Chapter 260: The Battle of Naissus
As soon as Fredigan put the team in order, the Huaxia cavalry on the opposite side had already rushed over. These Chinese cavalrymen in black leather armor let out a ho-ho cry from their mouths and rushed through in a very scattered formation.
Firedigan looked at it and found that the Huaxia people who rushed over were really only five or six thousand, and it was really as they expected, this was not the main force of the Huaxia people. These damned Huaxia people thought that we would be scared away by you like rats, and that there would be no more such things, the Goths were ready to fight back against your attacks with bows and arrows and axes.
Firedigan gritted his teeth and scolded secretly, last night he cheered up his subordinates, telling them that there were less than 5,000 Huaxia behind them, as long as everyone mustered up courage, they would definitely defeat these Huaxia with a fourfold superiority in troops, and then the battle would definitely turn around, everyone's lives and clansmen would be surviving, and it was possible to win a victory like Adrianople. Friedigan also told his men that the Chinese people came from thousands of miles away, and they must be very short of troops and baggage, and they had already been physically and mentally exhausted after running for tens of thousands of miles, and they had reached the most declining time.
Fredigan struggled to speak, and finally let his subordinates muster up the courage, and stood neatly in front of the Chinese, they lined up in a dense formation, and then put hundreds of carriages at the front of the line, using the same way to deal with the Romans, but they were in too haste, and the carriage was far from enough, so Gredigan ordered all the extra thousand horses to lie down next to the carriage, and then connected them with reins, and then piled tent brackets and other messy things on the horse's back and in front of the horse. A temporary line of defense was formed.
The five thousand galloping Chinese cavalry approached the Goths, and they pulled their powerful horned bows on their horses, and began to shoot at the Goths' formation. The arrows peculiar to the Chinese people flew through the sky with a peculiar whirring sound, and fell on the heads of the Goths one after another. But the Goths, who had been prepared, held up their shields and blocked the not so dense rain of arrows.
The Huaxia people quickly saw the situation in front clearly, the cavalry at the front suddenly raised their flags, the entire cavalry formation that was charging suddenly stopped, and there was a strange silence on the battlefield, only the sound of horses squirting and the occasional neighing of horses sounded everywhere.
The Chinese cavalry stopped at the range of the Goths' bows and arrows, and there was no way. Whoever called the Goths' bows and arrows were far inferior to the Huaxia, and they could only helplessly watch the Huaxia people stand still in sight. I don't know what I'm waiting for.
After a while, there was a hurried sound of horses' hooves from behind the Chinese cavalry, and the Goths saw from a distance dozens of horses coming to the front under the traction of several Chinese cavalrymen, and those horses were carrying two piles full of things. Under the watchful eyes of the Goths, the dozens of piles of ground things were divided one by one by the Chinese cavalry, and torches were suddenly lit among them.
Just when the Goths were wondering, the Huaxia people began to move again, which immediately aroused the vigilance of the Goths. I saw that the Chinese cavalry instigated their mounts one after another. Run left and right in front of the Goths' positions and start shooting rockets that have been ignited.
The rockets fired directly around the dense carriage and the lying horses, and thousands of rockets immediately set the wooden objects on fire everywhere, and although the fire was small at the beginning, it kept the Goths busy, and the horses lying there were also frightened by the sudden fire, and they all got up and tried to escape from the place that frightened them. This made the goths hectic again.
While the Goths were fighting fires and pacifying their horses, Fredigan saw the seriousness of the situation and ordered the cavalry behind him to immediately prepare to prevent the Huaxia from taking advantage of the chaos to break through the now porous positions. Firedigan even figured out how to split up and pursue the victory after giving these Huaxia people a head-on attack.
However, the Chinese did not seem to see this great opportunity, and instead they "had a lot of fun" with the mounted rocket, and they also switched to another rocket. These rockets look the same as normal rockets on the surface, but if they burn slowly for a short time, a puff of yellow smoke will rise, and the smell of this rich smoke is pungent. Whether it is a person or a horse, as long as you smell a little, you will soon feel dizzy, tears and snot.
This is the unique poisonous smoke arrow of the Chinese people, and the inside of the arrow is composed of more than a dozen flammable substances such as pepper, cumin powder, arsenic, sulfur, broken intestine grass, etc., which have a pungent taste and toxic ore, dried herbal powder and charcoal powder. The exterior was smeared with a layer of flammable grease. After a short period of burning, it quickly ignited the "drug" inside, emitting suffocating poisonous smoke.
Soon. Many Goths were suffering from the increasingly thick smoke of poison, and it was as if an invisible hand was holding their throats, and their brains began to hallucinate in the dark. The goths let out hoarse and short screams, clutching their throats and desperately escaping from the smoke. But the fresh air didn't help them get back to normal, and the toxins that had penetrated deep into the bloodstream and various organs continued to work, leaving the goths writhing on the ground in agony, struggling to find the last rays of life.
And the horses in the smoke could not stand the persecution of the poisonous smoke, and they all got up and ran around, and some of the horses with deep poison even began to go berserk, and rushed desperately towards the Goths behind, as if these poisonous smoke were sent by them.
"Great Chief, attack. Otherwise, these Chinese people don't know what evil things they will shoot. Savolax looked at the chaotic scene in front of him, and said with palpitations, yes, if the Huaxia people were allowed to approach step by step, and face the dense Gothic cavalry line behind with so many rounds of poisoned arrows, how would this battle be fought? But he didn't know how precious these poisonous arrows were, and if it weren't for the purpose of luring the Goths out, the Hu Lawyers Association would never be willing to shoot these less than 10,000 poisonous arrows. Firedigan looked at the scene in front of him, and silently estimated in his heart that the rocket just now not only turned his carriage into a sieve, but also left almost five hundred goths lying there dying, and it seemed that they really couldn't stand and be beaten like this anymore.
"Good. Savolax, you lead 10,000 warriors against the Chinese, I lead the best 5,000 warriors around their left flank, if they want to escape I can bite their tails, if they haven't been routed, then I'll attack them from the flank, and join you against this damned Chinese. Fredigan finally ordered.
"Yes, the Great Chief!" Savolax happily replied that although he was an Alan, he had always admired Fredigan's bravery and "resourcefulness", and had always been Fredigan's most loyal general. Today, seeing such a "meticulous deployment" of Firedigan, I felt in my heart that the 5,000 Chinese people would definitely not be able to withstand the superior forces and the tactics of this combined attack.
At the beckoning of Savolax. Ten thousand Gothic cavalry soon lined up. Looking at the rows of Gothic, Alan, and Slavic warriors with axes, daggers, and spears, Savolax nodded in satisfaction, then waved the axe in his hand, shouted, and rushed forward first. The 10,000 Gothic cavalry also let out a shout, whether it was in response to the order to charge or to embolden themselves, all the Goths slowly turned red in the wild screams, and their bloody nature and fury were aroused. They are going to fight to the death with the damned Chinese.
Seeing Savolax and the others rushing out of the fainter and fainter yellow smoke, Friedigen waved his hand and rushed to the right flank with five thousand cavalry that had been prepared for a long time, and under the cover of the galloping horses of Savolax's department, he went around a small hill and ran towards the left flank of the Chinese. At this moment, a few goths stumbled upon a slight hill farther away, and a few bright lights suddenly flashed. Before they could comprehend, the light suddenly vanished. Maybe they were dazzled, but they quickly put this doubt behind them as the team marched.
When Savolax led his troops to rush out, the Huaxia people seemed to have been prepared for a long time, and immediately turned their horses and ran back, without any hesitation, which made Savolax depressed. These Huaxia people are too cunning. However, because the Huaxia seemed to move a little slower, when they turned around, the Goths were just able to bite the tail of the Huaxia. This made Savolax very happy, and he issued a series of orders, asking his subordinates to speed up and catch up with the Huaxia people in the accelerated stage.
The war horses of the Chinese people seemed to be tired. They weren't as fast as the Gothic horses that were sprinting with all their might. Seeing that the distance in the middle is getting closer and closer, it's just that the Goths' kung fu is really not very good. Unable to hold their center of gravity on the galloping horses, and unable to unleash their anger on the backs of the Chinese, the Goths could only wield axes and Roman daggers, desperately instigating their mounts that began to breathe white mist and gasp.
Suddenly, the Huaxia people running behind turned around one after another, and the Goths who rushed to the front were horrified to find that the twisted bodies of the Huaxia people in front were like leaves in the wind, firmly attached to the galloping and bumpy horses, while their hands were pulling horn bows, and the tips of arrows shining with cold light were pointing at them. Oh my God, these Chinese people were able to shoot back in a wild run.
"Bang bang" hundreds of strings sounded, and the three cone arrows of the Chinese people's wooden pole flew head-on, although the hit rate was not very high, only less than thirty or forty people were shot, turned over and fell to the ground. But the deterrence and fear it brought to the Goths was obvious. Don't think it's okay to chase after you, if you chase after you, the Huaxia people will turn around and shoot you the same!
Savolax was a little crazy, he suppressed the anxiety and uneasiness in his heart, and shouted loudly, asking his subordinates to follow and continue to pursue the Huaxia, he believed that as long as he could catch up with the Huaxia, the Goths' physical advantages would naturally play to their advantages, so it didn't matter if they took a little risk.
Savolax's department was only shot back, and it was no big problem, but Friedigan was in big trouble. As he led 5,000 Goths to the left flank of the Chinese, he suddenly heard a strange sound mixed with the heavy hoofs of his own people. Fridigan listened attentively on his horse, not like the Huaxia and Savolax troops in the distance were changing direction, and just as he was puzzled, someone in the group behind him suddenly shouted: "Huaxia, there are Huaxia people on our right!" ”
Firedigan involuntarily turned his head and looked behind his right hand, only to see the blackened Chinese cavalry rushing over the short hills not far away, rushing straight towards his middle flank. O God (this is the God of Christianity - aka YHVH or God, what's going on?) Fredigan cried out in his heart.
Fredigan did not understand that once the Chinese began to fight. They are not limited to the battlefield within their line of sight, they will use a radius of hundreds of miles as their battlefield, hundreds of detectives and hidden horses closely monitor every corner of the battlefield for hundreds of miles, and the Goths' every move is also under their surveillance. They transmit all the information on the battlefield like a spider's web through various means such as the reflection of bronze mirrors or the chirping of birds, and the commanders on the battlefield use this information to mobilize and direct the troops in various places to intersperse, ambush and outflank.
It was the six thousand cavalry led by Ulolanto who led the attack on Firedigan. As soon as Savolax and Fredigan were leaving, he received a message from the prospect with a bronze mirror. Uloranto, who had long known the terrain here, knew that if Firedigan wanted to attack, he would have to pass through a hill, so he quickly rushed here to wait for the battle, and when Firedigan led the army over, he killed him directly. gave him a stab in the waist.
Because the Ulolanto department was lying on the ground with men and horses, it was hidden behind the hills. When the time came, he immediately stood up with men and horses, and rushed out from under the noses of the Goths like a whirlwind. This distance was very short, and before the Goths could come back to their senses and line up to meet the battle, the Huaxia cavalry had already rushed into the flank of the Goths with a roar.
The Huaxia people took ten people as a combat unit, with a spear in front to open the way, a horse archer to cover the back, and a saber hand to take care of the left and right, and directly entered the middle of the Goths' ranks. This formation is hugely powerful. In particular, the "saber hands" on both sides, who lay their sharp sabers flat and quickly slice through the bodies of one goth after another.
After a while, the Chinese cavalry broke through a large gap and cut the marching Goths in two. With a wave of his sword, the six thousand Chinese cavalry immediately divided into two parts, and the first battalion of cavalry immediately rushed forward, and soon was parallel to the first half of the Goths who had stopped, and then fired sharply with bows and arrows on the flanks. Due to the proximity of the Goths, the Goths were stationary, and a rain of arrows immediately shot the Goths on their backs. This battalion of Chinese cavalry circled in front of the first half of the Goths, and went around to the other side of the Goths with a circle of rising dust and smoke, and then there was another burst of fire, shaking the Goths' ground positions. The dazzling rush and the sharp arrow rain made the goths in the first half panic for a while. Firedigan repeatedly ordered to stabilize his position, and he did not have the strength to meet the second half of the team.
Ulolanto led 5,000 cavalry, divided into two roads, like a bloody mouth, and swallowed the back half of the Goths of about 2,000 men in one bite. Five thousand cavalry were divided into hundreds of small battle formations. Then they work together to form a large pair of scissors. A few back and forth cut the Gothic cavalry of 2,000 men to pieces. By the time Fridigan had managed to stabilize the ranks in a circle of a thousand Chinese cavalry, the second half of the Goths had already gone. There are only seven or eight hundred people left, and they are struggling there.
Ulolanto waved his saber again, and the herald gave the order loudly, dividing two battalions of cavalry to continue to annihilate the last few Chinese cavalry, and the remaining more than 2,000 cavalry roared and slaughtered into the stunned first half of the Gothic cavalry ranks, and the first battalion of cavalry that was still spinning in circles just now also rushed into the Gothic ranks from another direction.
It was only at this time that Fredigan realized that these Chinese were indeed masters of cavalry tactics, and the dazzling tactics just now had brought into full play the cavalry's mobility, flank attack and the unique cavalry and archery tactics of the Chinese. When Fredigan saw the other 2,000 Chinese cavalry pack up the last half of the Goths and gather into the Chinese cavalry that was interspersed with assaults in the first half of the Goths, he understood that his defeat was inevitable.
When Friedigan ordered surrender and raised the white flag but was rejected by the Chinese, the Hu Lawyers Association had already ordered the horn of a general attack to be blown.
As the unique horn sound of the Chinese people sounded on the banks of the Danube River and on the land of Messia, all the creatures on the earth were shocked by the long and thick sound of the horn, and they crawled on the ground, feeling the majestic breath that filled the heavens and the earth, and then trembling in the sound of horses' hooves everywhere.
The 10,000 Chinese cavalry divided into two ways and rushed out from the left and right, and the 5,000 cavalry in front of the front who began to return to fight were divided into three ways, like three sharp knives inserted into the 10,000 Goths.
The land of Lower Messiah was soon enveloped by a great sound, the sound of scattered horses' hooves, terrible screams, the clear sound of flesh and bones cracking, the crunchy clash of swords, and the faint groans of pain. In this huge sound, black figures are everywhere, and they are like a black ocean, inexorably drowning the Goths. Although the Goths were known for their burly stature and rage, warfare was more about overall coordination and tactics, as well as morale and courage. The well-trained and closely coordinated Chinese cavalry made the courage and fury of the Goths so fragile in the face of steel swords.
The war continued into the afternoon, and although more and more Goths died on the battlefield, the living Goths still persevered, wielding their mutilated axes and Roman short swords, like a reef on the shore of a great sea, struggling to resist the Chinese cavalry that had turned into stormy waves. These Chinese cavalry were like the masters of the sea, they came on the waves, attacked the Goths fiercely and quickly, caused some casualties, and then went away with the sea breeze, leaving only the tired Goths.
But before the Goths could turn their attention away from the back of the Huaxia who had suddenly disappeared, another group of Huaxia cavalry came with the waves and continued to attack fiercely and swiftly. The saber of the Chinese people is like a thunderbolt flashing on the sea, and it ramps with a smell of blood.
The goths are holding on, they don't know why they're holding on, and they don't know why they've been holding on until now. They are like fishermen in a storm, desperately battling the waves in a lonely boat on the raging sea. They knew that they were going to perish sooner or later, but the instinct to survive drove them, making them wave their numb arms and survive the onslaught of the Huaxia people again and again. The dying screams of their companions, the intense pain of their wounds, could not bring them back from the fear of the storm.
When a group of Chinese cavalry galloped into the battlefield, all the Chinese people cheered, and all the Goths were cowardly and devastated by it. This group of Chinese cavalry carried a dozen spears, and on the tip of the spear was a human head, all of whom were their leaders, including the great leader Phiredigan, and later the head of Savolax.
Watching the Huaxia cavalry galloping proudly on the battlefield with the heads of the leaders, all the Goths seemed to have their last spine shattered. Finally, some people began to lay down their arms, and then more people, and the Goths finally collapsed and surrendered, like fishermen who had lost their last hope, giving up their last faith in survival, indifferently dismounting, and indifferently standing together under the shouts of the Chinese. Perhaps many of these surviving Goths will never have the courage to take up arms again in their lives.
In this battle, only 6,000 Goths survived in the end, and the rest died on the battlefield, while the Huaxia suffered more than 4,000 casualties, so this decisive battle can be regarded as extremely tragic.
After the war, in order to make the "infidels" of Mercia remember the victory of the Chinese in Naissus, the Hu Bar Association ordered the heads of all the Goths who died in the battle to be cut off and piled them up into hills and stood on the banks of the Danube.