Chapter 59: Sublime Faith and Pragmatism
At this point in the war, Egil also left his observation tower. Move command forward. After jumping off the tower and riding forward on his warhorse, Egil saw Basumi who was commanding a group of engineers trying to push several eight-inch mortars onto the dunes. However, the guns were too heavy. Transporting these things on soft sand is not an easy task. Although the engineers pushed and pulled very hard. But the guns, which looked like they weighed several tons, still refused to condescend. In half a day, I still moved a distance of nearly fifteen meters. Then the wheels under the gun carriage got stuck in the sand. It's nerve-wracking.
"If it doesn't work, just put the artillery here for now. Pull up the lighter organ cannon. When Egil saw this as he passed by, he stopped his horse's hooves and said to Asami.
"Yes, my lord, I see. Asami straightened up, then bent down and stroked her chest and bowed. The result was a pair of sweet and juicy boobs that continued to swing up and down with her movements, making Egil feel even hotter.
"End this battle early, and then vent your fire. Egil thought as he nodded at Asami. Then he rode his horse towards the dunes.
And halfway up the hill in the first row of dunes. The first 1,000-strong Norman assault infantry had already suffered more than half of the casualties - although the weapons in the hands of the soldiers could hardly hurt the assault infantry in the composite armor of the plates. And the Norman assault infantry, dressed in early plate armor, was close to invulnerability. But the number of enemies is simply too much. And after a period of buffering, the previous fear of explosions and loud noises has dissipated a lot. Plus a few imams praying loudly to bless these warriors who are fighting for Allah. The morale of the soldiers of the Jihadist Army was once again at its peak.
These religiously inspired soldiers were desperate to fight. Hand axes, scimitars, spears, and even farm tools and sticks rained down on the Norman sergeant's armor. Every soldier of the Jihadist Army fought for his life. There was no defense at all - or rather, they didn't want it, or they didn't need it. Often, assault infantry can kill multiple enemies with a single slash. But they don't care at all, like the waves of the sea, like storms, wave after wave. Exhausted the Norman assault infantry.
In this way, the armor on the soldiers' bodies will always be vulnerable and broken, and the physical strength of the Norman soldiers is not unlimited. After a period of fierce fighting, a layer of Arab corpses had piled up in front of the Norman soldiers' lines. However, the soldiers of the Holy War Army were still desperately attacking.
"Damn it—ah—" A Norman assault infantryman grumbled after repeating the chopping motion hundreds of times, feeling only pain in his hands and arms—and then was held by the waist—but one of the enemies he had chopped with an axe before was not yet dead, and was holding him by the waist. A group of Arabs on the other side took advantage of the opportunity to pounce on him as well—two Arabs who looked weak and skinny, but in fact were surprisingly strong, grabbed his arm, which was about to swing his tomahawk, and then the three of them worked together to drag him out of the Norman garrison. More Arabs rushed up. It was like peeling a crab shell, stripping off the armor of a Norman soldier. Spear, scimitar, axe, stone...... A barrage of slashes from the mess chopped the soldier into meat sauce......
In this way, Norman soldiers were constantly pulled out of the battle line by the crazy Arabs and then killed. It wasn't until Egil gave orders and a group of crusader reinforcements entered the battlefield that the situation began to improve. ...,
These disheveled, poorly equipped Christians have a terrifying faith equal to that of the Arabs. The smell of madness grew even stronger when an ascetic, naked, let the scorching sun shine on him, and his body was covered with thorns and lashes, "Jehovah!" But in terms of momentum, these Christian soldiers were not inferior to the Arab Jihadist Army, which numbered more than 10,000 men! Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Norman assault infantry breathed a sigh of relief and gradually withdrew from the main battlefield and began to rest.
"Kill, kill them, kill them, and you will ascend to heaven!!" the scarlet-eyed soldiers on both sides shouted, brandishing their weapons and slashing and slashing desperately at the opponent. It's like you've fallen under a spell. As long as there is breath left, these soldiers will continue to fight. When a weapon is broken, use a fist, and after an arm, use a tooth. This frenzy was unusually uncomfortable, and the Norman infantry, who were affected by it, gradually became breathless. Started to get ready for it......
"Your Majesty—" Next to Egil, Death Knight Captain Alpha was about to speak when he was interrupted by Egil.
"Wait until Jerusalem. I don't want to waste my forces in a place like this. Egil said coldly in a voice that only the two of them could hear. Immediately afterward, the Norman emperor turned his attention to the battlefield. The soldiers who were fighting almost mad looked so dazzling and so pleasing to the eye in Egil's eyes.
"Oh, oh, oh!! killing a heretic is not a crime, it's a good deed! Come on, you madmen!...... "Although he didn't say such a thing explicitly, the emperor's bright smile at this moment could show a little bit of his current mood.
"Although there has been a lot of progress in terms of strength and ability, the character has not changed at all, and it is still bad. In Egil's heart, Aurora, who shared this scene through Egil's eyes, commented.
"Say whatever you want. Anyway, it wasn't my soldiers who died. I don't feel sorry for how many times I die. As he said this, Egil ordered the longbowmen to aim for the opposing array and shoot. After Robin Hood ran over to express his objections, saying:
"It's very likely that you will hurt your own people by mistake, your lord!" After saying this, Egil said something very similar to that of the other commander, Zhao Haier.
"I am helping them, and the souls of those who die in the holy war will ascend to heaven. Isn't it?"
These words made the surroundings speechless for a while. Although he has been doing things by the emperor's side for a long time. But many generals were still speechless about the tyrant's intermittent performance of the lower limit.
"Forget it, it's not my soldier anyway. Robin Hood muttered something quietly, and then went back and shouted at the top of his voice, "Let go of the arrows!"
Indeed, he was the one who had been working under Egil for a long time......
At the same time, the opposing longbowmen ignored the chaotic battlefield. Massive attacks with bows and arrows. The rain of longbows did objectively help the Christian crusaders to gain a certain advantage. Over there, Zhao Haier frowned, and also issued a similar order: "Crossbowman, aim at the opponent's array and shoot!"
"But this is likely to hurt your own people, General......" The emir, who had previously opposed Zhao Haier's use of heavy cavalry, stood up again at this time.
"Is it interesting for you to say such things now?!" Zhao Haier shouted angrily. Then he pulled out the scimitar decorated with gems and slashed desperately into the air: "I am the commander here! I have the final say in the affairs here!!"
In this way, after the order of Zhaohail was given, the Muslim crossbowmen armed with wooden heavy crossbows, and the Muslim archers armed with compound bows began to move forward. Once within range, he raised his head and fired at the Christian Crusaders further above the dunes. However, due to the terrain, more of these attacks fell on the heads of their own people who were further ahead. In an instant, the Islamic Jihadist Army became extremely bitter. On the front are mad Christian crusaders. And further away is the longbowman's projectile attack. Behind them, their own people also came to dismantle the stage...... Under the three-way attack, the situation of these soldiers became even worse. ...,
In such a situation, Islamic Jihad forces have been defeated despite their courageous resistance. From three o'clock in the afternoon to four o'clock in the afternoon. Out of a total of more than 13,000 Islamic Jihadist troops, less than 9,000 remain. And the battle line gradually retreated from the middle of the dunes to the edge of the dunes.
"Reinforcements. Send another five hundred hoplites. Seeing this, Zhao Haier's face sank like water, and he once again dispatched the so-called jihadist army of about 3,000 people, plus the hoplites of 500 people, to step forward in an attempt to stabilize the front. The hoplites of a thousand-man squad who had been mixed in the battle before, but could not do their best, also began to cheer up after receiving the order of Zhao Haier's herald, formed a phalanx array, and pushed away the holy war army in front and walked to the front.
These soldiers wore iron chain mail, piercing armor or scale armor. Wraps around the whole body, and wears an open helmet with a nose guard on the top of the head. In his hands he held a pointed spear and a round convex shield. The shield is painted with elaborate patterns or allusions to religious language from the Qur'an. And the officers among them also wore the colorful furs of lions, bears, and leopards to show off their martial prowess. The array of these men looks roughly like the Romans' phalanx. It was supposed to be the experience absorbed in the war against the Roman Empire.
When the soldiers formed a tight array, shielding their torsos and left arm with their shields, and the right arm stabbed continuously, at a single speed, it formed a strong, barbed wall-like defense. At each distance, a team of 100 men formed a rectangular phalanx of twenty times five. Thanks to the efforts of these professional soldiers, the tide of war was once again moving in favor of the Arabs......
*J@a