A day and a half away from the port of Benghazi, Wu Xin had his last pre-war meeting.

Despite the unexpected reinforcements of Bursha, the morale of the Tripoli army was still not good.

After the meeting entered the discussion stage, no one spoke for a long time.

"Okay, everyone can say whatever they think!" Although Wu Xin said so, he still named him, "Galilei, as a friend, you can talk about it first." ”

"I know it's a bit frustrating to say that, but I think it's better for us to retreat." After hesitating for a long time, Galilei finally said it to Wu Xin.

He has no affiliation with Wu Xin, so he doesn't need to think too much about Wu Xin's perception.

Galilei was really upset.

"Didn't the original plan be to stop camping and launch a surprise attack on the port of Benghazi when we reached the three-day journey?" This strategy was planned from the beginning, "Isn't this step-by-step march now completely exposing our actions to the enemy?" We have no superiority in quantity and quality, and without suddenness, there is no hope for the battle. ”

The others remained silent, and Galilei continued.

"That woman is unreliable, it's possible that she came to scout and was caught by us." Galile didn't know that Bursa was reliable, "It's too dangerous to let her go like this." It is better for us to retreat, this is the desert, and the enemy surrounding the port of Benghazi will not chase us too far. ”

Bulsha's act of death eventually brought some suspicion.

Wu Xin didn't reply to him immediately, but looked at another person who was shaken in his determination: "Kessler also thinks that we shouldn't attack?" ”

Before the meeting began, Kessler hesitantly told Wu Xin that if they retreated now, their supplies would barely last until they returned to the port of Tripoli.

Kessler was uncomfortable with Galileh's disagreement. But he nodded in the end: "Even if this Bursha really came to make trouble for her political enemies on the orders of Sultan Xurem, we are still too dangerous, there are too many fugitives, at least a few nomads have not been captured, and it is unlikely that Bursha will intercept them all." ”

Kessler spent much longer with Wu Xin, and he could roughly see that Bursha was indeed hoping that Wu Xin would disrupt the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Although guessed the wrong motive.

He thought that the political enemies of Sultan Xurem were responsible for the attack on the port of Benghazi, but he did not expect that Bursha's own position had changed.

But that's not the point, the point is that Kessler is hesitant about his own power.

"In the last three days, as we have gotten closer and closer to the port of Benghazi, more and more of those damned infidels have fled, and now they are not fleeing one by one, but in an organized and massive way!" Kessler had done his best to supply the auxiliary cavalry, but they still had to flee. "They took away weapons and supplies, and they demoralized our troops."

If you are three days away and no longer camp, you can greatly reduce the number of flights, the location of your own troops will be exposed, and it will be possible to obtain the results of a surprise attack.

Although Wu Xin did not tell them how many enemies were surrounding Benghazi, this kind of intelligence had been spreading on the southern shores of the Mediterranean for too long.

The nomads all knew that Wu Xin was going to fight against the Ottoman Empire, whether it was faith or strength comparison. None of them had any reason to support Wu Xin.

Naturally, some of these nomads used to travel between Benghazi and the port of Tripoli.

As you get closer to Benghazi. The more people dare to flee, and more and more fugitives are generated.

Wu Xin also knew that the state of his troops was indeed not good, in fact, he could not even ensure that he still had nine hundred soldiers.

His infantry company is in good condition, although it has just been expanded, but the officers are competent. Able to control the team, the few who tried to desert were executed.

But the nomadic auxiliary cavalry could not be controlled, these troops were not organized by Wu Xin, although Wu Xin sent a part of the early Gota Fe tribe to control them, but this group of people lacked prestige after all. It's good to be able to control your own lineage, but you can't control the flight of people from other tribes at all.

"There was a small tribe of nomads who fled with a dozen camels last night, and they may have arrived at the port of Benghazi now, and our whereabouts must have been exposed." The closer they got to the port of Benghazi, the more unstable the Xingyue Sect soldiers under Wu Xin became, and "the cavalry sent to pursue them was also unreliable. ”

The nomads who belonged to the Godafi tribe did not flee in an organized manner, but they did not pursue them wholeheartedly.

As for the several companies of Wu Xin's headquarters, although they also had horses, these European soldiers were only mounted infantry, and it was impossible for them to eliminate the nomadic fugitives in a long pursuit.

Galilei's flesh-ripping dragon relied on explosive power to chase down a few fugitives, eating several people and camels, but it was not enough to wipe out all the fugitives.

Although Wu Xin exhausted all means and scheming, he controlled the situation in the port of Tripoli in just one year, divided and disintegrated the Xingyue cultists in the control area, not only made it impossible for these Xingyue cultists to organize a rebellion, but even made most of the tribes provide troops for him to fight.

This is remarkable, but so far, he and his group have not been enough to completely reverse the centuries-old trend of the Star Moon Cult on the southern shores of the entire Mediterranean.

"Isn't there Sazastan spying on them?" Cassano asked, a little strangely, that Sazastan was the best watchman, "Is this guy not doing his job well?" I see that he took a lot of berries, and he must not have been well monitored. ”

Cassano is wrong to blame Sazastan, although the old lich is indeed attracted to some strange berries, but he has a lot of energy, and he doesn't need to sleep to study and process spellcasting materials and nutrients, and still has enough time to monitor.

"You blame your master, I've told him all the suspicious unstables." Sazastan unceremoniously shook the pot, and he questioned Wu Xin, "You said, I didn't tell you which defector, I reminded you of everything." ”

"You're calling every tribe of nomads unreliable." Wu Xin didn't speak, but Kessler said first. "Is this to wipe out all our cavalry?"

Sazakan also replied without showing weakness: "They are all plotting to escape, and none of them are completely loyal." Even those who have taken refuge in a lot of benefits actually have their own ghosts. In short, can you use scheming to control them, don't eliminate them all at once, and win over a part of them. Hit part of it. ”

Wu Xin knew that Sazastan was telling the truth, but it was also irresponsible.

"If I hadn't done my best to win over some of them and strike some of them, it wouldn't have been a good run away at all, and we would have been attacked by those nomads at night." Sazastan didn't have a backache when he stood and spoke, and Kessler really did his best to get to this point.

Sazastan was going to continue, but Wu Xin stopped them: "Okay, this matter, Sazastan and Kessler have done a good job. If it weren't for your efforts, there would be more defectors than there are now, and maybe the troops would no longer exist. ”

If it weren't for Sazastan's intelligence, the cavalry unit would likely have been left with only a shell, and if it weren't for Kessler's work, the core infantry company would have had a large number of deserters.

Wu Xin first affirmed everyone's achievements, and then announced his attitude: "Until now, we have finally approached the port of Benghazi. Retreat is not an option at this time. ”

In this maneuver, Wu Xin invested a lot of materials. Having lost one-third of the pack beast and one-tenth of his troops, he would face a great loss of prestige and strength if he turned around at this time.

"Then we should just launch a surprise attack instead of camping again." Galilei said again.

"If you don't set up camp, go a hundred and fifty miles, and then make a surprise attack. It is true that some of the fugitives can be avoided, but there will certainly still be people who escape, and our actions may still be exposed. This battle plan is just a last resort, Wu Xin knows the drawbacks, "And march like this." It will make the officers and soldiers extremely tired, and they can only break the enemy with a sharp spirit, and once the first round of attacks fails, they are likely to lose the ability to attack a second time. This is just a last resort, you don't know, Your Excellency Galile, Bulsa represents the real power of the Ottoman Empire, can mobilize a lot of forces, I have dealt with her more than once, I believe that she will and can help us, please believe me. ”

Sazastan did not react, Kessler and Cassano both nodded, Kessler felt Bultha's position somewhat, and it was impossible for Bulsa to escape Meraidi's outburst alive that time.

Cassano, on the other hand, is pessimistic about life and death, he only worries that his death is worthless, and it is best to be able to fight and die.

And Galilei looked at Wu Xin, still doubting the feasibility of all this in his heart, and he still believed that it was unwise to change the plan on the spot.

In the past few days, he has been training with Wu Xin to prepare for the next plane war, and in the training, he feels that Wu Xin's strength is very good, and he has also learned some past events between Wu Xin and Bursha.

However, this did not convince Galile, but he did not say anything more in the end, not because he believed Wu Xin's words, but because he asked himself that he could always escape.

At the same time, he was calculating in his heart how long he could hold out after Wu Xin's army defeated Benghazi, and fled back to the port of Tripoli.

At that time, how much silver should he collect to transport him from the port of Tripoli to the island of Malta by breaking through the siege?

………….

The camp surrounded by Benghazi, and Bursa now sat next to the commander in a revered position.

"Your Excellency Bulsa, your information is too timely, and sure enough, a group of heretics has killed along the coastline from the port of Tripoli, and it is said that there are three or four thousand enemies."

"It's all up to Bulsha this time, those Barbary pirates who are in charge of monitoring don't know what they're eating, not to mention the last time I let the Spanish fleet send in a group of personnel and supplies, this time I didn't even know that the enemy was approaching?!"

"Yes, these pirates have completely wasted the food and money of His Majesty the Caliph, and they should not be fed at all."

Those nomads don't know how to count, and when Bursha asks for information, he uses a little trick, and Wu Xin's strength is exaggerated several times.

And the evaluation of the pirates is also very unfair, the Ottomans did not control the port of Benghazi, these pirates can only anchor in the nearby bays, and the supplies are also given priority to the regular army of the Ottoman Empire, the pirates can only get a little scraps, and life is much more miserable than theirs.

The pirates were assigned a variety of tasks, from blocking enemy supplies to monitoring the coastline, completely more than they were burdened, but the Ottoman officers did not give them a chance to speak at all.

But in this place, naturally, no one will speak to the pirates.

If you lose, everyone needs to let the pirates take the blame, and if you win, then this is also a good bargaining chip.

"I'll write a report to Istanbul later, and I'll let His Majesty the Caliph know that these pirates are negligent!" Such a large army approached his flank, and the commander of the Ottoman army did not dare to attack anymore, but he was still a little skeptical: "But the port of Tripoli can mobilize 3,000 troops?" Counting the Egyptian immigrants who have just joined, the population controlled by this group will not exceed 30,000. ”

In fact, Wu Xin only controlled a population of more than 20,000, and it was impossible to mobilize one-tenth of the population in an offensive war.

However, he had Bulsha to help him boast: "The Egyptians who took refuge in the port of Tripoli were Mamluk diehards, and the infidels promised to take them back to Egypt, and they came desperately." Everyone brought their own weapons and their own food and grass, and they wanted to rule Egypt again! "The local nomadic tribes are all very poor, and everyone wants to go into Egypt and rob, although some of the more determined people have defected, but most of them still want to kill in Egypt together."

"From my reconnaissance, I can be sure that this time the goal of the infidels is not only to break the siege of Benghazi, but also to destroy the great cause of Prince Baziyed, and once they reach the vicinity of Alexandria, then the preparation of the fleet will be over!"

Although I feel that Bursha's words are not completely reliable, just a few thousand people, killing Egypt, where tens of thousands of troops and tens of thousands of sailors are stationed, isn't this sending them to death?

However, the Ottoman officers were not convinced that she was talking nonsense, they were all from the faction of Sultan Xurem, and they could not afford to deal with anyone who really disrupted the process of assamating the Baziyyad fleet.

Some people panicked: "Will there be more than 3,000 enemies, but in fact, more?" ”

"Could it be that the Emperor has sent Spanish soldiers?!"

"Yes, this heretic in the port of Tripoli is also said to be a side branch of the Warlock Royalty!"

When people are afraid, they see all kinds of things.

"We can't go back to Egypt!" The commander of the Ottoman army roared to stop the chaos, and at the same time he glanced at Bursa, "Don't scare yourself, we have 4,000 men and horses, and there are 40,000 troops of Prince Baziyed behind us, the assembly of the Spanish fleet cannot be kept secret, the Spanish army cannot have been killed, we only need to leave a part of the people to monitor the port of Benghazi, and then meet the siege relief army!" ”

Bursa knew that the commander had doubted himself, but it didn't matter: "General, you're right, but I think it's better for us to capture the port of Benghazi first." ”

Time has dragged on enough, and Bulsa can suggest a siege.

"I tortured the captured Hospitaller, he has confessed, in the castle of Benghazi, there is already a fluctuating heart, and one round of onslaught can conquer it!" What else did the Ottoman commander want to say, but Bulsha directly answered his concerns, "Of course, we also have to send troops to block the siege relief force, but we can't disperse the main force, those pirates are so incompetent, it's better to let them go ashore and block reinforcements for us." (To be continued.) )