Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 643: Hit the beach! Hit the beach!
For more than an hour, Guo Kang continued to move forward, constantly fighting with sporadic enemies. But the enemy never gathered to launch an offensive. The ships of the 33rd Legion drifted for a long time, but did not encounter the large number of enemies who came back to stop them as expected.

Guo Kang's ship had just gotten rid of the enemy ship that had been inserted into it, so it could only barely sail, and there was no way it could maneuver. In his opinion, the strategic intention should be very obvious. Although the enemy came from many different sources and issued many orders, anyone who had made a name for themselves at sea would definitely be able to see it.

However, the enemy still had no intention of stopping them. On the contrary, after confirming that they were preparing to make a detour, many enemy ships began to retreat rapidly and left the battlefield.

Joanna breathed a sigh of relief and told Guo Kang: "The battle at sea should be almost over. You can prepare to land. From now on, I will have nothing to do."

"Is it over?" Guo Kang was very surprised.

"Although your ships are not very reliable and your training is not good, your momentum is enough. The pirates are not stupid. After seeing the previous battle, how could they fight you head-on?" Joanna shook her head: "Those leaders will definitely leave first."

"Then they won't get any reward. In this way, all the efforts made before will be in vain." Guo Kang commented.

"So we used cannon fodder to deal with you before, and only the central army took real action." Joanna said: "Think about it, if all the elite troops in our hands are killed, what's the point of winning?"

"Even if the Sheikh keeps his promise and lets everyone share the spoils, it has nothing to do with him. Think about it, even other pirates and warlords would care about face in public. If they give the spoils to him, would he dare to take it?"

"The most basic rule at sea is that strength is everything." She shrugged. "If the leaders lose their personal soldiers, they are no different from beggars. So, we must preserve our own strength first."

Guo Kang felt that what she said made sense.

The crowd chased the enemy for a while, but the enemy was too fast and soon withdrew from the battlefield, so they had to give up. However, the corps headquarters finally established direct contact with the Eighth Corps and began to send letters to everyone, asking them to stop chasing and prepare to land.

Guo Kang and his men were far from the shore and ran slowly, so the others had to wait for them. In this way, after a while, they finally assembled the troops and began to prepare for landing.

The cargo ship had a deep draft and could not directly hit the beach like a small rowing boat. There was only one spare small boat on the ship, which could only accommodate a few people. However, Guo Kang and his men had captured several small boats along the way, which were towed behind. He arranged for the soldiers to board the small boats and prepare to hit the beach.

"Finally we can leave this broken ship. Fighting on it is so frustrating." Captain Lucas couldn't help but complain when gathering the soldiers.

"My ship is not a broken ship. After the collisions just now, an ordinary cargo ship should have broken up long ago." Hearing this, the captain, who had been submissive all the way, was unhappy: "You should thank her, how can you talk like that."

"After this battle, the ship was badly damaged. I have to find a place to repair the ship and let the crew recover." He complained: "Even if it is broken, it is for the purpose of completing the mission."

"If we win this naval battle, the higher-ups will give us a reward. You are not only logistics personnel this time, but you also participated in the battle, so you will also get a share. You should report the damage to the ships and personnel to the logistics officers, and they will report it to the camp, and then they will give you additional compensation." Guo Kang hurriedly comforted him, "I also remembered the household registration issue you mentioned before. I will send a document to the Ministry of War to ask them to implement it for you as soon as possible. When you go back, don't forget to ask me for it, and bring the letter back on the way."

Hearing his assurance, the captain thanked him repeatedly. Guo Kang urged everyone to get ready quickly and not to delay things.

Joanna wanted to follow him, but Guo Kang was unwilling to do so. He said that this was not a naval battle that required technical advice, but a fight with the enemy. Joanna was surprised to see him so determined, but she knew it was not something she could lose her temper about, so she had to accept it.

Guo Kang asked her to stay on the ship to coordinate the subsequent transportation work. He first took Captain Lucas, Master Hans and others on a small boat. Joanna, the captain and the crew said goodbye to them while helping to stabilize the rope ladder.

"Okay, we have to prepare for the next battle." After changing boats, he said to everyone, "There are main enemy forces on the shore, so it won't be as easy as before. Everyone has to be careful!"

"It's okay. We can't perform well at sea." Master Hans smiled and said, "Although the crew members are all good, if I have to choose, I still think land is more suitable."

"That captain is wrong." Captain Lucas still felt upset: "What he said, does he think the ship is his wife? What a weird guy."

"Alright, alright." Guo Kang hurriedly stopped them: "Hurry up and form a team, count the number of people, and check everyone's equipment. Captain Lu and his men will land first, followed by us, and finally Captain Wang and Captain Li. Everyone must not fall behind and become a joke to others."

Everyone responded in unison, and stopped chatting. They all started to get serious. The first one was the chief centurion Lu Yougong. Guo Kang followed in the middle. At the end were Wang Hongru and Li Xuanying, as well as other nobles and servants.

In general, both the front and rear are very strong. On the contrary, Guo Kang's own part in the middle is said to be the important central army with the largest number of people, but in terms of combat effectiveness, they are actually the weakest, and they need the protection of others at both ends...

According to common practice, only officers of the first battalion have higher titles, because they are the essence of the entire legion and are often used as the main force at critical moments. The organization of the first battalion should also be larger and more complete. Moreover, this is not only a military requirement, but also a symbol of honor. In the atmosphere where the Romans value military merit and honor, outstanding officers who are the chief centurions of the legion generally do not appear in their second battalion.

However, the 33rd Legion was a newly formed mixed legion, and the entire organization needed to be adjusted - or to put it bluntly, it was a rough one. Of course, perhaps more importantly, Guo Kang really had a war commander father, and there were a large number of noble children in his brigade. Obviously, it was not a "normal" situation.

The Henan soldiers under Lu Yougong were also seriously overstaffed. When recruiting people before, because the villagers were too enthusiastic, my adoptive father simply filled in all the people who could not be screened out. Therefore, not only were there a large number of people, but they also did all kinds of work.

The preparation time for landing was long, and the outcome of the naval battle was too obvious, so the enemy had already discovered it. At this moment, many people had already gathered on the shore. However, as the legionary command had expected, the beach here was soft and muddy, and the movement of war horses was very limited. Therefore, no large-scale Mamluk elites were seen, only some scattered riders who were supervising in the rear of the formation in the distance, urging the large group of infantry to gather over.

"Who are these people?" asked Captain Lucas.

"Judging from their attire, they are mainly Bedouins and Egyptians." Guo Kang took a look and replied, "I heard from Old Sea Urchin that when the Mamluks fought, these were the main forces used to fill the front line. At the beginning, the Mamluk army went north to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Ilkhanate led by Ghazan Khan, and dispatched an army of 200,000. Among them, the Mamluk regular army totaled less than 24,000 people, and the remaining nearly 180,000 were all native Egyptian infantry - including Egyptian farmers and nomadic Bedouins."

"Two hundred thousand? Oh my god. They were so powerful when they were prosperous." Captain Lucas was very surprised, but immediately realized: "No, there must be a lot of water in this number."

"The number of Egyptian infantrymen is not important. The Sultan himself may not even know how many there are, and it doesn't matter anyway." Guo Kang told him: "The essence of the Mamluk army is the slave soldier corps, which is how the name Mamluk came about. They are divided into the Royal Mamluk established by the Sultan himself, the Mamluk left behind by the previous Sultan and dismissed officials, the local Mamluk, and so on."

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"The Mamluks we encountered before who were roaming around and looting were the subordinates of the previously killed Sultan Faraj. Those in Gaza City and Damietta Port who don't care about the issue of succession to the Sultan are local Mamluks. There are no royal Mamluks as the central army at the moment, because the Sultan has not yet been decided..."

"In addition to the Mamluks, there is also the 'Khalqa' army composed of free men. This army can be traced back to the time of Saladin. However, after the Mamluks came to power, they did not trust these people, so their status declined. The positions of the Mamluks and the Halqa are similar to those of your European knights - they serve the lords, and the lords provide them with 'Iqta' fiefs as rewards."

"However, the Mamluks were purchased slaves from childhood and had always lived in a collective life in the military camp; the Halqa trained themselves, bought their own equipment, and joined the army after they were trained well. After joining the army, they only received team training. So overall, their quality was more uneven, and their status and combat effectiveness were closer to European knights, and they were not as united and reliable as the Mamluks."

"Of course, the elite Khalqa are not vegetarians. Some of them are descendants of nobles, including non-heirs of sultans, emirs and high-ranking Mamluks. These people cannot inherit their fathers' official positions, so they are sent to military training early in order to gain military merit. Their legion, called 'Sons of the People', is recognized as the most capable part of the Khalqa, and is even more elite than many Mamluks. If you encounter this kind of people, you have to be careful."

"This name... they are not citizens' children either." Captain Lucas complained.

"This is a question of definition," Guo Kang pointed out. "In Egypt, if your father doesn't have a fief, how can you call yourself a people?"

"what……"

"The rest are all auxiliary soldiers. Including the Bedouin tribes I just mentioned, and of course the local troops who were half-recruited and half-recruited. These local soldiers are called 'Mutawa', which means volunteers, and they basically do not need any money. But it is hard to say how effective they are. The soldiers we encountered were probably all of this type."

As he was talking, the warship in front had already approached the shore and began to fire crossbows at the enemy formation on the shore. Several huge arrows flew out and pierced several unlucky guys. The other Egyptian and Bedouin infantry immediately wavered and ran back, out of the range of the crossbows. The legion soldiers took this opportunity to immediately get off the ship and come to the shore.

"Okay, we have to hurry up too." Guo Kang turned and shouted, "Quick, paddle straight forward!"

"Where do we disembark?" several officers asked on the deck.

"Row to the shore until you can't row anymore." Guo Kang said, "We don't need the boat anymore, we'll just go to the beach!"

(End of this chapter)