Water Margin people

The army marched forward on horseback in formation, still using volleys of guns and mortars.

The fleeing Crusaders were even more confused. Without the protection of their shields, they fell down in large numbers as gunfire rang out.

"Come on!"

Seeing the Qi army coming, Philip II and Richard I, who were watching the battle from behind, were so frightened that they quickly led their troops to retreat. At this time, they no longer cared about plotting against Philip I, and if they stayed any longer, their lives might not be saved.

The Qi army did not pursue for long. Their numbers were limited and there were still risks in going deep into the enemy's camp.

"What a shame! If there were a few thousand more soldiers, I would have just charged straight in!"

Xin Qiji's face was full of regret.

"Even if I give you thousands of troops, you can't pursue us!"

Lu You looked at Xin Qiji and said.

"why?"

Xin Qiji asked in confusion. He was absolutely confident that he would defeat the Crusaders with a few thousand more troops.

"Why? Of course there is no target! Who are you going to hit?"

Lu You looked at Xin Qiji and asked.

"Of course, we must defeat the enemy, crush their main force, penetrate them, disperse them, and then make a detour to sweep and annihilate them..."

Xin Qiji talked about the tactics he had thought of in his mind. According to his calculations, it would only take seven or eight days to completely defeat these Crusaders by fighting like this.

"And then? Even though the enemy is scattered, this is a plain, but there are rivers running through it. The enemy can use the terrain to escape and return to their own kingdom. They will only lose a few soldiers and horses."

"But how much risk are you taking? It's easy to deal with such a large plain during the day. With weapons, we can slaughter the enemies like hunting sheep."

"But at night, these sheep herds are likely to turn into wolf packs, and they will fight back against the hunters."

"Even if it's a very weak counterattack, there's still a chance of success. And there's also the threat of the Black Death. We can't afford any risks!"

"We want to conquer the West, not just rob and leave. If we really want to rob, we can just take down the big cities here. Why go to so much trouble?"

Lu You looked at Xin Qiji and said, they are conquerors, not robbers.

"Oh, it's too troublesome, I'm too lazy to think about it!"

Xin Qiji rolled his eyes and said that he just wanted to lead his troops to charge and fight. They were all enemies anyway, so it didn't matter how to kill them.

"You should think about it more! If it was as simple as leading the troops to charge, how could it be your turn? Wasn't General Yue the first one to lead the troops to charge?"

Lu You shook his head.

……

Philip I fled all the way to the mountains near Padua and then stopped.

"what is that?"

Philip II and Richard I asked, panting. They could not understand the battle just now at all. They had strong soldiers and horses, excellent equipment, and absolute advantage in numbers.

Logically they should have won, but in the end they suffered a crushing defeat. The terrible guns and artillery made them unable to resist.

"Those are Qi's weapons, muskets and cannons!"

Philip I spoke with lingering fear.

"Do you know why you still fell for it? Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Philip II and Richard I were furious, believing that Philip I had concealed important information.

"What I saw this time was completely different from what I saw last time. Last time they were not fully equipped with guns!"

"Besides, it's fine if the Kingdom of England doesn't know, but don't you French know either?"

Philip I looked at Philip II and said.

"What should we do now? That musket is so scary, there's no way we can get close to it!"

Philip II said angrily that he had heard about Qi's muskets and cannons from the Crusaders who returned last time, but he had no idea and thought they were just more powerful weapons.

"It's not that difficult actually. A shield can protect you from it. It's just that the warhorse needs armor!"

Richard I spoke, he had seen the battle that had just begun, the enemy's firearms were very powerful, but not invincible, as long as it came to close combat, those muskets and cannons would be meaningless.

"That would require a lot of armor!"

Philip II said, "Can't we gather some armor for such a large army?"

Richard I spoke.

"No problem at all!"

Philip II immediately replied that he had mentioned the difficulty just now in order to throw the question to Philip I.

……

Outside the city of Venice, the followers of the Imperial Church on the seashore cheered. They had won and easily repelled the vanguard cavalry of the Crusaders.

There were still Crusaders wailing on the battlefield. They were shot but the wounds were not fatal and they did not die immediately.

"What should we do with these people? Go get more guns?"

Xin Qiji looked at Lu You and asked.

"No, let them bleed to death!"

Lu You shook his head. It would be too easy for these people to shoot them now. The enemy must be made to die a miserable death.

"Then withdraw your troops!"

Xin Qiji waved his hand and gave the order.

The believers on the coast paid no attention to the Crusaders who were wailing and waiting to die; these people were already enemies.

Some nobles and merchants who did not leave could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. The stronger the Qi army's combat effectiveness, the safer they would be.

"This is just a vanguard of 10,000 people. There will be more than 200,000 troops to follow!"

The governor was still full of worries. Qi's fighting capability was unquestionable, but its numbers were its fatal weakness.

"I think Qi still has a backup plan!"

Baldwin IV said that if Qi really had no trump cards, there would not be this war, and Qi would never reveal all its trump cards at once.

"Let's just wait!"

The governor was too lazy to refute anything. Now he had no choice but to wait.

The three defeated men immediately sent someone to contact the central army.

"What? Lost?"

Conrad III listened to the knight's report in disbelief.

"Yes, the enemy has guns and artillery! Your Majesty, please provide us with enough armor!"

The knight said to Conrad III.

"Send out the heavy cavalry!"

Conrad III gave orders to the generals around him, saying that he had brought all his elite troops for this battle.

"Let all the heavy armored shield soldiers come!"

Louis VII also gave the order.

The last Crusade failed, and Conrad III and Louis VII blamed it all on insufficient fighting power. They had traveled thousands of miles and were unable to bring many things with them.

"How dare Qi, with so few people, resist?"

Some kings frowned. If they were in other people's shoes, they would definitely choose to escape or surrender at this time. It was meaningless to continue resisting. Although they won the battle for a while, they would get even more terrible revenge in return.

"Where are the civilians?"

Eugene III asked.

"Those civilians are still listening to the cult's preaching on the coast."

The knight replied.

"It's really deceptive!"

Eugene III's face turned gloomy. He didn't expect that Qi was still preaching at this time.

"Are you trying to brainwash the believers and make them fight?"

Eugene III thought, this is the most troublesome situation. Although the church can kill pagans, these people were once believers of the church, but now they are bewitched by evil gods. According to God's mercy, these poor people should be rescued, reformed, and forgiven. (End of this chapter)