Chapter 267 The combat policy of the Imperial Order
The intensity, efficiency, and frequency of medieval wars are difficult to compare with those of later generations.
For military strategists with a strategic vision, games outside the battlefield are equally important.
After Saladin lost Acre, the troops from the Transjordanian direction took advantage of the situation and moved north. In November, a season that was not suitable for large army operations, they deployed ferry positions to threaten Jerusalem, thus forcing Saladin to divert his attention. Deploy troops to strengthen the rear defense.
In the process, Saladin was forced to give up about 1,500 square kilometers of land to the fertile plains of Acre.
In order to avoid the Crusaders, they took advantage of the situation and formed a bloody force to take Jerusalem directly.
The Muslim army in Damascus also took advantage of the situation and made a move to attack the territories of Tire and Torun.
Such an action restrained the main force of the Crusaders, even if the other party did not intend to engage in a battle. The main Crusader army that captured Acre was unable to move south in a large scale.
Of course, November and December, the cold winter rainy season, are indeed not suitable for battles.
As a result, the important task of collecting the lost land transferred by Saladin was handed over to the hands of a newly formed army.
That is, the Knights of the Order.
The overall size of the Order of the Order is indeed small. It has 3 brigades and a total of 12 squadrons.
There are 320 people in each brigade, plus the agencies and departments directly under the Knights, the total is about 1,000 people
But this thousand people, in a sense, are the thousand people with the most superior equipment in the entire Crusade.
It’s the effect of pure spending money.
In order to pursue mobility, everyone in the Knights rides a horse, and even the purely logistical support personnel operate on horseback.
In order to pursue firepower, the Knights were equipped with 12 artillery pieces with only 1,000 men.
In order to pursue cavalry impact, the entire 120 knights of the Knights are all heavy cavalry armed to the teeth.
In order to conduct reconnaissance and pursuit, in addition to the heavy cavalry, 120 slightly lighter attendants were also equipped.
In order to have a stable position, there were 480 mounted infantry.
There are even 240 full-time retinues who are used to maintain ordnance, raise horses, and provide supplies...
Such a knight group had no outstanding performance in the previous siege of Akka.
Of course, the formation of the Order Knights was not actually prepared for the siege of Acre.
Instead, we have to wait until this stage before unsheathing the blade.
Just like Saladin's evaluation of November in Palestine, in the winter rain, soldiers are more valuable than their elite.
The form of war has also changed from the coming and going of large corps of 10,000 people to a local battlefield game of 1,000 people.
When the main force was restrained by the enemy forces in the direction of Damascus, the only ones who could go south to regain the lost ground were the Order Knights.
In order to ensure that this operation can be successful, it will truly help the Second Kingdom obtain a strategic buffer area, that is, completely regain the Principality of Galilee.
Garris even joined the Knights himself to direct this operation.
The destination of this operation was Nazareth, the small city where Jesus was born.
[The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth. 】
——"Luke" 1:26
Nazareth is located thirty kilometers southeast of Acre. It is a small city in the hills. After Saladin defeated Guy's main army in the Battle of the Jordan River, his troops quickly swept through large areas of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The small city of Saler quickly surrendered after a slight resistance.
After the war, the small city, like other occupied areas, was managed by a Turkic nomadic tribe.
Although Saladin has currently mobilized a large number of troops from the north, making the north currently in a relatively empty state, this does not mean that Garris will have unimpeded access.
After all, there are quite a lot of unsighted guys who have eaten so much in this land that they are reluctant to leave.
"Man perishes for wealth, and birds perish for food." This sentence came out of Gairis's mouth, and it perfectly pointed out the choice made by the Turkic tribe that occupied Nazareth.
The traditional Turkic tribe's army was composed of a large number of light cavalry. They used javelins, scimitars, and bows and arrows as weapons.
These light cavalry are very good at using various ambushes and tricks. In the battle, the Turks will not form a dense formation to advance forward, but will be divided into a large number of detachments, surrounding the front and flanks, constantly firing arrows, and only watching Only when a good opportunity comes will a small-scale charge be launched.
This is the situation that Garis is facing now. On the road from Acre to Nazareth, he encountered an attack by a nomadic tribe.
It's a little tricky, but not troublesome, although the troops around him actually only have one regiment of Order Knights.
The battle between Christians and Turks, a series of nomadic tribes, lasted for hundreds of years. For those who are good at summing up experience and learning knowledge from the books of their predecessors, how to make a choice is an extremely simple matter.
Garris did not choose to directly use his own force to break the situation, or even take over the command himself.
Based on the idea of testing the combat effectiveness of the Knights, Mono is still under command.
Monod was made a knight by Balian in mid-1187, and he has been supporting Balian for the next two years.
Therefore, he also became a captain of the Order of Knights.
The Knights of the Order are actually quite different from other knights of this era.
Because the Order of the Order is a naked and purely military organization, its logistical supplies and gunpowder supplies are all the responsibility of the Ministry of Military Affairs.
Taking up the position of captain, Mono didn't have much to worry about.
All he had to think about was training his troops and how to defeat the enemy.
Based on past experience, Mono issued an order that was somewhat contrary to the ordinary knight's intuition.
Everyone except knights and armed attendants dismounted, and the mounted infantry group combined with artillery vehicles to form a relatively loose fan front.
The walking horses were led behind the line by the attendants.
Horse infantry are just infantry without sufficient training. Horse riding is convenient for them to maneuver, but it does not mean that they know how to use weapons on horseback.
In fact, the training time of a cavalry in the Middle Ages could be as short as three years or as long as ten years, which is difficult to replace and simplify.
When the one hundred and sixty mounted infantry formed a basic line, the knights and armed attendants in the group were divided into two detachments to protect the flanks.
After the formation of the line was completed, Monod gathered the artillery belonging to each squadron and pushed them to the front row to start loading.
In "On Tactics" Leo suggested that Byzantine generals fighting the Turks should seize the opportunity as soon as possible and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the opponent.
Garris suggested that those troops under his command who have artillery remember to load cannons with shotguns when fighting the Turks.
The lethality of the horse bow or riding bow is actually quite limited. This issue has been deliberately obscured by many people in the 21st century.
Taking Garris's memory from his previous life, there seems to have been a program called "The Secret of Ancient Weapons". In order to demonstrate the combat effectiveness of the Mongolian cavalry, a "chest plate armor" was specially found to put on pork and shoot it.
In the show, the riding bow easily penetrated the "chest plate armor".
But Garris did not think that the Mongolian cavalry was unparalleled in the world. Instead, he questioned the authenticity of the program and whether the brother who wrote the program script was lacking in brains.
Because from the side, the so-called "chest plate armor" may be as thick as the shell of a can of luncheon meat...
In Baidu Encyclopedia, there are also two sentences that are very unbearable.
[The Mongolian bow used by the light cavalry has a pulling force of about 166 pounds (basically the maximum) and an effective range of 320 meters, which is similar to the British longbow at the time. The maximum British longbow was 80 kilograms. 】
[The main weapon of the light cavalry is the bow. This is a large bow, requiring a minimum draw weight of 166 pounds, and has a shooting range of 200 to 300 yards. 】
Mongolian bow 166 pounds draw weight?
Not to mention for the moment, the 166mm pulling force is equivalent to lifting a strong adult man. It is difficult to pull the bow on flat ground, let alone pulling the bow on horseback.
Simply speaking from the inconsistency of the Baidu Encyclopedia entry [Mongolian Cavalry], it is already contradictory. It also says that this is a maximum of 166 pounds, but below it becomes that it requires at least 166 pounds.
Garris knew how difficult it was to draw a bow on horseback, having come into contact with the light cavalry of this era.
The strength of riding a bow can reach 60 pounds, which is an incredible number.
The draw weight of nomadic bows such as Mongolian bows, Turkish bows, and Huns bows is usually in the range of 30-70 pounds.
It can be divided into light bows or heavy bows. The light ones basically have a draw weight of 30-40 pounds and are suitable for fast riding and long-term combat.
Heavy bows are basically around 50-70 pounds. Of course, there are also higher ones. They are often used for short-range armor penetration, far from reaching the so-called 166-pound level...
In terms of shooting distance, the effective range of a mounted bow generally does not exceed sixty steps, and if it is for effective lethality, it does not even exceed thirty steps.
Of course, this effective lethality does not mean that it can effectively break armor,
Take the Manchu and Qing Dynasties as an example. Their Qing bows, which can penetrate armor, are actually a type of walking bow, not a riding bow.
The walking bow can have a larger body shape and use more force when pulling the bow, which also means that the walking bow can shoot farther and do more damage.
Coupled with the fact that people should be shot first before horses, the light cavalry will suffer a lot when being shot by infantry.
But in the eyes of the incoming Turks, the troops beside Gairis were a bit inferior.
It seems that there are fewer cavalry and more infantry, but although there are many infantry, there are very few equipped with crossbows.
It seemed that for a time, the Turks were able to suppress the Franks not only in terms of the number of cavalry, but also in terms of bows and crossbows.
As for artillery?
For these Turks who had not directly participated in Saladin's army, they were still relatively unfamiliar and did not recognize them for a while.
They are still stuck in an old era.
……
When the battle broke out, it was noon, the sun was scorching the earth, and the air was mixed with the smell of dry dust and the sourness of sweat. The first team of the Order Knights were waiting in a low-lying valley. They were wearing heavy armor and had cold eyes under their masks.
In the distance, the Turkic light cavalry were advancing tentatively, the horse bows in their hands had been drawn, and the arrows on the strings were flashing with cold light.
"Hold still, don't fire!" Captain Mono was riding a horse, holding a long sword, and his voice was calm and majestic.
He raised his hand to indicate that the soldier was as motionless as a statue.
The enemy's sentry began to approach, and several Turkic cavalry accelerated their horses in an attempt to test the reaction of the formation.
Suddenly, the first roar of artillery tore through the air, and the strong smell of gunpowder filled the air.
The shotgun shells scattered in all directions, making a sharp cracking sound.
In an instant, several war horses fell down with a neighing sound, their riders were thrown away, and the enemy's formation suddenly fell into chaos.
To an untrained Turkic horse, this sudden loud noise was like thunder.
The panicked horses ran around and the team began to lose control
6◇9◇Book◇Bar
A Turkic cavalryman tried to hold the reins, but was hit by a shotgun flying from behind and fell off his horse screaming.
But the horses on the Imperial Knights' side were as steady as a rock.
In order to adapt these war horses to the sound of cannons, the knights have undergone countless live-fire trainings, and the horses have already regarded loud noises as commonplace.
Now, these tall war horses are like an iron wall, waiting for the order to charge.
Another cannon shot, metal projectiles poured out like raindrops of death, and the front row of the Turkic light cavalry fell down.
Blood mist spread under the sun, and the tragic scene made the enemy even more confused.
Several Turks panicked and rushed into the infantry formation. Blood spattered as the infantrymen's spears and spears clashed.
"Deusvult!"
Seeing that the time was right, Mono raised his sword high and took the lead in riding his horse into the enemy formation.
The knights behind him were like a torrent of steel, crashing straight into the enemy's remnant formation with the neighing of horses and the clash of armor.
The Turks had not yet recovered from the shock of the artillery fire, and they were completely helpless against the oncoming heavy cavalry attack.
The spear pierced the chest, the sword split the neck bone, and the enemy's formation completely collapsed.
However, Mono did not let the victory get to his head. He stopped his horse and looked in the direction of the enemy's retreat, and calmly raised his hand to signal to stop the pursuit.
Right now, they were marching in an unfamiliar area, and they were not sure whether there were more enemies around them. If they pursued them rashly, the heavier-dressed Knights of the Order would not have the advantage.
This scene was all seen by Garris.
It can be said that in the past two years, many people have made great progress and begun to become more mature.
Mono, who has followed Balian in the past two years, has understood one thing. The core of the Order Knights on the battlefield is actually neither knights nor infantry, but artillery.
The Imperial Order Knights have a thousand men and a total of 12 artillery pieces. This ratio is already quite high, and the combat methods of the Imperial Order Knights are all based around these artillery pieces unless there is a high demand for mobility.
In May, when Barbarossa had just died, Garris and Balian had a detailed discussion about the Order of the Knights.
It was in a study room.
"Gaillis, tell me, what chance do we have of winning against the Saracens?" Balian's voice was low and tired, but his eyes were firm.
He placed his hands on the edge of the long table and leaned down to stare at the sheepskin map spread out in his hands. The densely marked places on it were the locations where wars with the Saracens had broken out in the past few decades.
Garris stood beside the table, his figure shrouded in candlelight and shadow, and pointed at his head.
"The odds...never lie in brute force, but in wisdom."
His fingers traced the map's meandering rivers.
"Fighting the Turks requires a steady attack. The flanks and rear must be solid as a rock. If possible, it is best to have your back against the river. They ride and shoot like the wind, and a head-on confrontation is stupid, but their weakness is that they cannot break through a stable Line of defense.”
Balian nodded at that time, understanding that this was all experience.
Garris continued:
"The Eastern Romans would use infantry bows to shoot at the Turks, or rely on their cavalry to launch a decisive attack. But we don't need that."
"Our tactics are more simplified - the cavalry only protects the flanks, and the infantry only protects the artillery. No matter how provocative the enemy is, as long as the defense line is solid, their final attack will be like water hitting a stone."
Balian nodded silently.
However, Garris did not stop, his voice was low, and he continued: "But fighting against the heavy infantry front is another matter."
"The heavy infantry array is so dense that the knights' charge cannot shake it. They are as strong as city walls, but solid bullets can tear apart such a solid fortress."
"The bombardment will collapse their morale and disintegrate their formation. At that time, it is time for the knights to charge."
"The strength of the Order Knights does not lie in martial arts, but in obedience. A high degree of obedience! Any charge that does not obey orders is a betrayal of the whole. The battlefield requires order."
Balian was silent for a moment and sighed.
"Do you know how harsh these words are in the ears of some knights? But you are right."
Garris is changing the times, the old knight era is passing away, and the new knights, in a sense, are just chess pieces and more expensive consumables.
As a paragon of the Knights of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, he was powerless to stop this, and would not stop it.
In 1512, the Spanish army and the Papal State army attacked Ravenna. The French general, Gaston, who was only 22 years old, was unable to maintain a stalemate with the enemy due to lack of supplies and chose to fight quickly.
In this battle, the French army had about 20,000 people and 50 artillery pieces, while the Allied forces had 16,000 people and 30 artillery pieces. Although the number was smaller, they built a semicircular fortification.
In that battle, the two sides broke out in an artillery battle that lasted for two hours. The artillery on the coalition side alone caused 2,000 casualties to the French infantry, so much so that it took a domestic servant to force the Gascon infantry with a long gun to survive. Keep your formation.
The allied forces, whose artillery was at a numerical disadvantage, were even more miserable. After the Spanish cavalry could not stand the enemy's artillery, they attacked without permission in an attempt to destroy the French artillery position.
This lack of order and organization is an excellent opportunity for the French Order Knights.
The Spanish cavalry was easily defeated, and the French infantry also launched a charge. When the battle fell into a stalemate, the knights were ordered to launch two more attacks, instantly defeating the coalition forces.
In this battle, the French suffered between 3,000 and 4,500 casualties, while the Allied forces suffered as many as 9,000 casualties.
Times have indeed changed, but the reason for the change is not simply the addition of artillery. Simply having artillery does not mean that we can win.
Charles "The Bold", Duke of Burgundy, had an advantage in bronze metal cannons, but he was overturned three times by the Swiss mountain people.
Therefore, even though the Order Knights had such advantageous equipment, he still followed over and scrutinized Mono's troop deployment to ensure that they would not fall into the wrong perception of "weapons only".
This encounter was a small episode on Garris's way to Nazareth, but the impact of this small episode was far-reaching.
After this battle, Garris spent a lot of time regrouping the troops and arranging manpower to treat the wounded soldiers.
Those Turks who died from artillery and knight charges were buried on the spot.
As for the Turkic prisoners or the wounded soldiers who were lucky enough to survive, Garis did not treat them harshly. Instead, he arranged for someone to take care of them in accordance with the prisoner of war regulations.
The calculation of military merits, the treatment of the wounded, and even the burial of corpses were a series of tasks that had been busy for a long time. When these were almost completed, it was actually almost evening, and it was not suitable to continue marching.
The first team of the Knights was ordered to set up camp directly on the spot, and a list of soldiers for night duty was arranged.
At noon the next day, at the gate of Nazareth, forty armed attendants opened the way, followed by attendants escorting Turkic prisoners of war, followed closely by artillery and mounted infantry. At the very back is Garris who is surrounded by forty knights.
The news about the Kingdom of Jerusalem's victory over the Turkic tribes has spread wildly in Nazareth since yesterday, and the bravery and good fighting of the knights of the order have also been sung among the people.
After determining the strength of the enemy and ourselves, the Turks fled overnight with the wealth they had collected over the past year, leaving behind an empty city without any garrison.
After a simple entrance ceremony, Gairis accepted the allegiance of the natives of Nazareth on behalf of the kingdom.
He promised on the spot that Nazareth would be exempted from the poll tax like other cities in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and told the citizens that it would take a few months until the population census of the original Principality of Galilee was completed.
will organize by-elections for members of the House of Commons of the Kingdom's Landing Parliament.
The Principality of Galilee was the territory of Raymond, Count of Tripoli, in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, acquired through marriage.
As Raymond's heir, Gareth took over the crown from his hands and naturally inherited the Principality of Galilee legally.
For the Kingdom of Jerusalem, this actually means the re-expansion of Garris's power, and it is difficult for others to question it.
As previously arranged, the Principality of Galilee will be converted into a territory directly under the royal family and divided into counties and constituencies.
Whether it is waiving the poll tax or promising to elect members, they are all trying to calm people's hearts, and these policies have also effectively strengthened the local people's sense of belonging to the kingdom.
After all, compared with the "kind and generous" Gareth, those "evil" pagans are simply the embodiment of all kinds of injustice in the world.
After taking the prisoners into custody, Guerris arranged for Monod to continue contact with representatives of the native Nazarenes.
And he himself arrived at the destination of his trip, the Annunciation Church, under the leadership of the local priest.
(End of chapter)