Tang Qi Tan

It was a huge army that came with the wind and sand, covered in dust.Whether it is the black-clothed light cavalry as the leader, the armored infantry in robes marching slowly in groups, or the camel team transporting baggage, it is difficult to conceal the exhaustion and hard work after crossing the desert.

And the big black banner held high in the air by the leading cavalry is even more eye-catching, because it is embroidered with a few lines of ancient Amir characters with gold thread; it is the second and last generation of the Abbasid Caliphate, Mansu. Er's famous saying: "Only the sage is the greatest, and the king is the highest."

"It's actually the army of the Henna Federation!" At this moment, Paulina, who was peeping through the long binoculars, was slightly surprised: "It has been many years since an army of this size has been dispatched across the desert; just to It would be too extravagant to welcome relatives."

"Of course it can't be for the purpose of welcoming the relatives or saving them." A middle-aged officer with a cyclopean lens and a weathered face said: "A mere princess of the Havlin Dynasty is not worthy of them; I'm afraid It is a deliberate and long-planned military invasion;”

"So, our luck is very good;" another thin young officer said with a wry smile: "The commander of the regiment has just personally crossed the mountain for an inspection; unexpectedly, he encountered a local rebellion and a kidnapped princess, And the large-scale invasion of the city-state of Haina..."

"I'm afraid it's more than that simple! Maybe these three are actually related to each other?" The middle-aged officer put on his glasses and continued to analyze: "For example, the local rebellious tribes reached an agreement with the foreign army to create ha The Disappearance of Princess Flynn in Transit."

"And the Haina Federation, which had a tacit understanding in advance, can use the search for the missing bride as an excuse to obtain the right to invade and occupy the local claim; to gather troops in advance to cross the desert. The arrival of the regiment leader unexpectedly broke their plan and plan; that's why..."

"Who is this? Does it look good?" Jiang Tian listened to the analysis of the war situation discussed by the audience, and looked at their fearless or eager faces, but none of them knew him; he couldn't help asking in his mind: "Is it the talent you selected and discovered locally?"

"Yes sir, please allow me to introduce Antonvani to you." Then Polina proudly introduced: "He comes from a run-down nobleman in the province of Valois; He was invited to serve as my staff officer because he refused to participate in and prevented the rebellion of the local royalist party."

"This is the brave Jean Lana, who is also the most outstanding charge captain in the overseas army." Then she looked at another young and thin officer and said: "When I went to investigate the fortress of Shayoub, I once created eight cavalrymen. , crushing hundreds of rebels and capturing the leader alive."

"The one standing on the high place is Joachim." Paulina looked at the dome of the building again, and another young lieutenant with melancholy eyes said, "He was not an active soldier at first, and he joined after the family hotel was destroyed by rebels." Corps; became a second lieutenant for his excellent calculations and battlefield adaptability."

"That's my guard captain, Osca, from the overseas branch of the Rochambeau family." Polina nodded slightly to a straight female officer not far away, who described meticulously: "She is also an overseas branch. In the provincial army, there are not many female soldiers,"

...

"When the manor was under siege, she organized the servants at home to repel it, defeated the robber group, and rescued the kidnapped women and children; she also performed outstandingly in many counter-rebellions. Because she rarely Injured, everyone likes to call her 'Bloodless' Oscar."

Jiang Tian couldn't help but understand it when he heard the words.Compared with the conservative atmosphere in the kingdom, due to the limited immigration in overseas provinces; many women who are descendants of immigrants and have received a certain degree of education will also invest in the army and local municipal departments; but they usually hold some civilian jobs.

Such examples of directly serving in the first-line troops are really rare.But according to Polina, Oska was raised as a boy in the barracks from an early age.Just as he was looking carefully, this tall and straight female guard captain with short hair and a calm and cold expression.

Several cavalry sentries from the other direction of the barracks rushed over suddenly, and at the same time, amidst the sound of warning horns, a warrant officer wearing a breastplate shouted loudly: "East...on the east road, There are a large number of local armed forces and tribal soldiers, which are gathering..."

Afterwards, Jiang Tian, ​​who floated up again and reached a certain invisible height limit, also saw the foot of the mountain at least ten kilometers away again; local armed forces in disorderly clothes had gathered.Moreover, diverging from several other roads, groups of armed personnel continued to come and converge.

At a rough glance, there are at least 8000 to [-] people, which is almost the amount of armed forces that can be gathered by dozens of tribes and towns in this continuous oasis area outside the mountains.And a brown flag in the center is even more conspicuous, because it has a silver-coated horned sheep's head on it.

Later, after Jiang Tian told his discovery with his mind, Paulina couldn't help being surprised: "The white-eyed He flag with the head of a silver sheep? That is a large tribe in the southern desert, the symbol of the Masinissa people. It is one of the kingdom's overseas vassals, so they all defected to Masinissa."

Apparently, Paulina had already worked hard before going to the out-of-the-mountain area of ​​the province; There is also the fact that there are varying numbers of rebels entrenched and staring at them.

At this time, the third cavalry brigade, with more than a hundred cavalry in half body armor, also reorganized into four squadrons (2, 30 people) in sequence and batches, holding up the cavalry with small flags and streamers. The long pointed spear suddenly charged at the head of the city-state cavalry who had just stepped out of the desert.

I saw a face-to-face collision and sprint, those city-state cavalry wearing leather iron ring armor or disc-shaped chest armor, and wearing iron helmets; , flying on the horse's back, or falling bloody and falling into the dust and smoke of the horse's hooves.

It was just three waves of cascading charges, entering the edge of the oasis first, and a small group of city-state cavalry on the sparse grassy terraces were already dead or injured.There are only a dozen or so horses left to call the shots; in the bloody air, neighing and patrolling, sniffing as if they want to find something.

And these regiment cavalry who only injured a few people were under the cover of the last squadron that did not participate in the battle; they quickly controlled these mounts, took the wounded who fell from the horse and individual prisoners, and turned their heads to blow up the dust.Three quarters of an hour later, he rushed back to the camp and pushed the captured prisoners to the ground.

...

Next, soldiers familiar with the local language conducted surprise interrogations.Then, I got a piece of good news, a piece of bad news, and a piece of good news on the spot.The good news is that the army of the Haina Federation came across the Baili Desert, so they were quite tired and sleepy.

The bad news is that in order to seize and control the area outside the mountain, the Henna Federation, located on the coast of West Africa, has seven allied states, large and small, all participating in this military operation.Therefore, all kinds of cavalry, camel soldiers, infantry and baggage personnel add up to at least [-] people.

The good news is that, as the commander-in-chief of the seven-city-state coalition this time, it is the old prince Mahdi who is going to marry the princess of the Havrin Dynasty.But before arriving at the oasis, the contact person who was the internal response lost the news; therefore, they couldn't help but become cautious.

And hearing this, Jiang Tian couldn't help recalling that before, in order to find a suitable mount for Paulina and the others, he killed several teams of patrolling rangers; different; just killed without listening to what they said.

Therefore, before the city-state coalition forces reconnect with Bechar City, it is estimated that these exhausted troops who have come from afar will not rush to launch an offensive against unknown enemies/overseas corps.In other words, they have not yet been able to grasp the specific location where the Free Corps is stationed.

In this case, there is room for maneuverability.Immediately, Jiang Tian fed back the results of the reconnaissance in the air to Paulina one by one, and put forward a new suggestion and idea for them.As night fell, the barracks became brightly lit.

Like an invisible bright light on an oasis, groups of figures approaching slowly and cautiously in the darkness of the hidden wilderness suddenly gathered.And not just one party, but approaching here from the east-west road, two large troops with different affiliations.

From the west side, there are desert cavalry who are leading camels, horses and other mounts. The black scarves and black robes seem to be integrated with the night; like waves of black waves slowly slapping forward, only Only the moonlight revealed by accident reflects the weapons in their hands.

On the other hand, the enemies from the east, mainly tribal soldiers with robes and bald heads and little armor, appeared to be in a much more chaotic and loose formation.But they were obviously more familiar with the local conditions and geographical environment; so they quickly crossed the burned reeds and reached the edge of the camp first.

However, the sound of drums can be heard from far away, and the camp with endless bugles is empty and unmanned; only some hastily abandoned coins, property and food, gorgeous cloth and exquisite utensils are in a mess. scattered on the ground.This result made them stunned.

Then, they rushed in without hesitation, scrambling and picking them up in a chaotic manner.Then, someone asked, holding the things in his arms, and rushed into the innermost manor with unsatisfactory intentions; only to find that the ones tied in the shadow of the corner were sheep struggling to pedal on the drum?

The continuous sound of the horn in the camp came from several horns fixed on the doors and windows of the manor building and connected by blowing bellows and air bags.At this moment, someone finally found out that the situation was wrong, and rushed out of the manor to shout and warn his companions, but was shot down by an arrow.

Because, the desert cavalry who sneaked in from another direction, also suspected of being alarmed and discovered, mounted their horses and trotted to speed up the final distance without hesitation, and overturned the gap from all over in groups In the midst of this, he rushed into the camp that instantly became crowded with people.

For a moment, as the two parties met the men and horses together unexpectedly, the sound of fighting, shouting, and roaring when they met on a narrow road disturbed the sky; this brightly lit camp was disturbed into a boiling pot of porridge.And in the night sky above their heads, Jiang Tian was suspended like calm water.

At the same time, his gaze was looking into the distance, the city of Bechar, which was backed by mountains with faint lights and fireworks.The city-state coalition forces that came from afar are setting up camp and stationed below the city, waiting for follow-up negotiations with the armed forces entrenched in the city.Suddenly a flash of fire rose up, and then spread and spread.

That was all the combatants led by Paulina, who retreated from the camp in the dark under the guidance of Jiang Tian; after receiving the signal from Jiang Tian, ​​they gathered all the firearms and equipment, and made a reverse surprise attack on Hai Na with all their strength. The coalition forces set up their headquarters camp under the city wall.

Tang Qi Tan