Chapter 15 The Battle of Krakow (The Eighth, Victory belongs to the Strong Monthly Pass)
Although the coalition soldiers tried to resist, it was useless. The crossbows in their hands were not as good as those of Norman crossbow soldiers, and they fought each other. The arrows shot out were scattered and inconsistent, neither dense nor compact. The lethality was limited, and a small number of soldiers who had swim dunks slumped over the boat gang and let the Normans cut off a large handful of fingers with an axe, and their palms became bald. This also made the amateur water ghost scream, and then fell back into the water. After a while, the blood was scattered.
In this way, the coalition soldiers could not effectively kill the Norman sailors. However, the crossbowmen on the Norman fleet could calmly shoot the coalition soldiers on the shore. Although the ship was a little bumpy and aiming was not easy. However, the coalition formation was too dense and there was almost no need to aim. It could shoot a person with just one arrow. It was no different from shooting a target. The Norman crossbowmen were intrigued, and 4,500 crossbowmen were specially selected to shoot in places with a large number of people under the dispatch of their respective officers.
There are thirty crossbows in total, and the shooting speed of the pulley crossbow is a little slower, and an arrow can be shot in about fifteen seconds on average. If the two armies are fighting, the opponent's cavalry will only shoot one or two crossbows. However, it is different at this moment. The coalition's more than 20,000 troops are not subordinate to each other. Without special training, it is very difficult to dispatch it. Some Eastern European nobles and professional officers from Eastern Rome shouted quietly, but the orders they said are contradictory. The army is spinning around and does not know who to listen to - even if you know, it is useless. Most of the peasants and soldiers are illiterate and cannot distinguish between the east, south, west, north and left and right. The two simplest orders when fighting are: rush; escape! Apart from that, I don't understand. What else can I do besides waiting for death when encountering such an emergency?!
In nearly eight minutes, the Norman crossbowmen ran out of ammunition, and 4,500 crossbowmen fired more than 100,000 crossbow arrows in total, killing nearly one-third of the coalition soldiers. They completely disrupted the opponent's formation. In fact, halfway through this round of attack, the coalition lost the determination to resist.
The soldiers listened to the screams of their comrades' dying screams, and their bodies involuntarily ran around with the surging people. The Norman army was also in the north, so they would not go there. The Vistula River to the west was where the Normans launched an attack. Although some people were panicked, they either stepped on the air or were pushed down. However, most of them were dead. The noble soldiers wearing chain armor and scales became turtles on the bottom. Those who could not swim and choked for a few times and died.
The swimming blamed them and grabbed their hands and feet and fell down... In the south, the coalition soldiers behind the army fled and trampled on each other and died countless people, but at least they were lucky and had good luck and had a good life escaped. The worst thing was that in the east, the soldiers panicked and ran towards their allies, the positions of the Eastern Romans, and disrupted the front of the Eastern Romans. At the same time, these soldiers who were crying and fleeing in various ways also reduced the morale of the Eastern Romans...
"The left wing is lost!" The Eastern Roman soldiers shouted in horror. At the same time, the Celtic and Norman soldiers on the front also took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack.
However, this is not the end - the left wing, in the west, Norman light infantry riding in the dragon-headed battleship quickly rowed and landed on the shore after the crossbowmen attacked, threw a flying axe at the chaotic coalition, and then launched a charge. The descendants of pirates with Viking blood were roaring, laughing, and shook the upper body, holding both hands to the axe, and chopped the coalition soldiers to the ground like cutting wheat. And continued, together with Anderson's Pomeranian Legion, driving them to the front of the Eastern Romans.
Immediately afterwards, the Livornian garrison army led by General Alvin, a total of 3,500 professional Viking warriors also landed one after another, and the entire left wing became crowded again. Norman people stepped on the corpse and slashed with battle axes to create a passage!
"It's the Normans, the Normans!!!" The coalition on the left wing completely collapsed under such continuous and strong blows. After that, tens of thousands of Norman infantry occupied the left wing and began to attack the flank of the Eastern Roman army in the front.
"This battle cannot be fought! Let's go too!" On the right wing of the battlefield, he saw his subordinates being bit by bit by bit by bit by the Norman Hussars. Several Tatar tribe chiefs discussed for a while and decided to escape.
"Let's go! We'll stop working for the Romans! Let's go!"
The grassland herders inexplicably held grudges against the Romans at this moment. Then a small number of troops left behind were left behind. Then the remnants followed the chief of their tribes, hurriedly fled like a stray dog. The Hussars did not chase them, but rushed directly to the front battlefield, and the right wing of the Roman legion ran over.
"It's over..." His Highness Liliannu closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists. Only then did he realize that he had fallen into the other party's plan - deliberately showing weakness on the left wing on the Vistula River, allowing him to continuously strengthen the left wing army and put all the reserves in. Then he dispatched the navy and launched an attack unexpectedly. He completely destroyed the left wing and caused the left wing army to attack the original formation... His Highness fully understood the other party's plan. But it was too late. His wings of his army were lost, and the troops from Eastern European countries had already run away. The army from Eastern Rome was weak and would be attacked from three sides. The reserve team in his hand was only 300 people and one large group of Roman imperial guards. It was useless.
His Highness the Princess knew that this battle, this time, as the supreme commander, would end with his complete defeat and the great victory of the Norman-Celtic coalition.
His Highness the princess staggered, her eyes dizzy and almost fell to the ground. She covered her chest tightly with her hands. Chest tightness, palpitations, and waves. I don’t know if it was the stimulation of failure or the heart-wrenching pain caused by the stimulation of the army being slaughtered.
"It's really damn..." Liliannu murmured in a low voice, thinking of the seven thousand elites that he had worked hard, spent countless money, and worked hard for six years to pile up, disappeared in an instant, and then he felt a sense of disgust. Then he felt sweet and spit out a mouthful of blood with a "wow".
"Your Highness the Crown Prince?" The imperial guards next to him were a little scared when they saw their princess like this. At the same time, they looked at her eagerly, waiting for the order. "If I... If I order you to follow me to fight the enemy now, what?" Liliannu wiped the bloody marks on the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, and then he felt much more awake, and then asked.
"Do you obey your order and follow us to the death!" The soldiers of the Imperial Guard naturally knew what the situation is now. Their three hundred soldiers left immediately and were just adding food to others. However, they all answered like this. Their words were firm and not like actions. This made Princess Liliannu feel a little relieved.
"Not bad...but no need." His Highness shook his head and said, "We retreat without competing for a long time... There will always be a day for a comeback."
Hearing His Royal Highness said this, the imperial guards were a little relieved - although they were not afraid of death. They also did not like to die in vain. As the Normans got closer, their troops could not resist and showed signs of collapse. Although there were occasionally two passionate guys shouting wildly: "Rome!", there were few responders. Instead, they attracted the attention of the Normans. The crossbow, flying axe, javelin was projected, and even a whole body was not left behind... The imperial guards did not dare to hesitate anymore, and quickly led the mount of His Royal guards Liliannu's horses and each stepped on the back of their horses. Although the imperial guards were all infantry, they were well-treated, all equipped with horses, marching on horseback, and fighting on foot. Therefore, they were not panicked. They wanted to escape, but they planted many more flags on the hills as suspicious soldiers. At the same time, they were also to stabilize the morale of the army.
In this way, everything was arranged. Liliannu gritted his teeth and put the word "retreat." from the gap. Then he left the army and did not return to the barracks. Instead, he went straight to a colony in East Rome to the south under the escort of the imperial guards.
At this time, the sky was approaching dusk. The light was insufficient, so it was not clear. Therefore, it was not until Liliannu ran for a long time that several soldiers who had approached discovered this situation.
"The crown prince ran away! The princess ran away! The princess left the army and ran away!!!" The defeated soldiers shouted in such horror. The Eastern Roman army was in an uproar, and there were no more surrenders and surrenders and fleeing. There were crying, screams, and cheers from the Normans and Celtics on the battlefield.
"Victory! We won!!"
After a whole day of fierce fighting, the soldiers' physical strength was almost exhausted - but at this moment, Norman and Celtic soldiers seemed to have returned suddenly. They began to cheer loudly and laugh, those who caught the prisoners, those who grabbed the prisoners, and those who grabbed the things...
At this moment, Artoria also received a letter from a scout and learned that the other commander had escaped.
"Have you run away? Humph, hahahahaha... It's useless - send the order! Order the Romans to stop resisting surrender! The Ai family is in a good mood today and can spare their lives!"
At this moment, Artoria was in a very happy mood - because she defeated Eastern Rome! Although this record was very heavy, defeating was defeating - that was a superpower that Egil had not defeated - but she, Artoria defeated! His Highness, Her Majesty the Queen, the most noble woman in Europe, was naturally happy. In this way, she had the capital to show off in front of Egil...
Chapter completed!