Chapter 924 Teutonic Knights

In mid-September, Zhao Yougong caught up with the expeditionary army at the Mongol Hongjira Division, and after converging, he rushed to the city of Siberia with tens of thousands of Mongol servants. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoSiberian Lake Baikal, this beautiful and dazzling Moon Bay, once again ushered in the trace of Zhao Yougong. When I set foot on Lake Baikal again, everything is no longer human, when I came here, it was a wild place, and there were birds and animals everywhere, but now standing on the shore of Lake Baikal, you can clearly see the outline of the city of Siberia. Towering castles stand in the middle of the city, and distant bells can be heard in the distance. The future of this expedition is unknown, and in two months it will be the coldest winter. Throughout human history, one thing seems to never seem to be possible, and that is the conquest of the Slavs in winter. Winter was the most powerful umbrella for the Slavs, so from the very beginning the expedition faced great challenges.

Since the Battle of the Tunguska, neither the Siberian Front nor the Western coalition has been able to launch a new offensive. The Siberian garrison withdrew to the cities of Tula and Siberia, and the coalition forces successfully captured the Taimel Plateau. In the battle of the Tunguska River, Vyache and Lothair realized a lot of problems, and the severity of this battle also made them put away their contempt, and they agreed on one thing, that is, it was impossible to completely defeat the Easterners and seize the whole of Siberia with the troops and horses at hand. So, after the capture of the Plateau of Taimer, taking advantage of the time to recuperate, Viache and Lothair again redrafted troops and horses from Kipoula and Holy Rome, and it can be said that now Holy Rome and Kipros have concentrated all their energies on this war in the Far East.

After seeing the cities of Tula and Siberia, Lothair understood what a real city was, and the Germanic peoples became more and more interested in the mysterious Eastern Empire. Far away in cold Siberia, there are cities like Phoenix and Tula, but what about the Oriental mainland in the south? For Westerners in the twelfth century, the prosperity of the East was desirable, just as the Jurchens were always thinking about letting their horses go south. If a large part of the reason for agreeing to the crusade was because of Viache, now Lothair's own expedition has become so strong that he sometimes wonders if the decision he made was the right one. If the cities of Tula and Siberia were really taken, would they really be ceded to the Slavs? Lothair didn't dare to guarantee that he would be able to fulfill his promise, and in the face of interests, how many people could finally hold on? Slavs and Germanic peoples continued to cross the western highlands and come to the distant Temyer Plateau. After the first battle of the Tunguska River, the Siberian Front suffered heavy losses and could not take the initiative to attack, so they could only watch the barbarian army run Temyer little by little.

At the end of September, the expeditionary force from the Great Song Dynasty finally entered the city of Siberia, and the Siberian soldiers and civilians, who had been shrouded in panic for more than a month, finally saw a little light of victory. Since the Siberian side had already received the news, Lin Chong and the others rushed from Tula City to Siberian City on the first day. The expeditionary force was strong and vigorous, and these people had never experienced the cold of Siberia, let alone the tragic battle of the Tunguska River, so they had strong confidence in the future conquest. The expeditionary force entered the Siberian city from the two gates one after another, and the main street in the city, Chang'an Street, was full of people on both sides, and there were Han Chinese, Buryats, Evenki, Jurchens, and Khitans in the crowd. Listening to the cheers of the people, Zhao Yougong smiled faintly, greeted calmly, approaching the evening, and finally came to the Shengtianshen Castle located in the north of the city, the castle was heavily guarded, and there were many people sitting in the hall, Lin Chong, Yelusha, Wokotai, Haidongzhu, Gao Chong, Xiao Zhiyun, etc. sat on both sides, and the rest of the Mongolian tribes sat in the back. Gao Zhong and the others are obviously much more energetic, this battlefield general wants to see the strength of the barbarian army early, because Zhao Yougong went upstairs to change clothes, a group of people will look at me and do a word, "General Lin, have you been too stable in the past two years, why did you let a group of barbarians breathless?" ”

Gao Chong said half-jokingly, of course Lin Chong knew that Gao Chong was not a pure attacker, but these words entered his ears, and he always felt uncomfortable, so he stiffened his face and said with a good air, "General Gao, the fate of the enemy will not be too good, anyway, Lin does not recommend attacking immediately, at present, the barbarian army is stationed in the area of the Taimel Plateau and Nannuko City, and the defense is very solid, and according to the report of the Tanma, the barbarian army has come to a lot of reinforcements recently, and the number of soldiers and horses is only a lot more than ours." ”

Yang Zaixing also felt that Lin Chong was a little too cautious, there were too few cavalry on the Siberian Front before, so it was easy to be suppressed in the field, but now the expeditionary force has 20,000 elite cavalry, plus the remaining cavalry of the Cheetah Battalion, it is completely possible to launch a large-scale charge, "General Lin, what General Gao said just now is indeed a bit too bold, but it should be fought in the last battle, the expeditionary force is coming, if you don't fight a dozen, wouldn't it be a waste of morale?" ”

Shi Wengong and the others all nodded, obviously these fierce generals who had just arrived in Siberia were still eager to fight, Lin Chong was speechless, and glanced at Xiao Zhiyun with a wry smile, but it was a pity that Xiao Zhiyun squinted and didn't hear it. If Zhao Yougong hadn't come, she Xiao Zhiyun would naturally have spoken, but now that His Royal Highness Zhao was upstairs, she didn't bother to pay attention to these disputes. Lin Chong, Yang Zaixing and the others were arguing, and a group of Mongols watched it interestingly, just when they were arguing in the hall, a cold snort came from the stairs, "Hehe, it seems that you are all energetic, so you like to fight?" General Gao, why don't you send you to the Taimel Plateau on your own tomorrow? ”

Zhao Yougong slowly went downstairs accompanied by Sanniang and Hai Dongzhu, and when he was halfway there, he heard a noise in the hall, and he was in a bad mood, but now it became even worse. Facing Zhao Yougong's serious eyes, the hall suddenly became silent, and they sat up straight one by one, not daring to talk nonsense. Sitting next to Xiao Zhiyun, Zhao Yougong glanced at the corner of his mouth, "This king's ugly words are ahead, if anyone dares to fight privately, don't blame the ruthlessness of military law." Lin Chong, you know the current situation best, tell me your opinion. ”

Lin Chong had already prepared, and he had sorted out all the recent information last night, so he narrated without pause, "Your Highness, since the battle on the Tunguska River, the barbarian army has continued to increase its troops, and it is obviously imperative to win cities such as Tula. At present, the barbarian army is no longer advancing as before, but is steadily advancing towards our city of Tula. There are many cavalry in the barbarian army, from the recent news, the number of cavalry has exceeded 30,000, one of which is a Germanic cavalry with very strong combat effectiveness, they are disciplined, advance and retreat in a certain degree, the last battle of the Tunguska River, we suffered a big loss from these Germanic cavalry. Although the number of soldiers and horses in our headquarters expeditionary force and the Mongolian soldiers and horses has far exceeded 100,000, most of them lack sufficient understanding of Siberia and are not familiar with the terrain, so it is very disadvantageous for us to rashly launch a large-scale battle. We should have enough patience to occupy the advantage of the city, and the longer the barbarian army goes on an expedition to Siberia, the less good it will be for them. ”

In fact, Lin Chong's opinion coincides with Zhao Yougong, in Siberia, the **** is the advantage of the city, if the barbarian army is stable, then the **** will be more stable, and whoever is anxious will not be able to please him. Zhao Yougong nodded, whispered a few words to Xiao Zhiyun, and agreed with Lin Chong's opinion. Zhao Yougong had already heard of that Germanic cavalry, and it could be said that the Siberian Front army had suffered a lot from this cavalry, "Do you understand, everything is done according to what Lin Chong said, what we have to do now is to do everything we can to find out the situation of the barbarian army." Tang Miao, no matter what method you use or how much financial resources you spend, within five days, you can find out the general situation of the barbarian army to this king, especially the Germanic cavalry, this king must know their origins. ”

"Huh" Tang Miao got up and ordered, in fact, these things were already going on, but they were just repeated again, that is, they were heard by Gao Zhong and others. Although Shi Wengong and the others felt that Zhao Yougong was a little too cautious, no one dared to joke with military orders, so in the next few days, the expeditionary force entered Phoenix City and Tula City in batches and was responsible for their respective defense areas. The Taimer Plateau is not too far from the city of Tula, and the expeditionary force has so many troops and horses that it is impossible for the barbarian army not to know about it, but the barbarian army has no reaction and still advances eastward little by little according to the original strategy. The coalition's unhurried and unhurried style of play also made Ding **** unable to find a chance to attack.

The days passed like this, and the generals of the Dingguo Army became more and more impatient, but Zhao Yougong looked much calmer. On this expedition to Siberia, the Wood Lady failed to follow, and all the chores fell on Sanniang. These days, Xiao Zhiyun is not idle, she has been studying the map west of the Yenisei River, of course, this map is not perfect, in order to draw a complete map west of the Yenisei River, the intelligence department has sent several groups of people, these people are professionally trained people, know how to draw detailed military maps. Fortunately, during this period, people did not have enough awareness of drawing maps, so they could draw secretly, and as the map became more and more perfect, Xiao Zhiyun's thoughts became more and more firm.

At the beginning of October, the seventh day after the expeditionary force arrived in Siberia, Tang Miao finally brought back important information. The Intelligence Service finally figured out the general situation of the coalition forces, which had already dispatched 140,000 troops, not including the farmers who were responsible for transporting supplies. What Zhao Yougong didn't expect was that the old Duke of Saxony, Lothair, also came to the Yenisei River. Of course, the most concerned thing is the powerful Germanic cavalry regiment, in order to find out this cavalry, Tang Miao's intelligence department has tried its best. This cavalry has a resounding name, the full name of which is the "Knights of the Holy Cross of the Black Eagle", and the knights are mostly composed of Germanic nobles. Today's Germania includes the later Franks, Austria, Sweden, Finland, etc., and the area is huge, so the Germanic aristocracy in the 12th century covers many noble families such as Franks and Austria. The twelfth century was the most prevalent era of Western aristocracy, which admired elegance, bravery, and justice, so this order of knights composed of nobles was very powerful, because they were arrogant and did not allow them to fail. The aristocracy of this era, although it is also extravagant, is very different from the Western aristocracy five hundred years later, and the Western aristocracy represents arrogance and luxury and decay after a few hundred years, but the aristocracy of the twelfth century is truly noble, representing a kind of excellence, every time the battle is fought, the noble commander will take the lead in the charge, and the knights composed of nobles are often very strong in combat.

Black Eagle Holy Cross Knights, Zhao Yougong couldn't help but sigh, if it was really this cavalry, then it should be lost, this cavalry regiment was the later Teutonic Knights. In later generations, the names of the three major Western knights have been circulated, and these knights have strong religious overtones, which are a symbol of nobility, and even in the 21st century, the three major knights still influence the world as much as Freemasonry. A knight is not necessarily a cavalryman, it is a status that only those who are recognized can receive this honor, whether they are noble, benevolent, or brave. The three major orders of knights, the Knights Hospitaller, the Knights Templar, and the Teutonic Knights. Among them, the Teutonic Knights appeared the latest, but this was only relatively late to be religiously named, and the Germanic nobles had already formed a complete knightly community long ago, that is, the Knights of the Holy Cross of the Black Eagle.

The Holy Roman Teutonic Cavalry, a cavalry regiment composed of Frankish and German nobles, actually appeared on the Siberian battlefield, and history played a huge joke. Xiao Zhiyun could see that something was wrong with Zhao Yougong's expression, and couldn't help but care, "What? What's wrong with this Knights? ”

"Enough, I'm afraid we really met an opponent this time, this cavalry regiment is much more powerful than the Slavs' hammer cavalry regiment, most of their members are noble children, with good cultivation, full of discipline, it is not so simple to defeat them, next, I am afraid there will be a hard battle!"

The perennial military career has taught Zhao Yougong one thing, that is, he should not underestimate any opponent at any time, let alone the opponent is the most powerful German cavalry in the Western world today. The combat effectiveness of the Holy Cross Knights is undoubted, although the ancient town cavalry is very strong, but Zhao Yougong does not want that kind of tragic head-to-head confrontation to happen again, even if he wins that kind of battle, he will kill a thousand enemies and lose eight hundred.

Zhao Yougong firmly believes that the loopholes of the coalition forces will be found, in short, you can't be in a hurry, it should be the Germans and Slavs who are in a hurry. (To be continued.) )