Mount and Blade Central Asia

That's right, it's not the time yet. They still need the power of the dark wizards to deal with the Mongols. The fact that the Mongols had a way to kill the dark wizard named Didia proved that they also possessed a certain degree of miraculous power.

Thinking of this, Carl recalled the fierce battle that took place near Tabriz that day. Prince Milansha, who believed in the Scarlet Wind, was invincible like a demigod in ancient mythology. If it weren't for those dark wizards, perhaps he could have entered his palace alone?

The Black Sheep King now understood to a certain extent the great conqueror, and why he would rather chain his son up and lock him up in a special palace than let him out to conquer cities for him.

That is not a power that belongs to the human world. As kings of mortals, they have the responsibility to isolate such power from ordinary people. And those of them who wantonly borrow the power of dark wizards may also suffer retribution one day in the future?

"It's not the time yet." The Black Sheep King repeated his words hesitantly, as if trying to convince himself.

The Black Sheep King was lost in thought and did not notice that his intelligence chief was looking at him deeply from behind. His thoughts had already shifted to how to reach a meaningful peace agreement with the other son of the great conqueror.

At this time, thousands of miles away in Samarkand, the center of the Khanate, another major event that could influence the world situation was taking place.

Emir Hudaida, who controlled a large number of city defense forces, could no longer tolerate the deterioration of the situation and planned to take action against Sultan Khalil.

Ironically, the rebellion, which was supposed to be kept secret, had already caused a sensation in the city long before the actual rebellion occurred. From peddlers to Sultan Khalil himself, almost everyone knew about Hudaida's rebellious intentions.

Sultan Khalil even openly and jokingly asked Hudaida in the Central Diwan when he planned to lead his troops to attack the palace and take his head to Shah Rukh in exchange for a reward. Some people present said that Hudaida Emir's face looked like a dyeing factory, and he ran out of the palace in a panic.

But even though Emir Khudaida's ambition had become obvious, Sultan Khalil had no choice but to swallow his pride. A large number of troops loyal to him were sent out one after another in the past few years to confront the emirs who supported his uncle on the front line. Most of the city defense forces left near Samarkand were controlled by Khudaida.

At this time, Sultan Khalil had only a group of less than 3,000 guards guarding the palace. Even including the strong servants and eunuchs in the palace, there were less than 5,000 people.

Therefore, even though the relationship between the emperor and his subjects had reached the point where they were only a step away from coming to blows, both sides could only continue their small actions every day as if nothing had happened (Note 1).

The culprit behind the situation that made it so absurd was naturally Weng Guo's superior, the Jinyiwei from the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 488 The cannon fires

April 1, 1409, sunny in the morning.

Li Rufeng stood in front of the city of Mardin again, looking across the somewhat dilapidated earth and stone fortress at the mountain city which was not majestic but definitely steep.

It was already the fourth day after the heavy rain. Since the previous two days had been sunny, the ground seemed hard enough at this time. However, because the rain was so heavy, the water content in the soil was still very high. Every time night returned, the land would become muddy again, and often remained muddy all morning.

It is of course no problem for infantry to walk on it, but when carrying knights wearing armor and carrying a full set of weapons, those horseshoe-studded war horses are still at risk of slipping when galloping on it because of the lucky-looking footholds.

Therefore, in the past two days, the two sides confronting each other inside and outside the city of Mardin did not engage in a war more intense than the one on the day when it rained.

Thanks to the previous fierce attack by the Black Sheep People, two of the four cannons left to Bardock are now damaged and can no longer be used. The only good news is that the metal used to cast the cannons themselves has only been deformed. Drag them back so that the blacksmiths can try to repair them.

In other words, Li Rufeng did not have any craftsmen who could cast cannons, otherwise they could have repaired the cannons on the battlefield. Nowadays, anyone who could make cannons was a high-level talent, and all major forces basically kept a close eye on them. There were very few craftsmen with this skill who would wander around.

But fortunately, there is still a universal language in this world. Mr. Li has instructed his partner Antonio to spread the word in the Venice area, asking him to use his personal credit guarantee to recruit relevant talents at a price two to three times higher than the Venice market.

Li Rufeng vaguely remembered that over half a century later, the Urban Cannon, used by the Ottomans to bombard the walls of Constantinople, was built under the supervision of a scholar who had left Constantinople after being neglected.

I hope he can find some opportunities and recruit some talented people.

But that's all in the past. The problem facing Li Rufeng now is still the city of Mardin. This city may be the most familiar city to him besides Aleppo since he traveled through time. After all, nearly one-third of the population in Aleppo now migrated from this city a year ago.

So it is reasonable for him to put the city back under his control.

"The fighting spirit of the Black Sheep people in the country is not strong. Every time the soldiers go out of the city to fight, they are divided into two or three groups, commanded by different officers. There is a lack of unified coordination between them. Usually, as long as we hit one of them hard and cause them enough casualties, they will choose to retreat back to the city, and their friendly forces will follow suit, regardless of whether they have an advantage on the battlefield." Badak's tone was full of contempt when he commented on the Black Sheep people in the city of Mardin.

"Faced with such an enemy, I find it hard to imagine how they managed to defeat the Khanate's local garrison. They weren't a formidable foe at all. If I had another thousand-man squadron to cooperate with me, I could definitely defeat these three thousand!" Badak shook his head as he gazed at the distant city wall. "Old Sultan, ah..."

As a rising star promoted by the great conqueror Timur, Badak was naturally loyal to the Sultan wholeheartedly. However, the clearer Badak's strategic vision was, the more he could sense the mistakes made by the old Sultan.

In order to launch the expedition to the Ming Dynasty, the great conqueror almost exhausted all the potential within the Khanate. He had 150,000 regular troops, 200,000 auxiliary troops, and countless civilians. The expenses were lavish, and countless ethnic groups and vassal states within the Khanate were exploited and rebelled repeatedly.

The result was that the defenses in various parts of the Khanate were left unattended. After the old Sultan's accidental death, the elite troops who had gone on the expedition to the Ming Dynasty were divided and dispatched by people with ulterior motives. It can be said that the entire military and political system of the Khanate at that time collapsed directly. The troops that were supposed to be stationed on the land of the Black Sheep People were simply intercepted and no one knew where they were.

When the Black Sheep People restored their country, they only defeated the second-line or even third-line armies. From Badak's perspective, it is possible that this group of Mongols was the most elite military force of the Khanate in the entire western region of the Khanate at that time.

After all, the place the old Sultan had to pass through during his expedition to the Ming Dynasty happened to be the homeland of these Mongols, the former Chagatai Khanate... So even if it was just to avoid suspicion, those Mongols did not receive the transfer order to provide elite cavalry troops to the old Sultan as per convention.

"Alright, my general, the past is in the past, we have to seize the present." Li Rufeng snapped his fingers, and the team of old cannonmen who had been waiting impatiently behind him immediately commanded the apprentices in a haughty manner, and lined up the six cannons in a row, aiming at the direction of the city gate.

During the days when Diobiya was not here, the apprentices who had just learned to fire cannons a few days ago were completely slacking off. As long as the cannon could fire and the direction of the cannonball was not towards them, they were qualified. There was no question of accuracy at all, let alone being able to directly hit the city wall and threaten the defenders.

So the Black Sheep had it easy, but now that Diobiya is back, he can use those cannons to intimidate the defenders again.

So, amid the admiration and flattery of his apprentices, Diobiya once again lay on the cannon and began to make fine adjustments. This kind of somatosensory aiming was his unique skill. Li Rufeng felt that he had almost relied on his talent to improve the accuracy of weapons such as cannons by a generation.

Master Li was never stingy when it came to such top talents, so he promised Diobiya early on that as long as he could perform normally today and kill a few defenders on the walls of Mardin with artillery shells, his monthly salary would double in the future.

At this moment, Diobbia's face was red, and he looked like he had just drunk some alcohol. That was a manifestation of the passion that came from the stimulation of money. You know, the monthly salary he earned from Li Rufeng was not low, much higher than when he was with Piano before. If this could be doubled, that would be incredible!

The old men around Diobiya, who were also from the mercenary group, were all cheering: "Diobiya, if you can't do it, just come down and let me take over. If I can hit the target, my monthly salary will double!"

"Get out! Shut up, don't interfere with my integration of man and cannon!" Diobiya turned around and shouted in anger, and then continued to look eagerly at the black sheep people who showed their heads on the city wall.

These cannons are about 600 meters away from the city wall. To be fair, this is the limit of the effective killing distance. Although the shells can still fly another 100 or 200 meters, the lethality has been greatly reduced. So if you want to kill, you have to... well, it mainly depends on luck and whether you are lucky.

At this time, on the wall of the city of Martin, the Black Sheep leader Zhuo Gelu was facing several centurions, watching the enemy, who had received support again, set up their battle formation, with a solemn expression on his face.

"Lord Zhuo Gelu, those Mongols have started firing cannons again. You'd better take cover." The Black Sheep centurion who had been stationed on the city wall said cautiously.

As the Black Sheep who knew the cannons best in these days, the centurion could naturally see that the cannons were placed a little further forward today than usual. Although the distance was only about a hundred meters, it was still a dangerous signal.

If it were two days ago, they would have risked their lives to rush out and destroy the cannons, but today it was impossible. The Mongols had reinforcements, and God knew how many people were behind them. The governor and the other centurions would definitely not allow them to fight outside the city.

"Can those cannons on the city wall hit me? If the opposite side fires a cannon, I will run away first. Wouldn't I become someone's second?" Zhuo Gelu spoke in a light tone, his eyes constantly glancing at Haidam.

Haidam, who was following behind Zhuo Gelu, had a pale face and could not utter a word. After all, the fact that he was frightened by the cannon fire and ran down the city wall had spread in the past few days, and it was true.

But being ridiculed in public still made Haidam extremely ashamed and angry: "Zhuo Gelu, if you have the guts, just name me..."

boom!

Chapter 489 Siege

Facts have proved that without the interference of miraculous power, there are still truths in this world, and the most obvious truth among them is that the dead cannot speak.

Haidam's request was too much, because the first stone bullet fired by the Mongols hit the upper edge of the battlement. It did not hit any target directly, but was refracted by the edge of the battlement and scratched Zhuo Gelu from the side.

Of course, considering the residual power of this thing, if Zhuo Gelu were still alive, he might prefer to be hit head-on.

Because the stone bullet directly hit Zhuo Gelu's left chest, the part below the collarbone was directly sunken in, and four or five ribs pierced his lungs like a sieve. Zhuo Gelu opened his eyes wide and breathed for more than a minute. In the end, all he gasped for was blood foam. He did not breathe again before he died.

Haidam and the other centurions who escaped the disaster couldn't tell whether Zhuoglo died from the pain or from suffocation. The only thing they were sure of was that this was a new way of death that they had never seen before.

There is no honor in this way of dying, and the way it happens is so memorable that you will never forget it.

"I said, I wasn't scared away, but those cannons are really... dangerous." Haidam defended himself in a somewhat dull tone. He even felt like he had just woken up from a dream. He could finally stand up straight and say to others -

I wasn't timid, I was cautious. Do you understand what I meant by caution? Zhuo Gelu didn't believe me and even teased me with rude words. In the end, he died inexplicably!

"Get down from the city wall quickly!" After Haidam thought it through, he straightened his back and shouted, then took the lead and ran.

The other centurions who were still in a daze just followed Haidam reluctantly and happily withdrew from the city wall, leaving behind the two trembling Black Sheep defenders on the wall who were also terrified.

"Well done! Diobiya, your salary will be doubled!" Li Rufeng saw clearly that the cannonball fired by Diobiya killed a high-ranking official among the Black Sheep people, and his followers ran faster than anyone else.

"Thank you, boss!" Diobiya held his belly with a smile on his face as bright as a flower. He relied on his extraordinary artillery skills to make a name for himself in the mercenary group. However, this skill was also very mysterious, and he could not always shoot so accurately.

But since following this Mongolian shaman, Diobiya discovered that he had actually maintained a record of hitting the target with all his first shots. Privately, he also thought that there was something strange about this matter, and secretly worshipped the tablet of Changshengtian every day.

The Black Sheep people in the city were not united to begin with. The approximately 3,000 soldiers came from several different tribes, and their interests were completely different. Now, Zhuo Gelu, the only one who could unite them, took the lead. This was a disaster for the entire command chain.

So Li Rufeng knew that there would never be a better time than now. He led his men to besiege the city of Martin today. Of course, the method was not just to fire cannons at him. The secret passage was Li Rufeng's secret weapon.

Master Li had walked through that secret passage himself, so he certainly knew how steep it was and how many soldiers could be hidden at the exit. So he arranged three teams of 100 people last night to enter the secret passage in batches.

The first two were barely accommodated in the warehouse at the exit of the secret passage, while the last one was simply hidden in the secret passage and had to wait until the first two brother troops were deployed in the city before they could show up.

The conditions were difficult, but to be honest, it was better than just piling lives on the city walls. Li Rufeng only had a few troops on hand, and he had basically entered the level of full mobilization.

Once these people are killed, they will be killed, and there will be no other reserve troops, so he must cherish every "gold coin" in his hand.

"Let's start the siege, now!" Li Rufeng turned and gave orders to Bardock who was already impatient.

He told Bardock that he had arranged three special forces in the city. As long as Bardock's men could tie down the main force of the Black Sheep people in front of the city wall, those special forces would be able to flourish in the center of the city, and the Black Sheep people who were in chaos would naturally show flaws.

The tactics sound simple, but in this era, dividing the troops and using tactics like center-blooming are definitely difficult operations. The first difficulty is how to unify the attack time of each unit?

Although the sound of cannon firing can be regarded as a signal, who can guarantee that the special forces ambushing in the city will be able to hear the cannon firing when it is 600 meters away from the city wall?

If they couldn't hear, how could they coordinate with the main siege force outside the city? If they launched the attack too early, they would be walking into a trap. If they launched the attack too late, they would also be heading for meaningless death. Only by intervening in this war at the most appropriate time could they have a decisive outcome.

So Bardock's face looked a little solemn. He had no confidence in Li Rufeng's so-called surprise attack, but during this period of time, Bardock still had some inappropriate expectations of Li Rufeng.

This shaman always managed to surprise him, and perhaps this time would be no exception?

With a heart full of doubts and expectations, Bardock gave his troops the order to attack the city. Four centuries of infantry equipped with heavy shields began to advance forward. Some of them carried long ladders for climbing the city walls, and behind them were the siege equipment built in the rear during this period.

One of the battering rams, which was made of wood and leather, mixed with a large number of shields to fill the gaps, was the most eye-catching. A full thirty strong Armenian men pushed the battering ram under the cover of the arrow shed above their heads and began to move towards the city gate.

A ram with a diameter of more than half a meter and a length of three meters, made from a whole log, was fixed on the frame. If the blacksmiths from Aleppo had more time, they would even add a layer of metal plating to the head of the ram to increase its impact on the city gate.

Even so, it is still an indispensable weapon for sieges. The impact of it hitting the city gate is a deterrent to all the defenders in the city.

Behind them were all the archers that Li Rufeng could shoot. They would provide long-range cover for the infantry. From the perspective of the strategic map, all of this was in line with the scenes in the war movies that Li Rufeng remembered.

But in fact, all of this is just a "grand spectacle" for the Black Sheep People to see... Even the great conqueror Timur, who did not care about human lives, would not use this method to attack a fortified city. Doing so would only increase the defenders' record.

In addition to using cannons to bombard the city gate, the real purpose of the battering ram approaching the city gate was to provide cover for the engineers.

Mardin is a mountain city, so don't even think about digging tunnels. If you dig down a few dozen centimeters, the rock and soil layer underneath will be exposed, making it impossible to dig deeper. Therefore, blasting the city gate is the most efficient way.

It was obvious that Li Rufeng was bullying others by relying on his ability to monitor the Black Sheep people's movements in the city of Mardin at any time. When he and Badak were arranging the siege plan, he deliberately avoided several nodes where the Black Sheep people had a large number of troops.

Although the city walls are connected, during the war, the walls are filled with various supplies, especially where there are towers. The connection points can only allow one armored soldier to barely pass through, and anyone who is slightly stronger has to lean sideways.

If a large-scale military mobilization is really carried out at that time, you will see that no one will make a sound when one moves, especially since the Black Sheep people now lack a unified command. If the two groups of soldiers happen to go in opposite directions, someone might be pushed off the city wall.

In fact, such a tragedy did happen. Li Rufeng saw it very clearly from the perspective of the strategic map, and his little idea was correct.

Li Rufeng also saw that the Black Sheep people who were originally stationed in the military camp in the city of Mardin had been mobilized, but some of them began to move towards the city wall, while the other part huddled together, and seemed to have had a conflict with other Black Sheep people. For a while, shouts of killing were heard in the sky.

Even a hack like Li Rufeng didn't know what had happened to the Black Sheep People. He was just happy to accept this result. So he ordered his personal guards to order the special forces hidden in the city of Martin to attack.

Chapter 490 Go straight to the middle!

Adolfi Gallo was one of the Armenians who were relocated from Mardin to Aleppo by Li Rufeng. He was also one of the Armenian soldiers who performed most outstandingly in the Plague War.

He even received a bronze Shield of Aleppo medal for this. After Li Rufeng was promoted again, Adolfi was officially recruited as a member of his personal guard. This news greatly boosted the morale of the Armenians serving under Li Rufeng.

After experiencing countless tyrannical or insane lords, these Armenians are very satisfied with their hard-earned stable life. In fact, they are rarely treated so equally outside their homeland.

This time, the three hundred-man teams that were arranged to sneak into the city of Mardin through the secret passage were basically all residents who once lived in the city of Mardin, and most of them were of Armenian descent.

Adolfi was temporarily added to these centurions. In name, he was the commander-in-chief of this secret infiltration operation, but in fact his real task was to convey Li Rufeng's will to other centurions at the appropriate time.

The real commander of this surprise attack was Marcelino Gini. Long before Li Rufeng recruited him under his command, he was already the captain of the Armenian combat team and had a high prestige among the Armenians.

Even Li Rufeng was deeply impressed by this Armenian. It was this stubborn man who, after the war with them and Dost, had stiffened his neck and asked Li Rufeng for the food Dost had promised them...

Li Rufeng also gave Marcelino a note at that time, promising that he could use the note to exchange for the food that Dosite promised to give them after he had surplus food. As far as Li Rufeng knew, those Armenians later really came to him and exchanged the food back.

Later, the stubborn Marcelino began to serve and fight for Li Rufeng. He felt that Li Rufeng was a good man who kept his word, and it was more reliable to work for him than for others.

And now, Li Rufeng handed the most important task to this stubborn centurion. Marcelino solemnly promised that as long as he was alive, he would complete the task. Li Rufeng chose to believe him and believed that nothing could stop him except death.

"Marcelino, it's time!" Adolfi walked through the soldiers who were sleeping in their clothes and came to Marcelino's side. "Now is the time we agreed with Lord Rufeng!"

"Are you sure, Adolfi? If the timing is wrong, we'll be dead." Although Marcelino is a stubborn man, he is naturally not a pedantic person to have survived the war. He dared to ask Li Rufeng for the military pay for serving in Dost because he felt that this shaman was fair and reasonable.

"Someone just said they heard cannon fire and saw Black Sheep running around in the streets through cracks in the door. I'm sure the Lord has already launched an attack outside the city!" Adolfi didn't waste time explaining the bond between him and Li Rufeng to these people. He said directly in a positive tone, "So I'm sure it's now!"

Marcelino frowned, staring at Adolfi. Seeing that he accepted the scrutiny calmly, he straightened his back and knocked his shield with his short spear. "You all heard it, it's time to reclaim our homeland. Everyone stand up and line up!"

Most of the soldiers resting in the warehouse were locals from Mardin. They knew the city very well, so long before entering the secret passage, the three centurions and the squad leaders under them had already assigned their respective targets.

They didn't know when reinforcements would arrive, nor did they know whether the lord would be able to finally capture the city. They only knew that they had to fight to the end... Well, actually, they had already discussed it privately. If things got impossible, they would just run away relying on their familiarity with the terrain.

After all, they have many friends and even relatives in this city. As long as they take off their armor and throw away their weapons, they can integrate into this city in an instant...

But when they and their families can have enough food to eat every meal, no one wants to be a deserter. It has nothing to do with honor, but it is about the future. Everyone can see that Lord Rufeng's army is advancing rapidly in the land occupied by the Black Sheep People, and no one wants to ruin their own future.

"I won't say any more nonsense. That shaman has treated us Armenians well, and we should give him the same reward. Kill him!" Marcelino shouted, pushed open the door of the warehouse first, and rushed to the streets of Mardin.

Marcelino himself was not a native of Martin, so Adolfi followed him so that he could convey Lord Rufeng's orders to him at any time.

The exit of the secret passage is located on the side of the city of Mardin close to the cliff behind it, some distance away from the city wall where the war is taking place, so few Black Sheep people pass by here.

But when Marcelino rushed out, he happened to encounter a group of 20 to 30 Black Sheep men, including two Black Sheep men who looked like officers on horseback.

Because this road was not the main artery in the city, and the buildings on both sides were mostly expanded by the residents themselves, there were not many straight roads to walk on, so the two mounted officers were led by the soldiers on their mounts.

Marcelino also noticed that these people had traces of fighting on their bodies, and several soldiers had arrows stuck in their shields. When they saw this group of Armenians suddenly rushing into the street, almost all the Black Sheep people were frightened. The astonishment in their eyes reflected the sunlight and the cold light of the short spear in Marcelino's hand!

"Kill them all, leave no one alive!" Marcelino threw the lance in his hand without hesitation. His strong and powerful arms made the lance instantly penetrate into the body of one of the officers. After all, he stood out so much while riding on the horse, making him an obvious target!

Led by Marcelino, the Armenians who inherited the tactics of the Roman legions immediately completed a round of close-range javelins. Although the javelins they used were no match for the disposable javelins used by the Romans back then, as long as the distance was close enough and the force was strong enough, they could always create miracles.

Half of the Black Sheep people on the opposite side fell down instantly, and the remaining half collapsed directly and fled in all directions on the street. Then the Armenians, like wolves and tigers, stabbed them to the ground one by one. Only the officer who survived by chance and was still in a daze was captured.