In the Celestial World, winter has never been a time of war. The lowest temperature is around zero, which cannot threaten the combat effectiveness of the soldiers at all. As long as you are prepared, the war will continue as normal during the winter months.

So, soon after Yang Mi led his army to 'triumphantly' return from the north of the Coast Mountains, more and more news came from the north that the Seljuk army had arrived.

Sanjar, with his minister Gelshap as his general, commanded an army of more than 20,000 Seljuks, and arrived at the port of Homus in the month of Layue.

Since Lu Qi had only been established in Port Homus for a short time and had not yet laid the foundation, he did not have time to find out the detailed information. Only a rough idea of the number of troops under Gershap, as well as the composition.

Twenty thousand is a very general number, and there are too many tribal armies mixed in. Let's just talk about the elite force inside, that is, the Seljuk Ghulam cavalry, which is famous in Europe, that is not even 2,000 people. The rest were all Seljuk infantry, or tribal armies like the Seljuk forces that Yang Mi had encountered earlier, and their combat effectiveness and military quality were very untrustworthy.

Qulam means "trained slave" in Persian and refers to a professional army. Among the major Turkic and Persian dynasties, the Ghulam army was their palm, the elite of the elite.

Ghulam was generally dominated by cavalry, with infantry accounting for only a small part, and the cavalry was dominated by hoplites. They were all slave soldiers from an early age, and were instilled with the idea of loyalty to their masters and the teachings of heaven from an early age, and they had to undergo seven years of rigorous training to become a member of the Ghulam.

In the heyday of the Seljuk Empire, the entire Ghulam army was less than 20,000 people, and it was divided into court Ghulam and ordinary Ghulam. The court Ghulam was responsible for defending the capital and the central government, while the Ghulam generally followed the local governors. The number of troops directly under the control of the Central Sultan may be less than 15,000, but even then it is a formidable force. After all, the vast majority of them are heavy cavalry! Even if the so-called heavy cavalry here is more in chain mail!

In Western Asia, it was easy for the local dynasties to find good enough war horses, but the creation of horse armor and human armor was even more wasteful.

Unlike China, what bothered the centralized dynasty was how to find enough strong horses, rather than building heavy armor.

The quality of the rest of the army under the command of Gershap was all worrying, except for the Ghulam cavalry, which numbered less than 2,000 people. Even if there were a lot of them, Yang Mi looked down on them.

In his eyes, the so-called heavy cavalry in this place was too watery.

A cavalryman wearing chain mail, or a half-body piece of armor, with a sleeveless inner armor lining the inside, can become a heavy cavalry? [Piece armor, similar to the combination of scale armor and armor]

It's just a joke, look at Lu Qi's fine horse? If he had 3,000 elite cavalry in his hands, he would not defend the port of Homos, and it would be more direct to knock out the enemy in a field battle!

In fact, Lu Qian also looks down on the heavy cavalry of the West and the Heavens, these two civilizations have been entangled for a long time, which shows that they are half a pound and eight taels in terms of armament. In history, when the Mongols marched westward, the heavy cavalry of Europe was inferior to the heavy cavalry of the Mongol charging formation, and the current Lu Qi armament was obviously stronger than the so-called heavy cavalry of the Mongols.

With similar troops, Yang Mi was sure to pinch out all the eggs of the enemy on the opposite side.

But the problem is that the disparity in the strength of the two sides is too great.

Gershap also had at least 15,000 soldiers in his hands, and even more than 20,000 was not impossible. This is almost five or six times that of Yang's unit.

Such a huge gap is no longer something that the Lu Qi Army can fill by relying on some advanced tactical ideas or weaponry. At least Yang Qi himself is not absolutely sure. Therefore, it is better to honestly defend the first place in Port Holmes.

Tens of thousands of inhabitants were driven by the army of Lu Qi to reclaim the rocks in the southern foothills of a coastal mountain range twenty or thirty miles away, with the help of medicinal powder, and in less than two months, although it was not enough time for the city wall of Homus to become a stone wall, it was enough to build small fortresses outside the city walls.

The three-storey stone fort is only thirty or fifty zhang away from the city wall, and the number of garrisons is even less than fifty people, but with a cannon and the city wall behind them, it is impregnable to talk about defense. Even, when the Seljuks couldn't attack for a long time and their morale was low, Yang Mi still wanted to fight back!

There was grain in the horizontal and vertical warehouses, and there was also water in the city, which was enough for people and livestock to drink. Yang Qi was not afraid of the Seljuk army at all.

Who told the other side to have no artillery?

Without artillery, there would be little threat to the city. There are so many artillery and tiger squat cannons in Homus Harbor to help, if you want to make a mistake, Yang Mi can wipe his neck.

Gelshap came quickly.

A group of cavalry appeared in the field directly north of Homus Harbor, and Yang Qi stood at the head of the city and looked out, and everywhere he saw was a large group of Seljuk cavalry wearing heavenly robes and turbans.

This is the striker of the Seljuks.

Although the Ghulam cavalry also preferred to wear a traditional robe over their armor to avoid reflection and heating from direct sunlight, later Crusaders also used burqas over chain mail for similar purposes (in pre-Crusader Europe, there was almost nothing outside chain mail). But the helmet is a good way to tell the difference between tribal cavalry and Ghulam cavalry.

Pointed iron caps with locks hanging down around them to protect the cheeks and back of the neck, and some helmets can also be protected by chains to protect the front of the neck, or even made into a chain mask. But among the people, helmets are far less popular in celestial societies than turbans.

Yang Mi's gaze looked at a Qi army sentry cavalry that was engaged in a struggle with the Seljuks. There were not many people, only five or six people, but they could often beat the tribal cavalry of more than ten people and fled in disarray. However, after taking advantage of the advantage, they did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, but immediately beat their horses and rushed towards the city.

"Are the natives all settled?" Yang Mi turned his head to Pei Yun, the guard of Homus Harbor who was following him, and asked.

Pei Yun has an extraordinary background, his father is the iron-faced Pei Xuan, who almost didn't become famous in Jinhu City, but there is no endless road, and the Kpchak people took the initiative to send people's heads, which made Pei Yun's military career take a turn for the better.

Pei Yun, who seized this opportunity, was successfully promoted to one level after the end of the war in the Eastern Kepchak Khanate, and then took a ride on the battle of Northern Tianzhu.

The regiment-level structure is full of 2,500 troops, which is already a large military unit of the Lu Qi Army.

On it are the garrison divisions of the provinces, the governor's offices of the five armies, and the imperial front divisions. When the army goes out to fight, it is only the number of garrison troops in such and such a province, the number of troops in the Governor's Office of the Five Armies and the Imperial Front Division, and the generals in charge of the garrison department and the deputy commander-in-chief, or the left and right deputy governors, generals, and deputy generals under the Governor's Office of the Five Armies.

Pei Yun's official position and military position can also be a soldier and horse envoy in the Central Plains, but as long as he makes meritorious service, he still doesn't dare to expect the position of the commander of the soldiers and horses of the provinces and the governor of the five armies, but what about the deputy commander of the soldiers and horses below, or the general and deputy general?

Regarding the imminent war, Pei Yun was not worried at all. With what they are now preparing, how can the Seljuks break the port of Homos?

More than 20 five-pound cannons, eight-catty cannons, more tiger squat cannons, and a lot of earth-shattering thunder, guarding the city walls of Homus Harbor, he really couldn't think of a reason to fail.

In the face of firearms, the role of manpower has been greatly weakened.

"The general is reassured. Port Holmes is under control. "The port of Homos, which had a population of 50,000 men, fled some during the war, and then a few more escaped, leaving the total population of less than 40,000. The men are about 10,000 people, and as long as they are enclosed in special places - such as the labor camps established by the Qi army after emptying many indigenous houses, with big bellies and small exits, it is effortless to control.

……

"The Chinese's artillery is very powerful, and we can't attack recklessly. Try a thing or two at night. Gershap said to his officers and nobles: "Don't worry, everyone, time is on our side!" You must know that human energy is limited......"