In the open space not far from Limassol, the Crusaders had set up their tents, patrolling soldiers came and went, and an atmosphere of slaughter was evident in the large camp.

Somewhere in the camp, unlike other places where there was shouting and training in full swing, it was a little quiet, and the patrols were the most frequent, and people couldn't help but look sideways.

Laszlo lifted the curtain and saw Constantine chatting with the chief craftsman, holding a handful... Muskets?

"Your Majesty, are you holding this musket?"

It's not that Laszlo is lonely and unheard, but this style of musket has never been seen, and now the musket is more similar to artillery and the like, and the large musket has strong lethality, but the small musket is more of a deterrent, and the operation is very cumbersome, and it generally needs to be used by two people, one ignition, one aiming, so no matter the armies of various countries, the proportion of musketeers is not too high,

But now Constantine held a musket in his hand that was not the same as before, with the butt, the front sight, and the door, and a rope attached to the back, making it impossible to know what it was for.

"Laszlo, you're just in time."

Seeing Laszlo come in, Constantine was glad to pull him to his side,

"Come, take a look at the musket developed by Master Sefru, and see if it works well."

Sevru was the chief craftsman officer, and at this time he also said modestly,

"It's all because of the drawings given by His Majesty, otherwise I wouldn't have made it so quickly."

Yes, this is also part of Constantine's dream, and there are many more like them, but most of them are not practical, and this musket is one of the few that can be produced in the current conditions.

Laszlo took the strangely shaped musket, looked it up and down, weighed it, and then walked out of the tent and came to the shooting range.

Although he had never used this type of musket, its style was designed to be very straightforward, and Laszlo quickly understood the use of this gun, he picked up the butt, aimed at the arrow target not far away, and prepared to start shooting.

After a few rounds of test firing, the effect was beyond Laszlo's expectations, this musket is not only much better than before in terms of convenience, in terms of lethality, it can cause effective damage within at least fifty meters, and the maximum shooting range can reach one hundred and fifty meters, and the crossbow is about the same, the key, it is much cheaper than the crossbow.

This is mainly because gunpowder is much cheaper and is no longer a scarce item, and the steel used for a good crossbow is much more expensive than gunpowder.

"Your Majesty, this gun... It's so much better than before. Laszlo was shocked and said that this was enough to subvert the history of war.

"It has to be tested in actual combat, and it is only an experimental product at present, and it may not be able to be installed on a large scale."

Constantine was also very happy, but laboratory products and products in the world are different concepts, and products often need to go through many tests before they can go from the laboratory to the market, not to mention that there are so many influencing factors on the battlefield, but it is certain that this is definitely better than the musket.

"It just so happens that the Apollo detectives have heard the enemy's intelligence, and it is not very far from here, so we will go and test it tomorrow."

Constantine took Laszlo and said as he walked, with a relaxed tone, there are not many such good training places, just pull some recruits out to see blood, and after seeing blood, they will be veterans, and their combat power will naturally go up.

The Mamluk sultan did not place many troops on the island of Cyprus, and gathered a total of more than 1,000 people, all concentrated in Nicosia, the capital of the kingdom.

Since Cyprus was a feudal lordship rather than a Byzantine traditional centralized system, the feudal aristocracy was not weak at the local level, and the lords had military power and tax collection power, and were almost independent states.

Of course, this is also relatively speaking, after all, such a small country, no matter how powerful the nobles are, it is not much stronger, and the Egyptians did not make much changes to the local pattern after invading here, just executed a few nobles, in general, the enemy is weak and not to be feared.

The next day, Constantine and Laszlo tentatively attacked Nicosia with more than 200 men, and the enemy's prefect Bey had received the news and was nervously watching the movement in the distance.

It is difficult to know, the Crusaders arrived in Limassol with little disguise, and as early as the arrival of the army, Bey sent a letter of help to the country, but there was no reply.

"Isn't there any news from the country yet?"

Bey was very worried that in peacetime, the military governor stationed in Cyprus was a fat man, after all, this is a trade center connecting Asia, Europe and Africa, and it is very rich, but as soon as the war comes, it will become a front line, and the danger will increase more than a little.

Bey is not a very talented person, this position was bought for him by his family, and it is good to collect taxes in peacetime, but to fight? He's a soldier, where can he do this?

Bey kept complaining in his heart that the bureaucrats in the country were dragging his feet, while he was still actively preparing for defense, and the ships heading to the country were also ready, as long as he returned alive, with the power of his family, he could still make a comeback.

"The domestic meaning is to let you hold Cyprus as much as possible, it is related to the strategy of the Sultan, and reinforcements will come." The squire responded.

Reinforcements? Now what reinforcements are there to really play me like a monkey?

Bey snorted coldly, "I know, go down and prepare." ”

Although there are complaints, he is not good at withdrawing without firing a shot, which can easily make his political enemies seize the handle, and when the time comes, even if he has the resources, he will have to work hard to get up again.

"It's coming, it's coming."

At this moment, a soldier climbed the wall panting, and shouted at Bey,

"The enemy is coming."

Bey stood up, narrowed his eyes, and the figure in the distance became clearer and clearer,

"How many people are coming from the other side?"

"About two hundred."

Bey laughed,

"Five hundred, I'll meet them."

After saying that, Bey also got down the city wall and prepared to go to the front of the battle.

When the two sides met, they first saluted each other according to the tradition of the nobility, advised each other to surrender for the sake of peace, and after refusing each other, prepared to start fighting.

According to the custom, Bey commanded the soldiers to charge, and when he saw the enemy pull out a pair of strangely shaped muskets, he didn't pay much attention to them, anyway, there were many of them, and this group of slaves was not worth much,

After a volley, Bey himself joined the charge, because according to the old habit, the musket could only be fired in one round before it turned into hand-to-hand combat, but what he didn't expect was that with a loud bang and thick smoke, dozens more soldiers were hit by lead bullets,

Bey was shocked, and the soldiers who had just rushed in front of the enemy were also forced back by the enemy's spearmen, and in the panic, Bey himself was shot in the thigh, so he had no choice but to retreat.

During the night, the healer treated Bey's wounds, and Bey hammered the bed with hatred.

"What's the matter, why do their muskets reload so quickly?"

It stands to reason that the fifty muskets on the opposite side today require at least a hundred soldiers to serve, but there are more than a hundred field soldiers on the opposite side today.

"It's not that it's fast, sir." The attendant replied cautiously,

"Their muskets are different from ours, they seem to be easier to operate."

Bey thought about it, but decided that

"You can't stay here, or you'll die here sooner or later."

Although I know that it may not be good to go back, but it is better than giving my life here in vain, the enemy is just a test today, the large army is behind, this is a well-known thing, stay here, sooner or later it will be a death, if you go back, you may be able to operate, even if you go to a remote area to be a tax collector, it is better than on the battlefield.