In the northern part of Syltan County, the army of the Odins has assembled, and the area north of Syltan seems to have become a huge net, and this net seems to have gradually tightened.
The Odin Chixue Army headed by Manninger, although amazed at the resistance of the Byzantine Empire in the north, actually had the courage to launch an attack on their own side in winter, but they did not hesitate at all and organized a large army to gather, and it is bound to take this army. Enemy forces that penetrated deep into their own territory swallowed them in one bite.
Even Manninger himself, while surprised, also admired the courage of this Byzantine Empire commander-although this courage is a bit reckless, and Manninger himself is not without joy in his heart. The battle will annihilate this enemy army, and then there will be no resistance in the north of the Byzantine Empire!
Although he tried tentatively before and ended in failure, it did not prevent Manninger from making a correct judgment on the situation. This outstanding commander who is rare among the Odins has been keenly aware of it. At this point, the northern resistance force entrenched behind him is actually not too strong, but it is only an army of ten or twenty thousand pieces together. If he can solve the problem in this battle, he, Manninger, is naturally what he wants!
"End this war in winter, and use this war to completely solve our worries in one fell swoop! Waiting for the beginning of spring, our army can concentrate on looking south! We Odin dispatched so many troops this time, not only A few counties are enough!"
Manninger was in high spirits, and under his urging, the Odin Chixue Army who had just annexed the Corsica Military Region, under his strict orders, gathered all the way.
Although the Odins are sturdy and good at fighting, after all, they have fought several wars this year, especially the annexation of the Corsica Military Region. The war lasted for more than two months. When the Corsica Military Region started, the resistance was really tenacious. In the end, they won a great victory, but the whole army was quite exhausted. After fighting for half a year, the Chixue army urgently needed a period of repair. I originally planned to take advantage of the good generals this winter to repair and restore their vitality, but in Mann Under Ning's eagerness to win, the Odin troops from all walks of life still summoned up their courage, and strictly followed the order of the patriarch. The lone army, which had penetrated deep into the enemy's territory, formed an encircling stance.
Manninger himself was dispatched from the county governor of Syltan County, and personally led the army to take command of the town.
For a time, in the north of Syltan County, there is a net, just waiting for the bag to be fastened, and Green's lone army will be swallowed in one bite!
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It snowed overnight, and the snowflakes were the size of goose feathers. After falling overnight, when the sky was getting brighter, the earth was already vast. The silver-white color seems to have covered the heaven and the earth, and there is no other color between the heaven and the earth except this piece of white.
Xia Ya sat on the back of the horse, heaved a sigh of relief, and squeezed his hands together.
After catching the road in the middle of the night on horseback, his whole body was almost frozen, and his ears were so frozen that he could barely feel it, his nose was already red, and there was a layer of frost on his eyebrows!
There were two cavalrymen beside him, walking close to him, guarding the main general at all times.
This is a trail in the northeast of Shirtan County.
This is not the main road, and there are only some local village residents who have traveled together. After the war spread, the local villages and towns were almost empty, the villages were deserted and devoid of people, and the nearby roads were also in disrepair. .
Here is a river, which was originally a tributary of the north. There are no bridges on this river. In the past, in peacetime, only the nearby villages and towns organized people to build simple docks on both sides of the river, and arranged for peasants and soldiers to punt boats here. enough. The geographical location is remote, and there are no large caravans passing through. This small ferry port has enough capacity to meet the needs of the Japanese people.
But after the war, most of the people in the nearby villages and towns fled, and the small half were driven away by the Odins to sit as slaves. The villages and towns were empty, and there was no boatman on the ferry.
The group of people that Xia Ya accompanied, came at night, marched hurriedly all the way, and were heading here.
Xia Ya sat on the horse, and when he heard the whistle of the former cavalry in front, he was immediately refreshed. He gathered up his strength, and galloped forward on the horse. He rushed to the front of the team. Looking around, his face was frozen. Suddenly, a smile appeared.
"Ha! It seems that the sky is endless! It's a big snow, but it really helped Lao Tzu!"
I saw the river in front of me, but it has already frozen in this cold winter snow weather. The originally rushing river has already formed thick ice! Looking around, the upstream and downstream of this river have been frozen! !
Xia Ya immediately smiled and said, "Send someone to check the ice on the river. Is it thick enough! Our horse team is heavy, so don't fall off it."
At this moment, between heaven and earth, in this barren land, it seems that only this cavalry army where he is left is left.
The cavalry army behind Xia Ya dragged out of the queue of the elders on the white land.
In the team, all the cavalry were all covered in thick leather jackets, and they didn't seem to be wearing armor, and their attire was a bit weird, but the horse team behind them was not small!
This cavalry army that Xia Ya brought was not much or not, and it was exactly 800 cavalry! But this team seems to be far more than that! Just because of the preparation of this cavalry, Xiaya was originally equipped with blood, and each cavalry was equipped with two war horses and a load-bearing mule! !
Eight hundred cavalry, but there are as many as 2,500 mounts, which is an anomaly! Just because this army was piled up by Xia Ya with great expectations and a lot of money!
I saw that in this team, every cavalryman was an ordinary warhorse at the moment, and the reins beside him were tied, and each had a prepared horse and a mule horse. When it comes to mounts, it is also very strange. The cavalry on horseback has no armor, only wrapped in thick leather jackets to protect against the cold, but all the weapons and armors are tied on the back of the mule and horse beside him! Every load-bearing mule is a set of cavalry heavy armor! The appearance of this heavy armor looks very eye-catching, and it is actually a rare full-body armor! Breastplate body armor, shoulder guards, arm guards, leg guards, and helmets are also the most expensive face-covered heavy helmets!
In this era of cold weapons, this kind of full-body armor, I am afraid that the heavy armored cavalry in the empire cannot be equipped so completely. Every set of armor was built with a lot of blood and a lot of iron materials. The weight of this set of armor is about 150 pounds! Even in the army, only the generals of the heavily armored cavalry can wear such heavy armor. If an ordinary soldier wears such a heavy armor and carries such a heavy load, he is afraid that it will be difficult to move. With a person's weight on his back, he can barely walk, how can he fight on horseback? In the military, only some warriors with outstanding strength or generals and officers of Wu Yongguo people would wear such heavy iron armor!
But in the team of 800 cavalrymen brought by Xia Ya, this unusual heavy armor seems to have become a common basic equipment!
In addition to the heavy full set of armor, the mules and horses also bear the long blades of the cavalry! These long blades are heavy weapons, heavy cavalry spears, edged hammers, double-edged long-handled heavy axes, etc., each of which varies.
After careful calculation, if a cavalryman in this team wears the iron armor all over his body, and then takes this heavy heavy weapon, the whole body will only bear more than 200 kilograms!
With such heavy equipment, it is no wonder that each cavalryman should be equipped with a specially-loaded mule and horse to accompany him. Otherwise, the long-distance marching with such heavy equipment would cause the horses to be crushed to death long ago. Can you still fight
What's even more unusual is the prepared horse behind each cavalry!
The strange thing is that in this army, it seems that the horses behind every cavalryman look more majestic and taller than the warhorses under the cavalry's own crotch! I saw that the prepared horses were at least two heads taller than the original war horses. They looked thick and majestic. They ran all the way. The muscles on the body are like steel!
Byzantium has always been dominated by cavalry, especially Rodrian cavalry. Generally speaking, an ordinary war horse in the army is only the height of one person. The military practice has always been that the light cavalry uses the south horse, and the heavy cavalry uses the north horse. Imperial horses, the southern horses have always been slightly smaller in size, but they are good at endurance. Although they are not very good at short sprints, they can endure long-distance marches. The light cavalry is known for its maneuverability on the battlefield, and the southern horse is the most suitable.
Only the horses produced in the north are the type with tall stature. This kind of northern horse is tall and generous, with a strong load, and its explosive power and short-distance sprint are also a grade stronger than that of the southern horse, although long-distance running The stamina is not enough, but it is the most suitable mount for heavy armored cavalry-heavy armored cavalry is known for its impact on frontal assault.
But at this moment, it seems that among the cavalry, the tall horses behind the cavalry are much taller than the northern horses in the empire that are specially used for heavy cavalry! It looks majestic and extraordinary, and when hundreds of horses run, it is like a thunderous vibration! !
With so many giant horses, I don't know where Xia found it!
And these giant horses, except for the saddle, have no weight on their bodies, and they run all the way with extra ease. It seems that this team cherishes these tall giant horses very much, and would rather let those heavy-duty mules and horses die of exhaustion than waste the horsepower of these giant horses in long-distance marches.
Xia Ya stopped by the river, and after a while, she heard the sound of hoofs in front of her, and when she looked up, she saw a dark horse slowly approaching, a tall figure in a black leather jacket and a thick hat. And the collar, almost covering half of the face, the hat is extremely low, but the eyebrows exposed outside have long been dyed white by the frost, it is Nei Nei!
Nene came to Xia Ya, took a deep breath, and said solemnly: "I've seen it, this ice is very strong, we can go over! I personally rode on it and ran back and forth on it, no problem."
Xia Ya finally let out a sigh of relief, then couldn't help laughing up to the sky, gestured with a middle finger to the sky, and said viciously: "This goddamn god, finally let me go! Bad luck, today I finally have a good heart! Haha!!"
He lowered his head and glanced at Nene, and said viciously: "The order, the whole army crosses the river! Let's cross the river and go straight to the south! Hmph, this battle, whether it is life or death, whether it is scenery or a dead end, is up to us. !"
The ice on the river was really thick, and the horse team slowly crossed the river, only to hear the hooves beating on the hard ice, making a sound like an iron strike.
It took less than an hour for the 800 cavalry to cross the river together with their mounts.
After crossing the river, Xia Yati finally let go of the heart in his throat, and he immediately shouted: "Come on! Bring a map!"
Immediately, his personal guards placed a rolled-up map in front of him!
Xia Ya took a close look and smiled slightly: "Ha! Fortunately, I had a good eye at the beginning. When I brought people across the border last time to provoke a war between Odin and the Corsicans, I paid attention to the terrain along the way. That old guy Ninger, I'm afraid he's still dreaming of annihilating our main force in one fell swoop!
He looked up at Nene and said, "After walking for half a day to the south, it is Chuck City. This is a military town in the east of Syltane County, close to the border with the Corsica Military Region. It used to be the garrison of Syltane County. The place is set up to prevent the Corsica Military Region. This guy Manninger is quite capable, although the army went to contain Green and the others, but in such an important chokepoint, there must be a garrison left. Let's go right now and eat this garrison first! Even if it is the first battle of this war!"
Nene glanced at Xia Ya, hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Actually... this time, I will lead the team. You haven't recovered yet. Even if you fight, you won't be able to fight. Why come here and take this risk? ."
When Xia Ya heard this, her heart moved, she looked up, and saw that Nene's face was still straight, but in her eyes, she couldn't help but show a bit of concern. He sighed softly in his heart, and he naturally understood that this woman still had a lot of affection for him after all. These days, he has been hiding from him everywhere. Every day, he just hides in the army, trains the army hard, and vents his energy in the army. But when I really saw myself, my heart still couldn't suppress those feelings after all.
Facing Nei Nei's thoughts, Xia Ya always harbored some inexplicable guilt in her heart, she couldn't help but subconsciously avoided Nei Nei's eyes, and said slowly, "This battle is about life and death. , Even if I hide in Denzel City, it will be useless. If we win, we will have a smooth road from now on! If we lose, I will hide in Denzel City, and I will be defeated! There is no difference between the front and the rear. ."
Seeing Xi Ya dodging his eyes, Nene felt a gloom in his heart - he was going to get married after all, and the wife he married was the imperial family. get him. That girl named Adeline, I have seen it myself, she is really beautiful, and she is gentle and affectionate towards Xia Ya. I think she is his good match.
After all, this kind of love of his own will not bear fruit.
Thinking of this, I was ruthless in my heart, forcibly suppressed these thoughts, turned around and rushed to the front of the team.
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Near noon, a burst of cooking smoke rose in Chuck City.
There are about 1,000 Odin troops stationed in the city, and 2,000 attached troops—most of these attached troops are descendants of the original Corsica military region. After the Corsica military region was annexed by Manninger, they were already After surrendering to the Odins, they were reunited after being dismantled by Manninger, and they were placed everywhere.
In such a cold weather, those enlisted troops are not Odins, so naturally they are afraid of the cold. In this bloody weather, a drop of water can freeze, and who doesn't want to hide in the barracks and bake a fire.
But those Odin savages are all monsters. The colder the hell the weather is, the more energetic the Odins are. I heard the whole army of Odins get up early in the morning, and then all morning. It was buzzing.
Those Odins seemed to be extraordinarily happy when they saw this snowy weather. In the morning, there were Odins in the military camp in the city, where it was freezing and snowing. All Odins are strong and extraordinary, with a sturdy body and red skin from ice and snow, but these guys seem to be not afraid of cold, but their smiles are even more rough.
There are also Odins, who, in the snow, wrestle and wrestle for fun, and they fight all morning without stopping.
These Odins are not afraid of the cold themselves, but they do not let these surrendered troops live in peace. The leader of Odin's army stationed here, with an order, let these new soldiers go out to patrol the city, go to the city to defend, and ordered them to clean the streets of the city - all these tasks fell on the head of the unfortunate soldiers.
Who wants to go out to work in this hellish weather that can freeze people's noses off
It's just that these Uncle Odin are unhappy, and the whip is mercilessly drawn!
Pity these attached troops, they can only hold their noses and endure it - who made this situation stronger than others, they are now the main army, they are the surrendered army, and it is extraordinarily lucky to have a life left.
The Odins fought valiantly, but the army was extremely crude and had no rules on weekdays. Management is also lax.
Although these attached troops were forced to come out of the warm barracks to work and drink by the whip of the Odins, who would really work hard for the Odins in such a situation of reluctance
The Odins were happy in the camp, wrestling, drinking, and barbecuing, but let the uncles go to patrol outside the city? In this goddamn weather, the armor will freeze into a piece, wrapped in thick leather jackets, and the wind can be cold to the bones.
There was an attached army cavalry that was sent out to patrol the city. As soon as they left the city, they simply followed the yin and the yin. They quietly found a leeward hillside to hide from the wind and rest. When the time came, they ran back to the city and only went up. A report of "everything is fine" is also a confession.
Originally, according to the order, the cavalry patrolling out of the city had to scatter the horses out of ten miles, but these attached troops were quietly lazy, where would they really run out of ten miles, and if they only walked out of the city, if they could walk two or three miles, they were already extremely loyal to their duties. .
Oh shit! On weekdays, I have to take the anger of these Odin barbarians. If they want to fight, they want to be scolded. After surrendering, they have no military salaries. Messy. This kind of treatment, whoever works for the Odins is a fucking son of a bitch!
Under such circumstances, Xia Ya's brigade, almost without hindrance, drove all the way to the outside of Chuck City. It was only a stone's throw away from the city defense, and the defenders in the city didn't even notice it.
The smoke of noon has already risen faintly in the city. Looking around, it is not a tall city wall, and there is no half of the defenders. I am afraid that they are all nesting under the wall to avoid the wind.
The city gate opened wide, and a few unlucky ghosts were thrown at the city gate to clean up the snow.
This small town looks completely defenseless!
Xia Ya's entire army was only a few hundred meters away from the city. Behind a hillside, the black cavalry had already formed the line. All the cavalry had dismounted, nervously wearing armor. That kind of heavy full-body armor was not easy to wear. An easy thing, the cavalry can only help each other to set off their companions, nervous movements.
Xia Ya is already standing on the hillside, his leather jacket has been dyed white by frost, standing on this hillside, it seems to be connected with the surrounding snow and ice, even if someone is looking here in the distance, if If you are not careful, I am afraid that you will not be able to see that there is still a person standing here.
Xia looked at the smoke rising from the city, touched his chin and smiled: "Ha! What a coincidence, the guys in the city are going to have lunch! The order goes on, let's act according to the plan! Before noon, we will annihilate these guys, and then Go into town for dinner!"
He turned his head and looked at the cavalry under his command at the bottom of the hill. At this moment, the team was finally ready. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were staring at Xia Ya. Xia Ya had a cold face and shouted: "Our cavalry, I am I paid a lot of money! I almost emptied my family to supply you! Today is the first battle after you become an army! I am here to watch! I want to watch you with my own eyes and win a beautiful victory. Show it to me!"
Saying that, Xia Ya took off a bugle hanging on her waist, crushed the frozen ice on it, and stood on the hillside, blowing it hard!
In an instant, the thick bugle broke the peace of the earth!