"Backwater? In the event of an unfavorable battle, the army will be annihilated! God, are you going to cut off the crusades? ”

The chief of the Teutonic Order shook his head vigorously. He had fought with the Mongols and knew what a terrible army they were.

"How can it be disadvantaged?"

Chen Chongguan smiled coldly, crossed his fingers and calculated: "Including the 6 artillery companies I brought, the Crusaders have a total of 15 artillery batteries and 90 3-inch or 2-inch cannons, which I believe is enough to overwhelm the Mongols' artillery." There were 50,000 pikemen, all of whom were German mercenaries, quite elite, and the formation of spear arrays was enough to withstand the onslaught of the Mongol cavalry. There were 10,000 English longbowmen and Aztec musketeers, enough to fight the Mongol bows and arrows. And in the case of the superiority of artillery, there was no need to worry about the bows and arrows of the Mongols at all. 90 cannons capable of firing shotguns can kill all archers!

As for the hand-to-hand combat of the Mongols, 10,000 dismounted knights or dismounted heavy horses were enough to deal with, and the Mongols were no match for the knights in a single fight. ”

"Fifty thousand pikemen, ten thousand longbowmen and musketeers, ten thousand dismounted knights...... Cyris, are you going to use 60,000 men to defeat the 1 million men of the Mongol Great Khan? ”

King Louis IX of France looked at Chen Chongguan with some suspicion and admiration in his eyes.

"The Mongols didn't have a million soldiers, they couldn't be that many." Chen Chongguan said, "I estimate that Kublai Khan can mobilize an army of 300,000 at most...... The total population of the Mongols was only two or three million, and not all of them were loyal to Kublai Khan. ”

"Even 300,000 is not a lot!" Louis IX Road. "Sixty thousand men can defeat them?"

"Can't!" Chen Chongguan said, "But it should attract the Mongols to a decisive battle...... In this way, the remaining knights, heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and crossbowmen could go around the back of the Mongols and attack. ”

"If we go around to the rear of the Mongols, their cavalry will have to engage in hand-to-hand combat with us!" Louis IX was somewhat interested.

He knew that the knights were very good at hand-to-hand combat, even more than the Mamluks—he had fought the Mamluks in Egypt and knew that the two sides were almost the same in hand-to-hand combat...... Although his army was completely annihilated by the Mamluks. But that's not because they're inferior to their opponents in hand-to-hand combat, it's God's will.

But the Mongol bows and arrows were a great threat to the cavalry in chain mail. Moreover, the Mongols were also adept at using the return shot against the Europa knights, who were inferior in mobility, and the Mongols would attack without armor and use bows and arrows against knights who had little projectile weapons. Although this move does not have much technical content, it is a great headache for the Europa knights who can't ride and shoot.

"The Mongols may also divide their forces!" The chief of the Teutonic Knights frowned, "They will send a large number of light cavalry to reconnoitre, once they find our cavalry crossing the river." will immediately report their Great Khan. When the time comes, Kublai Khan will send 100,000 or more Mongol cavalry to deal with us! ”

"Aren't there ten thousand Hungarian hussars?" Chen Chongguan said, "You can use them to control the battlefield and temporarily block the view of the Mongols, it won't take too long...... A few hours were enough for the cavalry to complete the detour. Because Europa never had a strong light cavalry, it was impossible for Kublai Khan to scatter tens of thousands of light cavalry on one of his flanks to cover the battlefield. If you're still not sure, you can get some Italian crossbowmen who can ride horses to accompany the Hungarian hussars and shoot the Mongol hussars with crossbows! ”

This was apparently the only option that would allow the knights of Europa to play a huge role in the battle that was to take place - if they managed to make their way back to the rear of the Mongol army, at least to force the Mongols into hand-to-hand combat. Tens of thousands of knights and heavy cavalry. They all have very strong chain mail and shields, and their size and strength are not small, and they are all children's skills that are practiced in small battles, as well as long swords for melee combat. If they were allowed to rush into the Mongol army, it would definitely be enough for Kublai Khan to drink a pot.

Chen Chongguan looked at Louis IX, who had a melancholy face, as if he was ready to be martyred and sanctified at any time, and said in Latin: "Your Majesty, this is the only plan that can defeat the Mongols...... Even if you lose in the end. It was also a defeat after a tragic bloody battle! The victorious Mongols will also pay a heavy price, perhaps tens of thousands of Mongols will be killed. Such casualties. Enough for Kublai Khan to abandon his plans for a further invasion of Europa. Because the Mongols were too few in number to afford heavy casualties. They were defeated in the Central Plains in the past, but in fact, they took the initiative to evacuate because they could not bear the huge casualties. ”

Killing tens of thousands of Mongols at once, even if they paid twice as many knights for burial, was a strategic victory. The knights of Europa can be easily replenished than the Mongol warriors. Most of the knights who were a little older had several legitimate sons and illegitimate sons waiting to inherit the knightly domain left by Lao Tzu. The young knights had many bitter brothers and cousins who had no way out, and they were looking forward to the untimely death of one of their knightly relatives who had no heirs.

Even if the tens of thousands of knights gathered on the banks of the Vistula River were all killed. In the blink of an eye, there will be just as many knights to fill their vacancies. And it will take at least twenty years to produce a living Mongolian warrior to replace a dead Mongolian warrior!

Moreover, Europa is a place of melee for thousands of years, and the people in many areas have a strong military tradition and are proud to be soldiers to fight. Even if the knights die, it is easy to recruit mercenaries to replace them.

This plan will definitely cost the knights of Europa a lot...... But if Europa is a little less knightly. A little more mercenaries, and the Mongols will not be a problem! Edward, Duke of Aquitaine, who sat behind Louis IX as chief vassal, thought to himself. He was one of the first Europa monarchs to realize that knights were useless.

Although he thought so in his heart, his mouth was full of confidence, "My majesty! He said to Louis IX in French, "I agree with the suggestion of Count Chan that I am willing to command the English longbowmen, the Welsh spearmen, and the Aquitaine knights to attract the Mongols." ”

Edward instinctively felt that it would be safer to stay with 60,000 spearmen, longbowmen, and musketeers, as well as 90 cannons!

Louis IX nodded slightly, then turned to Emperor Alphonse I, "Your Majesty, I think Count Chen's plan is feasible, the knights of Christ will use spears and swords to teach those infidels who dare to offend God!" ”

Alphonse I was silent for a long time, obviously calculating the gains and losses, and finally said slowly: "My Swabian regiment can be used for frontal ...... The Iberian knights often dismounted and were adept at using crossbows, allowing them to fight alongside the Swabian pikemen. ”

According to the orders of the Ecumenical Church, the crossbow could not be used in "friendly matches" between Christians. As a result, most of the Europa knights did not use crossbows, but the Iberian knights had been fighting the Celestials for hundreds of years, and were naturally not bound by the "crossbow ban".

"That's good!" Louis IX nodded heavily, "Then the forces that attract the enemy's front will be under the personal command of His Majesty the Emperor." ”

Alphonse I had no objection, "Then the roundabout knights will be under the unified command of His Majesty the King." ”

Commanding a knight to take a detour must be a dangerous errand, and if you don't do it well, you will become a saint. However, knights are notoriously difficult to command, and on the Vistula front, the only figures who can drive tens of thousands of knights are Emperor Alphonse I and Louis IX, the perfect monster of France. Now that Alphonse was in charge of commanding the infantry in front, the roundabout knights would have to trouble Louis IX.

……

"Great Khan, the great army of the Europa is now assembled around a town called Varshava, and has also erected pontoon bridges over the nearby Vistula River, and has set up several forts on the east bank of the river."

Kublai Khan's big tent on the carriage was no longer filled with beauties and wine, but a long table was set up, a map drawn on parchment, and a group of generals and advisers were discussing battle plans all day long.

An Tong, who was guarding outside the big tent, walked in again to report the military report he had just received. The Mongol army was now more than 100 miles away from the Vistula, but their horseback rangers had already swam on the east bank of the Vistula. The intelligence of the Europa coalition army came like flowing water, and their every move could not be hidden from Kublai Khan's ears and eyes.

"Building a bridge over the Vistula? Could it be that these Europa people want to learn from Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, and play the trick of fighting against the water? ”

"You can't be Xiang Yu in a battle against the water, you can only be a drowned ghost who falls into the water!"

"Yes, this is the best chance for us to gather the elite of Europa in a fight!"

The Mongol generals had no psychological pressure to bully the Europa knights, and they were all eager to try and set their sights on Kublai Khan.

Kublai Khan just stared at the map, thought for a long time, looked at the Golden Horde Nahai in the tent and asked: "Nahai, you have been fighting the Europa for decades, what do you think when you know their virtual and real tactics?" ”

Nahai Khan smiled, "Great Khan, the knights and mercenaries of Europa are not very capable of fighting, and they cannot be compared with the Mongol warriors. But there are so many of them that they can afford to die...... If you can't deter them from the beginning, I'm afraid that the enemy will fight more and more. Therefore, the minister's opinion is to fight a fierce battle on the edge of the Vistula River, so that they will be afraid when they hear the name of our Mongolia in the future! ”

"Lined up against the water, I'm afraid of fraud!" Kublai Khan said.

Nahai shook his head, "Don't be afraid of fraud!" Europa's troops are weak and scattered, and they can't use any tricks well...... Now I'm afraid that they will avoid the battle, and then clear the wilderness, and fight a protracted war with us. ”

Kublai Khan nodded, Nahai had the same opinion as him! There is no fear of a decisive battle, and the sooner it is fought, the more advantageous! Because the Europa people are also improving, they are also learning the tactics of the Ming Dynasty, and buying the weapons of the Ming Dynasty, if the time is delayed for a long time, they may become as difficult as the Ming army.

As for what the Europa people used on the Vistula River, it didn't matter at all, in front of 300,000 Mongol elites, no kind of plan was good!

At least for now, the Mongols have enough strength to crush Europa!

Kublai Khan slammed the table, "Hit!" These Europa rats dare to fight against the water, will my Great Mongolia still be afraid? I'll fight them on the banks of the Vistula! (To be continued......)