipped with a knight's heavy sword on their backs. Heavy greatswords usually require both hands for soldiers to wield, but for knights, this weight is not much different from that of a mounted spear.

In hand-to-hand combat, although the impact of the heavy cavalry can no longer be reflected, but the characteristics of both offense and defense still allow them to move easily in the enemy formation, although Reper, who is in charge of the Chinese army, very much hopes to rely on the contraction and encirclement to annihilate this hated group of knights, but the oncoming light and heavy infantry tells him that he can't mess with himself at this time.

The light and heavy infantry were led by Sancho and Vasica, respectively. Javelins, spears, and crossbows were just greetings, and when the two armies were officially engaged, the elite legions were in stark contrast to the mixed side forces.

What's more, Gyerj no longer watched from the sidelines, and the agile and brave Albanian infantry quickly penetrated into the Ottoman line, gradually breaking the original positional battle pattern and becoming the most primitive one-on-one battle.

This was the situation that the soldiers of the Phoenix Legion were most happy to see, and after the harassment of the Albanian infantry, the encirclement of the heavy cavalry gradually loosened, and Giovanni was able to withdraw from the front line with the essence of the heavy cavalry wing. Heavy cavalry has always had the greatest physical strength, and their extremely heavy weapons and armor doomed them to be unsuitable for long-term combat, and their first job was often to tear the line, divert the enemy's rear, and launch surprise attacks on strategic targets such as archers.

After fighting with the infantry for so long, all the knights, including Giovanni, seemed sleepy, which also made Giovanni unwilling.

"General Giovanni, it's rare to see you embarrassed."

"A little surprise. Perhaps we underestimate the determination of the Ottomans to hold on to Gombrigne, although that doesn't change anything. Giovanni didn't care, but his eyes were filled with anger.

"Restrained, tell the soldiers, don't hurt civilians. Gombrigne will remain the economic and political center of Epirus in the future. This fragile land is in ruins, and controlling Epirus is only the first step in making him prosperous. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Although the resistance is still strong, the intensity is constantly weakening after all.

By the dawn of dawn, the battle outside the central square of Combrigne had come to an end, and the remnants of the Ottoman soldiers and warlords had retreated into every alley, making their last sporadic resistance.

"Search for the remnants of the enemy in a group of fifty people, with heavy infantry in front and light infantry in the rear, give priority to retreat in case of ambush and quickly eliminate them! Victory, already in our hands. Gyerj commanded his soldiers with composure, and in his eyes, such clumsy methods could not cause any obstacles.

"Be sure to catch Ripper Ducasse-Komnen. To live. He must have known the Ottomans better than we do. ”

Street fighting is not a subject that the Phoenix Legion is good at, but for the Albanian soldiers, it is their ability to eat. Gerdi, with his amazing command skills, has repeatedly annihilated the Ottomans besieging Albania through small-scale ambushes in the city.

"Don't chase and kill! Keep in formation, move forward at a constant speed, pay attention to the roof, doors and windows, and don't accidentally hurt civilians! "The captain of every squad repeats the same reminder over and over again, that Albania's strict military discipline is sometimes even stricter than that of the Phoenix Legion.

The encirclement lasted for four hours, and it was only after there was no longer any certainty of an enemy in every corner that Jerj ordered the regrouping of the ranks.

"Lord Derj, the Phoenix Legion has only played a role in the Eagle Rock Fort and other wars in Albania, but if it weren't for you and this group of warriors today, we wouldn't have been able to achieve such a big victory in Gombrinje!"

"General Giovanni, just as I would never have thought in my life that the walls of Combrigne would have weak points that could be used to launch flooding schemes, no matter how good a general in the world is, there will be things he doesn't understand, I'm just looking for an opportunity to enrich myself." Jerj waved his hand and motioned to the guards beside him, "Your Majesty, this is the person you want." It's just that there was a little accident when chasing him, and in order to prevent him from turning over and continuing to escape, my men broke his leg with a chain hammer. ”

"It's good to be able to speak. Take it with you, I'm not good at torturing prisoners. John gave Vasika a look, and the latter understood, and carried Ripper out like a Christmas goose.

……

"Brother, I didn't expect it, Epirus, who has only been working for less than half a year, will never have a voice to resist the rule of the empire again." Standing at the top of the academy tower of the former Doge's Palace in Gombrigne, Sophia and John can see the whole city of Gombrigne.

Aside from the somewhat unpleasant ruins of the walls on both sides, after the fighting subsided, the most important city of Epirus returned to its old order.

John's new policy of administration and taxation, as he had promulgated, did not have the positive reaction among the commoners, but some of the old nobles who had hidden in Combrigne were eager to try it.

"They seem to be very powerful, but in fact they are just a school of miscellaneous fish if they are not behind the Ottomans. What we need to change now is the alienation of these civilians from the Empire. In the future, the empire will reconquer more lands, which is also one of the eternal issues. Leaning on the armrest of the tower, John sighed, "Since the Fourth Crusade of the Empire, which was reduced to the slaughter of fish, the people of the old land of the Empire have not had as deep feelings for the Empire as they imagined. But the loyalty of the people is the most important thing in which we establish our rule. Our presence and work can only be meaningful if civilians are loyal to the government. ”