But Gawain didn't seem ready to give the young king too much time to judge. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

On the slope between the Sanukh Heights and the Apostolic Cathedral, the elite spearmen of the Red Hand Brigade sang loud and powerful military songs, carried columns of towering spear blades, each wing was guarded by shooting soldiers armed with firearms, and the attached cavalry was divided into several groups at the front to serve as armed reconnaissance, and the sound of military boots, trumpets and dense shining armor obscured the vision of the builder David.

There is a provocation of "you are not here to fight" on Chakmak Mountain.

Under the drumming eagle banner, the builder David clenched the reins tightly, his palms were covered with sweat, and many generals around him suggested, "The enemy's army out of the camp is only three or four thousand, and here Your Majesty you can send twelve thousand troops, so rush down with one blow and defeat Gawain and seize the heights of Sanukh, so that the rest of his besieging troops will automatically disperse." ”

"What nonsense, behind that stream there is also a preset of Gawain's elite brigade (that is, the Geemagis brigade), I will not throw myself into the net, never!" Amid the neighing and tumbling of his horses, King David was cautious to the point of madness, and frankly said that he did not dare to directly attack the Red Hand Brigade under Gawain now on the high ground, perhaps fearing that there would be ambushes on the flanks, or perhaps thinking of some good backup strategy.

At this time, Gawain, dressed in brand-new holy armor and riding on a black mare, trotted past many advancing companies, surrounded by deafening military musicians and flag-wagons, and raised his right arm to greet the soldiers, "Take that church, my children, and if the young chief, whose beard is not thick, rushes down, you will burn his beard with your firearms." ”

In the end, the builder David took a cautious approach: all the Georgian soldiers in the barricades around the church of the Holy Apostles fled, the Red Hand banner was soon hung on the top of the conical tower, and the reinforcements promised to be sent to Calsburg had to be abandoned because the road was cut off.

Immediately afterward, Gawain left only a detachment of spearmen, and four hundred archers to set up camp around the Chapel of the Holy Apostles, which had just been captured, and they dug trenches and pushed out the caravan, and after erecting the breastwork, they raised the spear blade and poofed and stabbed a few times to create a firing port. The rest of the detachment and cavalry followed Gawain and returned to the heights of Sanukh with their trumpets, as if they were deliberately mocking the cowardice of David, the builder.

After nightfall, the Georgian soldiers in Cars City and Chakmak Hill launched an attack on the newly completed Church of the Holy Apostles, but they were all repulsed by the stern and waiting for the remaining troops.

Gradually, the pressure on the builder David suddenly increased, and the red hand flag hanging on the spire of the church below sparked his self-esteem prominently, and all the noble generals under his command were clamoring to fight bravely, and they could not continue to shrink back.

The young king calmed everyone: "There are two reasons why I don't fight, one is to wait for the newly recruited mercenaries brought by my mentor, and when I arrive, I will soon have an advantage over Gawain; The other one is that I'm waiting for my uncle, Theodoro. Gabrias's army, now he should also recover and understand that this is the decisive battle for the survival of Kars. When everyone's doubts finally subsided, David changed the direction of reinforcements—promising to send a thousand soldiers to the city from the direction of the town of Chiat.

The next day, a thousand selected Georgian royal soldiers, waving banners, crossed the upper reaches of the Kars River in their own positions, and then crossed the wall of the town of Chiat, and ran in two columns to reinforce the Karles.

Their goal was supposed to be to get to the outpost where "Vasak" (Theognes) was stationed.

As a result, Vasak and Mushg saw in the outpost: Haddadi. The Sylvan coalition had lined up a well-groomed barricade on the parallel course on the left side of the road through which the reinforcements had to pass, and set up many long firebolts and several perfume bottles behind them, and fired fiercely from the side.

The battle-hardened Vasak had to admit in his heart that it was the first time he had seen such a miserable "reinforcement route", and in a short period of time it was stained by gunsmoke and pools of blood, some soldiers were blown over and scattered by artillery, and some were shot and killed.

Eventually, the reinforcements were partially exhausted and turned and fled back to Chiart, where less than 300 men managed to storm the gates of the outpost, most of them wounded......

"It's better not to send reinforcements, it's simply a damage to our morale in the city." Mushg then looked at the miserable situation of wounded soldiers everywhere in the outpost, and couldn't help but complain.

"Give them a simple bandage first, and then I will guide them into the main fort." Vasak, on the other hand, volunteered.

"No, I'll send it." Mushg seemed to suddenly remember something, and hesitated to ask Vasak.

Quite simply, he had been placed next to Vasak to monitor the brave but unknown mercenary on behalf of Mahadzeri.

Vasak didn't say anything, "Well, I'll stay here after dark to protect this outpost." ”

But Mushg became uneasy again, and seemed to feel that it was extremely dangerous to keep him in the fort, and what if he had just left, he would sacrifice the fortress to the enemy. Then the enemy will be able to use this place to set up siege engines. In the end, he strongly begged that the main fort should send someone to meet the group of reinforcements, and neither of us should leave.

And Vasak did not refuse, but only reminded that "after nightfall, so many enemies on the southern slope are likely to attack us at night, hoping that the Lord will bless us and get timely assistance from the main fort." ”

Hearing this, the faces of many of the guards in the sentry fort showed horror and sadness, after all, there were only more than 100 garrisons here, plus the 300 Georgian soldiers who came to help stay here temporarily, it was just over 400 people. The Defender Brigade and the Bellerophon Brigade occupying the southern slope will definitely attack them, even if they cannot capture the strong and tall main fortress of the city.

The night was still dark, and many of the defenders stayed behind the inner wall that connected the outpost to the outer wall, looking nervously at the ruins of buildings on the wide southern slope, where enemy soldiers should have been hidden everywhere, as if there were reflections of sharp weapons everywhere, like scales.

In the flat tower at the top of the outpost, torches were lit everywhere to give himself courage, and Mushg was also terrified to hold on to the battlement, in the same direction as the soldiers above and below, "If the enemy really attacks, how long can we hold out?" ”

Vasak next to him looked at him meaningfully, and then solemnly raised the mulberry bow in his hand, and said in a deep tone, "Anyway, I will shoot all the arrows in my arrow." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, several terrifying and terrible voices burst into the air: huge "Khitan flowers" (the Western and Saracen names for fireworks at the time) fluttering with silver, red, and orange steamers, and their tails dragging long green smoke, rising on the ridge between the main fort and their outposts, illuminating the surroundings with snow.