Eagle Byzantium

On the northern slope of Maras Fort, fierce bombardment, attack and defense are continuing - the Jimmagis brigade that just took over here is moving around here and stepping up its operations to capture the city. Its shooting corps and dispatched artillery The regiment's detachment lined up many perfume bottle cannons and shrimp beard cannons behind the siege trench. After two days of shelling and hand-to-hand combat, they smashed all the enemy barracks on the outside of the north slope. Then, Gregor ordered to advance. One hundred and twenty feet, and dig a new siege trench.

As a result, the sweat-soaked craftsmen and soldiers had just laid out the forks and grilles when the artillerymen from the artillery regiment behind them followed up carrying shrimp cannons and pushing long perfume bottle artillery pieces, and began to point directly at Marash The outer wall exploded violently.

Dazzling firelight and gunpowder smoke continued to explode on the outer walls and towers, accompanied by flying rubble. Light lead shot and stone bullets hit them with white smoke tails, shaking and shaking the walls. The brave Armenian defenders hid behind the battlements and seized the opportunity to use crossbows or volleys to counterattack. In the narrow distance between the new siege trench and the hillside of the outer wall, there was smoke and dust billowing, and soon a shout exploded, "The Ani people are counterattacking from the city gate!" Then there was the sound of lifeless alarm drums and horns, exciting It touches the human eardrum and heart.

In front of the Gemmagis soldiers running behind the wooden fence to pick up weapons, the north gate of Marash burst open, and the countless helmets inside reflected frightening light in the hot air. The selected Armenian soldiers wore Wearing leaf armor or locking curtains, Howling and fearless, they rushed out like a wave. They held lean battle axes and shiny single-edged swords. There were three to five hundred people in number. They launched a furious charge to kill Jimachis. The brigade's newly dug siege trench position was overrun.

At this time, it was the artillery detachment who turned around and ran away first. Some of them used spikes to "smash" the artillery that could not be dragged away, while others pushed Khitan snow barrels, and others pulled and carried smaller cannons in twos and threes. Light shrimp whiskers (still risky) (Smelling blue smoke), he rushed down the artificially dug low-lying land between the old and new siege trenches in one breath (the two siege trenches were first built into earth embankments, with soldiers, fences and guns deployed on them, and then Dig a blockade ditch ahead).

At this moment, the new siege trenches were full of border residents, Gemmagis soldiers, and Armenians fighting against each other. In the anxious moment, another secret door in the castle was lifted up with a bang. Dozens of Armenian armored cavalry raised their long spears in both hands. In a moment, they galloped down the slope and assassinated many Gemmagis soldiers who were caught off guard. , and one after another rode their horses across the unfinished blockade ditch, tore open the opening, crossed the earth barrier unstoppably, ran down the low-lying land less than a hundred feet away, and rushed towards the old siege trench position.

The impact of the Armenian heavy armored cavalry is no worse than that of Caesar's armored cavalry. They are silent but so terrifying. Although both men and horses are wearing armor, anyone with a little battlefield experience understands that they are more powerful than armor and fast horses. What is terrifying is the tireless warrior who is wrapped in armor and mounted on a fast horse, and only knows how to kill.

But Gregor still left a strong reserve team at the high base of the second trench: shooting munitions gunners were lined up along the slope of the base, and the front row was a fork-mounted heavy gun that increased the amount of Khitan snow. , the two rows behind are half-kneeling , an upright dog-headed long-fire gunman, and at the end are backup personnel holding short guns and firing shotguns. There are also many shrimp-bearded cannons placed on both sides of them. A low-lying land. Everyone lined up along the earthen ramparts from bottom to top.

Rows of muskets were pointed at the rapidly approaching enemy heavy cavalry.

"Shoot straight!" was another order that didn't matter what the aim was. After the flag was chopped down, Gregor, who was standing behind the high barrier to supervise the battle, only heard the loud crackle of thunder and a thick cloud of smoke rising in front of their eyes. Lasts forever. Many shrimp-bearded cannon projectiles that flew past hit the slope on the back side of the earthen rampart opposite, stirring up clouds of dust like raindrops and sprays.

"Ah la la la." Afterwards, many soldiers rushed down from the earthen ramparts with infantry spears and axes in hand to harvest the remaining enemy cavalry.

The melee lasted for nearly an hour, and both sides paid a heavy price, but in the end the Gemmagis soldiers blocked back the defenders who had left the city for a surprise attack. The low-lying ground above and between the two siege trenches was filled with the messy and twisted corpses of men and horses. After the war, many gunners carried baskets on their backs and used arc-shaped pliers to walk back and forth on the ground, picking up the fired projectiles. If they could still If the pliers fit properly, they are thrown into a basket for reuse. If not, they are thrown into a basket with a special mark and recycled.

The next day, the shelling of the new siege trenches began again.

"Whether it's a perfume bottle or a shrimp cannon, the bombardment often brings out flashes, smoke, and explosions with great momentum, but the damage caused to the outer wall of Maras Castle is very limited. Looking at the damage caused by the shells from a distance The city walls are densely covered with scars, but they cannot collapse the city walls, and the large Plani cannon cannot shoot freely on the rolling hillsides, so I don’t think the siege will end in a short period of time." This is what Gregor sent after the war. Report from Gawain at the Peak.

"We have set up camp on the river (missing text). No reinforcements have arrived from Aleppo. After several battles, their camel caravans came." In addition, Colonna, the interim commander of the Red Hand Brigade, Letters, written in crooked and grammatically illegible Greek, were also delivered to Gawain.

Almost at the same time——"Merick, the chieftain of the Danishmonde, led 6,000 elite troops to attack from the direction of Lake Van, probably in an attempt to rescue Marash. He fought fiercely with our army's chariots, but was blocked outside the battle line by our army. In addition, their logistics line was ambushed and attacked from the side by the Paulicians from the inner city of Melite, and they were completely helpless. It seems that the benefits of His Highness the Grand Patron's desperate efforts to seize the inner city of Melite are now clearly visible." The battle report from Walter Sansavall.

Gawain sent the battle reports from several directions to the confidential officer. "Our army will surely win Marash Castle. It's only a matter of time. But this is the conclusion drawn from the situation in this corner. Now everyone has to focus on the situation in Anatolia and even the entire Levant. John has assembled a team to take advantage of the situation. Apsomatse in Cyprus is also ready to move. The power of the Seljuk Turks in Mosul is also surging. They may launch a large-scale jihad at any time. There are dangerous and volatile enemy situations on all sides. Marash is just a chess piece in the overall situation of the sea and land, but we must play this chess well. Therefore, the most important thing about the attack on Marash Castle is time. We can't delay it any longer! Maybe John and Taitius calculated that it would take me a month or even more to capture this place before I can withdraw and go back to deal with him. I must now shorten the time he has scheduled, so that the initiative will be in my hands!"