In the years that followed, the Hereford Family's First Regiment underwent a series of reorganizations. The pen & fun & pavilion www.biquge.info reorganized the three incomplete infantry regiments, and then pulled out a total of sixteen barely full infantry companies.

Of course, these infantry companies were not in the best condition, that is, at full strength of one hundred and fifty men. But it was enough for the 1st Army, which was currently in a strained situation.

With these sixteen infantry companies, plus the 5th Infantry Regiment. The infantry units of the defensive line were restored to three thousand people. It was supplemented by two brigades of combat engineers, as well as two incomplete cavalry regiments, as well as a chasseur battalion directly under the regiment, a regimental guard company, and a guard cavalry company. The First Legion could pull out another 5,000 men. There is a lot of confidence in the second line of defense.

However, immediately afterward, the temporary commander of the First Army received an order from William to retreat and rest in the rear.

This order was extremely incomprehensible and difficult for the corps commander to accept. But for William, it was natural and essential.

It is true that the 1st Praetorian Guard Regiment of the Hereford Family, which can gather 5,000 troops and complete infantry and artillery, can still hold out in a battle. Inflict strong enough damage on the enemy. However, if there is another war of attrition like today, then the formation of the First Army will completely collapse.

It is easier to replenish a well-framed corps that loses half, or even more than half of its troops.

At least it's easier than reforming a legion.

And those elite veterans, who have experienced enough baptism in the war, are naturally stronger than ordinary recruits.

Therefore, unless it is absolutely necessary, William will never allow the First Army to fight hard. That's why.

Knowing William's good intentions, he was secretly afraid of that kind of ending. Therefore, although the First Army was still a little reluctant, although there were some officers and soldiers of the First Army, they felt that in the battle during the day, the First Army lost a lot of soldiers and horses, which was regarded as a loss of people, and they lost for a while, and they wanted to find the field and save face in the next war or something.

But for the army, the most important thing is not face, the most important thing is to obey orders. So in this case, the 1st Praetorian Guard Regiment of the Hereford family, still retreated.

It was very fast, and all the guns of the artillery regiment, as well as the three-pounder guns and organ guns attached to the infantry regiment, and all the wounded were brought along. Nearly 8,000 soldiers of the entire 1st Praetorian Guard Regiment withdrew from the defensive line and moved back to the rear for rest.

And because of this, the dark elves pounced-

As mentioned before, the Dark Elves' female Sudan Fatima seems to regard night battles as a magic weapon for whether this battle can be won or not. So in the following night, a legion of dark elf troops was dispatched to prepare an attack on the positions of the First Legion.

And as mentioned above, because William ordered the First Legion to retreat in advance, the night attack force of the Dark Elves was in vain. In addition, for this reason - on duty, the cavalry of the night vigil sensed that the enemy had occupied the position, so William did not hesitate to order the artillery units of the Second Army to bombard the positions of the first line. During the half-hour bombardment, thousands of shells were poured on this position. Nearly two thousand dark elves were killed in one fell swoop.

It can be said that up to this point, the night attack of the dark elves has completely failed. But the Dark Elf commander who led the army was not willing to let the mission fail.

After much thought, he made the decision to lead the legion onward.

He didn't believe that the line of defense he was going to attack next was not yet there.

As long as you can get into the rhythm of hand-to-hand combat, then the victors of this battle will still be the dark elves and the Ottoman Empire.

It's just a pity that he still guessed wrong.

Before this, after suffering the loss of the night attack of the dark elves, the Hereford family had a heart. Next, after the Dark Elves touched the first line of defense of the Second Legion, they suffered the biggest defeat of the Dark Elves in this war.

"The smell of oil?"

By the time something was wrong, it was too late, and the flames illuminated the night as bright as day. At the same time, the retreat of the Dark Elf troops, a total of four infantry regiments, who rushed to the front, was also sealed.

The three infantry regiments of the Second Army, which had been in full position, plus hundreds of three-pounder guns filled with shotguns, and hundreds of organ guns that were already fully armed, were aimed at them......

Then there was the Herriford family's assault like a metallic rainstorm, with artillery shotguns, large-caliber musket bombardment from organ cannons, three-stage musket fire, and mass throwing grenades. In between the narrow gaps, the Hereford family army poured an excess of firepower into it. In an instant, life is like garbage, and it dies quickly and worthlessly.

In such despair, many of the dark elves went crazy in fright, screaming and collapsing to the ground. However, there are also some dark elves who are very backbone, and these guys, knowing that they are going to die, launched a decisive charge against the front of the Hereford family. Screaming and dying under the attack of the Hereford family army.

That's it, shouting loudly, dying, screaming and dying. In this killing area, the Dark Elves have endured the greatest pain and frustration since they seized supreme power over the Ottomans.

It was in this situation that the dark elf officers and soldiers who were separated by the flames and couldn't rush through no matter what, and could only watch their helpless deaths were extremely desperate.

A mixture of remorse, fear, anger, emptiness, etc., a myriad of negative emotions fermented among them, and many people shouted loudly and scolded, wanting to relieve the depression in their hearts in this way.

There were also some guys who were even more insane, and they charged towards the Hereford family's position despite the raging flames.

The vast majority of them were burned to death in flames and choked to death by smoke and poisoning. However, there were some lucky ones who broke through the flames and rushed in front of the Hereford family army in one go.

It's just that waiting for their fate is not much different from being killed by flames and smoke......

This night attack of the dark elves was declared a complete failure.

Including the Dark Elves who were previously bombarded by artillery. The number of dark elves killed in this battle has exceeded six thousand. Occupy half of the Dark Elves' First Praetorian Legion.

To make matters worse, the defeat was a huge demoralization blow to the Dark Elves. It was after this defeat that the morale of the Dark Elf Praetorian Guard, who witnessed how their allies were slaughtered by the forces of the Hereford family, was unimaginably low.

The entire 1st Praetorian Guard Corps, from top to bottom, was enveloped in an atmosphere of defeat. I can't play a little bit of combat power anymore.

That's it, the so-called "army of 100,000" of the dark elves has lost the combat effectiveness of another legion. Today, there are only two corps left of the Ottoman army, which is completely intact.

The problem is that these two legions are also affected by friendly forces, and morale has become very low.

Basically, it's over. Quite a few Ottoman troops had already thought of this possibility - oh bad, really bad. It would have been better if this army had consisted entirely of mercenary troops, like the Imperial Army. Because no matter how many people die, there is no heartache.

But this army is different. At the heart of this army is the Dark Elves. Two legions of dark elves. And now, one of the Dark Elf legions has lost half of its troops. This was also an unbearable, heavy and huge blow to the entire Ottoman Empire.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it. ”

In her ornate tent, the female Sudan Fatima spun in circles in a bit of anger.

In any case, it was difficult for her to accept the result.

The ingenious tactics he came up with to deal with the Hereford family were countered by the other party, and even thousands of Dark Elf Praetorian Guard soldiers were sacrificed because of it.

This is something that has not happened in the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years.

She could already imagine what would happen next.

Her relatives, her sisters, and her princes will act in the shortest possible time to hold her accountable and attack. Questioning her ability and whether she is still qualified for the important position of Sudan in the Ottoman Empire.

If they succeeded, then Fatima would not be able to go down in history and become the best and greatest Sudan in the history of the Ottoman Empire, but her current power and status, and even her own life could not be saved.

At the thought of this possibility, Fatima was terrified and angry.

"What a mistake," she now regrets. The big regret is for the reckless execution of the night attack tactics before. Small regrets are for the whole war.

Regardless, she's already starting to think about her future.

"We can't go on like this. ”

With the loss of the 1st Praetorian Guard, the balance of forces between the two sides has changed drastically. If this war is maintained, it will not do Fatima any good.

So, if she could, she would now have to think about how to end this war with dignity.

"If you can get some benefits at the negotiating table...... No, the other party must not be so stupid. She thought to herself.

"Well, only a relatively plausible treaty can be made.

But what if the other party doesn't give up?"

The Fatimid woman Sudan was very worried.

If the other party, Wilhelm von Hereford, understood her weak heart, and then the lion opened his mouth, then what was she going to do?

It is one thing to lose thousands of troops, it is another thing to lose a war. If the two things happened together, it would be a great disaster for the Ottoman Empire, as well as for the Fatimid woman Sudan herself.

"So, no matter what, we have to make an equal peace. Even if it is impossible to make some concessions on the Ruthenian question and then cede the whole of the Cuman-Kipchak steppe to the other side. Anyway, these territories were not originally Empire's.

One thing that must be done is that the land must not be ceded, and there must be no compensation.

If you can do both, you'll be successful. ”

In this way, the female Su Dan secretly made up her mind.

And from what she just said, it is clear that one thing is clear, that is, she never thought of concentrating her strength and sending more troops to the city of Kyiv to hold a larger battle with the Hereford family to defeat him completely.

In the face of disadvantage, Fatima's thinking has shifted from defeating external enemies and reaping more advantages to defeating internal competitors and preserving her current power.