Chapter 8: Watching from the Wall
"Oh! Oh! Hold the sword for Allah, kill the enemy and kill the benevolent! "Following the Sultan's order, a group of Roma soldiers quickly approached the pilgrims' camp, raised their bows and arrows in their hands, and kept throwing them into the air, countless arrows rising, and then with the parabolas in all directions, they continued to fall into the camp.
The rapidly falling clusters of arrows, with a sharp whistling, were enough to pierce any body that was not covered by armor, and the pilgrims' mouths and weak chests grew up in terror, and soon drank these murderous weapons made of pure iron and bone, and the dead were all over the place, and the arrows were all over the trenches and flat ground, and more arrows were still falling, and the living could only pull the bodies of the dead and carry them on their bodies to protect themselves. Walter in armor. Sanzavar, wielding his sword and commanding the only brave men, holding his only shield and shield cart, fended off the fierce onslaught of the Roma army everywhere, "The Lord bless us in a decisive battle, and we will maintain supreme courage and wisdom in the battle against the infidels." Look over there! Before the camp gate, the pilgrims climbed on the earthen ramparts and fences, and strangled with the Roma soldiers who were swarming and attacking, and the old knight kept swinging his sword and slashing, and at the same time pointed to the red hand cross sword banner on the other side of the battlefield in the high ditch of Exero, and pointed to the white and gold-edged banner of Bohemond on the high ground at the northern end, "Behold, on one side is the army of the priesthood, and on the other side is the army of the Duke of Apulia, as long as we can hold on, in less time thousands of knights will come here to our rescue." β
"Pagan dog!" A Roma soldier who had crossed in jumped down, shouted with his scimitar, and slashed at Walter, who was on his knees with the blade of his sword, and then jerked up. The scimitar that was bounced back cut the cheek of the Roma soldier. He screamed and covered his face and stepped back, leaning against the wooden fence - Walter held his sword in both hands. He stabbed him in the chest, "Ahhh Walter felt that the wound on his arm that he had suffered earlier in Hungary had been torn apart by the exertion, but he only shouted it in a low voice, and for fear of affecting the morale of those around him, he raised his sword with one hand again to encourage the pilgrims to continue to resist, "Hold on." This place has been breached, and the Turks will not spare anyone's life, take up arms and fight! β
In about half an hour of fierce fighting, the Roma soldiers stormed the camp gate three times, and were forced back three times by the pilgrims who burst into a desperate situation, and the trenches and wooden fences were full of corpses, and the shields in the hands of the pilgrims were stained with blood, and the weak and lightly wounded ran out to clean up the corpses while the opponent was not shooting.
"Trapped Beast Fight" Gilligi. Arslan hated to bend the whip. Unexpectedly, there was still the courage to defend this camp, and he originally thought that this camp of 30,000 people should completely collapse at the beginning of the general attack. Collapsed in front of him, the "Lion's Sword", but it seems that there should be a qualified commander within the enemy, who is stubbornly resisting.
"What about the Normans?"
"An envoy has been sent. It is estimated that it will be able to hold on for the time being. Maimon replied.
"It won't be stable for long." After Gilligi finished speaking, he looked gloomily at the Norman camp. He looked at Axero with the red hand flag fluttering again, "Mentor." Do you blame me for being involved in this war? β
Maimon stopped talking.
"You said before that only civilization that enters the city can last as long as an unquenchable torch, so I reneged on my covenant with the Greek emperor and seized the city of Nicaea, but now that the emperor is in collusion with the pilgrims, it is imperative for the city of Nicaea, and I must take up the sword and fight, there is no way back. So I hope the teacher doesn't think I'm reckless. Gilligi pointed his whip at the pilgrim camp that remained after the fierce battle, "If I can take this place, I will turn the whole situation around, and I will not fear the Normans or the Greeks from here; If not"
"The enemy will rush here through the strait." Mai Meng shook his gray beard.
"Then the city of Nicaea will be difficult to hold, and it will be directly under the front of the army, but without the city of Nicaea, it is still worthy of being called the country of Roma. So - do you want to try again? "Gilligi. Arslan asked with a smile, and in front of him, all the Roma soldiers had regained their feet and gathered in formation behind their respective standard-bearers, ready to launch a second assault on the camp.
The Sultan's Mentor Maimun also made up his mind: "Race against time and luck, Sultan, for a strong ruler is necessary, and Allah will understand your faith and defend your heart." β
"Push the tanker up!" The Sultan then issued an order.
In Exero, on a high place, the soldiers could easily see that the black jars with sparks were constantly thrown into the Forche camp, bursting into flames, the whole camp was trembling and burning, countless arrows were fired into it, and the Christians in the smoke were helpless, and their cries for help were muffled by the dense trumpets and castanets of the Roma soldiers.
"What to do" Birel, the leader of the team, kept rubbing his neck, anxious. And on the tower, Bramson held his two-handed sword, looking at the battlefield, and was silent.
Merlot furrowed his eyebrows and paced back and forth, not knowing what to do, he was waiting for Gawain's return before deciding: if he attacked at this moment, there would be a deep ditch in front of him, which would not only block the Roma, but also his own way of attack, not to mention the 3,000 Hajib soldiers stationed in front of him. The high slope on the right side of Axero was not naturally blocked, but the enemy's flag officer, Pak Ade, with eight hundred Armenian mercenaries, set up a wooden fence under it to block it.
In other words, he had less than 400 troops at hand, and he had more than enough to protect himself, but it was too difficult to rescue, and if only His Majesty the Emperor had made peace with the Grand Duke earlier, he would not have to rely on the Slavic ships of the Dalian Army to transport so many soldiers and weapons. Then Merlot looked at the high ground over there, Bohemond's banner did not move, and a feeling of disgust arose from his heart, "The Norman bandits are really watching from the wall, this lord has five or six thousand elite soldiers at hand!" β
Over there, under the blowing of the wind, Bohemond did not wear a chain turban, his red hair swayed back and forth, and stood comfortably under the banner, "Treved, you see, if Gawain's Dalian does not move, we will not move, so that the Pope will not blame me alone for the guilt of watching the pilgrims perish; If Gawain moves, we will kill it in one go, and it is true that we will defeat the Sultan of Konya, and it is true to occupy the advantageous position of besieging the city of Nicaea first. β
"Merit is a bargaining chip for the lords to divide the territory and divide the territory." Seeing his nephew's puzzled face, Bohemond added an explanation.
"But aren't we here to restore the Holy Sepulchre?"
The Duke of Apulia, who was pulling his bridle head, laughed out loud, probably thinking that his nephew was simply ridiculously naΓ―ve. (To be continued.) )