Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 379 The battle is over
History always goes around in circles, repeating many things that have happened over and over again, and what is even more ridiculous is that the same people often play different roles in these things.

From victim to perpetrator, from perpetrator to victim.

Or, a side that was invincible and known for its organizational ability could fall to a point where it couldn't even form a neat formation.

In a sense, the team facing Lorian and his men were the orthodox Romans.

And they are just descendants of barbarians.

But if you raise your perspective, you will find that although the Roman descendants are divided into three armies: left, center and right, except for the Latins, the other two teams are said to be arranged in military formations, but inside they are clustered together in small groups.

This was due to the Trebizond army, which was essentially a coalition of nobles.

During their training, their army had never gotten used to formations of thousands of men.

During the battle, there were also some commanders of noble status who kept shouting in the formation, trying to boost the morale of their people.

On the contrary, except for this group of Romans, all other teams, whether they were the Latin Crusaders, the Knights of the Imperial Order, or even the Georgians, showed well-trained silence.

The Crusaders who had experienced the Siege of Constantinople could be considered battle-hardened, and the Knights Ordinarius were even more veterans of the battlefield.

As for the Georgians, they have been assembled for full-time training since last year. To quote Alexius's self-boasting: their fighting, except for the bloodshed, is part of their daily training.

Like a Great Wall made of steel, they advanced slowly under the painless arrows.

On the other hand, on the Trebizond side, when the leading noble issued the attack order, many teams were still hesitant, while some teams ran wildly. In an instant, the entire team was completely torn apart just because the commander on their side gave a charge order.

The Georgian fighting style made it particularly difficult for the enemy troops in the front line to deal with.

Because the spears and shields on their side are so close together, they can directly offset the enemy's scattered attacks, and then the people in the back row can stab the enemy with their spears.

Then, as the enemy fell, the Georgian army rolled over them, trampling some who were still alive to death in the process.

Overall, because the Trebizond side had more people, although they were in a declining position, they had not yet been directly defeated.

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see that if the Latin Crusaders did not stop, the outcome would already be determined.

Five minutes passed, ten minutes passed, and the army of Trebizond was still fighting stubbornly.

Faced with this situation, the Georgians, according to their previous training, the surviving soldiers in the front row gave up their combat positions to the troops behind them.

Let the people in the back rows who had not fought hard before take over.

As for Trebizond, the team is relatively loose, so naturally it is impossible to achieve such a smooth replacement.

When the Latin Crusaders noticed that the Georgians had done this, they could no longer bear it.

The Georgians' training level is actually much higher than they thought.

Under such circumstances, the previously seemingly weak left wing became their inevitable choice.

After all, if the knights were to charge, it would be more practical to attack a relatively smaller group than to charge head-on into a heavy infantry formation.

When the horn of the Crusaders' charge sounded.

The earth-shaking cry of “Deus vult!” resounded in this wilderness for the first time.

Then, the sound of heavy horse hooves came rolling in from far away, like a landslide.

Hundreds of war horses formed a wedge-shaped formation, like a spear, piercing through everything in the wilderness.

Although the Imperial Knights' formation had more men than this knight squad, they looked very small because they were arranged more closely.

But they were not in a hurry. Within the time it took the knights' horses to snort a few times, the cannons were set up.

In addition to the four small cannons of small caliber, there were 4 other firearms of smaller caliber, which were used by the two men in coordination.

If a painter could record this scene, it would be considered weird.

Dust rolled up and the ground shook.

The other party was leisurely loading gunpowder and waiting for the opportunity.

300 steps, 200 steps, 100 steps. When the knight in front crossed the distance of 50 steps, the Imperial Knights moved.

When the 40 knights and 40 followers divided into two groups and attacked from the back of the formation, the smoke of gunpowder was ignited first.

The sound of artillery fire was accompanied by a pungent smell of burning sulfur.

The knights who were charging in the front suddenly froze, as if they were hanging in the air.

The sudden loud noise made the knights' horses become restless.

A charge that shook the city wall like a physical blade suddenly loosened up.

To be honest, the damage caused by these firearms was quite limited, probably only knocking off seven or eight knights.

But the key point was that it slightly blocked the enemy's charge, providing an opportunity for the Knights of the Imperial Order behind them.

There was still the sound of horses trampling the ground, but this time the offense and defense were reversed.

The knights of the imperial order and their corresponding armed escorts, totaling 80 horses, charged head-on into the Crusader army despite being outnumbered.

In such a chaotic recoil, the original unstoppable effect of the knights' charge was completely eliminated.

Occasionally, the Crusaders escaped from the cavalry melee, and then they noticed that in front of them were large numbers of infantry ready to go.

If the cavalry in charge are gods, then the cavalry who stop on foot become pigs to be slaughtered.

The charge of the Crusader Knights was a bit too radical and they were out of sync with the infantry behind them.

On the other hand, on the side of the Imperial Knights' Brigade, the infantry followed closely the knights' steps and charged forward.

As a result, the infantry provided timely support.

The melee began from then on.

However, the Knights Templar had the upper hand, and as a result, the Crusader Knights were knocked off their horses one after another.

In this era, a war would last for a long time, and traveling was even more troublesome. A specific battle might last for an entire afternoon.

But for individuals on the battlefield, every second feels like a year.

Generally it lasts for 5 minutes, and can be longer than 10 minutes. With the adrenaline bursting out from the body, you can only hold on for half an hour.

In this way, the human body reaches its limit.

The sword was difficult to swing and holding the shield became difficult.

The well-trained side will have an advantage at this time.

They will find that it is very meaningful to chop wood stakes with overweight wooden swords for several hours every day, and it is also very meaningful to do horizontal bar, long-distance running, push-ups, and lift stones every day. The physical energy reserves of the past few years will burst out at this moment and save their lives.

This allowed them to hold out a little longer than the enemy, and then watch the enemy flee.

Garys wandered around the battlefield, somewhat nonchalantly, sometimes offering help to some soldiers to escape danger, and sometimes leading the charge to break up a squad of the enemy to facilitate the follow-up troops to follow up.

He is quite satisfied with the current situation.

This satisfaction does not mean that the previous firearms blocked the enemy's charge, but that he was satisfied with the entire process of the battle.

The spread of technology is inevitable.

Whether it is Egypt or Venice today, they have actually received gunpowder technology from Jerusalem, actively or passively.

But well-trained organization and high combat morale mean that the system is still positive.

First, the local advantage was expanded, and then the whole game began to become one-sided.

It was like a snowball, gradually becoming irreversible.

Whether it was the flags of the Knights Templar or the Georgians, they were all advancing, while the flags of Trebizond or the Crusaders fell one after another.

All the soldiers who had the leisure to look up noticed the overall changes.

Finally, the large-scale rout laid the foundation for the victory of this battle.

……

Ioannis began to feel uneasy. As a noble who was pushed to the stage because of his bravery and inspiring speeches, he had to go to the battlefield in person.

Even though he was in command, he never led the charge personally like the Crusader commanders.

But it was less than 200 steps away from the front line of battle.

So, he saw with his own eyes how his army was easily and slowly crushed into pieces by the Georgians.

It was this kind of upright victory by force that made him feel most desperate.

Because this means that the two sides do not admit that there is a gap in certain soft power or luck.

However, these nobles of the Cardia Military District have completely lost their martial ethics.

Even Georgia, the former vassal state, could completely subdue them by mobilizing a small army.

This means that the reason why they have survived until now is more due to their luck than their ability.

When the Crusaders launched their charge, he could feel their spirit even from a distance. But before he could be happy for long, the Latin knights were easily dealt with by the enemy.

This is already a gap in all aspects...

Things have developed to this point, and there is nothing much to say for Ioannis.

As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. Seeing that the situation was not right, he chose to leave.

Although Ioannis did not take his General Cardia's flag with him before leaving, he temporarily appointed the person holding the flag as his adjutant and let him take command.

But those who raised the flags were not stupid. After seeing Ioannis walk away first as a sign of respect, they soon followed suit.

From this battle, the enemy entered the stage of pursuit and killing.

Compared to the cruelty of small-scale battles, this large-scale battle often does not mean large-scale casualties.

The relatively high armor rate means that the slashing of ordinary weapons does not necessarily cause effective damage.

When the team is arranged relatively densely, it actually means that it is difficult for the soldiers to launch efficient attacks, which means that they are more likely to be blocked by shields.

However, if the fighting spirit of both sides is not very high, or if they have a tacit understanding, such as the Italian city-state war, then even if it is a melee involving tens of thousands of people, the number of casualties can be controlled to dozens.

In this case, for the participants in the war, seeing blood is a rare occurrence. It is more like a high-intensity, high-risk, stimulating sport where one could lose his life if he is not careful.

Of course, if one side is defeated and hunted down, it will be a completely different experience.

They became prey, and the hunter was right behind them. Arrows flew past them, and if they were slower, they would be hit in the neck by the sword.

They must run for their lives, faster than others, so that they have a better chance of survival.

Gairis mobilized a part of the Turkic cavalry and ambushed them nearby.

Although the number is not large, there are only about a hundred people.

But as long as the cavalry keeps chasing and quickly kills the soldiers or officers who try to rally the troops, those driven by fear will be able to run all the way until they are exhausted and will not dare to look back.

In this race, Ioannis had the advantage because he chose to start early, relying on the fact that he did not directly enter the arena to participate in the melee. Moreover, when he started early, he was worried about making too much noise, so he did not choose to ride a horse, but just ran on his own two legs.

The advantage brought by the early start a few minutes earlier is unparalleled. In addition, he and his guards have always maintained good physical fitness. After choosing to surrender.

Surprisingly, he suddenly awakened the marathon blood in his body and ran two leagues in one breath. When he saw that there were no pursuers behind him, he gradually stopped and turned his jogging into a brisk walk.

Then nearly two leagues passed.

Ioannis, who was out of breath, could only drag his feet and move forward normally.

This 1 league of distance is roughly 5.5 kilometers when converted into kilometers.

In other words, after the burst, Ioannis jogged and walked at one go, covering a total of 22 kilometers in two and a half hours.

Such a distance in Europe or Japan is enough for money to be transferred from one lord or daimyo to another.

In the Cardia Military District, this means that they are basically about to reach the city of Trebizond.

After seeing the tower of Trebizond from afar, Ioannis finally stopped walking and chose to find a place to rest with the guards beside him.

To be more precise, they urgently needed to drink some water to put out the fire in their throats.

Looking around, he was lucky enough that this place was not far from his family's manor. He could find well water to drink after walking a few more steps.

Even though they are now in disarray and seven of them can't even put up two swords to fight, it seems that there shouldn't be any problem.

After all, this is their own territory. When they were clearing the countryside a few days ago, all the dishonest and suspected heretical traitors around them were killed.

There shouldn't be any problem...

However, what Ioannis did not know was that when their troops were gathering to fight against the Komnenos brothers.

The peasant movement led by Alexandros launched a full-scale counterattack near Trebizond.

(End of this chapter)