The war is heating up.

When the infantry of both sides joined the battle, the ground in a radius of hundreds of miles on the outskirts of Jerusalem boiled. Those animals next door to the desert, birds and birds. After hearing such a terrifying, loud sound, they all scattered and fled. Don't dare to come back. After all, the number of troops invested by both sides is as high as 400,000. It's 400,000. Even in such a time of unified, warring between great empires and great empires, this number is enough to be eye-catching.

General Ers was very lucky. He felt it too. If nothing else, this battle may be the last large-scale battle of his life. After this campaign. The whole of the Near East, up to the plains of Mesopotamia. will be included in the territory of the Norman Empire.

The Mongol offensive against the West collapsed. And the expansion of the empire has reached a limit. Next. I'm afraid it will be decades of recuperation. The soldiers can't afford it. He and his colleagues may not have the opportunity to command such a large-scale campaign in the future.

"It's a little regrettable to say. But this is indeed the curtain call. In the north, His Majesty will completely crush the main forces of the Mongols. And here, I'm going to crush their biggest branch. Memorable. Just lead this battle to victory. My life is worth it. ”

General Ers said this as he observed the battlefield.

After the infantry joined the battlefield. The density of soldiers on the battlefield suddenly increased considerably. The cavalry on both sides was suddenly reduced to the role of a foil. In the torrent of large numbers of infantry, it seems so inconspicuous. At the forefront, the Normans' super-long spear phalanx turned from defense to attack, relying on strong firepower and a solid formation. Unswervingly advance on the chaotic battlefield. Shoot and stab the attacking enemies into a sieve.

On the flanks, the battle between the Italian spearmen, the French shieldspearmen, and the Arabs, was a little more boring. Both armies, according to all, were influenced by the Byzantine Empire. Infantry tactics were all classic Roman phalanx formations. It's just that the Normans made certain improvements on this basis.

The way their soldiers are trained is also more scientific and standardized. As a result, the Norman levies were arrayed with shields and spears that were even more elaborate than the real, traditional Roman phalanx. That's not even more like the Arabs, these are just half-baked soldiers who have learned to match.

In addition, among the levies were a small number of soldiers armed with heavy weapons such as long-handled hook axes and infantry halberds. They also form dense arrays, using the heavy weapons in their hands to form cold walls of steel to attack.

Speaking of which, such a long-handled halberd array is not as stable as an infantry phalanx composed of shield spearmen. But attacking and killing surnames are better. And it's a little easier to train.

Compared to the elite levies of the Normans. The troops of the Arabs looked lackluster. A few of the more elite Arab troops, able to line up in tighter formations, pushed each other against the Norman array, shield against shield, and then stabbed each other with spears in their hands. to maintain an unbeaten situation. More often, however, they were crushed and scattered by the dense array of Norman militia. Stabbed into a sieve by their continuous, uniform spears.

In the infantry-to-infantry contest, the Normans won an absolute victory. The Arabs who fought lost their armor and retreated in defeat after defeat.

However, this is not the end. Such occupancy. Although the Normans gained a very large advantage. But it is very difficult to turn these advantages into victories in one fell swoop. The Arabs were able to persevere, despite their struggles. They relied on a large number of compound archers and javelinmen to support the attack, and they struggled to defend each of their lines. And Hülegü, as well as the battle-hardened Mongol Nayan under his command, also commanded quite well.

Under the command of these shrewd and capable generals, the Arabs formed themselves like a ship that leaked everywhere but could always maintain itself unsinkable. Struggled through the Norman storm. They quickly discovered the loopholes, and immediately sent a large number of reserve troops to rush over to plug the gaps. It's like plugging a ship's hole with planks and plugs.

The Arab army numbered more than 100,000 or 200,000. Reserves are sufficient. If the Norman army can't inflict too many casualties on them for a while, then this game of filling the hole will continue. Although this "continuous" will certainly not be unlimited. But Hülegü had this confidence. He was able to maintain his "undefeated" situation. Until this evening. In this way, the two conveniences had to stop. Stop fighting.

"It's disgusting. On the other side, Marshal Ess could also see Hulagu Khan's thoughts. He snorted lightly, despising this bastard who had just been menacing, but now he didn't even dare to test the attack, and had turned to the defense in an all-round way. However, I agree in my heart that this may be the only way for the slightly less high-tech Arab army to survive.

However, an undefeated battle may not be bad for Ilkhan. But for Marshal Norman, it was unacceptable. It is precisely because of this that Marshal Ers has reserved such a hand.

Prior to this, he had used a third of his cavalry force in order to draw out the Arab and Mongol cavalry on both flanks. Then, in order to draw out the Ilhan's Janissary heavy cavalry, he used another third of the cavalry troops. And the heavy cavalry that Ilhan still had, the heavy cavalry of the Arab ethnicity, was lost in the face of the Norman spears.

That is to say, this marshal pressed the whole army, attracting all the cavalry of the opposing side, and all the infantry. A third of the cavalry units were still retained.

This is the key to Marshal Erth's victory!

"The cavalry on both flanks went out, went around, and attacked the opponent's flanks. "This order of Marshal Uss brutally cut off the last trace of hope of the Ilkhanate.

With great difficulty, they mustered up the last shred of courage to resist the powerful offensive of the Norman army in front of them. On the flanks, there were such screams: "Cavalry!"

There were more than 3,500 cavalry, including 300 Norman knights, two hussars in a thousand-strong army, and more than 1,000 levies from the local provinces. These cavalry were divided into two groups of about 1,700, one west and one east. Went around the flank of the battlefield as fast as possible. Immediately afterward, the Arabs exclaimed, and launched a fierce attack.

These had been waiting for a long time, watching their comrades and enemies kill flesh and blood and corpses all over the field. But he could only stay by and wait for the marshal's order. This made them almost unbearable to bear the murderous surname in their hearts.

So, after receiving the order of Field Marshal Erth, these Norman knights and cavalrymen who had endured for a long time finally became happy. They shouted loudly, venting their frustration. He jumped on the horse. In the shortest possible time, he rode his horse to the flank of the Ilhan [***] team, and also prepared the formation in the shortest time. Then the charge began.

It all happened so fast. It was so fast that Ilkhan Hulegu could not do anything to counteract. In fact, even if he could react, there was no way. The vast majority of his troops were thrown into the front line, on a frantic meat grinder-like battlefield. Especially cavalry. Ilhan was wounded, and there was no more mobile force to use to stop the wolf-like Norman cavalry.

With the idea of "giving it a try", he ordered the Arab levies on both flanks to turn around and reline into a dense array to defend against the charge of the Norman cavalry. However, this is simply a mantis arm as a car, to no avail.

The continuous cavalry charge was like a wave of salt. The former was washed away in an instant. Under the wave charge of the Normans, the troops of the Arabs fell one by one, one by one. Screaming and unable to get up again. This can be said to be the biggest loss suffered by the army of the Ilkhanate since the beginning of the war. In the blink of an eye, the 20,000 or 30,000 troops on both flanks were crushed by the Norman cavalry. The result is an avalanche-like chain reaction.

The Arab troops began to cry and turn to flee. The act of one person running away can infect ten people, and ten people can infect a hundred...... This presented a geometric rout, and the final result was the complete collapse of the Ilkhan [***] team.

"Damn! Damn!!"

There is only a short moment from heaven to hell. Hülegü felt like he was going crazy. I don't even know what to say. Orders could not be given and no action could be taken. Because he has been in battle. So he knew how bad it was now...... His khanate, his ambitions, and the lover of his dreams. It is as fast as the Shaolin abbot road after the 80s. The soldiers, even the toughest Mongol warriors, had no idea of continuing to fight. They discarded their weapons and shields as if they were Arab cowards whom they had always mocked. The horse turned and fled.

"Great, Great Khan?!"

Even his retinue, the Mongol guards who were most loyal to him, and the Mongol Nayans, could not remain calm in such a terrible situation. They looked at Hülegü with blank eyes, and the meaning of it was self-evident.

Looking at these Mongolian faces, Hülegü smiled instead. He said to them in a mocking tone, "Do you still want me to escape?"

(To be continued)