Basil II and Randy talked for so long, the two sides went back and forth, but none of them mentioned the point, seeing that Randy had the upper hand little by little, Basil II didn't say much, and asked directly: "Then what do you want to give up the stupid idea of fighting against the Roman Empire?" It will be an easy task to crush your ridiculous coalition, but I am a merciful man, and I have had enough blood left among Christians lately, and I am willing to listen to your humble and pitiful requests if the conditions are right. ”

"A complete withdrawal from Hungary, the cession of all the territory of southern Italy, the redrawing of the border in Iberia with the area under the substantial control of both sides, and the compensation of 10 million gold coins to the continental European countries, and a ten-year truce between the two sides."

Randy was not polite at all, and directly said the method he had already thought of to initially weaken the Eastern Roman Empire.

"I negotiated with you sincerely, but you said such unrealistic conditions, and it seems that you are the ones who really don't want to negotiate." Basil II shook his head.

Randy chuckled, and spoke in astonishment. "That's what it is, the land that can be obtained without blood, no matter what, it can't make people feel at ease, or a real battle, a duel, and whoever gets the land is really solid." ”

Basil II laughed: "In that case, what are we wasting our time here for? Return to the camp, fifteen days later, see life and death, the victor takes everything, and the loser loses everything. ”

After saying that, Basil II turned around and rode his horse, and ran in the direction of his camp with the thousand ironclad holy cavalry, never looking back.

"It's kind of interesting."

Seeing that Basil II was more powerful than any other king he had ever seen, Randy secretly admired in his heart, and while looking left and right, everyone else also looked emotional, and what they thought in their hearts was probably not much different from his own.

"It's just a hurry! Let's go back too! ”

After that, the soldiers of the coalition army also turned around and left, and returned to the camp to prepare, before there was a noisy grassland, suddenly there was no sound, and in a solemn atmosphere, even the birds and beasts that did not open their minds were unwilling to approach.

Negotiations failed!

Very normal failure!

The princes and nobles did not believe in the so-called morality of faith, all they believed was the long sword in their hands, and the leather armor dead soldiers who swore allegiance behind them, and there were fifteen days before the time of the war.

The two sides exchanged more than 6,000 words, and Randy finally returned victorious, excused himself from exhaustion and overuse, politely declined the people's proposal to celebrate the feast, and then returned to his tent to rest.

August 15, 1103 A.D., overcast, breeze,

The 190,000 Catholic coalition and the 170,000 troops of the Eastern Roman Empire fought in an open steppe 200 kilometers from Budapest.

At this point, the final decisive battle between the Eastern and Western Churches began, and the all-out war of aggression of the Eastern Romans, which lasted for a year, was coming to an end.

Either side has a reason to win!

No matter which side you are, you have the consciousness of mortality!

During the fifteen-day truce, the soldiers of both sides were constantly motivated, and they ate all the meat, promised all the money and booty, and even the most agitated Duke Charles said: "If you are victorious, you will empty the treasury of Burgundy and reward the soldiers." ”

The morale of the armies on both sides rose to the top!

Both armies consider themselves the most powerful, the most righteous, the most glorious, the most blessed by Christ the Lord, and the most invincible.

Standing in front of the thousands of horses, looking at a pair of expectant eyes, Randy felt that he should say something, but Randy didn't know what he should say.

Invigorate?

The so-called glory, the so-called money, the so-called status, the so-called fame, these have been repeated many times in the past fifteen days, and if they are repeated again, it may be annoying, not to mention morale-boosting, and may even have the opposite effect.

Eventually, Randy spoke!

"I've fought in many wars, and I think the same way as you." Randy's voice was low, and through a large number of soldier captains, little by little, it spread into the corners of the 200,000-strong army.

"We have fought together, in many places, in Scandinavia, in the British Isles, in France, in Burgundy, in Italy, in Livonia, in Prussia, in Lithuania, in Poland, we are invincible, but today it is different, today our opponents are stronger than the enemies we have ever encountered, they have a deep background, many soldiers, they have a vast territory, they are more than all the kingdoms, they are Greeks, they have enslaved us Europeans for thousands of years, and they want to continue to enslave us for thousands of years of evil empires, I ask you soldiers, Do you want the Greeks, who are arrogant and contemptuous, who call you savages, and treat you as slaves, and as scum, as the dregs of cattle, do you want them to ride on your heads once more? The roar of the earth-shattering roar lasted for a long time.

"We don't want to!"

"Kill all the Greeks! Kill them all! ”

"Europa belongs to the Europa people, drive out all Greek dogs."

"Long live Your Majesty Randy, Messiah, Messiah of the new millennium!"

The soldiers cheered, excited by Randy's words, and every non-Roman Europa-Semitic tribe hidden in their blood, the indigenous people of the Indo-European language family, had an unforgettable jealousy and hatred for Rome, the most glorious empire in the entire history of Europe, exploded in an instant.

Thirst for blood......

Crazy thirst for blood......

I hope to be able to kill all the Greeks and Romans on the other side!

"Let's go! Soldiers, let's go and make history, that's right, history, today will definitely be remembered by history, even if it is another thousand years, ten thousand years, there will definitely be people who will remember, maybe you will not wait for that day, but when you are old, when you lie in a rocking chair, you can say this to your grandson:

"Yes, that's it, on that day I stood with His Majesty Randy, we fought a hundred thousand heretics, and we won. That's right, you can say that, let's go! Soldiers, let's go! ”

The soldiers rushed to the battlefield with a roar, and at the same time, on the other side, the speech of the Eastern Roman Emperor Basil II also spread to the 170,000 Roman army.

"We have ruled all of Europa, and we will rule again!"

"We are the descendants of the Romans, soldiers, think of the great feats that your ancestors have done, we must not disgrace them, go! Go to the battlefield! Let them see what it means to be a true civilized world. ”

The Eastern Roman legions were also demoralized and rushed to the battlefield.

The two sides began to set up formations in full swing......

Randy had already ordered: "Because the French army has elite ultra-long pikes and longbowmen, the French army is arranged on the right flank with the flattest terrain, and there is no need to attack, as long as it is held to the death, it is victory, and the middle and left flank are all handed over to the Norman army." ”

The French army followed Randy's orders to hold the position, and more than 17,000 ultra-long spear phalanx from Switzerland, as well as the Swiss ultra-long spear phalanx composed of Swiss halberders, stood proudly in front of it, although the right flank was the flattest place, but Duke Charles still slightly used a few slopes that were not steep to strengthen the defense of the ultra-long spear phalanx.

And behind the phalanx of super-pikes, the army of Philip II of France was divided into loose formations of several hundred men, under the command of a group of knights and nobles, ready to fill the formation at any time.

In the gaps in these reserves were ranged attack groups of French, Burgundian, archers, and Aquitaine-trained longbowmen, who were responsible for long-range support.

The hoplites, as well as some irregular cavalry, were on the far right flank of the army to prevent enemy cavalry from attacking the flanks of the array, while the garrison on the other flank relied on Norman soldiers, so there was no need to think about it.

This simple defensive formation looks very solid, the morale of the soldiers is high, and the Swiss mercenaries on the front line are very strong in combat, so in fact, the French need to think about not how to defend, but how to control those hot-headed noble knights, prevent them from charging without permission, disrupt the formation and give the enemy a chance!

Immediately flanked by the French were a large number of Norman heavy cavalry, royal knights, light professional hussars, and light cavalry, which helped defend the flanks of friendly formations while also engaging enemy cavalry if necessary.

To the left, there are a thousand people who are as neat as knives and axes, 100 times 10.

The backbone of Randy's army, professional Viking warriors are ready to charge and break through enemy lines, or form a steely line to stop any enemy.

In the middle of these phalanxes are the Norman infantry elite, the strongest assault fighters armed with two-handed battle axes, and Viking Death Chargers, which Randy hopes to increase the overall attack power of the infantry line.

More than 20,000 hoplites were divided into three arrays, and between the second and third arrays, the Norman longbowmen lined up one by one, carrying fifteen arrows from their own quiver, as well as two additional pots of standard arrows, which were placed on the ground next to them for later use.

There were also some soldiers in front of the Norman infantry phalanx, they were armed with crossbows, Norman crossbowmen arranged in three columns of crossbowmen, who did not have the opportunity to play in this war for various reasons, but this time the weather was right and they were able to make a contribution!

The leftmost flank of the Norman army formation, wearing composite armor and holding super-long spears, is the dwarven chamber guard, a total of 4,000 dwarven chamber guards, a compact and not too long formation, to defend the left flank of the Norman army array.

To the left, there is a large number of Norman cavalry that does not have any array, with the Death Knight captain Viscount Alpha serving as the temporary cavalry commander, who is responsible for intercepting the opposing cavalry forces and attacking the weak points of the opposing infantry array, and at the same time, Randy hopes that they can seize the commanding heights on the battlefield as soon as possible, and on the left flank, the only high ground in the entire plain.

And the reason why Randy arranged the army in this way of defending and counterattacking was because he was also a little afraid of the opponent's cavalry, although at this moment Randy had gained a lot of land in Pomerania, and Prussia and Livonia had also opened up a lot of new fields, so they were able to replenish and expand their Royal Knights to recruit more heavy cavalry and other troops.

But far water can't quench the thirst of the near, and if he wants these troops to go south to participate in this war, even if they advance by land and water, without hindrance, it will take three months at the earliest, and Randy really can't wait.

Since he can't wait for this batch of reinforcements, Randy is calculating the number of cavalry under his command, including light cavalry, heavy cavalry, and regular cavalry, which is only four thousand, and among the temporarily conscripted army, there are also some irregular horse militia, feudal knights and knights, but the total will definitely not exceed two thousand, and the number of cavalry in the French army should be between one thousand and two thousand, that is to say, the entire coalition army of 190,000 is about 190,000, which sounds very scary, but the number of cavalry is only seven or eight thousand, and the number of heavy cavalry is about 3,000.

In addition, Randy also has a cavalry unit, that is, in the recent past, the Hungarian rangers selected from various nomadic tribes in Hungary, the total number of these rangers is about five thousand, but the equipment is slightly worse, except for a small number of surplus people, there is almost no armor, and the weapons and equipment are not strong, there is no shield in melee combat, only a scimitar, and the long-range is a horn bow that is insufficient in range and power, rather than a short composite bow with a sharp weapon of the archers, but it is better than nothing!

Looking at the Greeks on the other side, although they had suffered considerable losses in the previous war with the Italians, and even in terms of overall numbers, they were still 20,000 fewer than the coalition army, but they could not stand the cavalry of others, and the ironclad holy cavalry had repeatedly encountered vicious battles, and there were still more than 3,000 people left in the 5,000 iron cavalry.

The damage of the Guards Cavalry Corps was even greater, the 10,000 Guards Heavy Cavalry suffered little loss in the previous war, but there were still more than 8,000 cavalry left, and the Eastern Roman lancers of each legion added up to four or five thousand, and the Latin cavalry of the Latin Legion was also seriously damaged, but there were also nearly 1,000 cavalry.

The pagan cavalry from Asia Minor, Crimea, and North Africa combined to have about this number, and the new Hungarian Vadarel archers were about the same in number as the Hungarian rangers under Randy's command, but they were all equipped with good equipment from the new masters, such as delicate chain mail short compound bows, cavalry round shields and more sophisticated scimitars, and the commanders' scimitars were even inlaid with gems of different sizes, and the scabbards were intricately patterned, looking more like works of art than weapons. That is to say, the cavalry of the Greeks totaled more than 20,000, and the heavy cavalry was 16,000, which was five times that of Randy.

Five times over!

What a scary number.

In this way, Randy hopes to use a defensive counterattack, relying on a solid infantry line to wear down the opponent's cavalry strength, and then counterattack further!

Of course, before this, Randy's strategy, and the last small link, is the only high ground on the far left battlefield, as mentioned earlier.

"Charge! Seize that high ground, defend there, reinforcements will arrive soon. ”

This was the order that Randy had given to his light cavalry on the left flank, and more than 3,000 professional hussars and Finnish light cavalry rushed to the unnamed heights, and at the same time, Basil II on the opposite side issued a similar order.

(End of chapter)