Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 726 Attacking the Camp
According to the plan, each team would hurry to their positions and then wait. Once Haji Glay and his men were charging in from the main road, they would raise flags, shout, and set fires.

However, an unexpected incident occurred right at the start of the operation. It was Li Li's side that first encountered the enemy.

As they advanced, they encountered a group of enemy soldiers driving large wagons back to camp. Their wagons were loaded with all sorts of odds and ends, and several young women were tied up with them. The soldiers were not in formation, walking in small groups, chatting and laughing as they went.

However, despite their seemingly carefree demeanor, they were quite vigilant. Just as Li Li and his men spotted the group, the opposing scouts on horseback also spotted them. Separated by a sparse woodland, horns sounded from the opposite side. The seemingly lazy and undisciplined soldiers immediately rallied, using the convoy as cover to form a battle line.

One of the riders took two steps and shouted in this direction.

"They asked us who we were and what we wanted to do," the team's translator quickly relayed.

Everyone was a little nervous. There weren't many veterans in this group; most of them were "cavalry" hastily assembled by Tang Sai'er through recruitment. Of course, the original mission was just to set fires amidst the chaos; they weren't required to engage the enemy in direct combat.

Judging from their reactions, the enemies before them were all experienced veteran mercenaries. This made everyone somewhat uneasy.

While I hesitated, the person on the other side started shouting again.

"He told us not to hide anymore, saying he had seen us. He told us to state our purpose, or they would open fire," the translator said.

Li Li turned around, looked at his diverse group of men, thought for a moment, and said, "Let's go out."

"what?"

“Tell them we’re hired to help. But the brothers haven’t been doing so well these past few days; they’re even having trouble eating and drinking.” Lili instructed him, word by word. “Ask them if they’ve struck it rich, right? Could they lend us a hand for His Majesty Sigismund?”

The translator looked puzzled, but did as he was urged. As he relayed the message, Li Li led a group of people out of the woods.

They were dressed in a disheveled manner, many without even complete armor, their tattered clothes peeking out. Their mounts were also of varying quality, with many even riding mules. Only about a hundred people emerged, along with twenty or thirty donkeys led by others, their backs laden with hay and branches.

Seeing their reaction, the lead rider opposite them showed a look of disdain. But their guard also visibly relaxed. He spat, shouted a couple more words, and pointed to the flags on the convoy.

"Well, he didn't want to give us a single copper coin, saying if we were so capable, we could just rob him ourselves," the translator said awkwardly. "He said they were the infamous 'Shield Brothers' mercenary group in Prague, and few dared to mess with them. Knowing we were just a bunch of ignorant country bumpkins, he didn't bother with us and told us to get lost..."

"Alright, let's hurry up and go," Li Li said immediately.

He waved for the others to turn around and bypass the enemy from behind, then bowed and smiled at the opposite side before hurriedly catching up with the group.

After they left, the enemies continued their operation, driving their carts back towards the camp.

"They can't be that easy to fool?" Li Li looked back a few times and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

“I guess there’s not much management around the camp. I heard that when Sigismund personally commands the army, he pays attention to regulating the soldiers’ behavior. But this army is a coalition organized by Prague and several surrounding lords, so it probably lacks even unified command.” The translator told him, “Didn’t you notice that the reason they’re so vigilant isn’t because they’re afraid of an enemy attack, but because they’re afraid other friendly forces will come and steal their spoils? That’s why they’re even more cautious the closer they get to the camp.”

"I see..." Li Li didn't know what to say for a moment.

"To be honest, before the battle, I didn't believe they could actually unite," the translator said. "What exactly did His Majesty say to them? How could it be so effective..."

“Isn’t there a king in Prague? I think I heard Old Yang and the others mention him,” Li Li said. “They said he used to be Sigismund’s rival, but he lost power later. Even so, some Bohemians still support him. Why not bring him back as the leader? It’s better than everyone fighting their own battles.”

"You mean Wenceslaus? I think it makes no difference whether he's there or not." The translator scratched his head and said bluntly, "He's a notoriously incompetent ruler on our side. Even if we let him participate in the war, he'd just stay in his manor and play. Whether we take him or not really makes no difference."

"What kind of people are they..." Li Li was speechless.

However, thanks to the enemy's disarray, they encountered no further trouble along the way. The other teams also remained relatively quiet, suggesting their progress was going smoothly.

The group arrived at their destination, which was situated on slightly higher ground, offering a view of most of the camp. However, even so, perhaps because it was far from the center of the camp, no one paid any attention. They brazenly unloaded their tinder, piled it up, and then sat down on the ground openly to wait.

Initially, Li Li thought that the large number of people arriving, with their diverse backgrounds, far exceeded the camp's planned capacity, which was why the outer areas were undefended, with only the core military zone being planned. However, from this perspective, the camp lacked any distinction between military and non-military zones, and no fortified areas could be found.

The translator, who has lived here for many years, recognizes many flags. He said that the division of the camp into these areas seems to be simply a matter of each lord claiming his own territory. There probably wasn't any real planning involved.

Now, Li Li began to think that perhaps Haji Grae's idea was right...

Perhaps because they were far from the territories of all the major powers, no one bothered them. They even sat there and rested for a while. Not long after, smoke and dust began to rise in the distance, and thick smoke from burning could be seen. It seemed that the other side had already begun their operation.

"Get up, get up, get to work!" Li Li urged hurriedly.

His men were scattered on the ground, some even lying down and dozing off. They looked very disorganized, like a real mercenary band of cannon fodder.

Upon hearing the order, some people immediately began to act, but some lazier ones were a few steps behind, and some even simply turned over and continued to snore...

Li Li, wielding his sword sheath, kicked and punched, rousing everyone to their feet. They hurriedly tied branches to the donkeys' hindquarters, driving the mules back and forth. The man responsible for starting the fire rushed to ignite the dry grass, attempting to set the nearby grove ablaze. However, this was the shady side of the hill, the ground damp, and after running around, they discovered there was no dust. The grass did start burning, but judging by the looks of it, it probably wouldn't ignite the woodland. Now, everyone was dumbfounded, unsure what to do, and turned to look at Li Li.

Lili quickly looked in other directions and found that those routes were progressing quite smoothly. Thick smoke rose from the northwest all the way north of the camp. Haji Glei's nomadic cavalry charged straight in from the main road, and the various merchants, idle mercenaries, and even women around the camp were completely unable to stop them, and were frightened into running in all directions.

From other directions, one could also see banners waving and large numbers of cavalry pouring out from all sides, circling and running around the camp, setting fires everywhere, looking like a vast army.

"What do we do, boss?" The others noticed the situation and asked one after another, "We're the only ones who haven't made a move yet!"

"Now you're panicking, huh? Everyone else was probably looking for suitable grass and a good place to attack, and we were just sleeping here!" Li Li said angrily, "What's the use of panicking now?"

"But you didn't say that at the time..."

"Yes, you see, he's the one who's most anxious."

"Laughing to death."

"..."

Li Li was speechless for a moment. Having no other choice, he could only grit his teeth, mount his horse, and shout, "Whether things succeed or not depends on this. Although we are not well prepared, we were too lazy just now, and we didn't even notice the passing enemy groups. This shows that they themselves are definitely even less prepared. If we charge in and catch them off guard, we will definitely still have a chance!"

"Whether you want to make a name for yourselves or not, I don't care anymore." With that, he kicked his horse hard. "Anyone who wants to gamble with me, take your torches and let's go in and set it on fire!"

Seeing that he was really willing to go, more than a dozen of his trusted confidants and adopted sons, along with some daring soldiers, followed him up. Li Li glanced down the slope again and saw that some of the quick-reacting enemy soldiers had already started to move. At a camp near the river, some enemy soldiers had begun to organize themselves and even sent out several teams of riders to drive away the civilians who were running around and clear the area.

Elsewhere, including in several nearby camps, most people hadn't even realized what was happening. Some even saw the fire and their first reaction was to foolishly run out to watch the commotion, discussing which unfortunate soul had caught fire.

"Boss, who should we go kill first?" one of his men asked, noticing that he had suddenly stopped and looked around.

“You see, their problem now isn’t that everyone is unprepared. On the contrary, some people are prepared, some are not, and some, while prepared, don’t know who they’re wary of.” Li Li quickly realized, “Where’s our translator? Get him here right away.”

“I’m here.” The translator fastened his helmet and spurred his horse closer.

"Whose territory is that well-stocked camp by the river?" he asked.

"I just saw their flags; they must be Genoese hired by the mayor of Prague," the translator said. "These people are quite knowledgeable, and the mayor is willing to pay them well, so they're relatively orderly."

“I see. Then let’s go and patrol the surrounding mercenary camps. Tell them that the Hussite bandits attacked the camps, and that they shouldn’t just stand by and watch, but follow us to their aid,” Lili said.

"Will they listen to us?" The translator was skeptical: "We don't even have a flag, and no one here seems like a nobleman who can give orders."

“Don’t worry about whether they believe you or not. Just come with us after you’ve finished speaking. It’s up to them whether they follow or not,” Li Li said. “It would be better if someone followed us. If not, we’ll go find the next place.”

“There is no unified command here, and there is obviously no pre-planned plan. When faced with an emergency, many people will instinctively follow the first person who ‘comes up with a solution’ in a state of confusion, no matter what the solution is. We can just go around in circles and roll up the numbers, then randomly pick some unlucky guy to fight and let them fight each other.”

The others were skeptical, but Lili shouted, "Don't forget to wrap the red cloth around your arm!" and ran off first, leaving the others no choice but to follow. They ran past several camps, shouting all the way, and sure enough, some people followed along, asking as they ran who they were going to fight.

They ran around the area a few times, and more and more people caught up with them. Seeing so many people gathering there, even those who hadn't moved started to watch. Just as they began to move towards the center of the camp, a person wearing a magnificent hat and full armor, accompanied by several guards, blocked their way.

"I am the steward appointed by Gateman. There's chaos in the camp, and I order you to halt immediately!" he shouted as he entered, then looked closer: "Wait, who is this Easterner? And who are you—"

Li Li's translator was still shouting from behind, but his hastily learned local language was insufficient to understand what the other person was saying. However, upon seeing the change in the man's expression, he knew something was wrong. Without a word, he threw a javelin, knocking the nobleman off his horse. Several trusted men rushed forward and killed the guards.

"Revolt! Revolt!" he shouted in the few Bohemian words he knew. "For Sigismund! Kill all the people of Prague!"

The surrounding soldiers were in an uproar, most of them completely baffled by the chaotic scene. Ignoring them all, Li Li charged into the camp ahead, hacking at anyone in sight.

Of course, the people in the camp weren't going to stand idly by. During this time, they had already armed themselves, and whenever anyone attacked, they immediately fought back. Some even took out muskets and opened fire.

The flintlock pistol bullets were inaccurate, flying wildly in all directions and killing several mercenaries who had followed along in a daze. The surrounding people, naturally, didn't care about anything else and rushed forward, cutting down those men first.

Li Li's own men, who were only hastily assembled to begin with, had scattered considerably, and soon only a few remained. He ignored them, and with his close entourage, continued to weave through the crowd. Whenever he saw someone dressed in finery who looked like a nobleman, he would charge at them.

After cutting down three groups of men, his dozen or so followers also disappeared. Some had been hit by muskets and fallen from their horses, presumably beyond saving. Others had been scattered by the enemy guards and fought with the enemy cavalry, their whereabouts unknown, and it was unclear whether they were still alive. Only he remained, with a crossbow bolt still stuck in his leg, which he hadn't had time to remove.

However, after all the commotion, no one was left to maintain order, and all the mercenary teams were thrown into chaos.

(End of this chapter)