Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 160 The King Abandons the North Sea (1)

Most of the Roma Turks were cavalry, and it wasn't long before they left the battlefield. On this narrow battlefield, only the Lumei army was left.Countless soldiers rummaged through the corpses one by one, and if they encountered an injured Turkic, they would unceremoniously make up for it.

According to Lumei's concept, when the two armies fought, the side that finally occupied the battlefield was considered the winner. However, Emperor Alexei of Lumei did not have the joy of a winner.Including the 1 Antioch troops, nearly 2 troops were in the front column, and the entire army was wiped out.According to the dictation of a few survivors, the former column of cavalry broke away from the infantry and pursued into a valley. As a result, the Turks came out in an ambush. Bermond II, the Grand Duke of Antioch, was shot and killed by the Turks shortly after the battle began. , the leaderless Antioch cavalry was blocked in the valley by the Turks, panicking and scrambling to retreat, while the infantry in the front column was blocked from the valley, and was attacked by the Turkic cavalry in turn, and was immediately defeated.

Wang Tongdeng and Zhao Xingde stood side by side, staring at the hill not far away.The anxious crown prince jumped off his horse and walked towards the emperor.

"Are you sure that the crown prince will not sue?" Wang Tongdeng asked.Just now, Crown Prince John kindly broke away from the protection of the Xia Kingdom Guards.When saying goodbye, he kept silent, his eyes were full of anger, and when he got on his horse, he turned his head and stared deeply at Zhao Xingde.

Zhao Xingde nodded and said with a smile, "Unless he doesn't want this credit, and he doesn't want to inherit the throne." In front of the emperor, if he accuses the Imperial Guards of the Xia Kingdom, it is admitting that he is a coward who was hijacked , Instead of saving the emperor, he also saved the heroes of the fate of the empire.

For Emperor Alexei, the biggest gain of this battle is to prove the crown prince's commanding ability. He resolutely led the rear army column to reinforce, and faced the Turkic fighters' chaos Deliver the final coup de grace without delay.Seeing the pale Crown Prince John riding over, Emperor Alexei had a gratified smile on his face.From a distance, he raised his hands and gave him no gift to see.The crown prince seemed to be in a particularly excited mood. He knelt down in front of the emperor, kissed the soil under his feet, raised his head with tears in his eyes, and muttered words, as if thanking God for the protection of the Lumei Empire.

"My child, you saved the legion." Alexey's cloudy eyes were filled with sentimentality, "Young eagle of the empire. I can finally grow old with peace of mind." He pulled Crown Prince John up from the ground, Holding his hand, overlooking the vast battlefield.

Most of the Lumei Battalion disbanded to clean up the battlefield, while a small number of elite troops still maintained their formations, ready to deal with emergencies.The eagle flags of the Lumei Legion fluttered high everywhere, and the heavy cavalry who were chasing the Turks returned in groups. The cavalry passed in neat formation and saluted His Majesty loudly.Each battalion brought back the flags discarded by the fleeing Turks, dropped them in turn at the feet of Emperor Alexei, and saluted the emperor loudly.

"Your Majesty." John Comnenos' pale face turned a little red. He was full of thoughts, but he couldn't say anything.The two real emperor's messengers were attacked by Turkic people on the way, and they were seriously injured and died in battle.John Komnenos felt a little guilty and anxious, so he ordered his confidant to prepare a generous pension.It is said that the throne discarded by the Roma Turkic king and the gold and silver utensils used by the royal family were specially presented to the emperor. Alexei only glanced at it and waved them to be moved to the spoils.

On the hill not far away, Wang Tongdeng looked at the pair of the most noble father and son with Lumei, and sighed: "It's a pity that this great achievement has been taken by others."

"Flick off your clothes after something has happened, and hide yourself and your name." Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "The way of a gentleman is to do good deeds without leaving a name." The two laughed for a long time, and galloped down the hillside.

In the temporary camp of the Imperial Guards of the Xia Kingdom, there were also a lot of loot piled up. Huang Zongdao was busy treating the wounded soldiers, looked up at Zhao Xingde and said with a smile: "You really have it."

Zhao Xingde's heart skipped a beat, he had expected that this matter could not be hidden from Captain Duan Huaixian, secretly thinking that short-term pain is worse than long-term pain, so he bit the bullet and came in front of Duan Huaixian.I saw that the captain's left shoulder armor had been removed, replaced by a bandage that smelled of 'medicine', which showed the intensity of the battle just now.

Duan Huaixian's face was covered with a layer of gloom. This battle was the heaviest casualty since Chengying's [-]th Battalion became an army. Because of the severe cold weather, none of the seriously injured survived, and [-]% of the soldiers died in battle.He looked at Zhao Xingde and Wang Tongdeng, and sighed. If it weren't for these two daring bastards, I'm afraid... If so, he still put on a straight face, and said in a deep voice: "Order you two Guardian of the emperor's messenger, well done!"

Wang Tongdeng remained silent, Zhao Xingde argued in a low voice: "The last general is just to complete the military order and persuade His Royal Highness Prince Lumei to send troops to rescue."

Duan Huaixian said: "This kind of persuasion is too bold." Zhao Xingde was assigned this tasteless military affairs at the beginning, just to retain talents, according to the practice of assigning military affairs regardless of means, it can really confuse him.

He paused for a moment, then said, "Noble Lumei is good at face, this is the crown prince, and he wants to take the credit of heaven for himself. He has just silenced the two real messengers. He will not give up in the future. I will write a letter to the General's Mansion, and after I retire from the army, all the soldiers involved in this matter will be transferred back to the country."

"This will be good? The crown prince won't trouble our camp?" Zhao Xingde looked worried.It's not that he hasn't considered these things. After weighing the pros and cons at the beginning, he still did it with all his heart.

Duan Huaixian stared and scolded: "You two brave men, how rare are you to take care of this?" Zhao Xingde and Wang Tongdeng lowered their heads.His expression changed slightly, and he said slowly, "Behind my camp, stands the Great Xia Kingdom. Sending you back to the country is considered a concession. If John wants to control Lumei, he must know what is good and bad."

If it was a pure mercenary, it would be really hard to bear the revenge, but behind the Chengying camp was the powerful Xia Guo who was trying to 'intervene' in Lumei.The two heirs of Emperor Lumei, the crown prince John and the eldest daughter Anna, one advocated relying on the great nobles of Lumei itself, and the other advocated alliance with the Ross people, they were more borrowed than close to the Xia Kingdom.Although Crown Prince John was held hostage by the Imperial Guards of the Xia Kingdom, he gained credit and prestige after all. The Xia Kingdom's court used actions to help him cover up the truth, which can be regarded as a helping hand.There are no fewer alliances and plots among the five prefectures than anywhere else in the world, and the school captains have been trained to be able to gather people with literature and formidable the enemy with martial arts.Taking advantage of emergencies to maximize benefits is exactly what the school captains are good at.This time, Duan Huaixian took advantage of John Comnenos. As for the subsequent transaction under the table, there is no need to elaborate with these two centurions.

"This battle is of great importance. I will submit it to the General's Mansion. The merits and demerits of the two of you will also be determined by the Military Mansion." As a superior, Duan Huaixian has added protection in the military newspaper and recommended the two to the General's Mansion. Just don't let these two people get carried away, this meaning will be kept silent.He paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "I have issued a sealing order, and everything is subject to the arrangement of the military government. If anyone asks about this matter, you two should not make it public."

Wang Tongdeng nodded, and replied: "Understood, don't leave a name for doing good deeds." On this serious occasion, as soon as he uttered the words, he regretted so much that he wished he could bite his tongue off.Zhao Xingde held back his laughter, unexpectedly he was so impressed by a joke on the hillside that he even blurted it out.Duan Huaixian saw that the two were suffering from suffocation, he couldn't help but get angry, he reprimanded them a few more times, and waved them away.Looking at the backs of the two, there was a smile on their faces.

Returning to the camp, Zhao Xingde was in a low mood. Minghong had killed 26 soldiers in this battle. Du Chuijiao and Jian Cheng commanded everyone to collect the relics of Paozhe who died in the battle.Because Emperor Lumei was eager to withdraw from the army, Chengyingying hastily held a cremation ceremony for Paozhe who died in the battle, and the centurion was responsible for sealing the ashes of each robeze into porcelain vases.This is the third time that Zhao Xingde received the bone china bottle specially made by Chengying Ying from Jin Changtai, and he never asked Jin Changtai how much he brought out.Sima Junfang said that according to the edict of the garrison, it will soon be time for sergeants with families to rotate, and the loss of the Chengying Battalion this time is heavy, and the military government will definitely select a group of elite soldiers to supplement it.

This battle resulted in the destruction of many supplies of the Lumei army, and many generals did not dare to mention the matter of further searching for the main force of the Roma Turks. Emperor Alexei took advantage of the victory to consolidate the prestige of Crown Prince John's succession to the throne, and took advantage of the trend Withdrawal.This area will not be the territory of Lumei Kingdom for a long time.Along the way, the Lumei army burned churches, towns, and villages to the ground.The Roma Turks who withdrew from the battlefield also claimed to have won the battle. According to the number of casualties, more than 3 Lumei troops died in battle, while the Turks lost less than 2 people and forced the invaders to flee.

During the inland march, the Roma Turkic cavalry lingered on the rear column until they returned to the Black Sea coast and the Lumei army was supported, and the Turkic cavalry relaxed their harassment a little.The nobles of Lumei Kingdom have a tradition of hiring assassins. In order to prevent Crown Prince John from taking revenge, Duan Huaixian strictly prohibited Zhao Xingde and Wang Tongdeng from leaving the camp on the way of retreat.Zhao Xingde thought that he would be reunited with Li Ruoxue soon, so he felt at ease.

Although the enemy commander-in-chief was not won, the whole city of Lumei held a grand triumphant ceremony for Emperor Alexei. Almost all the residents of the city flocked to both sides of Maixi Avenue. There were huge crowds of people, and flowers and petals were thrown on the road like it was raining. .Emperor Alexei specially asked Crown Prince John, who had made great contributions to the battle, to be his only retinue. Crown Prince John followed closely behind the emperor holding a bundle of laurel branches and shared the cheers and cheers of all Lumei people. love.

In the triumphal ceremony, the Imperial Guards of the Xia Kingdom were one of the closest troops to the emperor, but they wore the crowns of victorious warriors on their heads, and held the trophies and flags of the defeated Turks in their hands. They passed through the golden city gate, A Cadius Square, Bull Square, Constantine Square.Tens of thousands of people gathered in every square, almost frantically cheering towards the imperial guards.But the expressions of Zhao Xingde and others did not show the excitement and excitement of the Lumei army at all. "The sergeants all firmly remember that we only fight for the Great Xia." This was the last sentence Duan Huaixian submitted to the military document.