Chapter 258 The First Battle
The time goes back to one day ago, when the morning light first appeared, and with the sound of assembly bugles, the coalition forces began to assemble.
Among them, Roger's company of the Antioch army took the lead, followed closely by other Antioch army, and the troops directly under Tire.
The marching column composed of 4 columns moved quickly on the coastal plain.
The coastal plain of the Levant region starts from the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt in the south and extends to the junction of Antioch and Asia Minor.
Among them, the land that ancient Israel clearly occupied was probably as far as the Acre Plain, and the land further north was controlled by the Phoenicians for a long time.
Among them, Carthage, which was destroyed by Rome in the Punic Wars, was founded by the Phoenicians from Tire.
It can be said that since the beginning of human civilization, wars have been accompanying each other and have never stopped.
Today, it is the turn of the Franks and Arabs to fight each other in the ruins of many empires.
Roger, who was fully armed and walking in the queue, had a hard time understanding why the Kingdom of Jerusalem was so persistent in training and marching a few days ago.
In the past few months, it can only be said that marches of 4 miles in a single day are rare and ordinary, and long-distance marches can even reach 8 miles or 10 miles.
And one mile is about 5 kilometers.
It was not until two days ago, when he received the mission, and when he actually walked on the coastal plain today, that Roger really realized what was going on.
Soldiers are more valuable than quick soldiers. Use the fast to defeat the slow.
40 kilometers, which is 8 miles of road, for an ordinary feudal levy army, it takes three days to go slowly and two days to go fast.
And they set off early in the morning and arrived in the evening. In a day's time, they would complete the march and build a camp.
Walking on the coast, the sea breeze blows on your face from time to time.
The Turkic scouts in the distance looked at Roger's army, but they were powerless. Apart from reporting the news, they could not stop the rapid movement of this army.
Wait until Saladin hears the news and then organizes an army to prepare for a counterattack.
The Antioch army has passed through Rashhanikla, truly entered the plains of Acre, and is about to arrive at the pre-planned camp.
And just as the sun was approaching the sea, the first battle of Roger Company finally came.
Different from Roger's past wars, the battle he experienced this time was the norm in this era.
In the past, whether it was Leonard or Garris, they were actually considered outstanding figures in this era.
Reynard fights with such imaginative power that most people can't fathom it. The reality is imaginary, and the imaginary is real. If his opponents had not been absolutely crushed every time, he might not have been able to continue to be at ease.
Gellis is even more outrageous. He is either ahead of the times or breaks the game with his personal power. He is an opponent that cannot be dealt with even if he breaks his head.
Therefore, in the past, Roger lost in two consecutive battles.
But this time, it is a scene that you will face in a normal battle.
The fighting method that mainly uses cold weapons is not exciting or exciting. To be honest, it is quite boring.
There is no scene of those cavalrymen under Saladin's command desperately attacking the Antioch army.
There is no scene where the infantry on our side is standing still and watching death as if against the cavalry.
The former is what the Frankish knights would do, and the latter is the reaction of the troops only when Garris is present in person.
Roger's company is not inside the vehicle formation, but outside the vehicle formation.
The other soldiers in the car formation are busy building the camp. They must complete the construction of the camp before tonight and prepare for the siege the next day.
From the beginning, according to the highest priority plan of the Kingdom's Ministry of Military Affairs, this will not be a long siege. It is not even planned to have a field battle with Saladin's nomadic light cavalry. It will only be a storm attack. Siege the city.
One of the costs of doing this is that Roger's company, which has just completed its march, has to face Saladin's cavalry.
The cavalry under Saladin's command, a group of more than a hundred people, rushed over from a few hundred steps away, with smoke billowing.
From Roger's perspective, the momentum was actually quite scary. As a member of the military formation, he naturally became nervous.
But the squad leaders on the side blocked both sides of the queue, and the platoon leader urged the soldiers to hold spears at the rear of the queue.
While Roger was feeling nervous, the cavalrymen retreated to both sides as they approached the distance of the arrows.
This is more of a demonstration than an attack or a battle.
Even though Roger had artillery set up next to him, he did not choose to fire because of the distance.
In this way, the two sides ended their first confrontation with a tense beginning but a thunderous ending.
In Roger's opinion, the performance of these cavalry is actually not much different from that of those gangsters and bullies.
By showing off his terrifying power, he can scare off ordinary infantry, but he is also afraid of artillery and arrows and dare not actually charge directly towards them.
In today's Levantine battlefields, due to the large number of battles, artillery is no longer a secret.
Most of the participants in the war are aware that the emergence of new weapons has begun to change the rules of war, and everyone is trying their best to adapt.
Therefore, the nomadic light cavalry no longer dared to rush directly to the infantry formation and launch arrows.
If the opponent's artillery is filled up, the cavalry's losses will only be greater.
But such a false impact is not ineffective.
Those nomadic light cavalry, numbering in groups of more than a hundred, are also performing their previous actions again and again.
Thousands of light cavalry, enough to form more than a dozen regiments, took turns to go into battle.
First they gathered into a group, gathered their forces, and then smashed into the military formation, but then dispersed outside the safe range.
Roger could clearly feel that the front line between himself and his comrades was slightly deformed.
Although artillery can cause considerable damage to cavalry, as a vanguard army, they actually do not carry many artillery.
When the enemy also has a certain understanding of artillery, it is no longer possible to simply use artillery to scare the opponent away.
In this case, it comes back to the confrontation between spears and cavalry.
The infantry formation relied on the uniformity of the spears in the front row to deal with the cavalry attack. After Roger's company showed a high-quality military formation, the opponent was naturally unwilling to attack directly.
But through constant false charges of detachment cavalry, plus some long-distance projectiles from corners.
This will crush the morale of the company bit by bit, so that there will be gaps in the entire spear line.
Then use one or two real Mamluk charges to widen the gap in the Crusader formation.
Driving the Crusaders to turn around and flee, thereby disrupting the infantry lines in the rear.
In the end, the cavalry continued to chase and disperse the deserters, expanding the chaos and defeating the Crusaders. Even for Roger in the military formation, such constant and repeated trials are not actually full of passion. On the contrary, the nerves that are constantly tense and then relaxed make him tired.
You know, they had already completed a march of 7 miles before!
Roger's psychological quality is actually quite good, so he just started to become numb and then slowed down. As for the soldiers on the side who had never really participated in actual combat, their limbs became stiff and their breathing rate was chaotic
But because the military formation on Garris's side has broken away from the medieval level, it has begun to evolve towards the Spanish Grand Square era.
Even though quite a few soldiers began to have low morale, there was no collapse.
In the Spanish phalanx era, neither the phalanx nor the lines directly improved the combat capabilities of the infantry.
But it ensures that the soldiers in the front row will not be easily dispersed.
In the military formation where Roger was, he could not turn around and run away, because as soon as he ran away, the infantry in the rear row would try their best to resist him for their own safety.
The squad leader and platoon leader on the side will urge you to stand properly and record your performance in the battle as a basis for merit evaluation or punishment afterwards.
Under such an organizational system, a small number of elite feudal warriors were insignificant.
After all, if a party is organized and has a large number of people, it will obviously be better than ordinary elites.
“Steady, steady!”
The squad leader next to Roger was trying his best to encourage the soldiers around him to take deep breaths to relieve stress.
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As a veteran who followed Garis from Transjordan to Antioch, and from Antioch to Tire, a group of non-commissioned officers such as the squad leader, regardless of their combat skills, their morale is real Each one is stronger than the other and is in an almost locked state.
No matter how many times this kind of false charge is repeated, it will never be effective for these non-commissioned officer squad leaders who have firm beliefs.
As long as the morale of the non-commissioned officers group does not collapse, ordinary soldiers like Roger can maintain the battle line, and the overall spear line will remain stable.
The light cavalry under Saladin did not dare to act rashly.
As the sky gets darker, the camp has been completed, and even the temporary dock extending to the coast has been successfully built.
At this time, the benefits of having Venice, Genoa... and many other Italian city-states as friendly forces began to be reflected.
Large amounts of supplies and heavier artillery began to be carried from the ship.
But it was the German Crusaders under Eden who landed earlier than supplies and artillery.
To be precise, it was the knights who had boarded the ship from Tire and had not walked the whole journey who were the first to go ashore. Their horses were also being comforted to ensure that they would settle down as soon as possible after landing.
Wait until a thousand German knights under Eden are ready for battle and express a strong willingness to attack.
This half-day battle is over.
It is still a psychological game and does not require a real conflict to break out.
Just like the nomadic light cavalry, they dare not attack the neatly arranged infantry formation, knowing that it is equivalent to death.
They also know that the impact of the knights can easily break the nomadic cavalry group.
It would be unwise to engage in a head-on conflict with the arrogant Frankish knights.
If the opponent did not build a camp or dock on the coast, then Saladin's troops would dare to stop them at the beach. Anyway, when the opponent's knights came ashore, they would definitely not be riding horses.
But now in the confrontation between the other side for half an afternoon, the infantry line not only did not collapse, but also gradually repaired the military camp.
Even the knights successfully landed, how to fight?
Just withdraw and leave those troublesome matters to Lord Saladin. Their subordinates should stop worrying about the big shot!
Besides, even if the Crusaders successfully landed, they would still occupy the city of Acre and have a military advantage.
So I don’t think this retreat will lead to any very serious consequences.
When Garris came ashore and asked about the situation of Pierre and other chief officers, he received a gratifying reply.
“Prophet, the total number of casualties on the vanguard force is 24, of which only 3 were seriously injured, and most of the others were slightly injured. They were basically injured by arrows from the opponent, and no one fled.”
< br>Gairis patted Pierre on the shoulder, he was very satisfied with the result.
It can be said that he did not intervene in the entire battle this time. He actually stood on the boat and watched the process.
Of course, we understand how outstanding the performance of these soldiers is.
In this afternoon's battle, there was no need for the soldiers to perform brilliantly, nor for the officers to be resourceful.
As long as they can apply the experience gained in training, it will be very appropriate.
On the other side, Saladin had to look cautious and show anger when he received the relevant battle report.
For several hours, the thousands of cavalry under his command should be as unstoppable as the sea.
But this time, not to mention facing the Frankish knights, even facing the Crusaders' infantry, the opponent's army was not scattered!
After hearing this process, the veteran Muzaffar on the side subconsciously wanted to question it. This should not exist at all!
Even if the previous cavalry was just a bluff, the other necessary processes were not missing. As long as the Crusaders' infantry showed a little disorganization, then the bluff charge could be transformed into a real charge!
Faced with this kind of bluff, even the Mamluk infantry under Saladin's command would appear uneasy and reveal their flaws, and then be defeated by his Muzaffar on the right wing.
But how could this Crusader infantry perform two levels better than the Mamluks!
After Muzaffar said something loudly, Saladin patted the other person to shut up, and then handed him a silk scarf to wipe away a little cold sweat.
The other party was rather timid than furious, because the Franks' knights were already stronger than the Saracens.
The infantry are so powerful, so why are they fighting? !
Even if you use the number of people to defeat the opponent, I'm afraid you will still suffer heavy losses.
After appeasing Muzaffar's mood a little, Saladin summoned various emirs to discuss and review today's situation.
Whether it was the arrival of Tire's army in the morning or evening, or the enemy's immobility this evening, it was beyond Saladin's cognition.
“This afternoon’s battle really opened my eyes. Are we still soldiers of Allah!? We have all captured Jerusalem with the blessing of Allah, even the Roman Emperor Barbarossa , all fell into Hell under the will of Allah. . ”
“How come this afternoon’s hard battle didn’t even hurt the other party, and even ten people on our side retreated?”
“That’s it! Since then, it has boosted others’ morale! ”
Saladin's scolding made all the emirs present look embarrassed.
Indeed, this afternoon's battle was more of a performance than a battle. It made no progress at all and was laughed at.
But many emirs expressed dissatisfaction. After all, their troops did not participate in the war.
So everyone patted their chests and said that after two or three days, their own army would gather, and they would definitely give the Crusaders some color.
Saladin also nodded and agreed with their opinions.
Anyway, the city wall of Akka is solid and should be fine in a short time.
(End of this chapter)