"One regiment of heavy cavalry, two regiments of lancers...... It's impossible to lose anyway. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info Their opponents are just a group of recruits who have only been in the army for three months!" Commander Slavi kept comforting himself in his heart: "I will definitely win! I will definitely win! The regular army of the three cavalry regiments, rushing at a group of infantry who no longer have an array to speak of, nothing will happen at all!"

Yes. It's exactly like he said. In general, his judgment was correct. Three cavalry regiments, including a heavily armed heavy cavalry regiment, were enough to make a way through the chaotic battlefield. At that time, even if he can't turn defeat into victory, he will be able to greatly reduce his losses.

A tie, or a slightly inferior defeat, he can accept it. It doesn't matter even if you lose a lot. As long as it is not a fiasco in which the whole army is annihilated, it is no problem! His requirements are not high, they are really not high, there is only a little bit of it!

It's just a pity. He was so ordinary, he didn't have any high requirements, and he couldn't achieve it - seeing his own troops defeated like a mountain, the faces of the young masters and soldiers of the City Guard, who usually had little combat experience, turned white.

They do have the power to turn the tide - at least on paper. However, paper data is paper data. In fact, what the situation is is another matter - these young master soldiers are just here to collect credit and earn qualifications, not to fight the Gothic crusaders.

After receiving the order from the Slavi commander to "ask them to charge," the commanders of several city guards summed up a little, after which a decision was made - to refuse to carry out the order.

"That old bastard wants us to die?! ”

In the midst of such shouts, the soldiers of the City Guard scattered in the shortest possible time. Do not hesitate to combine expensive armor with muskets, swords and other weapons...... After dropping everything that stood in their way and slowed them down, the City Guard soldiers turned and fled as fast as they could. Head back too.

Commander Slavi already looked down on the combat effectiveness of these people. But he still didn't expect that these people could be so shameless.

"These bastards - they don't deserve to be nobles! they tarnish the honor of the Slavites!" the Slavi commander scolded. Of course, it was useless to shout - if the City Guard soldiers had even the slightest sense of honor, they wouldn't have done anything to run away before the battle.

And so, after the last bit of the flip card disappeared without a trace, Commander Slavi was completely dead. Unless there is a miracle at this time. Otherwise, they will surely be defeated. And it is precisely because it will not appear so simply that miracles are called miracles.

That's it, there is no longer any suspense in this battle. With the rout of the City Guard. The barely supported left and right wings then collapsed. The Slavians threw away their armor and fled in disarray. At the same time, William's cavalry regiment and a small number of cavalry hired mercenaries quickly attacked. Although the cavalry chasing the opposing side could not catch up. But against the opposing infantry troops, William demanded that they be completely annihilated.

After several hours of pursuit, the Slavic infantry all surrendered. At this point, the battle on the outskirts of Novgorod came to an end. More than 5,000 of the 20,000 Novgorod troops were killed, and the remaining nearly 8,000 were taken prisoner. Only about three thousand nomadic cavalry, with three cavalry regiments of the City Guard, escaped.

Later, William received further information that the thousands of nomadic cavalry had fled to their respective tribes instead of Novgorod. It doesn't look like it's going to be fighting anymore.

At the same time, the cavalry regiments of the three City Guards did not all flee back. About two to three percent of the soldiers deserted. The cavalry that returned to Novgorod was only in the early two thousand. And almost all of the equipment was lost.

After that, there was news of Holmgard's reinforcements. Tens of thousands of King Holmgard ****, after hearing about this rout, seemed to be a little overwhelmed. They stopped advancing. It doesn't look like you want to go to the aid of Novgorod anymore.

This made William breathe a sigh of relief. Although, even with the addition of more than 10,000 soldiers, he can still win. But if these people had remained in Novgorod, they would have caused some trouble for the crusaders. Now that they don't come, it's arguably the best outcome.

After that, William calculated:

"That is, Novgorod now has at most two thousand panicked cavalry...... Perhaps, if the Novgorodians still wanted to resist, they could distribute some old arquebuses to the citizens of Novgorod. They can gather about a few thousand soldiers...... However, such a unit will not be combat-ready at all. Now it is not an exaggeration to say that Novgorod is an undefended city. William thought to himself. At the same time, he smiled and looked at the officers who were sitting under him, who were having a heated discussion.

Whether it was an officer of the White Legion in his lineage, or a commander of a mercenary. Everyone's morale is very high. In addition to a hearty victory with few casualties, they were more concerned about the next attack on Novgorod...... Or robbery.

Although not as wealthy as the old commercial city-state of Polotsk, Novgorod has accumulated an astronomical amount of wealth over the centuries.

The Crusaders moved so quickly and won so suddenly. And after the victory, William sent cavalry to blockade Novgorod, and the nobles and merchants in the city who wanted to run were one step slower and did not run. In other words, Novgoro's wealth did not run away at all......

The mercenaries fought for money, but how did the money come from? One relied on military salaries, and the other relied on robbery. Now there is such a big piece of fat in Novgorod in front of them. Even if the Crusader commander William had to get the lion's share, the officers would have received a large share. Many people feel that most of their lives will depend on this money.

Of course, what these guys are thinking in their hearts, William knows, he knows very well what virtues the mercenaries of this era are. It is still a matter of course, their virtue is not welcome.

Although the theoretical Republic of Novgorod still existed, Wilhelm had already considered this land his own. He didn't want these bastards to rob him of his own money on his own turf.

It's still a matter of course, and I can only think about it in my heart. Judging by the virtues of the mercenaries of this era, if William had said to them, "You are not allowed to rob," these bastards might have mutinied. When the time comes, you'll have fun watching it.

"Therefore, it is necessary to regularize the army...... However, an excessive number of professional soldiers is a great burden on the state finances. And if you want to reduce military spending, you must popularize conscription...... However, the combat effectiveness of conscripts who are not given sufficient pay and treatment cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, in order to boost the morale of the conscripts, it is necessary to give them citizenship status, but in doing so, it will lead to the proliferation of liberalism...... "Thinking of this, William felt a headache.

There is no perfect thing in this world, just like Mr. Lu Xun said, there is no way to keep people alive after cutting off their heads. Dictators will either have their people's heads cut off or will have to be forced to make concessions. In this process, the better is the improvement, and the little more is easy to break out of revolution.

"That's terrible...... Before he knew it, William had thought about it for a long time...... No, maybe not that long. With the popularization of the industrial revolution brought about by the steam engine, I am afraid that day will come sooner than William imagined.

"Will it be my help, or will it be my stumbling block?" William thought to himself. Then, he heard his name being called.

"Your Excellency William, Your Excellency William?!" the mercenary captain's loud voice called William back to the real world from his thoughts.

"What's the matter?" William, who came back to his senses, asked in a deep voice with a calm expression.

"It's the tactic that should be used in the total attack. We captured almost all of the Slavic artillery, and although there were no siege guns, the old walls of Novgorod could not withstand it - if you bombarded the walls of the other side with artillery, it was very likely that a gap would be made in them. And then we can go on the offensive - no, I should say, after that, the Novgorodians will be scared and will not be able to resist, right?"

The mercenary who answered William's question answered excitedly.

"Well, indeed. Hearing this, William was slightly pleased - a total of eighty guns, almost brand new. And because the opponent fled too fast, there was no time to nail the gun door, so all of them could be used.

Although the casting process was slightly worse, resulting in an increase in the weight of the cannon, it was still a valuable asset to the Crusaders who lacked artillery weapons. Willian, as the manager, got the bulk of the most valuable loot in his hands.

"Indeed......," William nodded—indeed, with the sixty or so cannons he already had, the Crusaders were able to assemble a group of more than a hundred guns. There are no modern fortresses around Novgorod, and the medieval city walls are extremely fragile because they have not been repaired for many years...... But......

"Still, there's one thing that's wrong. William smiled at me: "Those Novgorodians, we don't have to attack the city with all our might. After the previous field victory, most of them no longer had the courage to resist. ”

Before the other mercenary generals wanted to make fun and laugh along with William's words, William's next words made them laugh again:

"So, I decided to send emissaries to Novgorod and demand their surrender. ”