Chapter 41: Ambush and Snares
In an instant, the peaceful villages and towns became hell on earth, and the crops that had just been harvested were splashed with blood and everything around them turned into ashes.
The rebels grinned and chased the panicked villagers, and used their short spears to kill them from behind. They could cut off a large piece of meat with just a slight wave.
Just when the villagers were almost desperate, another army appeared here. The moment the black fox battle flag that was particularly dazzling in the wind and sunlight came into the eyes of the villagers, it was like seeing the savior appearing out of nowhere and was ecstatic.
This army was the militia of Mistras led by Neuski. After learning about the actions of the northern rebels, the Varangi man responded immediately.
"Hehehe, I'm just waiting for you to appear!" The rebel nobles led by the army did not unexpectedly see Neuski and his men appear here, but instead lowered their voices and looked at the Mistras militia who was coming over with a grim smile, as if planning something.
"Break them down, those are just a group of mobs!" As he was angry in front of him, the nobles ordered his cavalry to break through the other party's formation while the Mistrasse militia had just arrived and had not yet established a foothold. "Raise your spears for me and rush forward bravely. Without that little fox, the group of mobs, there is nothing to do with us!"
"I will be rewarded with the head of the Varangi!"
Inspired by the leader's reward, the cavalry on the horse rushed towards the Mistrasse militia as if they were injected with chicken blood. The formation between the cavalry was indiscriminate. In their opinion, militia with simple weapons only needed their charge to destroy them and smash them completely.
The cavalry of the rebels were not Moria, but immigrants from northern Serbia. These horse-drawn nations are known for their cavalry and shooting, and are excellent light cavalry, which will be favored by Byzantine nobles. With this kind of ace to play in the front line, it is easy to deal with some militias in the nobles.
But things were not as expected by the nobleman. As his cavalry was approaching, his iron hooves were trampling on him. However, the Mistrasse militia in the front row was not panicked at all. Instead, they were very calm and had no chaos in the formation. Moreover, the cavalry was not greeted by a spear, but a strange iron tube object in the hands of the militia. The next second, the fire slit in the other hand also ignited the fuse on the tube object.
"Bang" a loud noise, dazzling sparks and choking black smoke ejected from the black tube at the same time. The Serbian cavalry and their war horses who saw this for the first time were shocked. The frightened horse jumped high and was not under the command of the rider at all, which made the soft and unprotected abdomen below exposed in front of the Mistras militia.
"kill"
The second row of militiamen, who seized the right time, stabbed the long halberds in their hands and penetrated the flesh and blood of the enemy's war horses. While stabbing, they also pulled open the wounds left and right to make the blood surge out along with the internal organs of the horse.
"coffee"
The war horses were crying one after another, and the charge of the Serbian cavalry was immediately broken. The fall of the first row of war horses brought disaster. The disorderly formation was chosen because of underestimating the enemy, and the result was a chain reaction. The fallen war horses collided with flesh and blood, and the cavalry on the horses were also broken. Even if the cavalry with superb cavalry rushed in, the militia holding a fire tube pushed behind the halberd soldiers, the second filling was completed, and once again gave the Serbs a lot of money.
Commanding the soldiers calmly, Neusky looked at everything that happened expressionlessly, as if all of them should be taken for granted. This is the result of his training that has been criticized by the nobles in the past year.
The advantage of the "New Greek Fire" created by Justinian is that it has a stable output, but it has been difficult to use it to form large-scale killing like a real Greek fire, and its limitations are too great. Especially the "fire tube", Justinian tried to use the killing effect in a battle with the Latins. Instead, it was very useful when cavalry used it to scare the enemy's war horses. Therefore, Justinian and Neusky designed the formation like the previous one together to resist the cavalry's charge at the minimum cost. The most important thing that this set of combat process requires from beginning to end is the iron law of the army, when to shoot, when to cover, and quickly fill, these are not quickly mastered. This is why Justinian decided to recruit soldiers to train in a concentrated manner. Now it seems that after nearly a year of training, this army has already taken shape.
In an instant, the Serbian cavalry suffered heavy casualties. Because they were light-fitted, these cavalry had no advantage in protection. Once the charge was interrupted, they were undoubtedly weak and they saw the defeated cavalry dispersed and fled in the opposite direction.
"Let's go, go!" Seeing that his army was killed and injured, the rebel leader was stunned and waved eagerly, asking the Serbs to come back one after another. His purpose this time was just to lure Mistras' army out of the city. As a result, he was too arrogant and thought he could eat the militia unit. As a result, he lost so much, which made the nobles feel very distressed.
"Damn the Valangi people, he actually has such evil things!" This nobleman also heard of the fire rush tube among the Latin people, but he always thought it was nonsense. But now he didn't expect that he suffered a big loss.
"Let's retreat!" He ordered to the people behind him. The rebel nobles who had lost a lot of money had no intention of fighting, and immediately ordered the army to retreat.
Humph, wait for me! Valangi, I will hang your head on the city wall tomorrow to let everyone see your funny appearance.
I had cursed viciously in my heart countless times. The rebel nobles turned their heads and looked behind them, while Neuski and his Mistrals militia did not continue to pursue them.
"Hmph, have you noticed it? Haha, it's a pity that it's too late. When you came over, Rafcadio and the others had already taken your back and headed straight for Mestras. If you brought so many people out, the remaining defenders were vulnerable. If you lost Mestras, the whole Molia would sooner or later come to our hands." He smiled sinisterly, the man was full of confidence, ready to wait for the news that the other two companions succeeded.
But at this moment, a fast horse was coming toward this place, as if he was embarrassed and anxious.
"Sir Benito, it's bad, it's bad..."
Chapter completed!