After such an action in the Norman kingdom, the kings of other empires began their own next steps. Emperor Basil II of the Eastern Roman Dynasty laughed and mocked the Catholic kings as a group of wrecks who only knew how to fight for power and profit, and could never be united. At the same time, it is safe to boldly continue to attack Hungary. After several more field battles, the Romans defeated Hungary one after another with a large and well-numbered army of cavalry. Eventually, the city of Budapest was completely besieged. An army of 100,000 invaded the siege of Budapest and attacked it in batches and night.

From the partition of Poland, to the attack on Hungary, from the request for annexation, to the attack on the Holy See. Basil II was ruthless. Leave no stone unturned. Decisive, murderous. The entire empire was in his hands like a machine running at high speed. Basil II was like a skilled, overtime worker. Completely careless, let the machine run at a rapid pace...... "Budapest, Rome, Venice, Genoa, and then the Germanic people......" Basil II muttered to himself as he looked at the towering walls of Budapest. At the same time, a large number of Roman engineers began to get busy, assembling heavy torsion slings one after another. The Roman soldiers shouted, and put locks around the necks of the mules and horses, which were attached to the winches of the catapults. Another group of soldiers carried large stones that had been prepared in advance.

Rome's technology is always the strongest.

At the head of the city of Budapest, the Hungarian king, wearing heavy chain mail, a scimitar at his waist, and a compound bow on his shoulder, looked at the Romans who could not see the edge of the city for a long time, and the prominent cheekbones, emaciated cheeks, and short black and white hair proved that this man had the blood of the Eastern steppe peoples. And the calluses on his hands, as well as the inadvertent movements revealed between his every move, as well as the slightly circled legs, prove that this person is used to fighting right away. This was the unborn king of Hungary and one of Basil II's main opponents in the first half of his life, King Attila of Hungary.

It's just a pity that because of a series of excessive conquests, the manpower of the Kingdom of Hungary has been greatly weakened. The grand occasion of being able to pull up 100,000 iron horsemen with a casual wave from the Eastern European steppes is no longer repeated. The conquerors of the past are now the stepping stones of the new conquerors.

The general mobilization of the whole Hungary was only a little more than 40,000 troops in the end. And after months of fighting, most of these 40,000 troops have been lost. Today, only 17,000 soldiers have gathered in Budapest.

"The catapults must be destroyed...... Attila muttered to herself, before turning away, "Vaik!"

"Yes, Your Majesty. A Magyar man responded to the exchange of monarchs. As the king's confidant, he naturally understood what his lord meant, and after slamming his fist and beating his chest, he trotted down the city wall, quickly gathered a group of elite cavalry, and then shouted to open the city gate, and quickly rushed in the direction of the catapult.

"Hungarian cavalry!!!" the Greeks shouted in surprise.

This was the light cavalry that the Hungarians were proud of—elite cavalry units dressed in leather armor and light chain mail, armed with swords, scimitars, small cavalry shields, and compound bows. Possess excellent mobility and stamina, both ranged and melee. This cavalry force was no more than 2,000 men. However, the momentum is better than that of thousands of troops. These cavalrymen, who came from the steppe nomadic tribes, were the backbone of the Hungarian army.

A total of two thousand Hungarian cavalry, holding high the banner of the brown background and drawing the cross, rushed in the direction of the catapult.

"Hmph...... "Just, for these cavalrymen. Emperor Basil was clearly disdainful.

"Ironclad Holy Cavalry! Let them see your strength!!"

The Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire shouted, and then, holding high the banner of the Holy Trinity, the paladers who were wrapped in heavy armor and men and horses were silent, and rushed towards the Hungarians with an extremely terrifying, almost suffocating momentum.

Compared to the monotonous banners of the Hungarian cavalry, and the other messy family heraldic banners, the banners of the ironclad paladiers were more ornate and beautiful. The golden double-headed eagle represents the chief sequence of the main army of the Empire, the purple inner ring represents their status as the royal guard, the laurel crown that is more than the head of the eagle of other legions, represents their combat experience under the emperor, the thorn cross represents the blessing and blessing of the Great Sanctuary of Sophia, the crossed sword represents the number of decisive battles they have participated in, and the red tassel represents the blood shed for Christendom under the guidance of the holy lance.

Clustered around the banner were priests holding aloft the sign of St. Paul, the guardian of Constantinople, the archangel Jemer, who wielded a two-headed snake spear of poison and fire, and the soldier who protected the spirit of St. Paul. Therefore, they are qualified to gather under this banner, they are the so-called Byzantine ironclad paladers.

After Basil II succeeded to the throne, he vigorously expanded this powerful heavy cavalry force, paying them three times the salary, giving them land, serfs, and the right to wear weapons in the court. Soldiers were selected strictly, and they were trained more rigorously. This heavy cavalry force, which was originally less than 3,000 men, was expanded to 5,000 men. And the strength has more than doubled. Excellent morale and training, and iron-blooded discipline that the feudal knights of the Catholic countries did not have. Make this hoplite unit the strongest heavy cavalry force in medieval Europe.

Thus, despite the fact that only one wing was dispatched, a total of a thousand ironclad paladers. Basil II was unusually relaxed. Victory is definitely your own. There is no doubt about it.

In command of the 1st Wing was the young and handsome General Dulusus, who was also a confidant of Basil II. Although he was a lowly commoner from a slave background, he successfully stood out because of his own efforts. He has performed well in more than a dozen battles. In the end, he was favored by Basil II. Exceptionally promoted to commander of the 1st Wing of the Ironclad Paladins. It can be described as young and promising.

In this way, a battle between elite and henchmen began! Seeing that the other party had sent out the ace of ironclad paladiers. Vaik roared and ordered the cavalry to speed up, hoping to use their speed advantage to break through the formation of the Ironclad Paladins in the first turn - their purpose was not to engage the Ironclad Paladins in a battle under the city. Instead, it destroys the torsional catapults that have a great destructive effect on the walls.

"Break them!!!" Vaik shouted, pulling his bowstring and firing an arrow into the eye socket of one of the ironclad paladers at the front.

The first meeting between the two sides was when the two sides were nearly 100 meters apart. The range and power of the powerful compound bows equipped by both sides are basically the same. But one thing is different – protection. A marksman like Vajk fired two arrows in a row, but only one hit. The only eye socket of the ironclad paladier who was not protected by armor shot directly through his skull at once, and the ironclad paladier didn't snort and fell directly from the horse. After that, it was trampled into meat sauce by the ironclad heavy cavalry behind.

However, not everyone has such a good archery as Wajk. The vast majority of the Hungarian cavalry failed to inflict any damage on the Ironclad Paladins. The Ironclad Paladins were different. Their powerful compound bows sent the Hungarian cavalry down in large swaths. The formation was also greatly disrupted - after that, both sides withdrew their compound bows, drew their sabers, maces and swords and began hand-to-hand combat. In the midst of the scuffle, Waik still shouted "Onward!"

He did his best to dodge the Ironclad Paladin's attack - but despite this, one of the Ironclad Paladins struck him in the shoulder blade with a mace. Then, the heart-wrenching sensation made Vajk realize that his arm was probably gone.

The longswords and maces of the Ironclad Paladins inflicted great damage on the Hungarian cavalry. The sabers of the Hungarians, on the other hand, could not cut through the heavy scale armor of the ironclad paladiers - even if they could cut through the thick scale armor, they could not cut through the fine chain mail - even if they could cut through the fine chain mail, they could not cut through the innermost layer of leather inlay.

If anyone could see through the three layers of armor with a one-handed saber, then he must be a great Hercules. Of course, it's a pity. Whether it is the Huns, the Magyars, or the Bolgars, or other steppe nomads, they are known for their speed and horsemanship. Instead of strength...... One-sided slaughter.

Because of the equipment problem, these elite light cavalry should not have appeared on the battlefield in a head-on confrontation with the heavy cavalry. However, in the wars that preceded it, Hungary's only few thousand heavily armed knights had been wiped out. Therefore, King Attila had no choice but to adopt such a method.

God pity you. When Vajk, along with dozens of cavalry Hungarian cavalrymen with wounds of various sizes, rushed out of the array of ironclad paladers. I felt a trance. It was even incredible to be able to survive that kind of battle.

"Quick-charge!!"

However, this was not the end, as Vajk shouted hoarsely as he threw away his saber. With his only intact right hand, he pulled out a kraft wine bag filled with fire oil from his chest. And the people around him also pulled out the same thing, and two people took out a few pieces of flint and steel.

"Bows and arrows. Basil II sensed that something was wrong with this small group of Hungarian cavalry. After frowning, he opened his mouth to give such an order.

So, hundreds of archers selected from the Trabizond Military Region took aim at the cavalry with thousands of arrows, bows and arrows......

(To be continued)