The storm turned evil in an instant, the wind blew the meadow like the rolling waves, and it was the Turks who came to counterattack - Gawain did not dare to linger, so he let Sabina hurry to gallop.

"The enemy is starting to assemble outside the city!" Gao Wenfu lowered his body, shouted these words, and ran along the reverse of the river, towards the city of Abydos. The military servants who heard this all around pulled their mules and horses and ran with Gawain.

When night came, the information on the opposite side was clear - Zahas's horses, about 10,000 men galloping from Prussa, were not clear enough about the exact equipment and conditions, the only thing that was clear was that they occupied the meadow, and were lined up on both sides of the valley.

"This is almost the only meadow area around the city of Abydos, and if we don't do anything, all the horses we bring from the other side of the strait will soon be half dead or even starved to death." Diognis's words just verified Gawain's reconnaissance results.

"Then strike tomorrow and seize the meadow area occupied by the enemy." George gave the order very simply.

"I'm better at archery, and I'll be the captain of the light soldiers in the army." Diognis volunteered and volunteered.

That night, all the sergeants in the camp outside the city prepared to fight the Turkic forces of Zahas for the precious meadow land where horses could graze. When Gawain and Fityas sat cross-legged in front of the camp's tent on the campfire and put their weapons in order, Farov sent him another military servant, a fellow with fiery red hair, a few years older than Fitias, dressed in a seal skin and carrying a spear with an iron ring, "This guy's name is Erickson, he is from Sweden, his grandfather followed Ingeval on his expedition to the depths of Asia, her grandmother was with the army, and gave birth to his father on the ship, and then Ingvar died of illness on the way to Syria, and the team was scattered, His entire family had been reduced to slavery by the Turks, and he had just been liberated in the city of Abydos. ”

"I will follow you in the battle in the coming day!" Erikson clutched the long weapon in his hand tightly and said to Gawain, full of pride, "From now on I will be your personal soldier." ”

"What kind of soldiers, you and Fetyas are both military servants under the Red Hand." Farov ruthlessly shattered the young man's illusions, and then the Earl Commander briefly mobilized Gawain, "There are very few regular samurai in our detachment, so the Warden has asked all the servants of the army to join the battle in the back of the line tomorrow, so as to frighten the enemy with great force. ”

After saying that, Farov nodded and left to mobilize the other soldiers, Gawain looked at Eriksen, who sat down angrily, and then looked at Fetyas, who had a somewhat overwhelmed expression on his face, and gave them the meat on his plate, "Don't think too much, eat more meat, and follow me closely tomorrow - I need your help." ”

"You're kind of like a Scullin." Grabbing his hands full of pieces of flesh, Eriksson suddenly said to Gawain, "I heard grandfather say that the farthest voyage of our Vikings was on the other side of the volcanoes and ice fields, and there was a brand new land on which lived the Scullins, and their skin was peculiar yellow. Do you look like those Viking sailors, half-blooded with the Scullins? ”

"Yes, so I'm going to make a meritorious deed, earn the gold of Constantinople, and raise a fleet to conquer the entire continent of your mouth, and be the king of the Scarlins." Gawain replied in a serious manner in the firelight, frightened the simple Erikson for a moment, and quickly said, "I am willing to be your personal guard and assist you in your great cause, no wonder your name is a bit like Ireland and Celtic." ”

Yes, Sculling, not necessarily the great wealth discovered by the Viking Age. In fact, Iceland, where Farov is located, has long been not the end of the Viking fleet, Gawain used to read geographical magazines, he knew that this group of ancient navigators, not only established settlements in Greenland, but also continued to advance, reaching the American continent, of course, they all called the local Indians "Scullins", which means "ugly ghosts". In addition, the continent inhabited by the Scullins did not have much attraction to the Vikings, and the people who lived in the extremely cold lands generally thought that life on this continent was "too difficult", so they quickly set sail and abandoned the land, and since then the "Scullin continent" has only existed in the books written by missionaries and Viking voyagers.

"Perhaps, the continent of Scarring may not be a strange wealth in my eyes. Anyway, it's better to survive the battle in the coming day, and you still have to protect these two childlike military servants. Gao Wen pondered.

The morning stars were faint, and the boundless peaks and the edge of the night sky on the other side of the river valley were constantly emitting white light. All the horses of General Pararogus were ready to set out in front of the camp in the positions indicated by the flags of their respective troops.

The sound of trumpets and trumpets constantly passed over Gawain's ears, and everywhere there were fluttering banners, and he stood in the middle in chain mail, and Erikson held a spear to his right, and this spearman had to keep his horizon open to resist the surprise attacks of the enemy's light soldiers or cavalry, while Fethias walked in the back of Gawain's left with a small round shield of basswood clad iron, a small axe hanging from his belt, and a quiver on his back.

On both sides of the river, all the Byzantine Roman armies, lined up in a small and tight formation, the main force is worthy of the veterans brought back by George from Italy for more than ten years of battle, the whole march is orderly, with a variety of musical instruments, like a classical music feast.

The warden took the imperial banner given by the emperor, and stood on the right side of the valley with the commander Theognes, and looked at the gentle slope on the left, "There is a flat slope that escapes from the side, and the altitude is very low, and I have already detected that the commander of the Turks is the emir of Smyrna, a subordinate of Zahas, whose name is Musetto, but he is better at commanding naval battles. ”

"A general, when confronted with a battlefield in which he is not good at, often subconsciously thinks of winning by surprise, because he has little confidence in a head-on confrontation - the gentle slope that you pointed to by the catcher, behind which is covered enough bushes, I think it is likely that Musetto will place the elite cavalry there and surprise the left flank when our army attacks." "So take Benevento's detachment of light troops, and this banner, and join forces with Farov's Red Guards, to strengthen our left flank, and set up a position in which the enemy's cavalry can be defeated." ”

The morning sun slowly rose, and Gawain saw that the helmet in front of him that reflected the sunlight was shaking, and the back was also dusty, "The Emperor's Imperial Flag!" With these shouts, he looked back and saw that Diognis was hurrying towards this side with the banner embroidered with the cross of Christ, and the "Benevento detachment" in iron leather armor and domed helmets.

And at this moment, the vanguard of the Romans was already engaged with the cavalry outposts of the Turks on the meadow.