Mount and Blade Central Asia

"We should head east! Head straight for the Black Sheep camp!" Following Li Rufeng's guidance, Adolfi knew the Black Sheep were in civil strife, so he said directly to Marcelino, "He doesn't look like he's retreating from the city wall. This group of Black Sheep might be in civil strife!"

Marcelino glanced at Adolfi again. "How can you be sure there's a civil unrest? What if you're wrong?"

Adolfi glanced at the prisoner impatiently, but these Black Sheep people did not speak their language, and there was no way for the two sides to communicate, let alone interrogate him.

"I heard that the shaman can rely on Changshengtian to communicate with his personal guards. Is it true?" Marcelino stepped forward and stood in front of Adolfi and asked.

Adolphe hesitated for only a second before nodding in agreement. "Yes, that's right! These things were told to me directly by the Lord, Sama. That Lord is watching everything with His eyes in heaven. Nothing in the world has any secrets from Him!"

"I believe you!" Marcelino patted Adolfi's shoulder firmly. "You are the first Armenian selected into His Excellency's personal guard. You must do your best. Even if it costs us our lives, your future is worth it. Do you understand?"

Adolfi nodded silently. As an Armenian, he knew too well the pain of his own nation. Their homeland had been ruled by foreign lords for a long time, and they had become wanderers. Like the Kurds, they were strangers wherever they went.

"Everyone listen to my orders. Cancel the original plan. Follow me and attack the military camp directly!" Marcelino loudly issued the new order, and then, without caring whether the people behind could keep up, he directly cleared the way in front and headed towards the military camp.

Adolfi clenched his fists and followed behind, stepping on the blood of his people.

Chapter 491 Rush!

Regardless of the era, street fighting is synonymous with blood. This small-scale war that takes place in the city and on the streets leaves the fighters no room to maneuver.

When two opposing sides meet on a straight street, the result is often that only the first 10% of people are fighting hard, while the others can only listen to the screams and shouts from the front at the back door and move with the movement of the team.

They didn't even know whether their side or the enemy had the upper hand ahead. Even if the team was moving forward, they would soon see the corpses lying on the road, and then use that fleeting glimpse to distinguish whether they were their own corpses or the enemy's corpses.

Blood, fighting, war cries, howls, everything mixed together stimulated the senses of these young warriors like the death rock of later generations, making them involuntarily tense their muscles, speed up their breathing, and eventually fall into madness.

But the human body is fragile. It can only be excited for a few minutes when needed, driven by consciousness, and then it will fall into fatigue. Only those veterans who have truly experienced this kind of life-and-death battle can adjust their state relatively slowly, allowing the spirit and body to burst out its most powerful strength when it is most needed.

The good news is that nearly a third of these Armenians can be called veterans, the bad news is that the same is true of the enemy.

So when the troops led by Marcelino encountered an army of Black Sheep on the street, an extremely bloody close-quarter fight broke out between the two sides. There was no high spirits as in the pre-war mobilization, no legendary glory and courage, and these infantrymen only had the courage to fight desperately.

Marcelino is a tall Armenian man. His arms are a little thicker than many adults' legs. Those are the excellent genes inherited from his father. Marcelino vaguely remembers that his father was a big and strong man. It's a pity that he died on the battlefield fighting against the army of the great conqueror.

His mother told him that if they had won the war, his father could have earned the title of knight from the lord for his bravery. Unfortunately, they failed in the end, and the lord who should have rewarded his father had his head impaled on a spear, which was held high by the Mongols to intimidate the next enemy.

This is also the reason why Marcelino is so stubborn. From then on, he felt that they were just peasants who responded to the master's call to fight. The war was fought by the lords, but it was ordinary people like them who died. So if they really wanted to be fair, no matter which side won, someone should give the agreed reward.

This is what Marcelino thought and did, and Li Rufeng not only agreed to his request, but also fulfilled it in the end, so this lord is worth fighting for.

He was breathing heavily, holding the heavy shield against his chest, and the spear in his hand kept thrusting forward between his own shield and his brother's shield. Sometimes he felt as if he had stabbed something hard, which was most likely the enemy's shield. Other times, the feeling was like stabbing into a pile of sand, astringent and tough, which was the enemy's armor.

Only when the spear was swung out and a comfortable and pleasant feedback came from the spear tip, did Marcelino know that he had killed another enemy.

How many enemies had he stabbed to death? Marcelino had lost count. His companions kept falling, but his fellow countrymen, who shared the same blood as him, were not intimidated. The ones behind him always bravely stepped forward and filled the gap before Marcelino was killed.

Marcelino could feel the constant vibrations against his shield, the blows from the Black Sheep's scimitars and warhammers. The former weren't powerful enough to make Marcelino's arms tremble, but with each blow from the latter, it felt as if the shield had vanished. The force seemed to strike directly against his arms, making him want to throw both shield and spear to the ground and flee...

But this is not the most dangerous thing. The most dangerous thing is——

puff!

A spear head very similar to the one used by Marcelino pierced through the shield, and the tip of the spear left a wound directly on Marcelino's arm. He roared angrily and thrust out his own spear. The force transmitted back along the spear made him realize that he had stabbed another enemy.

The screams coming from behind the shield gave Marcelino a temporary relief. He once again survived the life-and-death battle!

"One! Two! Three! Push!" Marcelino shouted slogans. He felt as if his throat was stabbed with a knife, but his powerful voice boosted the morale of all Armenians!

The soldiers in the rear who were temporarily unable to engage the enemy pushed hard on the backs of their brothers in the front, and thus pushed the front line forward a few meters. The knocked-down enemies would be directly stepped over by the soldiers in the front row, and the friendly forces behind them would immediately finish them off, giving them no chance to stand up.

Of course, there are some unlucky ones who don’t even get the chance to be killed because too many people step on them and they are trampled to death.

As shouts of killing came from behind the enemy, Marcelino finally felt the pressure in front of him ease. The shield that was almost pressed against his chest was pushed forward by his arms to create a buffer space of two fists.

Marcelino knew that they had won this battle.

Many of the soldiers behind him were natives of the city of Mardin. As long as the other two centurions and those squad leaders were not fools, they would definitely outflank these Black Sheep people from both sides through other paths.

When both sides are evenly matched, any interference from the outside will lead to a crushing defeat, so Marcelino did not have much time to enjoy the victory here. He just moved his arms, took a few breaths, and then looked back at Adolfi.

"What did the shaman say to you again?" Marcelino took a step back, and his brothers naturally filled his position as they moved forward. Those damn black sheep people either dropped their weapons and surrendered, or simply jumped over the wall and escaped.

Judging from the speed at which the group dispersed, their officers were most likely killed in the previous melee.

"Keep moving towards the military camp!" Adolfi also had an exhausted expression, and the scimitar in his hand was covered in blood. He was in the second row behind Marcelino. In the previous battle, he not only had to be ready to move forward to fill the position, but also had to keep an eye on the enemies lying on the ground and quickly finish them off so as not to be pushed down by the friendly forces behind him.

God knows if the new recruits behind him would take a second look when finishing off the enemy to see if the person lying on the ground was one of their own...

"We're only two more intersections away!" Adolf added, "The Black Sheep over there are so busy fighting they can't even focus on us. There are no other enemies on the road!"

"May Eternal Heaven bless all of us to survive!" Marcelino felt that the shaman was a god. He made up his mind that as long as he could survive until the end of this war, he would definitely believe in Eternal Heaven.

At this time, outside the city of Mardin, the attacking infantrymen under the command of Badak had already approached a distance of 70 meters in front of the city wall under the cover of shields and shield carts. The distance ahead was the most dangerous.

The power of arrows shot down from the city walls will increase linearly, while the protection angle of the shields will continue to decrease. That is, the Black Sheep People in the city, like the Mongols under Li Rufeng, cannot find craftsmen who can build catapults, otherwise their casualties would have doubled.

The last seventy meters is the Warrior's Road. The saying in the Central Plains that the first person to reach the summit is the bravest of the three armies comes from this. The process of being the first to reach the summit does not start with the climb, but also includes these seventy meters.

Fortunately, the cannons on Li Rufeng's side had been advancing along with the infantry line. At this time, they were placed less than 300 meters away from the city wall. The power was also increased exponentially. The stone bullets fired from time to time made the tower shooters who should have caused heavy casualties dare not show their heads.

Another good news is that as the surprise attack arranged by Li Rufeng took effect, the Black Sheep people on the city wall obviously fell into greater panic. Since the start of the battle, there have been fires and smoke everywhere, but no more reinforcements have arrived on the city wall.

Coupled with the governor who was killed earlier and the centurion who fled in panic, Badak could clearly feel that the morale of the defenders was shaken and their fighting spirit was not strong enough, so he stood behind the shield car and issued the final order: "Timur's warriors, follow me!"

Chapter 492 Talent

Strictly speaking, in the military system of Timur the Conqueror, a centurion was already considered the highest-ranking officer on the front line. Taking Badak as an example, he was the typical centurion who had fought his way out of a sea of ​​blood and corpses through his own efforts and luck.

But more centurions, like Qinggeli, were inherited. This does not mean that Qinggeli Nayan was not brave enough to fight. After all, according to Mongolian tradition, if a centurion was not good at personal fighting and commanding, he would sooner or later die from a hidden arrow on the battlefield.

But to be fair, Badak is still much stronger than Qinggelinayan in terms of personal ability, and this strength is all-round. When riding on a horse, he is a cavalry general who is no less than Qinggelinayan. When he dismounts, Badak is also a very outstanding infantry general.

Even when he is not on the battlefield, Badak is still a capable leader who can handle everything from logistics to fighting by himself. Like Muzaffar, this group of elites, who are around 30 years old and have no big family support, no powerful people or religious orders to interfere with them, are the greatest gift that the great conqueror left to the Khanate.

It's a pity that the great conqueror himself was ultimately defeated by the impulse in his old age. He knew that he would not be able to wait for the fruits he planted in the past to mature, so he chose the final madness. If his plan to expedition to the Ming Dynasty had really succeeded, he would have become the second Genghis Khan in the true sense and the greatest man in the world.

Bardock himself probably didn't realize what kind of expectations he once carried. He just habitually used such words to encourage his soldiers, for Timur... Maybe he really fought for these words in the past, but now it's just a habit.

Bardock, holding his shield, did not look back to confirm how many soldiers followed him in the charge. He was always worried that he would be abandoned by the soldiers and rush into the enemy camp alone. That was almost every commander's nightmare.

After all, although they successfully returned to the land that nominally belonged to the Khanate, everything had changed. Even Badak himself felt confused about the future. He was not sure whether the soldiers under his command would feel the same despair as he did.

But fortunately, this army was still the one Bardock was familiar with. Facing the solid city walls and enemies with superb archery skills, they had no fear. Instead, they approached the city walls with him, holding shields and protecting their teammates who were carrying siege ladders.

Less than five meters away from the city wall, several brave soldiers surrounded Bardock and formed a small fortress with shields. Bardock took a breath, took out the bow in his hand, and began to call out the names of the black sheep people who dared to show their heads.

If the archers in the arrow tower were still effective, Bardock would definitely not dare to stand here and shoot at the archers on the city wall, but now—

Bardock looked up and saw the arrow tower whose roof had been blown down by the cannon. He drew his bow and shot arrows recklessly, shooting a black sheep man who leaned out to attack him directly off the city wall. This kind of shooting method of naming defenders under the city can only be done by the archer who is most confident in himself.

He needs to take care of all the battlements of the front wall at the same time, and only someone with swift hands and eyes can avoid leaving any loopholes!

If Li Rufeng were here, he'd definitely notice that what Bardock was doing was very similar to the heroic engineering methods he used in Mount & Blade II. If he were a bit more courageous, he'd soon be pushing aside the friendly troops in his way, scaling the walls with siege ladders, and then kowtow to the enemy with his New Year's Sword Technique...

Mardin is a mountain city. Since only the west and south walls need to be built, its walls are high and thick. The siege ladders that Badak and his men want to use have to be more than four meters long to be barely enough.

Such a large siege ladder greatly affected the speed at which the soldiers approached the city wall. After dozens of casualties, the first siege ladder finally approached the base of the city wall along the "weak firepower area" opened up by Bardock.

They were just bullying the Black Sheep people because they didn't prepare enough city defense equipment in Martin City. Otherwise, a few pots of hot oil or earth bombs would have killed Badak earlier.

However, the reason why they dared to be so bold was because Li Rufeng had assured Bardak that there were no such things on the city wall, and Bardak chose to believe Li Rufeng's words. He had been confronting the Black Sheep People for nearly a week, so he could get some idea of ​​the situation.

The Black Sheep never gave up the idea of ​​breaking through their blockade and regaining their freedom. After all, the defenders in the city were mainly cavalry, and they didn't want to be confined to the city...

Badak never quite understood the thoughts of the Black Sheep People. He had lived in a land closer to Christians for five or six years. From a strategic point of view, he was more accustomed to using cities as strategic nodes and cities as the core to effectively control the surrounding land.

The pagan Knights Hospitallers did a good job in this regard. The fortress they built in Smyrna was very strong, and it was with the help of that fortress that Badak survived the initial chaos after the death of the Great Conqueror.

However, the residents of Smyrna later began to refuse to provide him with more supplies, and the Knights Hospitaller also showed signs of making a comeback, so Bardock had no choice but to withdraw from Smyrna.

Therefore, he knew very well how long the Black Sheep in the city could hold out if they gave up all illusions and focused on defense. If they were unlucky, the shaman's conquest would probably come to a halt outside the city of Mardin...

But it is obvious that the Black Sheep people are completely unaware of this. They are not interested in cities. They occupy cities more to expand their territory and regard cities as fortresses. For those Black Sheep people, riding horses on the grassland is a true hero, while standing on the city walls to defend the city is a cowardly act.

Essentially they were still conquerors with nomadic customs, rather than rulers with settled intentions.

Bardock was very grateful for the Black Sheep's strategic vision. If not, the casualties he would have to endure would have increased exponentially.

Finally, the first siege ladder was erected thanks to the efforts of the soldiers. These siege ladders were made temporarily, with wet cowhide wrapped on the top and metal hooks. They were the easiest to make of all engineering equipment, but this did not mean that they had no technical content.

The joints between the metal hooks and the wood, the way of wrapping the cowhide, etc. are all very particular. The lack of any link will lead to larger-scale deaths of soldiers, especially in Li Rufeng's current situation. The number of cavalry under his command is greater than that of infantry. If he fails to attack in the first round, after the infantry suffers huge losses, he can only let the cavalry take over.

In terms of cost, this is comparable to the Soviet Union using its navy to fight a land war. Although the Soviet Navy has earned the title of the world's strongest marine corps, everyone knows that the Soviet Navy's commander must have cried to death in Dalinzi's office under this title.

It only costs a hundred dollars to train a good conscript who can hold a gun and run, but it may cost three thousand dollars to train a man who can operate a boat...

Li Rufeng is now watching the battle situation with a frown from the perspective of the strategic map. He has a cavalry of about 800 people on hand in a state of combat readiness, ready to be deployed to the battlefield at any time.

But the main purpose of this force is to guard against a possible counterattack by the Black Sheep People. You know, the city of Mardin has two walls and two gates. Although the other gate is not the main gate, it is still usable.

If Li Rufeng was in command of these Black Sheep Men, when facing the attackers, he would definitely choose to send cavalry from the side to attack the attacking infantry at the critical moment, directly defeat them, and then burn the siege equipment.

After all, the ancient Eastern wisdom told Li Rufeng that if you defend for too long, you will lose. There is no impregnable city in the world. Only defenders who occupy the active defensive niche can continuously perform defensive miracles.

But it might be because Diobia's shot just now was too accurate, and the Black Sheep people in the city suddenly became chaotic and started a siege. The battle had been going on for almost half an hour, and they had no intention of reorganizing. There was even civil strife in the military camp inside the city.

Li Rufeng saw clearly that one of the two sides in the conflict was probably his old friend, Haidam, the defender of Urfa Castle. He was the one who had killed the allied centurion, then fled the battlefield, ultimately causing Urfa Castle to surrender without a fight...

"May the Eternal Heaven bless you with a long life." Li Rufeng prayed sincerely for the Black Sheep centurion. With such a lucky general around, he could at least replace two thousand-man squadrons...

The reason why he knew it so clearly was naturally because the Black Sheep people who were captured in Urfa Castle wanted to sell all the information about Haidam's three generations of ancestors to Li Rufeng so that they could vent their anger.

But what really interested Li Rufeng was that the personal guard whom Li Rufeng had secretly arranged to enter the city of Mardin to help him keep an eye on the movements of the Black Sheep People was actually a brave man. After the Armenians rushed out of the secret passage and clashed with the Black Sheep People, he ventured into the military camp where the civil strife had just occurred, intending to have a "face-to-face" conversation with Haidam.

Li Rufeng didn't know whether it was because he had this idea first and thus influenced the personal guard, or whether the personal guard was a talented person who could see the situation so clearly even though he was in the middle of it. In short, after getting Li Rufeng's permission, the personal guard took advantage of the chaos to sneak in.

"Don't kill me, I'm a messenger!" The personal guard named Taramu came from the headquarters of Li Rufeng's tribe. He was a newcomer recruited when Li Rufeng expanded the personal guard last time. He was only seventeen years old this year and looked like a young man with no experience in his craft, but he had been wandering with the tribe since he was a child and had learned several languages ​​from the merchants passing by.

If it weren't for what happened today, Li Rufeng would not have discovered that there was such a talented person among his personal guards.

Chapter 493 It’s settled!

At this time, in the military camp in the city of Mardin.

Haidam was pacing back and forth restlessly. Zhuo Gelu's body was placed in the hall. His death was so ugly that Haidam didn't want to look at it for a second. Captain Abdureheman was tied up and sat beside the body with a look of deep hatred and resentment.

The anger in Abdurehman's eyes was beyond words. He just stared at Haidam, watching him walk back and forth in circles, sneering from time to time.

"Even if you die standing there, I won't let you go." Haidam sighed, not knowing how things had turned out like this.

The matter is actually very simple. Zhuolu is dead, and Haidam is cowardly again. He has already escaped from Urfa Castle once, so he has no psychological pressure to run again this time. After all, the first time is new, the second time is familiar.

So Haidam, who ran all the way down from the city wall, simply stopped disguising himself and told Abdurehman and Abiram his plan directly. He planned to run away again.

Now that Zhuo Gelu is dead, although his men are not many, most of them are on the city wall, making them perfect scapegoats. The only problem is that the Mongols have blocked the only way down the mountain, so even if Haidam wants to run, he can't.

So Haidam wanted to go further. He wanted to use the city of Martin in exchange for his freedom. In order to prevent being held accountable by the Black Sheep King in the future, he had to reach an agreement with the other two surviving centurions.

Unexpectedly, Abdurehman and Abiram disagreed. They both planned to defend Mardin until the arrival of reinforcements from the Black Sheep King.

Originally, the two centurions were against the deal, so a wimp like Haidam gave up the idea. After all, he was still in the city and the troops were sufficient. As long as he didn't show up on the city wall, there would be no danger.

Even if there is not enough food in the city, you have to wait until the people have starved to death before you need to worry about starvation.

But the bad thing was that Abdurehman was a fool who could not tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. After the three of them discussed and decided that Abiram would take people to the city wall for support first, Abdurehman, for some reason, felt that leaving a capitulator like Haidam in the city would be a hidden danger, and planned to capture him first.

But how could a bad guy like Haidam, who had a history of poisoning his colleagues, be easily dealt with? Although he was not good at foreign wars, he was good at internal fighting and was extremely vigilant. When he saw Abdureheman coming to him in helmet and armor with guards, he blew the whistle and took action without saying a word.

This was the final result. Abiram took his men to the city wall for support, while Haidam captured Abdurehman behind him... Now Abdurehman's men had just been killed out of the barracks by Haidam's men and were scattered into several groups in the city.

In addition to these bad things, Haidam just received another piece of news, that is, the Mongols have entered the city, many places in the city have been set on fire, and there is chaos.

Abiram must have heard about the civil war in the military camp, so he sent two teams of 100 men back to mediate. However, they were killed by the intruders on the way, and only a few people ran back to bring back the news.

In short, everything was a mess, the only thing that was not a mess was Haidam's desire to trade with the Mongols outside the city.

So at this moment, when the man outside who claimed to be a messenger was escorted in by his men, Haidam even felt a hint of joy in his heart. He felt that he had finally found a way out of the dead end.

It doesn't matter if there's one person selling it or two people selling it, so it doesn't matter if there's one more person. These two people are not on the same page with him anyway, so it's better to sell them all at a good price!

Even before the messenger opened his mouth, Haidam had already prepared his own strategy and greeted the messenger who had come from afar with a smile: "Are you the messenger of Lord Rufeng?"

"That's right, exactly!" The young and frivolous Taramu struggled to break free from the restraints of the Black Sheep behind him, and glared at them fiercely, "What are you looking at? Don't you know that you still have to depend on me to survive in the future?"

The corners of Haidam's mouth twitched. He didn't expect the messenger in front of him to be so domineering. He became more convinced in his heart that Li Rufeng would definitely take over the city of Mardin this time, so he simply waved his hand and asked his men to withdraw, leaving only him, the messenger, and Aburehman.

"So what enlightenment did the shaman bring to us trapped beasts?" Haidam asked casually.

On the other side, Aburehman sneered vulgarly: "Do you think you can be forgiven by wagging your tail to the enemy like this? You will regret it, Haidam. The Black Sheep King will eventually hang your head on the wall of Tabriz."

"Thank you, but please don't worry about my future. If I were you, I'd already be worried about myself. Seriously." Haidam waved his hand at Abureheman irritably. "Don't you understand? I'm trying to find a way out for us!"

"Coward! Despicable man! Traitor!" Aburehman struggled forward, gathered his mouth full of saliva, and spat in Haidam's face.

Haidam slapped Abureheman, who was much stronger than him, to the ground. "Who is the despicable villain? Who brought people to attack me?"

It was not just the defeat on the battlefield that brought Haidam to this point today. His dissatisfaction with the Black Sheep King began with the first distribution of interests after the victory.