Chapter 0707 preparations for occupying the granary
December 25, 516.
Yamazaki has made arrangements for the Port Leptis area, and the Engineer Corps has also built twelve large catapults.
According to Mei Daizi's wishes, he directly bombarded with metal oil cans. Yamazaki did not agree. It would be too lethal and was not needed now.
A large trebuchet throws a clay pot. Current technology cannot make a clay pot that can withstand such a strong force, and it will be crushed by the wind pressure in the air, so iron cans were chosen.
A bucket poured with molten iron, covered with an iron sheet and sealed with cloth, was used to hold oil to blow up the city gate.
Some add white phosphorus, and some also add a large amount of copper bullets. The effect is comparable to an oversized fragmentation grenade. The flame range is more than 30 meters, the burning range is more than 50 meters, and the copper bullets can penetrate heavy armor and have a range of more than 50 meters.
The killing range is over 100 meters.
The reason why copper is used is because lead bullets and iron bullets are not good when left in the human body, while copper rust seems harmless.
Meidaizi was having fun and made another kind of iron can, adding phosphorus powder, aluminum powder and magnesium powder. Yamazaki didn't even let her try it and just dismantled it.
The use of trebuchets this time was just a pretense to lure the Eastern Roman army to attack. The purpose was to capture as many prisoners as possible. It would be best to capture all the 500 mobile city ballista vehicles.
Sure enough, the appearance of the trebuchet made the Eastern Roman army a little uneasy.
But if you want to charge into the formation, you have to pass the blockade of five crossbow cavalry legions. The rain of crossbow arrows is not that easy.
But I have no choice but to try.
Ten legions of non-soldier slaves stepped forward. Their goal was clear, to destroy the trebuchets using human sea tactics.
The equipment was very poor, and they were holding various things, including small bucklers, large wooden shields, tree trunks, groups of several people holding door panels, etc.
Behind them were three slave cavalry legions, a nomadic archer cavalry legion, and the remnants of last night's army that had been gathered together and reorganized into a large legion, which exceeded the number of two legions.
When non-fighter slaves attract crossbow bolts, they will pass over the remains of non-fighter slaves.
At the sound of the trumpet, the slaves began to charge.
Amidst the sound of the horn, crossbow arrows began to rain down, and the catapults retreated under the pull of the animals.
The crossbow cavalry regiment uses a six-row formation of three-stage shooting. After one group fires, it retreats to extend the distance.
After running for a while, the slaves found that the charge seemed to have no end, and people kept getting hit and fell. Their morale dropped sharply and they collapsed.
They stopped and retreated, but the slave cavalry regiment and the nomad cavalry archer regiment rushed forward and became the target of the crossbow bolts, and they fell in large numbers immediately.
Seeing this, the Eastern Romans issued a retreat order.
Three regular legions and two archer legions defended the mobile city and the crossbow defense legion retreated, taking the lead in withdrawing from the camp.
As soon as they left, the morale of the entire army plummeted, and the entire front immediately collapsed.
Yamazaki did not pursue him. The Mobile City Crossbow Defense Corps did not move fast enough, so let them run slowly.
What we need to do now is to collect the prisoners, then occupy the Cyrene area, and invade the Eastern Roman Aegyptus area.
Now that the fight has begun, let’s fight to the Red Sea first and then occupy the granary of Eastern Rome…
On the other side, there is the camp of the nomadic tribes in Cyrene.
The news brought back by the defeated army panicked the upper echelons of the tribe. The next step was to fight, surrender, or leave. It was a difficult choice.
Although the tribes in Cyrene still live in tents, they have been urbanized, just like the Shaka tribe where the Gron family used to live. They are already familiar with paying taxes and observing the law, so they are not used to it after leaving.
Fight, but can't win.
After much discussion, they decided to surrender. They had a plan. According to the "Gron Declaration", they would not be treated as slaves. The only problem was to pay taxes.
But that is not now. If the Eastern Roman Kingdom wins, it will remain the same.
…
On the edge of the battlefield, there is a temporary camp of the Gelung Army.
Yamazaki received the report that the nomadic tribes here had come to surrender, and asked Fuluo to receive them.
After hearing their conditions and following the "Gron Declaration", Yamazaki immediately understood their thoughts and asked someone to inform Fro that he could agree.
The Gelong family is not short of money. Taxation, for the rich, is a check and balance, reducing their ambitions. For the kingdom, it is a balance, reducing the gap between the rich and the poor.
Now it is enough to collect the horses of the nomads to use as transportation capacity. Without horses, there will be no attack.
According to Yamazaki's knowledge, there are millions of slaves in the Cyrene area, and agriculture and animal husbandry are more developed than in the Port Leptis area. There is a surplus of more than 100,000 tons of food every year, which is enough for one million people for two months.
food.
This kind of grain-producing land can just make up for the food gap. The only pity is that a lot of the food has been transported away...
Before evening, Aegyptus area.
The Eastern Roman reinforcements, four heavy armored regiments and twelve slave cavalry legions, were still about fifty kilometers away from joining the retreating army.
However, Yamasaki led three legions, each riding fast horses, to cross the retreating army and catch up with the reinforcements.
Read out the "Gron Statement" first to lower the opponent's morale.
Then, the three crossbow cavalry regiments stepped forward to suppress them. When the opponent's slave cavalry regiments charged, they retreated and beat them, shouting for them to surrender and promising to treat them as civilians.
The slave cavalry regiment was completely demoralized and fell.
The opponent's four heavily armored legions dismounted and formed a shield formation. They tried to throw a javelin, but failed, so they gave up and waited with their shields raised.
The weapons of the slave cavalry regiment were confiscated and they were thrown into small piles at designated locations to form a wall to prevent the advancement of the mobile city's crossbow defense vehicles.
Afterwards, two crossbow cavalry regiments escorted them on horseback to the Port Leptis area.
There is only one crossbow cavalry corps left, keeping an eye on the four heavily armored corps and the mobile city anti-ballista corps. While resting, they slowly harass them and force them to surrender...
December 26, Setif Fortress.
Yamazaki's messenger bird brought news of the war and new military orders.
The Geron family recruited patrol officers with a salary of one silver coin per month. They were required to be able to ride horses and archery and to provide their own bows and horses.
A group of twelve people patrolled the seaside and set up a beacon tower. If they discovered that the Eastern Roman army had landed, they would immediately retreat and report the news. They could also use a trumpet to report the news at night.
In addition to the six Gothic heavy infantry regiments, the remaining troops of the Gron family began to move south after preparing all their equipment.
After settling their families, the six Gothic heavy infantry regiments took turns to garrison in each city to familiarize themselves with the terrain.
The legions of the Kingdom of Gelong also took turns to garrison and get familiar with the terrain.
The cities where the participating legions are located will be given priority in food supply...
December 27, Aegyptos region.
Yamasaki asked people to send food and water to the Eastern Roman legions to prevent them from killing their horses.
The seven Eastern Roman legions reunited, but they were also pinned there and unable to move.
The equipment of the twelve slave legions intermittently formed a wall surrounding them on three sides, making it difficult for the city's defense crossbows to exert their power.
Although the heavy-armed soldiers were capable of demolishing walls, they gave up after seeing the crossbow cavalry throw an oil can.
They cannot disband the shield formation. If they want to slowly move forward and knock it away, they will enter the range of throwing oil cans and suffer greater damage.
The crossbow cavalry were behind the equipment wall, and the javelins thrown could not hurt them at all.
The Eastern Roman army could only wait for reinforcements, and Yamazaki was also waiting for reinforcements. They wanted to occupy the vast Aegyptus area and resist the war machine that the Eastern Roman Kingdom had launched. The current five crossbow cavalry legions and other military strength were not enough.