As a nomadic people, the Arabs left the deepest impression on people because of their rain of arrows like locusts, and I don't know how many Byzantine troops collapsed and fled under the rain of bows and arrows, especially the battle of Muyak a few decades ago, and then the rain of arrows from the sandstorm became a nightmare for the Byzantine army. (◥◣ to see the most ◢◤ new chapter, please go on ^^ to see お閣wWw.kаΝSΗug.СoM)

In order to overcome this nightmare, Constantine IV also spent a lot of effort.

This time, there was a large number of Cretans who came from the army.

In the Greek civilization and the Roman civilization, the heavy infantry and the lack of attention to bows and arrows are almost the same as the famous, but in the world where the heavy infantry is rampant, there is still an outlier, the Cretans!

No one knows how an island dwelling people could be so fascinated by archery, anyway, Cretan archers were quite famous in the ancient Roman world, once followed Alexander the Great in the conquest of Persia, after the empire conquered Greece, tens of thousands of Cretan archers joined the Roman army as auxiliary legions, and in Caesar's war against Gaul's Vicintoli, they forced the Gauls to take out the best archers of the tribe to compete with them.

During the period of siege in Constantinople, Constantine IV sold even a few pieces of the dome of the Grand Palace, and it was almost through gritted teeth that he recruited thousands of archers from Crete.

In addition to the Cretan archers behind the Macedonian heavy infantry, influenced by the experience of the Min State in suppressing the Arab arrow rain with crossbow arrays, Constantine IV racked his brains to improve a bow, the Latin bow.

In fact, it is to add the original bow to a wooden groove of the archery, so that the arrow can be shortened from the original more than half a meter long to less than ten centimeters, this kind of arrow is extremely fast, the range is long, because it becomes shorter and affected by the wind is also much smaller, the rate of fire is still on the crossbow, the arrow has become smaller, and it can increase more carrying, the only drawback, if you don't shoot well, it is likely to shoot through your wrist.

However, in order to compete with the Arabs, the abolition of dozens of archers was no longer on the radar of Constantine IV.

A thousand skilled Cretan archers stepped forward with this Latin bow, and the crossbow arrows shot out were immediately like God sending down a punishment of holy light, and the fleeting arrow light did not even let the surging Arabs see clearly, hundreds of Arabs in the front row had fallen off their horses screaming, and the camels went, some of the camels were hit by more than ten arrows, and the body of the arrow could not be seen, it was completely a blood hole, and the neat charging formation was immediately missing.

Still, as if turning a blind eye to their Roman tribal counterparts, the remaining Arab cavalry continued to scream and charge forward.

Once again, the Cretan archers raised their Latin bows.

Three rounds of arrow rain took the lives of nearly 500 Arab warriors, but it still did not stop the enthusiasm of the Arab reunion.

But soon, the stunned Madzychos cried bitterly.

Because of the assumption of long-distance combat with the Arabs, the precious Cretan archers were at the forefront, and the Macedonian hoplites behind them also kept the shield tied to their left wrist above their heads to prevent the rain of arrows, but the Arabs rushed directly, and even without swords, the rampaging camels said that the fragile archers trampled to death.

Seeing the emperor's "roof" in a mess of casualties, Mezchos could even think of the ugly face of Constantine IV after returning, and the embarrassed and angry Byzantine general was ruthless, simply ignoring the Cretan archers who had suffered heavy casualties, and roared and ordered his subordinates to blow the trumpet of attack.

One by one, the centurions shouted desperately behind their phalanx, and the Macedonian hoplites, who had just kept their shields covering their heads, immediately stood up, grabbed their spears with both hands, and rushed forward with steady steps.

After so many years of fighting with the Persians and Arabs, most of the mobilization of the Byzantine Empire was the power of the eastern provinces, and the Macedonian spearmen were its last elite soldiers in the Balkan Peninsula.

In a short time, the sound of puff and puff became the main theme of the battlefield, and the Arab knights who rushed into the archer army were picked off their horses in pieces, and even the sturdy camels fell to the ground screaming with blood gushing with two or three shots.

Even Faisal's mount, the camel, was stabbed in the neck and spewed with hot blood, and if it hadn't been for the opportunity to throw off the stirrups and roll out on the back of the slanted camel, the most courageous tribal chief of the Arab Empire might have been crippled.

Seeing that his subordinates had fallen from their horses and roared angrily, Faisal dismounted with a loud shout, and in his roar, one after another the Bedouin warriors rolled off their camels, rode their horses, and then jerked their mounts' buttocks, driving them into the Roman army.

In the early days of the Arab Empire, people had the impression of excellent light cavalry, but in reality, Islam relied on infantry who were not afraid of death, and camels were only a tool for maneuvering.

The sudden arrival of war horses and camels made even the well-trained Macedonian heavy infantry phalanx break a few holes, and the Arab warriors, who wore cloth clothes and had no protection, but were several times lighter than the Byzantine heavy infantry, entered along this gap.

The religious fanaticism made the Arabs fearless of death, even if they were stabbed in a hole by a gun, they had to rush to the front and slash people frantically, and some blood relatives and tribes cooperated with each other, bypassing the fierce spears of the Macedonians, grabbing the heads under the helmets of the heavy infantry, and the sharp Damascus scimitar swept through, and the blood fountain sprayed immediately flowed endlessly, and before the Arab warrior who had just cut his throat turned around, the Macedonian spear behind him had been stabbed fiercely, and it was immediately pierced into a cold heart.

Around like this, the Arabs behind are still like zombies who are not afraid of life and death, surging over viciously.

The spear array that was originally used to deal with the Arab cavalry was beaten into this bear shape again, and Mezchos was really annoyed, and looked at the "caliph" Hou Jie, who was still watching the battle steadily in the middle of the mountain, gritted his teeth, and this military general from Ancatolia simply roared and jumped off his horse, leading his personal guards infantry to rush forward.

The armored Byzantine light infantry followed the commander's military order, quickly filled into the gap in the spear array, this time, one by one the spearmen no longer had any scruples, at a distance, one by one spearmen desperately stabbed forward, close range, close to the light infantry immediately took over, such impenetrable protection, finally let the crazy Arab army stop the infiltration.

With such a dense spear piercing, even the fierce general Faisal, who bravely killed his face with blood all over his face, had to retreat continuously, and the retreat of the main general led the whole army.

A large number of people were killed in a short time, and the Arabs behind began to retreat, leaving a small gap in front of the two armies.

Madzychos, who personally led the army to fight at the forefront, immediately seized the battle again, roared and ordered the whole army to advance.

With the sound of a heavy trumpet, they left the position they had just garrisoned, and the Macedonian hoplites, armed with spears and black oppression, shouted a trumpet and rushed forward.

The Arabs, who had been on the offensive, were finally forced back in front of the forest-like spear array, and the infantry who jumped off their horses fled backwards in panic, and some of them collided with the cavalry, causing a mess of congestion and chaos......