"Poof!"

Xu Ding raised Giorbolin's body with one hand, then drew his gun and put it away, and after drawing his sword, he cut off his head and hung it on horseback.

Only then did he throw his headless body into the crowd of Roman soldiers on the opposite side.

At this time, the cavalry who charged with him also rushed out.

Of the original 500 riders, only 300 riders remained.

"Let's go! Attack the enemy on the left flank! Without any hesitation, Xu Ding took the cavalry of less than three hundred cavalry and pursued his own infantry army formation again, killing from behind the Ninth Army.

While rushing to Xu Ding, he said: "The governor of Macedonia thinks that he will die because of me, and he who doesn't want to die!" ”

The riders behind him also shouted the same slogan.

The Ninth Army was also shocked.

Doge Chorbolin was killed in battle.

How is this possible!

He's protected by an attached legion.

However, Xu Ding picked up his head with a javelin in one hand, and rushed forward with a gun in the other.

The brigades of the Ninth Army were shocked when they saw this, and when they saw Chorbolin's head, they avoided it one after another.

Xu Ding rushed all the way and crashed all the way, occasionally swinging a shot, knocking down the Roman soldiers who were blocking the front.

Soon he led his cavalry through the Ninth Army.

The Ninth Army came to a halt, and the brigades aligned with the corps commanders and awaited new battle orders.

The commander of the legion, with a pale face and a complicated expression, rode back and forth on his horse.

Finally, after seeing Xu Ding rushing into the left flank with the cavalry and retreating to the rear of the miscellaneous army, helping the rebel army to defeat these 10,000 people, he decisively ordered: "Gather the soldiers and withdraw the troops!" ”

The governor died in battle, and there must be a person to say that the governor is not there, who will coordinate the war, this is a trouble.

Although the commander of the First Army is qualified to manage the subordinate legions, it is difficult to say whether the other armies will listen to him.

And after the death of this governor, the morale of the governor fell, do the soldiers still have the confidence to fight?

It is difficult for him to bear the trouble that Jolbolin has caused.

After comprehensive consideration, the commander of the Ninth Army Corps reluctantly ordered to gather all the armies, form a large formation, and then slowly retreat to the city of Thessaloniki.

The routs on the left flank, which had been routed by Xu Ding and the infantry regiments of the rebel army, also fled in this direction.

Xu Ding led his people to continue the pursuit, but he did not attack the retreating Ninth Army and the attached legions, only fighting these miscellaneous soldiers.

He led the cavalry in pursuit and stabbing in front, and the infantry captured prisoners in the rear.

chased out ten miles, and then stopped.

In this battle, the governor of Macedonia was killed, more than 8,000 enemy troops were killed and wounded, and 4,000 were taken prisoner.

Numerous pieces of ordnance and equipment were seized.

Looking at the battlefield full of flesh and blood, Xu Ding asked his subordinates to count the casualties as soon as possible.

This head-on attack on the enemy was a victory, but it was also won with extreme tragedy and a lot of sacrifice.

Back in Alexandria, the heads of the various arms came over to report the casualties.

The cavalry knew best.

Of the 500 people, only more than 260 remained, and 100 people were injured, and the seriously injured were not counted.

The losses of the archers were minimal, and there were nine hundred.

The sword soldiers heard the greatest loss, only five hundred remaining.

There were only six hundred spearmen left, and eight hundred shieldmen.

"More than half of the casualties! It seems that today's battle is indeed hard. Xu Ding got the specific data, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"It's very hard, if it weren't for an invincible and brave person like you who led us, it is estimated that the entire army would have dispersed." Said the goods.

This is not pure sycophancy.

It is a miracle to know that an army has not collapsed with this percentage of casualties.

You must know that their rebel army lasted only half a month, all the way from the Apennine Peninsula to Macedonia, and fought against the regular Roman army for the first time, and it was a disparity of five times the number of troops.

It was not easy to kill the commander of the enemy governor in this way, and it was a miracle.

The others also nodded, worshiping Xu Ding.

Xu Ding used this battle to prove to them that Alexander Qin could create miracles and lead them to victory, even if it was a head-on confrontation with the enemy, they could also win.

This is important.

Confidence and fighting spirit.

"Although we won the war, we did not hurt the enemy's roots, and the Ninth Legion and its subordinate legions did not receive corresponding damage.

Moreover, the city of Thessaloniki is still in their hands, and we still have a mountain in front of us that is difficult to shake, and we still need our sincere unity, and we need the soldiers to work hard to complete our great cause of freedom. Xu Ding's gaze swept towards everyone, and then asked:

"What do you think we're going to do next?"

Of course, Xu Ding has a plan in his heart, but it is just a routine meeting, and he needs to be more democratic, and at the same time, he also needs to train his generals.

"I think we should first replenish the team site and replenish fresh blood for the army.

Today we have taken 4,000 prisoners, most of whom are slaves and landless peasants, and I think we can absorb them.

They are all the ones we are fighting for. ”

"I'm afraid it's not right, they are prisoners, if they are absorbed, half of our army will be prisoners, if they make trouble, or drag us back in the next battle, it will not be worse." Meng Du stepped forward and objected.

What he said was not unreasonable, and all the people nodded frequently.

Xu Ding set his eyes on Vera Tuoli, and Vera Tuoli said: "The commander's requirements for soldiers have always been strict, in the words of the commander, it is better to have a shortage than an abundance, and the soldiers are not too expensive, we can absorb prisoners, but we don't need to absorb them all."

According to our original establishment, it is good to supplement the various ministries in place.

At the same time, the captives must do one thing, and that is to pledge their allegiance to us and surrender their sincerity.

It is impossible for all the captives to be slaves and poor peasants, and it is impossible for us to win them all, and there are also many nobles and slave owners.

It is better to let these people who have been selected to join our army deal with those nobles or slave owners who are captive, so that they have the blood of the enemy on their hands, and it will be difficult to turn back. ”

After Veratoli finished speaking, there was silence in all directions.

What a vicious plan.

Captives kill captives, or rather, grabable captives kill the rulers of the class they have previously oppressed, in order to draw a line and surrender their names.

That way, they won't be afraid of repenting or running away.

I can't help but say that Villa Tuoli is very ruthless and has a very vicious idea.

But it works.

Xu Dingdao: "Just do what you tell Villatuli to do it, and when you kill people, you will not be pulled to Kimina." ”

"Still the commander is wise!" When everyone saw Xu Ding say this, their eyes couldn't help but light up.

Deterrence, incidentally, exposes the identity of the joiner, and can also deter Kimina and force him to surrender.

After talking about the replenishment of the team, Xu Ding said: "What about the others, such as how to capture Thessaloniki?" How to destroy the Ninth Legion and its subordinate legions? How to open the passage to Thrace? ”

"Commander, we should take advantage of the victory to attack the city, attack Kimina, and lead the Ninth Army out of the city for a battle, in this battle they have no miscellaneous army, we can deal with them specifically." One of the centurions stepped forward and suggested.

Immediately, there was a humanitarian: "No! The strength of the Ninth Army is still there, we are fighting hard against it, it is difficult to say whether it will win or lose, we should recuperate, attack other cities, and recruit more soldiers and horses. ”

Soon, everyone began to discuss it sentence by sentence.

However, their suggestions were not nutritious, and Xu Ding looked at the three commanders under him again.

Meng Du said: "Commander, in my opinion, let's pull out the camp and go north, go north, enter the mountains, break through the mountains and passes between the provinces, and kill to Mercia." It would be convenient to attack either Dacia or Thrace. ”

Cargo Bi and Villatuli also said: "Commander, we think this plan is feasible, we have won the victory, we have won the Roman army, when we see the good thing, we will accept it, and take advantage of the fact that the Ninth Legion does not dare to go out of the city to fight, and quickly go north without entanglement with it."

We expand and grow as we go. ”

Xu Ding said: "Dacia is a good place, located in the Danube Plain, with good and abundant things, or can we gain a foothold there?" Will the Romans allow us to gain a foothold there?

If we can't get a foothold, then where do we continue north?

It was the land of the Goths, and it was only when we had to face the mighty Roman army that we would retaliate and encircle, and it would be permanent.

Second, in the face of hostile attacks by the Goths and others, we may not have the opportunity or time to develop at all. ”

Meng Du and the people of Vera Tuoli wanted to say that either they were going to the northeast, that was the territory of the Germans, and then they could do anything with the Germans.

With the Germans, by the way, the Celts are being wooed, and there are two allies.

Moreover, Rome was still in civil strife, and the new emperor was also fighting with the rebellious local governors in the west, so it was completely possible to fish in troubled waters.

However, this plan was denied by Xu Ding early on.

So the two didn't mention it.

"So we should look to the east, to open the road to Istanbul, to cross the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, to the border of the provinces to the east.

In this way, we can absorb a large number of troops all the way east, and we can also greatly disrupt the order of Roman rule, and by the way, destroy the economy of the eastern provinces.

In the end, we will be able to get the support of the Empire of Sabbath to deal with Rome in the north and south. Xu Dingkan said:

"What's more, we still have the naval army that has not converged, once we have the cooperation of the naval army, we can kill the upper reaches of the Black Sea, slowly try to advance, whether it is to attack Rome in the south, or to subdue the Sarmites in the north, and turn the Black Sea into an inland sea of our activities little by little, and then the entire eastern part of the Roman Empire will be ours.

The navy must be an indispensable force for us to defeat the Roman Empire, and in this world, the empire and troops without the navy are destined to lose the qualification to dominate.

So we can't go north, we have to continue to go east, we have to wait for Soros. ”

Soros again, what's so good about this guy.

It is difficult to say whether a pirate leader will really come to the Aegean Sea with a naval army.

Just as everyone was in a meeting, someone suddenly made a noise outside the door.

Someone tried to break in, but was stopped by the guards.

Xu Ding asked, "Who is outside the door?" What happened? ”

The head of the guard came in and said, "Commander, it is a person sent by Commander Mengyu from Durakium, because the commander is in a meeting, so he ......"

Meng Yu's people, Xu Ding had a bad premonition, and hurriedly said: "Let him come in!" ”

The doorman let this man in, and when he came in, he immediately bowed to Xu Ding and said: "Commander, please save our commander, the Romans have surrounded Durakium, if you don't send troops to support us, Durakium will fall, and all the brothers in the city will die in battle." ”

"Tell me more about it, why are you still in Durakium, didn't I write to tell you to retreat while fighting, relying on the cities along the road to block in depth?" Xu Ding asked a little puzzled.

The visitor replied: "Commander, soon after you left, the Roman navy attacked Durakium, and Captain Mengyu led us to repel the Roman attack.

In order to make you go further and safer, the commander of the Thousand Commanders of Monyu has been stationed in Durakium without moving, and the Romans saw that they could not land in Durakium, so they divided their troops into two parts, one landing in the north and the other landing in the province of Epirus.

The two enemy armies marched north and south and surrounded Durakium, and the Roman pursuers attacked the city twice more, but we stopped them.

We still had a chance to withdraw, but Commander Mengyu still did not give up the city, but carried your banner and firmly attracted the Roman pursuers to Durakium. ”

"Bastard, whoever made him do this, he's disobedient, a fool." Xu Ding stood up and reprimanded with hatred, but his heart was warm.

Other people's hearts are also very complicated.

In order to buy more time for the army to turn to battle, Meng Yu would rather sacrifice himself than drag the enemy, which is really singable and crying.

He only had more than 1,000 horses, how did he stop the attack of the Roman army?

Although the city of Durakium is strong and has plenty of food and grass, it is a miracle that it has been able to hold back for so long.

Everyone didn't dare to speak, Meng Yu was the retainer of Alexander's most loyal city.

Talking nonsense will offend the commander-in-chief.

Xu Ding glanced at everyone, and saw that everyone was looking at him, Xu Ding thought about it carefully, and quickly replied: "Compare with each other, Mengdu, and Vera Tuoli listen to the order, when I am not there, the three of you are jointly responsible here, and when there is a disagreement, the three of you vote to pass, and the minority obeys the majority."

In my absence, you must not engage the Roman army head-to-head, and train your men in Alexandria.

If the Ninth Army comes to attack the city, hold the city and wait for me to come back, and the good people will disperse! ”

The meeting dispersed, and everyone left, only Bibi, Mengdu, and Veratuli did not move.

Goods said: "Commander, is your decision too hasty, Meng Yu is in prison, we are all very sad about this matter, and we are deeply grateful, but what do we do to save him." ”

Meng Du also said: "Yes commander, when we arrive at Durakium, the Romans have also captured the city, and Meng Yu is afraid that there will be more than one bad luck." ”

Villatuli also wanted to speak, but Xu Ding raised his hand to stop him, only to see him say: "You are all right, as a sane commander, I should not save Meng Yu."

But Meng Yu is not only my general, he is also my brother.

Don't forget why he's behind bars, he's here for us, and that's why I'm supposed to save him.

And not only him, but if any of you are surrounded in Lakium, I will also save him. ”

At this point, the three of them were trying to persuade, but they could only swallow in their throats.

Xu Ding then said: "I will only take the cavalry, the other men and horses will stay to defend the city, train the soldiers well, and when I come back, it will be the time to break through Thessaloniki." ”

"It's the commander!" The three of them looked at each other and had no choice but to reply.

After finalizing the three of them, Xu Ding did not set off immediately, but asked people to recruit all the craftsmen and blacksmiths in the city and the army.

After a night of haste to make a few knick-knacks, he left Alexandria with the cavalry before dawn.

After leaving the city and staying until dawn, Xu Ding suddenly ordered the cavalry to stop, and then said: "It is quite hard for us to ride on horses as cavalry, and today I have prepared two good things for you that can change the world, and everyone is watching how I equip them."

After speaking, Xu Ding jumped off the horse and broke off the leather tied to the horse's belly.

Then Xu Ding took out the saddle, put it on the horse's back, and then tied it and hung the stirrup.

Then he got on the horse and sat firmly on the horse.

However, the horses may be a little unaccustomed to it, and they trot up in small steps.

Xu Ding drank a few times, controlled the war horse, and stopped training.

Only then did everyone understand what Xu Ding's two things were for.

"Do you see? I saw that I began to install my war horse, one person is not skilled, then two people and three people will help together, and after we get it done, we will go to support Durakium.

With this thing, you are real cavalry warriors, you can fight wherever you want, and you can fight as much as you want. Xu Ding urged the horse back and encouraged everyone.

The crowd was also excited, and then they put on their horses and hung stirrups.

Help each other, and soon the two more rides will be done.

"Let's go!" Xu Ding was still in front, patting the horse and leaving, and everyone quickly adapted to the new thing, urging the horse to follow.

As soon as they started running, everyone discovered the excellent benefits of this saddle and pedal, and they were overjoyed.

It's not cavalry, you never know that kind of crying.

Saddle stirrups not only strengthened the combat effectiveness of the cavalry, but also provided protection for the cavalry.

Before these two things, training alone was a terrible thing, and people often fell from their horses and fell to their deaths.

This is a very uncontrollable element.

After the Middle Ages, the Northern Xiongnu brought saddles and stirrups from the east, reforming the Western world in one fell swoop, which made the knights of the West the main force and became real cavalry.

When rushing to Durakium City, Xu Ding called out his circle of friends from time to time to check the news of Meng Yu, and saw that his circle of friends had been posting news about holding the city and dragging the enemy army and fighting for the troops, which made him feel a lot more relieved.

So as he approached the city of Durakium, he finally slowed down the cavalry.

After a high-intensity march, more than 200 horsemen were also exhausted.

At this time, when it is put into combat, it will not be able to exert much combat effectiveness at all.

After finding a place to rest, Xu Ding went out alone to reconnoiter the enemy.

Durakium is a seaport city with a sea to the west and a narrow coast to the southeast.

A road along the coast led to the province of Epirus, so there were not many Roman troops on this side.

Because it is impossible to camp troops on a large scale on this side.

To the north of Durakium is a relatively flat and open area of land that is suitable for cultivation and is a source of local grain and vegetables for Durakium.

Just right for the Roman army to camp.

All frontal attacks by the Roman army were carried out from the north.

After Xu Ding looked at the Roman camp from afar, he couldn't help but sneer, and the corners of his mouth hooked a curvature.

I don't know if it was the habit of the Romans, or if they had never been harmed by the onslaught of cavalry, or if they didn't think anyone else would dare to attack them here.

So their camp was very messy, not at all as orderly as the big Han.

Moreover, there is no fence in the camp, and there is no protection at all.

This was simply an eye-opener for Xu Ding.

This is the Roman Empire, which is known as the penless West, and this camp is as safe as a kindergarten child, which is really amazing to him.

Quietly retreating, Xu Ding has been thinking about the plan for the night attack.

He found several centurions of the cavalry department and asked, "Have you fought a night battle?" ”

Several centurions shook their heads.

"Did the Roman army usually fight at night?" Xu Ding asked again.

Several centurions used their brains, and finally shook their heads and replied: "Commander, who will fight at night, it's pitch black, you can't see anything, how to fight." ”

Sure enough, night blindness, the same in the East and the West.

The situation is even worse in the West, because Westerners do not eat offal, and night blindness is worse.

Fortunately, after Xu Dingda came out of Rome, he consciously trained the guards around him to eat offal, even if they refused very much, they forced orders to eat.

Especially after he improved the cooking method a little, the guards didn't refuse much.

And the cavalry is his foundation, but whenever he stops, he does not order the army to collect the internal organs of the animals, and let them eat them on the pretext of supplementing the cavalry.

Therefore, although the night blindness of the cavalry soldiers has not been completely eliminated, it has been somewhat improved.

"Good! Since there is no one to fight at night, we will fight tonight and let the Romans know what a ghost is. Xu Ding felt that this was too right, and when it was late at night, Xu Ding asked his men to wrap the horse's feet in cloth, tie the horse's mouth, and then quietly approached the camp of the Roman army.

During the day, Xu Ding roughly estimated that the Romans stationed in the north probably had two legions.

However, looking at the equipment is not a standing legion, this is probably a point that he can't figure out.

The pursuing Roman army was not the most elite legion, which was a bit of a surprise, and it was understandable why Meng Yu had been able to hold out for so long.

Of course, this was not the time for him to think about this, the war horse approached the Roman camp, and the Roman soldiers on patrol were very lax, and they could still be honestly on duty in the first half of the night, and when they were sleepy in the second half of the night, they immediately found a place and dozed off.

So much so that Xu Ding and the others approached the camp and did not find it.

Xu Ding urged the horse into the camp, approached the enemy tent, opened the curtain and saw that there were several naked and thick-haired men sleeping inside.

One by one, they snored.

Xu Ding glanced at his subordinates, then pointed to a few directions, and his heart mentioned that the cavalry soldiers in his throat were sweating frequently, and they were extremely nervous.

It's a weird atmosphere, and it's a bit of a weakness to come and attack the enemy, who hasn't discovered it yet.

However, everyone has been on the battlefield, and their basic literacy can be regarded as having been trained, and Xu Xuding's hand showed that they approached the brazier of the camp one by one.

Then, after Xu Ding had struck the first brazier, they also struck the other braziers at the Romans' tent.

Or they threw their torches at the tent.

Suddenly, countless flames burst out in the camp of the Romans, and the sound finally alarmed the Romans.

Countless Romans ran out of the tents, urging their horses to charge and spur their spears and spurs.

Kill the Romans who rushed out, and set fire to more tents.

The horsemen divided into several teams and went deep along the scattered Roman camp, killing and burning as they fought, and for a moment the Roman camp was in flames, screaming and screaming, and the terrified people were even greater, and the whole camp was in chaos.