paranoianovel Chapter 821 Fierce Battle
Chapter 821 Fierce Battle
Chapter 821 Fierce Battle
"Anyone who can still move in the sight of God will be killed!"
"There is no need to pity these cunning Greeks. They roam the Mediterranean in collusion with pagan dogs. They have trafficked countless pilgrims over the years. Killing is not killing, it is redemption."
"God grant us the strength to wipe out all heresy!"
The Crusaders shouted all kinds of loud slogans, and whether they believed it in their hearts or not, they had to regard their fellow brothers as enemies.
They stepped on wooden steps, crossed the sea, and rushed into the port under the cover of the Venetian fleet, and fought with the Greek defenders who occupied advantageous terrain and were ready for battle.
Their shields with crosses printed on them collided with the Greek double-headed eagle shield wall on the opposite side, like two torrents, splashing out bloody waves.
"For the Queen, forward, forward!"
"Defeat all invaders and drive them into the sea."
"Don't give them a chance to gain a foothold on the beach!"
The empire's generals boosted morale and, according to the arrangements in "General's Strategy", used heavy infantry to stop the enemy's advance, while crossbows and arrows were shot from high above the city towers and walls to provide support.
Many Crusaders were shot into hedgehogs, and a Venetian warship was hit by a crossbow and penetrated the deck.
The two sides fought for a long time, and the first wave of offensive ended with the defeat of the Crusaders.
Most of the Varangian Guards came from the Rus states, Scandinavia, and even Albion. They were tall and burly, wearing heavy armor, and were definitely good at close combat.
Even the foot knights from Gaul and Germania could not gain any advantage in fighting against them.
Bella III, who was standing on the other side of the Golden Horn observing the battle, laughed contemptuously and said, "The Greeks have really fallen. The imperial army is full of Slavic and Latin mercenaries. If we fight in the wilderness, our cavalry can destroy their formation with just one charge."
Captain Dandolo on the side said noncommittally: "We don't have much time, Your Majesty. If you are still unwilling to exert your full strength, once we lose the opportunity to capture Constantinople, you will be burdened with a huge debt."
Bella III said with a relaxed expression: "Captain, haste leads to mistakes. This is only the first round of exploratory attacks, just like Gwent - who would throw out the trump card at the beginning?"
Dandolo sneered: "Don't get me wrong, we are not anxious. After all, you have paid enough collateral for this battle. Although Dalmatia is barren, it can barely recover some of our losses."
The messenger came on a fast horse and ran up to the city wall: "Your Majesty, a large number of enemy troops are gathering on the other side of the strait!"
Facing Captain Dandolo's "you see, I'll tell you" look, Bella III chuckled and said, "Who are they?"
"They are under the banner of the Ducas family. They seem to be a coalition of the Opskin Military District and the Ephesus Military District."
Bella III couldn't help but burst out laughing. "I thought it was the Egyptian tyrant who betrayed the glory of God and wanted to stand with the heretical church. I didn't expect that the Greek queen still had a few loyal subjects."
Is the emperor of the empire powerful?
Compared with the Gaul Emperor, whose political decrees did not leave the island of Gaul and whose situation improved only under the cunning Philip, the Germanic Emperor was openly opposed by the alliance of the Lombard vassals.
The emperor of the empire, who possesses a divine aura and can dismiss high-ranking officials such as the archbishop, is regarded as the representative of God on earth and is naturally much stronger.
But in fact, the central authority of the Eastern Empire had long since declined. After Constantinople was attacked, most of the governors in various places took a wait-and-see attitude, and few of them wanted to come to the rescue.
Many local governors even planned to wait until the Crusaders left before sending troops to Constantinople to overthrow the illegitimate Angelos dynasty and replace it.
Dandolo also breathed a sigh of relief: "Haha, he is probably also a fool who wants to marry that widow and become emperor."
“There are always many such people.”
Bella III shrugged. Although he wanted a queen, he had no intention of becoming an emperor.
In his view, anyone who tries to have it both ways is a fool.
Because of the current situation in the empire, Ducas and Komnenos are jointly ruling and restraining each other. Unless there is a force equivalent to the Komnenos family that wants to unite with Ducas, they can completely suppress the other party - but this does not exist in the empire.
In other words, the Queen was destined to be unable to gain allies through marriage; this was the bottom line of the Komnenos family.
In addition, the empress was not a real emperor but a regent. Once she got married, she lost the legal right to continue ruling.
Of course, there are exceptions.
For example, Alexius of the Angelos family, who had the support of the Crusaders, was ultimately defeated by power and strategy.
No matter how powerful the Komnenos family was in the empire, no matter how many military districts and official positions they controlled, they had to bow down in the face of the Crusaders.
That is, Alexios might not be able to keep his throne as emperor. After all, he promised too many rewards that he could not afford. After the Crusaders left, he would have emptied his family fortune and would probably be ousted soon.
But that’s not the business of the Crusaders.
It is possible that many Crusaders who have acquired a large amount of wealth will appear on the battlefield in the East, use this wealth to recruit an army, and then obtain a fiefdom in the Levant region.
Captain Dandolo urged: "Don't worry about the reinforcements. Our fleet has blocked the strait and they can't get through at all."
Bella III nodded slightly: "It seems that we need to speed up the progress."
He looked behind him at the group of Hungarian foot soldiers wearing iron armor: "Send the Iron Army to fight, and send a message to István, telling him that it is time to go to war. If we take Constantinople, he will be able to choose any precious tome and spellcasting materials he wants."
The messenger quickly took the order and left.
The Venetian ships started moving again, carrying the Hungarian armored infantry to the other side.
The Hungarians originated as nomads, and their infantry combat effectiveness has never been comparable to that of the Germans next door.
So the imperial general who was lining up to meet the enemy at the port, seeing this opponent, just sneered: "The Hungarian cavalry is quite capable, but their cavalry obviously cannot charge on the decks of the Venetians. Warriors of the empire, it's time to let these Magyars learn what real elite infantry is!"
Roar--
The Varangian Guards beat their shields and shouted war cries from various tribes, which scared the mercenary troops on the flank into a commotion. The Varangians, who were of the same race as the Normans and were Nordic barbarians, had never had a good reputation among the subjects of the empire.
boom--
With a loud bang, the Hungarian armored infantryman on the ship crashed into the beach like a cannonball. He waved his one-handed axe and round shield, and rushed up with a loud roar without waiting for his comrades behind him.
"A ragtag group of guerrillas!"
The scorn on the face of the imperial general became even stronger. He raised his hand and ordered, "Don't shoot yet. Bring them close!"
What is the most important thing for infantry?
Heavy armor?
Superb sword skills?
In his opinion, neither!
But the formation!
Only by forming a formation can the infantrymen exert their strength like an iron wall, rather than being playthings under the enemy's iron hoof.
The Magyars are indeed nomadic barbarians, and they don't even have the wisdom to use infantry.
The imperial general who came from the Komnenos family couldn't help but feel proud. If he won a great victory in this battle, he would be able to use the prestige of defeating the Latin coalition to push his niece, Princess Ira, to the throne. Then, he would be the greatest contributor to the Komnenos family.
But the next moment, the smile on the imperial general's face was crushed!
The Hungarian infantrymen were like tigers entering a pack of wolves, shouting wildly and fighting fiercely.
They were covered in iron armor, and the two-handed Danish axes in the hands of the Varangian Guards chopped them down, just like chopping down rotten leather, with only a dull sound. The Hungarian soldiers wrapped inside did not even scream and continued to fight fiercely.
He couldn't help but shudder and exclaimed, "The extraordinary army is exactly the same as the extraordinary army trained by the princess!"
Not only that, the scorching air in the sky drove away the moisture, as if bringing Constantinople's climate back to the scorching heat of midsummer.
A dazzling fireball condensed in mid-air.
Beneath the originally calm sea surface, there was a huge dark shadow swimming slowly.
A strong sense of fear rose in the general's heart.
Fortunately, a female voice, although a little stumbling and weak, was heard soon, and the half-condensed fireball exploded with a bang, breaking into countless flame spirits and dissipating.
"Get out of here!"
"You are not welcome here!"