In order to alleviate the difficulty of supply, and to avoid confusion caused by the overly large marching columns, Emperor Alexei divided the army into a dozen columns. Every other hour, a column headed east. Each column was accompanied by a convoy of baggage, loaded with enough supplies and other military supplies for dozens of days of combat. Most of the siege equipment was carried by the baggage convoys of several left flank columns commanded by Crown Prince John.

Each column was a mix of archers, swordsmen, shields, and infantry in front of the road, followed by a convoy of baggage, flanked by a small number of archers and heavy cavalry, and a detachment of heavy cavalry in the rear of the entire column to deal with the Turkic cavalry that could suddenly appear at any time. And the heavy cavalry column of the Praetorian Guard, led by the emperor, was in the rear of all the marching columns. What surprised Zhao Xingde the most was that there were still a large number of hawkers who followed the column in horse-drawn carriages, but the Lumei army was accustomed to it, not only did not expel them, but allowed these vendors to do small business. At night, the vendors set up their own tents outside the army barracks, and sometimes they could hear the noise of people.

This time, the Lumei army was menacing, and the Sultanate of Rûm adopted the strategy of clearing the wilderness, sweeping away all the food and fodder on the possible march route of the Lumei army in advance, and poisoning the well water. The Lumei army could only march along the coast, not only could they get food supplies from the sea, but also had many fortresses belonging to Lumei as their support along the way. Abandoned farmland and cultivated fields were constantly seen along the way, and the route of the march was only a slight departure from the coast into rugged mountains and plateaus. The fortresses of the Sultanate of Rûm, which had been planned to be attacked, were almost all abandoned voluntarily, all the surrounding villages were burned, and wells were poisoned.

Zhao Xingde's Chengying battalion had been following the emperor's Praetorian Guards, who were divided into several detachments, each speaking a different language. Sometimes Zhao Xingde was very skeptical that the officers of Lu Mei had spent far more energy coordinating the troops of so many races than they had to consider the enemy's situation.

In addition to weapons, all soldiers, including mercenaries, carried axes, shovels, stakes, etc., and whenever they reached the position of the camp selected by the advance detachment, a part of the army was responsible for guarding, while the rest of the army unloaded the tools and materials used for camping from the baggage convoy, and quickly dug trenches and erected fences. Towers and beacons were built in each camp, and in the event of an attack by the Turks, news could be quickly spread to other camps. The battalions of more than 10 detachment columns were connected in a row, separated by several miles from each other, which could not only provide timely reinforcements, but also prevent partial rout and shake the whole army.

Looking at the soldiers who were digging trenches and building walls like ants, Sima Junfang sighed: "Although the Lumei march is rigid, this habit of fighting in a hard village is indeed not easy to make mistakes. ”

Kim Chang-tae snorted: "That also depends on the situation, the Sultan of Roma has no fixed place to live, and with their way of fighting, sooner or later they will eat all the food and retire from the army." Zhao Xingde nodded, if the Sultanate of Rum had endured not to fight, maybe Jin Changtai would have been able to make it right. Where is the main force of the Romani Turks now? He thought to himself.

The biggest enemy of the meticulous Lumei army is the uncertainty of the enemy situation. Every day, only the front column reported that it had encountered the Turkic cavalry, and there were no large-scale battles. Although the Sultanate of Rûm claimed to be a country, it had a very nomadic habit, and did not even have a capital, and King Messud led the main cavalry to wander around the Hercynian region. If the crops planted by the original inhabitants of Hercynian were ripe, they plundered most of them without mercy, forcing them to flee their homes, and the remaining land became pastures for the Turks.

After a slow and boring march for two months, they finally came to the easternmost fortress of Lumei. However, the situation here left Emperor Alexei heartbroken. After a bloody plunder, the corpses of border guards can be seen everywhere, and the smashed fortress is empty. This is also the place where Emperor Lumei agreed to meet the Northern Legion, just in the middle of the entrance to the city gate without a gate, there is a spear, and on the tip of the spear, the head of General Andro, who was supposed to lead the Northern Legion to join the division, is hung.

Although he is no longer a rookie who has just entered the battlefield, such a tragic situation still makes Zhao Xingde feel a little shocked: "It seems that the Northern Army is finished. A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, "The movement of the main army of the Sultanate of Rum, which has been missing for two months, has finally been figured out. Duan Huaixian's face was gloomy, as if he had a premonition that something bad was going to happen. Add double posts at night. He commanded in a deep voice. Zhao Xingde nodded, it happened to be Ming Hongdu on duty tonight.

This night was very quiet, Zhao Xingde did not take off his golden armor all night, leaning against the low wall of the camp, except for the wind howling outside, he only heard the loud quarrel of the generals of Lumei in the emperor's camp. About ten days to the east of the fort, there is a large lake that is said to have wintered the herds of the Sultanate of Rûm. Further east, however, one must leave the coast, an area where the Ashimei army had not entered for decades. The Emperor and the generals debated whether to return home or continue eastward in search of the main forces of the Sultanate of Rûm. The annihilation of the entire army of the Northern Army dealt a big blow to the heart of the Lumei army.

Early the next morning, the Turkic cavalry appeared outside almost all the camps.

Zhao Xingde first saw the lit beacon smoke of the camp in front of the column, indicating that it was attacked by the enemy, and then, dozens of messengers in the emperor's camp galloped out, and learned about the enemy situation in front, these messengers had just left the camp, behind the hills in the south, Zhao Xingde vaguely saw a small black dot, that was more and more Turkic cavalry, was rapidly approaching the camp.

"Get on the horse!" "Prepare for battle!" "Line up!" The commands of the Praetorian Guard officers resounded in the camp of Emperor Lumei, and they were immediately translated into various languages, and the mercenaries of different races put on full armor and gathered in a crowded manner under the leadership of the officers. Most of the archers stayed in the camp to guard their baggage. Another group of archers and heavy infantry armed with heavy axes and shields lined up outside the barracks. The Janissaries heavy cavalry mounted their horses and stuck their spears in the earth, and as soon as the enemy got too close to the camp, they would rush into the middle of the Turkic cavalry with a wedge formation, and deal with these cavalry archers with spears and swords.

However, the Turkic cavalry only galloped along the camp of the Lumei army, bent their bows and shot arrows, and even the speed of their horses did not decrease. The sound of the sound of the sound sounded from time to time, the flying arrows in the sky broke through the air, and the Lumei soldiers who were constantly shot in the head, face, hands and feet and other armor could not protect the armor shouted loudly, which made Zhao Xingde return to the time when the Hejian army was besieged by the Liao cavalry. The Turks were very cunning, and they kept a certain distance from each other, so that as many people as possible could have the opportunity to fire arrows, but also did not form a group worthy of the heavy cavalry of Lumei. Whenever the heavy cavalry charged, they immediately retreated, constantly turning their backs and bending their bows and arrows. Although the cavalry bow was not very powerful, it wounded many horses, forcing the horse-loving heavy cavalry to return to the camp and stay within range of the infantry archers.

The grueling battle lasted for nearly two hours. The sergeants of the Chengying battalion used their cavalry bows in range and accuracy surpassed those of the enemy, and the Chengying battalion did not launch a single assault except for firing arrows at the Turkic cavalry while sitting on horseback. This is a war between the Lumei and the Turks, and the Chengying Battalion is not going to fight to the death. Just now, a group of Lumei heavy cavalry chased out a little farther, but instead they were besieged by the Turkic cavalry, and only a few horses escaped back. The Turkic cavalry could not take advantage, so they simply avoided their defensive section and only provoked from afar. And General Lu Mei also moved the archers who were supposed to cover them in other directions.

As the battle continued, Jian Cheng and many other sergeants began to curse at the kraft-like Turkic cavalry. "Don't be impatient," Zhao Xingde stroked Da Wanma's neck and said in a deep voice, "The Turks are so reluctant to gallop in conflict, it will be easy to see later." ”

At this moment, the ground began to tremble slightly, and behind the hill where the Turkic cavalry had appeared just now, a line of black spots appeared again, but this time it was the Antioch cavalry. The Antioch cavalry were all fully armoured, and could only charge into battle without riding and shooting, if the elite was not as good as the Lumei heavy cavalry, but at this moment suddenly appeared behind the Turkic cavalry, cutting off its way back, just to attack the enemy's shortness with its strengths.

"Attack!" "Charge!" Without waiting for Emperor Lumei to order, the officers of the Lumei heavy cavalry pulled out their spears inserted in the soil, and battalions of heavy cavalry galloped out through the barracks. Sandwiched between the Lumei heavy cavalry and the Antioch cavalry, the Turkic cavalry was immediately terrified, turned their horses' heads in confusion, and fled desperately into the distance.