"Through three battles with the Republic of Liguria, we have concluded three points in total."
The name of the khan who grabbed Ella's hand and called "brother" was Hezekiah. At the banquet, Hezekiah told Rurik and Ella with a serious expression how the Khazar Khanate was summed up by the lives of its three leaders.
Out of experience.
"First point, don't think that you can sit back and relax if you are far away from the battlefield. The first Khan was commanding the siege when he was hit by an arrow. He was three arrows away from the city wall of Azov. The arrow shot by the archer named Dast
The arrow penetrated the Khan's helmet at this distance."
"Three arrows' distance?" Ella and Rurik both opened their mouths in shock.
You must know that the distance of an arrow is three hundred steps. At this distance, ordinary arrows have no power. The shooting range of Glahid's longbow troops is only between one and a half arrows and two arrows. Glahid himself
His bow was specially made, but he could only barely injure the enemy through the gaps between the armor at a distance of two arrows. That Dast's arrow could penetrate the armor at a distance of three arrows was simply unimaginable.
If Hezekiah hadn't mentioned this today, Ayla and Rurik would never have let go of their bows and arrows at a distance of three arrows. The sudden death of the first khan of the Khazar Khanate seemed logical.
"Second point, don't think that you won't be discovered if you mix in the crowd. Our second Khan was leading his troops to attack the city when he was hit by an arrow. With the lesson of the first Khan, he deliberately stayed away from the flag and used a coarse cloth to
Covering the armor, from a distance, he looked like an ordinary soldier. However, before he could get within two arrows, he was hit by the archer's arrow. At this distance, the arrow penetrated his
The armor opened a hole in his heart and was not even left in his body."
Ella and Rurik were even more surprised: "How can you tell the difference?"
"We couldn't understand it at first. But after listening to the descriptions of several nearby soldiers, we roughly judged that it was because of the eagle."
"eagle?"
"Before the arrow hit the Great Khan, an eagle suddenly flew toward him from the sky. As soon as the Great Khan drove the eagle away, the arrow flew over. This eagle must have been tame by humans! It was above the battlefield.
Circle around, pounce down as soon as you find a valuable target, and point the way for the archers in the distance."
Ella and Rurik felt a slight chill. Eagles can distinguish prey on the ground at very high altitudes, but if it weren't for Hezekiah's words, who would pay attention to an eagle on the battlefield?
"The third point is that even the thickest shield cannot block the archer's arrow within one arrow. The third Khan died from this."
Each of these three points was paid for by the life of a great khan. After Hezekiah finished speaking of these three points, he drank sips of wine, obviously in an extremely bad mood.
"So, how should we guard against that archer's arrows?" Ella asked.
"I don't know. The price is too high, and we don't dare to try it again. I think the safest way is to keep the general away from the battlefield!"
This is not a suggestion at all. There must be a commander in a battle. Even if Ella does not fight in person, someone else will take the position of commander. If you are far away from the battlefield, you will not be able to command the troops as a general, but if you are close to the battlefield
If you die, you will be shot. This situation is simply a dilemma.
Ella tilted her head and thought for a while.
"Azov is a fortified city, and now that there are such powerful archers, we can only siege rather than attack until we come up with a better way. We will use our troops to surround Azov from the land.
It’s still very easy, the key is to cut off their water access. As long as they run out of supplies, they will surrender without a fight.”
"This plan is too protracted!" Rurik suddenly cursed, and then drank a bowl of wine. With the strength of the wine, he said roughly, "This guy Hezekiah is adding fuel and jealousy here. I'm telling you.
I’m all scared. How could it be so evil? It’s just an arrow. I don’t believe I can’t dodge it!”
Hezekiah was anxious: "I didn't add any fuel to the fire!"
"The most you can do is shoot me to death, and it's none of your business. King of Sweden, as long as you promise to give me a few percent more of the spoils, I will fight as a vanguard!"
"It's normal for the vanguard to share a few percent more of the loot." Ella nodded, "Let's try this first."
That's how it was settled.
When Ella left Novgorod, her army had already been joined by Rurik and Hezekiah. Hezekiah wanted to avenge the previous Khans and consolidate his position as Khan.
The reason why Rick sent troops seemed to be because he had a plan to cross Crimea and enter the Caspian Sea, and then go south to plunder the Tianfang Empire. The Ligurian Republic's sphere of influence in the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea blocked his passage.
"Isfahan, half of the world! I have long wanted to rob the capital of the Tianfang Empire! But the Republic of Liguria wants to do business with the Tianfang Empire, but it refuses to lend me a road. It should be beaten!"
Rurik said this to Ella.
Rurik brought three thousand infantry, some of whom were from the pirate kingdom, but more from the local tribes of Novgorod. They took their own boats and followed Ella along the Volga River
Sailing.
Hezekiah only brought 2,000 people, which was a bit small for a nomadic country that influenced the two empires of Qiqiu and Tianfang. In Hezekiah's own words, this was because the Khazar Khanate was competing for authority within itself.
Many tribes were unwilling to accept his orders. However, these two thousand people were all cavalry who were good at riding and shooting, and there were also some heavy cavalry among them. They did not take a boat, but followed Ella's fleet by land.
Since the cavalry had to conserve horse power for combat and could not let the horses run at full speed during the march, Hezekiah's cavalry was slower than the fleets of Ella and Rurik. But there is no river in the Volga River Basin
Directly leading to the Black Sea, during the transition between the two rivers, Ella's fleet needed to be dragged on land with the help of rollers. At this time, Hezekiah's cavalry could successfully catch up with Ella's army.
After marching like this for a few days, Ayla's troops left the coniferous forest and entered the steppes, which was the territory of the Khazar Khanate.
"Come on!" Ella shouted from the front, "We'll be in the water soon!"
Hundreds of soldiers pushed the "Flying Sealander" into a tributary of the Volga River, and then fell to the ground as if paralyzed - the "Flying Sealander" was too huge, even though
With the assistance of rollers, it is also very difficult to push it.
Subsequent soldiers brought a series of equipment such as catapults and reinstalled them on the deck of the "Flying Zealander".
"Thank you for your hard work! Next is a long stretch of river, you can take it easy now!"
Ella encouraged the soldiers one by one. Behind her were several small carts delivering water to the soldiers.
But before the soldiers had time to pick up the water bottles, some not-so-good news came:
"King of Sweden! There are several ships stranded ahead!"
