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But Aenarion has dug up their cash cow, this is absolutely unacceptable!!!

So, in the spy reports, the Genoese blatantly "lent" the Crimean Khanate dozens of ships with weapons and equipment, including full plate armor, chain mail, muskets, and artillery, fully supporting and arming the Tatars with their army.

Not only that, the Genoese also brought in Italian mercenaries from the Aegean and the mainland to join the war. Some Genoese even voluntarily joined the Tatars in the war to defend their country in the name of "volunteers."

As for the money, Genoa was very generous and did not take a penny of it. You just need to return the weapons and equipment to us after the war, not counting the lost gunpowder. At the same time, you can give us half of the ships, cannons and equipment you seized from Aenarion.

How could he not agree to such a good thing? The Crimean Khan signed a treaty with the Genoese without hesitation. His grassland nomadic army was rapidly upgraded in just a few days. The armor rate soared, and he had a troop that was good at using muskets, artillery and 30 field guns, and even a navy composed of Italian mercenaries!

Leading the group was none other than Giovanni Giustinia and his armed caravan.

These three things seem urgent, but in fact there is no need to rush.

Two thousand Varangians led by Valkia were burning, killing and looting along the inland river. The Tatars of the whole Crimea were gathering towards the Khan's royal court in nomadic groups, with hundreds and thousands in a group. This large-scale cavalry needed water and could only walk along the river. The Varangians waited in the river and basically every nomadic group would be beaten by the Varangians before reaching the royal court. The ones with more people would retreat along the river after a few bombardments of guns and artillery. The people attacked at night, and the groups were land; the few people sacrificed blood to the blood god directly.

Aenarion earnestly advised these Khorne followers to change their ways.

The previous combat habits, do not charge blindly, do not die easily.

You see, according to your own Khorne doctrine, you have to sacrifice enough heads to the God Dog Mastiff to become stronger. It's okay to die gloriously on the battlefield, but why bother to fight a losing war just to pursue death? If you die, you will just be a low-level soldier in the Bronze Valhalla. When others ask you how many skulls you sacrificed, you say you only killed eight. You are really a disgrace to Khorne.

Why can't you live a good life, collect dozens or hundreds of skulls, and then go to Brass Valhalla to become a general or even a divine messenger?

Under Aenarion's sophistry, these Khorne elements now know when to stop and not to blindly commit suicide.

As for the Ottoman side, even if Muhammad invested a lot of manpower and resources to build the Rumelia Fort, it would take at least four or five months. Their own food was only enough to support them for eighty days and could not last that long, so there was no need to worry about his problem.

As for the Genoese arming the Tatar cavalry, there is no need to worry too much. The combat capability of a hastily assembled and trained army cannot be too high.

The only trouble is Giovanni's fleet. His fleet and armed merchants are very powerful. In the last war, they even wiped out the Ottoman pirates and protected his own waters from any attack. With this person around, his control of the sea will be disturbed.

Therefore, Aenarion took Llane, the great killer, and rode Indrognir to fly towards the armed caravan, trying to win them over to his side. After all, the two had fought side by side for so long and had a deep fighting friendship.

Even if he wanted to kill me, could he do it under the protection of Ryan, a half-step legend, and Indrognir, a giant dragon? It's not certain who will kill whom!

Chapter 252: Giovanni Giustinia (fourth update, please give me a monthly ticket!!!)

Indrognir was searching for his target in the sky, and soon he discovered a huge fleet consisting of three caravels and seven galleys on the coastline near Crimea, and also found Giovanni's flagship: Mercury. She retracted her wings, and her huge body swooped down like an eagle, and like a meteor, the huge wind pressure blew ripples on the sea, causing the Genoese to exclaim!

Just when the colorful dragon was about to smash the deck, Indrognir's retracted wings suddenly unfolded again. The violent airflow lifted her huge body and floated steadily in the air. The strong wind created ripples on the sea surface, and the cold water splashed into the sky dozens of meters high. A large number of crew members were knocked to the deck by the strong wind caused by the dragon's wings, and they could not even get up.

"The Eastern Roman Empire's war marshal, the Despot of Athens, and the Governor of Thessaly, requests a meeting with your admiral."

Aenarion said calmly, Indrognir removing his dragon form and accompanying Llane on his left and right.

The fully armed Genoese merchants were in confusion. Although Genoa and the Eastern Roman Empire had fought, this was a private matter after all and not openly discussed. It seemed inappropriate to take action when the other party came to show their strength. Whether they could defeat the three-headed dragon was also another question.

These shrewd businessmen thought for a moment, put on a smiling face, and welcomed the three people into the cabin of the Mercury to meet their own admiral: Giovanni.

"Let me get straight to the point. Respected Eastern Roman Empire warlord, I know why you are here. I respect you very much. There are not many Christians who dare to fight Muslims with real weapons these days, and even fewer who dare to maintain the tradition of holy war. However, I have received an order from the trade king, ordering me to take my armed caravan and destroy your fleet at all costs. At that time, half of your naval ships will belong to me."

Giovanni took out a bottle of treasured wine from the wine cellar and several exquisite goblets, and poured wine for each of them. Then he took a sip himself to show that he had not poisoned anything. He was a handsome and elegant human man, but because of the long-term exposure to the sea breeze, his long yellow hair was as dry as straw, and his skin had turned into a healthy wheat color under the exposure to the scorching sun and the ravages of the sea breeze.

"Alas, these Jews are probably obsessed with money and want to help the pagans fight their Christian brothers, but I have no choice but to obey. My property and my caravan are all in the Galatia region, in the territory of the trade king."

Aenarion took up his cup and clinked it with the other's, and he understood what he meant.

These few short sentences of his contained a lot of information. Both the Ottomans and the Tatars were Muslims, and he disliked neither of them. He also wanted to fight these pagans to the death in accordance with the jihad tradition of the Crusades. However, he had no choice but to help the Muslims fight their Christian brothers - because his family assets were all in the Galatian district of Constantinople, which was controlled by the Genoese.

"Come to think of it, we have fought side by side at sea for so long, but I have never talked to you about your industry."

Aenarion asked tentatively.

“How much property do you have in Galatia?”

"Not much. One pottery factory, two wineries, three silk weaving factories, about 900 looms, and the land for these six factories. Our main source of income is from business, but those fixed assets were all bought with real money by my brothers and I."

Giovanni was openly talking about his fixed assets, but in reality, he was talking about the price of his betrayal.

"So, do you think it is the merchants who make money, or the officials who make money?"

Aenarion continued to ask.

"Of course, being an official makes money. My brothers and I fight the wind and waves at the risk of our lives, fight pirates, buy at low prices, and sell at high prices, so that we can earn some meager profits."

Giovanni said indignantly.

"And that Jewish goblin, just because he is the governor of the Aegean Sea of ​​Genoa, he can lie in his own Sans Souci Palace, playing with the delicate elf prostitutes while taking a cut from every one of our business. We sell things under the scorching sun and in the sea and waves and still have to pay him taxes and rent. Is there any business in the world that is more profitable than being an official?"

“You see, I have only one Aegean fleet, fighting the Ottomans, and I’m now fighting in the Crimea.

Therefore, I need to establish a second fleet to defend the Crimean Peninsula and take on the task of harassing the northern seas of the Ottoman Empire. But I don't know who to appoint as the admiral of the second fleet? After Crimea was conquered, so many cities also need a large number of governors to take office. Now is a time when there is a shortage of manpower. Well, who do you think I should find to serve as the admiral of the Black Sea Fleet and the mayor of Kaffa, the largest seaport city in Crimea?"

Giovanni narrowed his eyes. The other party promised to give him the position of mayor of Caffa and admiral of the Black Sea Fleet. The price was indeed not low.

He, the trade king, can betray the Christian Alliance for the sake of profit and fight against the Tatars and the Ottomans. Why can't I betray him for the sake of profit and return to the arms of my Christian brothers?

"But if we have to carry out high-intensity combat missions, we won't be able to engage in business and trade. What will the brothers eat and drink?"

"As usual, I will pay you according to Ottoman standards. For each professional level, you can receive one dinar silver coin a day. At the same time, half of what you loot will be handed over to you, and the other half will be yours. I will equip you with better cannons and better firearms. All of you will be promoted and rewarded based on your military merits according to the military merit system of the Athenian Despotism. There will also be more troops to fight with you, and you will not be sent to die."

Aenarion patiently explained his policy, then tore through the veil that had been in place and threw the question to Giovanni.

"So, will you continue to follow the Genoese, ally with the pagans, and fight your Christian brothers, or will you change your allegiance and serve me?"

Giovanni didn't say anything. He picked up the Genoa's admiral's flag and recalled every detail of his journey from a sailor to the admiral's position. Suddenly, he clenched the flagpole with both hands and raised it high, then smashed it against his knees, breaking the flag in half! Then he knelt in front of Aenarion.

"In this case, there is only one answer. I will be loyal to you! Black Sea Fleet Admiral Giovanni Giustinia, I await the orders of the Warmaster."

"very good."

Seeing that he had instigated the Genoese to rebel, Aenarion breathed a sigh of relief. Control of the Black Sea was back in his hands.

"I have a mission for you. Block the Bosphorus Strait so that Genoa's aid cannot enter the Black Sea and cannot support Crimea!"

"As you wish."

Giovanni pushed open the door and immediately ordered the fleet to make a 180-degree turn on the sea and head southwest, blocking the corridor connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.

After resolving the issue in Genoa, the only ones left in front of him were the Tatars armed with a group of muskets and artillery.

The author says:

Author's words: It's a new January~ The monthly tickets have all been refreshed~ Four more chapters with 10,000 words, please give me the monthly tickets QAQ~~ The Miaoying dragon egg will be hatched soon~

Chapter 253: Battle of Kafa

On April 1452, 4, after half a month of procrastination, the Tatar cavalry scattered all over the place gathered at the royal court. Under the harassment and interference of Varyag, only 1 of the cavalry finally arrived. The rest were either killed or had to station their troops at home due to Varyag's endless harassment.

After all, the nomadic community system of the Tatars does not have as high a degree of monarchical centralization as the feudal fiefdom system in Western Europe, and each nomadic chief values ​​his own private property much more than the Khanate of the Khan.

Together with the more than 5,000 Italian mercenaries provided by Genoa who were equipped with halberds, matchlocks, and cannons, the Tatar Khan assembled 40,000 troops and headed straight for Aenarion, who came from Caffa with only 8,000 soldiers!

It seems that the Khan was too confident in the war to break through the castles in the Crimean Peninsula and the East European steppes, send in more Tatar cavalry, and accumulate more superior forces. He wanted to use an overwhelming four times the force to kill the leader of this expedition, the initiator: Aenarion, in one battle.

More than 40,000 cavalry versus more than 8,000 infantry, a five-fold gap in troop strength. The enemy's cavalry were all highly mobile, so it was impossible to fight a field battle. The Roman soldiers were very anxious. With this gap in troop strength, they had no problem defending the city, but they had no idea how they could defeat this group of nomads.

The Warmaster promised to conquer Crimea in 80 days and take everyone back home in June when the harvest is good. Are we going to stay in Kaffa for 80 days? Wait until the enemy runs out of food and collapses? ? ?

Facing the aggressive enemy, Aenarion was calm and composed. He seemed to have a plan in place. He forcibly conscripted Genoese merchants and Tatar citizens in Kaffa to join the battle as conscripted militia. In this city with a population of 15, he recruited 50 men and women between the ages of and . In front of all the Genoese and Tatar militiamen, he opened the warehouse, revealing a mountain of dinar silver coins, and put them in a pile.

Throw part of it into the crowd!

"Look! Brave Tatars and Genoese! Fight for me! As long as you win! Supreme glory and rewards await you!"

Aenarion spoke passionately while distributing spears and shields to the ten thousand satyrs and humans, forming a ten thousand spearmen as a filling-in force. He divided them into several teams and mixed them with a thousand phalanx soldiers and four thousand five hundred Slav musketeers to take on the defense of the city.

Several generals immediately advised worriedly that although you can persuade some people to rebel with this, it is impossible for everyone to be persuaded by these few silver coins. Don't let the conscripts from these cities take on important tasks, especially defending the city.

Aenarion smiled and said nothing. Sure enough, these conscripts began to have spies and traitors on a small scale, and quietly escaped from the city of Kaffa. They told the Tatars who had arrived at the outskirts of the city the news in the city, including the mountains of silver coins in the city.

The greedy Tatar chieftains and their leaders instantly became more interested in Aenarion. This huge Tatar army, led by the chieftains of thirteen tribes including the Khan, advanced rapidly and finally arrived at the city on April 4.

During this period, the Genoese bribed a large number of assassins to launch an assassination against Aenarion. If they had done this a few months earlier, they might have succeeded, but now Aenarion's security system has been upgraded unprecedentedly - which assassin are you from? Can you defeat Lion, the Lord of the First Legion who sleeps with him?

"Everyone, go out of the city and fight in the field to defeat them!"

Once again Aenarion gave the order for the army to march out of the city and fight in the field.

"Warmaster, no! The combat effectiveness of the 10,000 new levies you recruited is too poor, and their loyalty is also a problem. Even if we add them, we only have more than 18,000 people, with only 500 cavalry, while the enemy has 40,000 people, 35,000 of which are cavalry, twice our number!"

"What are you afraid of? Ever since I started my army, I have always won with fewer soldiers. In the worst case, I could only use a few thousand soldiers to fight against an entire Janissary Corps! But I still won. Are these Crimean Tatars stronger than the Ottomans?"

Aenarion rejected his general's opinion in public, and his Tatar and Genoese spies quickly spread the news, making the Tatars laugh.

This Eastern Roman Empire warlord is probably crazy. If he hides in the city of Kaffa, then we still think it's troublesome to go out of the city and fight with us nomads? Okay, okay, send a message to the three armies, after winning the battle today, we will have dinner in the city of Kaffa tonight.

The Battle of Kaffa began when both commanders thought the other was an idiot. Aenarion's army rushed out of the three gates north of Kaffa. Two thousand Varangians, one thousand phalanx soldiers, and all the field artillery were deployed on the right wing, approaching the coastline outside the city of Kaffa.

Five thousand five hundred musketeers converted from slaves were deployed on the left wing, while the ten thousand conscripted spearmen were arranged in a fairly neat square formation and piled up in the huge center.

Aenarion took Llane and rode Indrognir into the sky, looking at the Tatar formation. Five thousand Genoese artillerymen were deployed in the center, and the nomadic cavalry of the thirteen families were scattered in various corners, and all the chiefs had Tatar military bands.

The scene of Tatar Khoomei is extremely unique and shocking. On the vast grassland, four Tatar poets gathered on horseback to form a small circle. They were dressed in traditional nomadic costumes, hats decorated with eagle feathers or horse tails, and silver ornaments and jewels were hung on their bodies, shining brightly.

One of them held high the grassland dragon flag and sang the Humming song at the top of his lungs. His magnetic voice was like an echo from nature, gentle and deep, with a unique and melodious voice that echoed over the grassland. The second Tatar also began to sing in the chorus, making a unique guttural sound and beating the war drum tied to his waist with both hands, letting the rhythmic drum beats resound through the sky along with their singing.

The third person also sang while playing the huqin in his hand, and the fourth person played the unique trombone of the grassland. The melodious and desolate melody, intertwined with the singing and drums, covered the entire army in their ensemble!

Aenarion used an identification spell and understood why the Tartar military band consisted of four members. They sang four completely different songs of the bards, bringing great benefits to the entire army.

[Boost Morale]: Grants all friendly forces who can hear your singing +5 attack and +5 damage.

[Boosting Skill]: Grants +2 to skill checks to all friendly forces that can hear your singing.

[Bastion Hymn]: Grants +2 Defense to all friendly forces that can hear your song.

[Disturbing Spells]: All nearby enemies have a 20% failure rate when casting spells.

And this is just the gain of one tribe. There are more than thirty such teams densely packed in the entire army! Hundreds of bards have raised the combat effectiveness of the entire Tatar army to a higher level!

Chapter 254: Dragon Blood Poet

"Everyone! Charge!!!"

In the midst of thousands of troops, a Tatar wearing Gothic plate armor and a golden crown roared loudly, and thirteen chiefs led their archers to charge. They also learned their lesson and sent two chiefs to harass and tie down Aenarion's left and right wings, while the others charged forward and directly attacked the center army which had the largest number of people but the weakest strength!

"For the Virgin Mary!"

The Genoese roared and led the charge, learning

, borrowing from Aenarion's tactics, the cannons cleared the way, the cavalry charged, and the infantry cleared the way. The terrifying shells exploded like thunder, flying all over the sky dyed red by the flames, and then fell to the ground with a roar, and the 10,000 conscripted spearmen cried for their parents! The shock wave of the explosion threw smoke, dust, and broken limbs and flesh into the sky dozens of meters high!

The citizens who had hurriedly joined the battle screamed in fear at the sight of broken limbs flying and blood splattering everywhere. Some people foamed at the mouth and fainted, while others turned around and ran away in fear! The entire central army formation was in chaos.

After three rounds of artillery bombardment, the Khan personally selected a group of Tatar heavy cavalry, and charged forward amid passionate singing. Three thousand goat men were wearing chain mail, plate chest armor, plate leggings and other pieces provided by Genoa, and holding Western European fine lances, and riding the best horses on the grassland to charge forward.

Three thousand war horses advanced, galloped, trotted, and charged at high speed under the collision of the Tatars' sheep's hooves! The sound of the heavy cavalry running made the earth tremble! The thunderous sound of horse hooves came from the sky, and the untrained soldiers, just looking at the cavalry more than two meters tall, charging at them, were so scared that they trembled and could not muster the slightest courage!

"shooting!!!"

When the heavy cavalry rushed to a distance of 100 meters, the leading Tatar roared, and everyone drew their bows and shot rapidly. At the last moment before the charge, tens of thousands of arrows were shot at a frequency of one arrow every two seconds! Covering the sky over an extremely small piece of land.

Under the terrified gazes of the conscripts, thousands of arrows poured down from the sky like black clouds, covering the entire battlefield with a rain of arrows, forming a realm of death. Sharp arrows cut through the air, making creepy whistling sounds, like the whispers of the god of death.

Sharp arrows flashing with cold light mercilessly tore open muscles, pierced bones, and bloomed brilliant bouquets of blood in the air. The unarmored soldiers instantly turned into hedgehogs under the baptism of arrow rain and fell in a pool of blood like weeds. The soldiers struggled in the rain of arrows, trying to find a chance to survive, but there was nowhere to hide. The endless rain of arrows left corpses everywhere and blood flowing like a river. Wailing, screaming, and crying were heard one after another, full of terror and despair.

After firing three arrows in succession, the Tatars put away their bows and arrows, drew out their spears and scimitars, and roared into the enemy formation that had long been destroyed by artillery and rain of arrows!

In an instant, one by one, the conscripted spearmen were either pierced by spears or torn apart by scimitars, and fell down one after another as the sharp blades were swung, with blood splattering everywhere. With the blessing of the bards, their attacks were swift and fierce. With the help of the speed of horses, every swing of the sword, dragging, cutting, and tearing brought terrifying lethality. The galloping war horses knocked the infantry away and trampled them, causing the Roman battle line to be torn and disintegrated by the cavalry's charge. These Tatar cavalry were like a fish in water, and in the blink of an eye, they cut Aenarion's center army in two!

"Warmaster! I don't know what strategy you are hiding. If you really have a backup plan, use it quickly. If this continues, everyone will die! The conscripts in the central army have only been trained for a day. They are just filling in the numbers. After being bombed by the cannons and charged by the cavalry, they have begun to disintegrate!"

A general looked at the defeated central army with worry in his brow.

"If the center is breached, our left and right wings will be surrounded by Tatar cavalry that far outnumbers us! Even if we can use the Spanish phalanx to save our lives, there are too many of them. Once our ammunition runs out and the enemy hasn't collapsed, we will die without a burial place!"

"Don't worry. Order the left and right wings to shoot at the central cavalry. If the enemy rushes over, slowly retreat. When have I ever lied to you and sent you to your death? Don't worry."

Aenarion comforted his general. This was only useful because Aenarion, who had defeated the Janissaries many times and even captured the Ottoman general and whose prestige was so high, said this. If it were anyone else, the morale of the army would probably collapse at this moment.

"Indrognir! Take me and Lion into the air!"

Under Aenarion's command, Indrognir and the two of them quickly ascended into the air, galloping towards the Tatar Khan! And under the obstruction of arrows and muskets, they climbed high into the sky and disappeared from everyone's sight. The frightened Khan hurriedly ordered his Keshik Guards, as well as several high-level Night Demons and Genoese bodyguards to come to protect them.

However, this was just a cover. Indrognir's target was not the Tatar Khan at all. When she emerged from the clouds and reappeared in everyone's sight, the entire dragon was actually lying across the Genoese artillery position!

"call--"

Indrognir took a deep breath and spewed out a high-temperature, deadly crimson dragon flame. The blazing dragon fire was like a magnificent waterfall of flames, accompanied by deafening dragon roars, explosions, and whistles, burning down from the sky! More than a dozen artillerymen were instantly burned to charcoal by the dragon fire, and then shattered in the wind pressure, turning into charcoal debris all over the ground.

The two brass cannons melted under the licking of the dragon flame like ice sculptures exposed to the scorching sun, and drops of boiling, scalding brass juice flowed down the gradually melting gun barrels to the ground.

And this is not the most terrifying thing. After the high-temperature dragon flame burned the sealed wooden barrel, it directly detonated the black gunpowder inside!

Instantly, the sound of explosions echoed throughout the area, and fire and thick smoke gushed out of the barrels. The shock wave of the explosion swept everything around like a gust of wind sweeping away fallen leaves, tearing the earth apart.

The gunners were blown away, and the artillery positions dug by the Genoese were blown into huge craters. Hundreds of kilograms of soil and gravel were thrown dozens of meters away! The cannons weighing hundreds of kilograms were overturned by the shock wave of the explosion, and a gunner who was unable to dodge was pressed underneath. The heavy gun barrel directly smashed his spine, causing the man to faint in severe pain.