Central Salander, Beleng Stone Bridge

In the Great Plains of Central Salander, there is a huge river called the Belleng River, which originates in the Snow-Capped Mountains near the northern range of Salander, and flows through the Mustang Plain, the mouth of the Siti Wetlands, and finally extends south to Kuronze, and then flows into the sea from the mouth of the East Siente Sea.

Because of the wide area of the flow and the many tributaries of the receiving area, the Bellen River has a very large flow in the southern rainy season that has just ended, and the rapid river channel passes through a lot of lowland canyons, so the river is very turbulent, and the white waves can hit the abrupt rock wall from time to time.

Even in this hot and rainy summer, the average depth of the river is more than six meters, and the average width of the river is more than 100 meters.

It took the people of Salander 70 years to build a famous stone arch bridge over the river, which is the Bellang Bridge across the Berlange River

It is the result of the wisdom and sweat of the Salander people, and is built in the middle of the narrowest canyon of the river, with a total length of 140 meters and a width of 120 meters

Seven huge piers of the bridge used about nearly 400 tons of huge stones, it has a history of 130 years, can be said to have been through rain, snow, wind and frost, years of devastation, still as strong as ever, the tumbling river below the gushing, emitting a majestic rumbling sound.

The Bellem Bridge is an important junction connecting the central and northwestern mountains of Salander, and is a route from the interior of Kyoto in Salander to the Noai Valley in the western mountains

At the beginning, the Northern Army went all the way south to the outskirts of Kyoto in Salander, and the role of the Bellang Bridge in the middle of the bridge was very ordinary.

The bridge guard force is only one or two hundred people, just responsible for daily patrols and inspections, until the end of last year, there is only one squadron of troops here, this squadron is subordinate to the northern territory, is the army commanded by Nilai, such an important strategic place, the fat man naturally cannot let him fall into the hands of the incompetent southern nobles

With the withdrawal of Nilai from the front line of the Civil War with the real Northern Army, the Bellang Bridge became the dividing line between the North and the Central, and the number of troops hoarded at the bridge gradually increased to 12,000 men, almost a third of Nilai's army.

The commander was an old general named Tedsch, who was originally the defender of the city of Lazar, and since this new squadron was mainly composed of Lassa, he naturally became the supreme commander

Tedsch was an old man who was nearly sixty years old, old-fashioned and rigorous, very much like the old Mamunuk, but his fate was very bad, as a senior Mamunuk, but when the commander of the Grand Duke of Lhasa was killed, he had to withdraw to Lhasa with the remnants of the army, so that his reputation was severely affected.

If it weren't for Nilai's partiality as the lord of the city, he would have been executed by the nobles of the city, and the army of the wild wolf Housalis in Normandy pressed the border, so he had to not use this experienced veteran as the city guard, and with the rise of the northern leader from Salander, the old Mamunuk felt as if he had found a youthful feeling again

Every day from morning to night, the troops stationed on the Bellang Bridge had to check a large number of passing people and wagons, and they were basically withdrawn to the north from several nearby fighting areas, most of them were soldiers of the original Northern Army who had fled.

Because of the lack of unified leadership and the southern aristocracy competing and fighting each other for power, although it had an army of about 60,000, it was completely unable to compete with the Salander Kyoto army, which had less than 30,000 people.

The shape from Kyoto is very unimpressive, like a plate of scattered southern nobles who were beaten and lost their armor under the fierce counterattack of the Kyoto army. As the fighting in Kyoto became more and more intense, the situation in nearby areas such as Monsar and Tokady became more and more tense, which indirectly affected the atmosphere in Belen

There is news that the main force of Kyoto is entrenched in the nearby areas of Möngke, Tokady and other areas, and is storming the last nest of the southern nobles, Moendad, which means that the Kyoto army is about to achieve a complete victory over the southern nobles, and may attack the Bellang Bridge at any time.

Tedschdi's nerves suddenly began to tense, in the past few days, there have been defeated southern nobles with people to withdraw from the nearby area, at the time of the passage of the Guò Bellen bridge, according to the regulations they must surrender their weapons, and express their willingness to become a member of the northern territory, this is Nilai's rule for these southern nobles to rout their army...,

But when most of the rout army ran to the Bellang Bridge, they were often beaten badly by the Kyoto army, not to mention the weapons, even the armor and flags were discarded.

Many squadrons were broken up in the battle, and the dozens of soldiers walking together were often from different units, making it very difficult to identify.

On the bridgehead of the Bellang Bridge, there were plastered notices about the liaison and assembly points

As soon as the breeze blew, from time to time there were sticky announcements that were blown into the rushing Bellen River under the bridge.

At first, Tedsch was careful to inquire about the battle in front of them, and learned that they had been attacked by a group of Mamunouk knights in Kyoto, so the troops were badly defeated

However, the Mamunuk's cavalry was still far from here, and it was impossible to reach it in a short time.The remnants of the defeated army were envious of the garrison at Bellen Bridge.These well-armoured, high-spirited warriors made them feel ashamed.

After all, they were all once in the same unit, enjoying the same glorious name "Northern Army"

Many soldiers have heard about the fact that the southern nobles set up the Archduchess of Nilai at the time, and they didn't think so much at that time, they only thought that the adults of the southern nobles could always put forward the idea of catering to their revenge, so they were very disgusted with the Archduchess of Nilai who had always claimed to maintain restraint against the people of Kyoto.

At that time, the northern army could be described as a strong army, 100,000 troops broke through the important town of Lyming City, the outer city of Kyoto, and the city of Saliteke, which was called the gateway to Kyoto, could not breathe, that is, Salander Kyoto, in the face of such a strong army, it also seemed so vulnerable,

According to convention, Salander Kyoto, which has fallen into a desperate situation, should soon be broken by the northern army in this siege.

But no one expected that in just half a year, the whole shape of shì had undergone a big reversal, those adults from the south shouted slogans loudly, what to kill all the people of Kyoto, what to launch the holy war of recovery, but it was really a group of straw bales on the battlefield, not only the Kyoto army that looked down on before was defeated, and even in order to flee for their lives, they did not hesitate to attack the friendly forces blocking the road

Hearing this, Tedsch was no longer surprised, and he didn't bother to ask about the battle situation in front of him for this kind of remnant army, but secretly sent more people and patrols to build a row of wooden watchtowers on the rock walls on both sides of the Bellang Bridge, and kept an eye on the eastward advance near the bridge.

As the Kyoto army showed signs of attacking the northern plains at any time, the importance of the Belem Bridge was immediately revealed, and the situation became more and more tense, and Tedsch found that the forces he could mobilize were still weaker than the 30,000 Kyoto troops on the opposite side, and the report for reinforcements had been submitted, but there was no reply from the Archduchess Nilai, who was sitting in the Vic Command.

In fact, Tedsch must know that now that the 10,000 troops defending the northwestern mountains and the 10,000 troops holding the important Kuronze are gone, there are very few troops that can be mobilized in the hands of the Grand Duke of Nilai, and the 12,000 men allocated to him are already the limit of the northern territory

That afternoon, Tedsch was taking a lunch break, but it was very hot, and he couldn't sleep in a daze, so he grabbed a bottle of wine from the bedside and went out on patrol in a drunken state

This was what he was used to, and his subordinates were accustomed to it, but the southern nobles who had just retreated from the front were very surprised

They had the impression that the army in the northern region seemed to be very tightly managed, and if there was a case of drinking before the war, it was likely to be severely whipped

Ignoring the disdainful gaze of the remnants of the defeated generals, Tedsch continued to fulfill his duty there, which was to watch his men inspect others from afar.

In fact, his face was flushed, and he couldn't see any details at all, but he vaguely saw a lot of figures dangling around, all of them looking dejected.

Tedsch placed his bottle on a rock by the side of the road, the worst unit he had ever seen in a few days, perhaps a particularly heavy blow from the cavalry

The remnants of the defeated soldiers were all wrapped in white cloth with their heads, and the white cloth was stained with blood. They also dragged a few dilapidated carriages, on which were also lying wounded soldiers, and their bodies were densely bandaged like mummies.

Tedsch was not a commander who had never been on the battlefield, in fact, as a veteran Mamunuk, the battlefield and the smell of blood were all too familiar.

Accustomed to being wounded and killed, he couldn't help but admire that this group of wounded soldiers was not easy to live, and being able to survive the impact of the group of cavalry was enough to show their luck, but the other party's injuries made him feel some doubts,

So many wounded soldiers did not have broken hands and legs, only a few lame people who needed to walk with crutches, and they were lucky.

"You're from that unit," Tedsch staggered over from the side, waving his hand to stop a squadron leader who was about to let go.

The pale-faced commander on the other side looked at Tedsch suspiciously, hesitated for a moment before bending down to give a salute, his expression seemed to be a little surprising that Tedsch looked like this.

In fact, along with Tedsch came a well-equipped cavalry corps, not many in number, all of them were of good skill, with shields and sharp knightly swords in their hands, and on their heads were the signature red tassels of the Mamunuk knights, who were Tedsch's guards,

These horseback horses surrounded them like a half-arc, and the leader was also a young man in high spirits. A pair of shining eyes with a bit of murderous aura, his name is Tedressa, and he is the eldest son of Tedsch

"Report to my lord, we are the third squadron of Lord Slicksu's legion," the leader of this group of remnants was a skinny little guy, probably only twenty-five or sixteen years old, and there was basically no square without scars all over his body, but the blood stain on his face was very heavy, and people had to wonder if he had been broken.

His eyes flickered as he looked at the cavalry gathered around, and said in an unnatural voice, "We were attacked by the Mamunouk knights in the battle, and the entire legion was left with us, because we didn't want to fight, and now there is a big drought everywhere, and even food is a problem, I heard that as long as you are willing to belong to the northern territory, you can get food, so the brothers decided to come to the northern territory together."

"Really, that's really weird," Tedsch said with a mysterious smile on his lips as he looked up and down with a confused gaze

"I heard that the cavalry of the Kyoto army was composed of real Mamunuks knights, not the pseudo-Mamunuks who were indiscriminately charged before,

The number of people has also been reduced from more than 7,000 people to only more than 3,000 people, but the combat effectiveness is stronger, it is the sharpest sword of the Saland's Kyoto army, I heard that they often face the enemy of tens of thousands of people, and still dare to launch a decisive charge, and the defeat of the southern aristocratic faction in several battles is mostly caused by the strong impact of these Mamunuk knights, and finally the flank of the guide zhì is caused by the collapse.

It's not too strange that I've been guarding here for so long, and it's the first time I've seen an infantry man who has encountered a Mamunuk's knight so intact."

"My lord, you misunderstood" Hearing Tedsch's question, the young officer said with a relieved face, "We were attacked by Mamunuk, but those Mamunuks were in a hurry to pursue the fleeing adults, so they just forced their way through us, and some of the brothers with broken hands and feet died on the way because they were not treated, and we were the only ones who survived."

"Ah, what a wretched man," Tedsch looked drunk, staggering and stumbling, and his body slammed forward.

"My lord, you have to pay attention" The young officer hurriedly grabbed Tedsch's hand, the rough spiral pattern in the center of the palm and the strong gripping force made Tedsch's eyebrows frown slightly, and he took a deep breath, and a faint smell of blood drifted from the young officer's clothes into his nose,

"Thank you, I'm so old, if it weren't for your help, I would have lost my face" Tedsch got up with an embarrassed face and patted the dirt on his body with his hand,

Taking the opportunity to turn around, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that those remnants of the defeated soldiers seemed to be moving quietly, and the location of the movement was also a little strange, they were almost less than 10 meters away from the soldiers at the bridge, why were the dozen or so wounded soldiers always placed under the thatch of the carriage?

"Thank you very much, young man, what's your name?" Tedsch endured the horror in his heart, and patted the young officer's shoulder vigorously, the position of the other party's shoulder appeared to be a slight sturdy bulge, confirming the conjecture in his heart, it was the descendant disease left by the heavy armor lanyard worn by the Mamunuk knight for many years,...,

"Hesgen," said the tall, thin young officer, cautiously.

"Let them go, they're all wretched," Tedsch waved to the nearby patrol soldiers, burping loudly, and staggered out of the bridge, staggering into a nearby arrow tower, as if very casual

But suddenly, like a rabbit, Tedsch picked up his weapon against the wall, and at the same time roared: "Prepare for battle, they are fake from the Kyoto Army"

The atmosphere on the bridge seems to have suddenly been condensed.

The soldiers guarding the bridge hadn't reacted yet, they hadn't had time to react at all, and some of them didn't even know who Tedsh was referring to by "they."

The two soldiers near the bridgehead were still stunned, when their throats were cut by the short dagger that suddenly appeared in the hands of the young officer, and then they fell down without saying a word, their eyes were still wide open, and they didn't seem to understand how they died.

The shouts of "enemy attack" came and went on the bridge,

In the barracks closest to the bridge on both sides, hundreds of soldiers with spears quickly rushed out, "killing" the sharp infantry spears and the Mamunouk knights dressed as wounded soldiers.

Although the number of these Mamunuks is small, they are all extraordinary, and the long swords in their hands bring a pale white luster, colliding with the spears and sparks, because the bridge is too narrow, hundreds of pikemen are stunned by several Mamunuk knights to block on the Qiaokou and cannot advance

"Release the arrows" A row of archers quickly formed a whole column on the riverside, raised the bow and arrows in their hands and fired a burst of sharp shots, black arrows crossed a series of eye-catching and swift white lines in the air, and fell on the heads of the two sides who were entangled, and in the screams, the corpses tumbled from the mouth of the bridge into the turbulent river below,

"Signal" The tall and thin young officer separated the spear with his sword, and shouted hoarsely to a somewhat frightened wounded soldier behind him, who took out a bow and arrow from under the thatch of the carriage, quickly pulled it away, and shot a cluster of arrows into the air with a sharp sound

"**, even by sniffing with your nose, Lao Tzu also knows that you are all senior Mamunuk, and you are really willing to invest hundreds of people at a time, Kyoto is really willing to spend money" Tedsch, who was standing on the arrow tower, looked at the tragic scene in front of him, and said with some emotion,

At this time, his face suddenly changed,

A rumbling rolling sound is coming quickly, and on the small slope of the opposite bridge, a black and imposing black line slowly emerges, and gradually amplifies.

It was a thousand heavily armored Mamunuk knights, like a huge rolling iron stream, rushing up from the opposite bridge, and the flying hooves of the horses stepped over their own people without hesitation, colliding heavily with the hundreds of spearmen who had not had time to withdraw on the opposite side

On the left side of the opposite slope, the mixed infantry and cavalry of the Kyoto army continued to drive out of the foothills on the left, the rumbling hooves and footsteps resounded through the foothills, the soldiers and horses lifted a yellow dust mist, and the black array and flying flags loomed in the dust and fog in the sky. The high slope in front of the bridge was slowly descended by a tide of people and horses.

"Woo" With a rapid and sharp sound in the air, countless arrow clusters were like locusts rising on the horizon, covering the sky and the sun.

"You immediately bring the guards to Vic Leader to report to the Grand Duke of Nilai, the Kyoto army is attacking, please tell Miss Sù, I, Tedsch, am a person who should have died a long time ago, and please don't be sad" Tedsch took a deep breath of cold air, took out the report that had already been written in his hand from his arms, and handed it to the captain of the guard behind him, that is, his eldest son Tedressa...... ，