Chapter 999: Deserter

What happened in the small town of Nosla was a huge shock to Viache. The cavalry www.biquge.info has always been the master of the battlefield, and many times, even if three infantry are sacrificed, they are not willing to lose a cavalry, but the Oriental people actually did crazy things and took the initiative to turn the cavalry into infantry. Near the Suzdal River, there are only more than 30,000 people in the East, and cavalry occupies the majority, why is there more than 20,000 infantry in the small town of Nothra? Hehe, it's really a thousand calculations, and I didn't expect that the other party would take the initiative to give up the war horse. After the initial shock, Viache slowly calmed down, perhaps, this is not a bad thing, the lack of cavalry in the East is a good thing. It's just that where did the Easterners get the confidence to dare to open up a battlefield on the south bank of the Suzdal River, and to take the initiative to give up the advantage of cavalry, did they really think that the Slavs had no power to resist? That's fine, then everyone will gather troops and horses and fight relatively fairly, if this can't beat the Orientals, then Kipros should also let it out.

Since the fall of the town of Nosra, Viache has ordered the nearby garrison to voluntarily assemble to the west, temporarily distancing itself from the town of Nosla. Zhao Yougong was naturally not polite, and in just one day, he occupied all the more than 50 miles between Nosla and the stronghold of Shiqiao, and at the same time, the infantry moved to the west, which exerted huge pressure on the Slavs, prompting the Slavs to continuously mobilize troops and horses from the city of Kiev. By June 22, all the **** near the Suzdal River crossed the river and came to the north bank, but in order to enrich the infantry, many cavalry gave up their horses, and the original 20,000 cavalry was also sharply reduced to 5,000 people. At first glance, the strength is much weaker, but Zhao Yougong doesn't think so. If the cavalry is compared to a spear, then the infantry is a shield, if the shield is broken, no matter how sharp the spear is, it will be risky after all. Before, more than 20,000 cavalry, 10,000 infantry, seems to be amazing, but in fact, this combination is very unreasonable, the terrain near the Suzdal River is complex, many of the geology is relatively soft, and it is not suitable for large-scale cavalry formations, and the infantry will play an important role instead.

Just after the 23rd day of June in the fifth year of Taikang, a cavalry of less than 1,000 men came to the Heather Farm, eighty miles east of Kiev. Heather Farm is just a name, but it is the heart of the highland plain, with a dozen or so villages scattered around the city, which has been forgotten by the city of Kiev since the start of the Istrian war. At this time, a silver-armored cavalry broke into the village, and the local Slavic people could not resist in the slightest except for shock and fear. They could see that this silver-armored cavalry was the Eastern cavalry known as the Devil's Cavalry Regiment. Cao Yuan, the commander of the capital, turned over and dismounted, looked at the villagers with vegetables on their faces, nodded and signaled, and the translator behind him stood in front of him and said loudly, "Don't be afraid, we are subordinate to the cavalry under the command of the regent, and we are here just to take a temporary rest and take a look at the surrounding situation by the way." As long as you don't cause trouble, we guarantee that there will be no offense in the autumn, and in order to thank you for your support, we will give you some food and seeds. ”

As soon as the words fell, someone came forward with two carts, and the Slavic people gathered in the village all showed expressions of disbelief, how could the Easterners be so kind? Doesn't it mean that Orientals are all demons who kill people without blinking? Since the defeat of the Crusade, the people of the Istrian Highlands have often heard all kinds of legends, most of which tell how evil and terrible the Orientals were, some say that they chopped people up and fed them to wild wolves, and some say that they are more ruthless than the skinners. Gradually, most of the Slavic people believed this rumor, which is why the **** encountered great resistance in the Istrian heights. Now that the demon army is here, they did not kill anyone, but were kind and pleasant, and gave out food. As an old man in the village, although Gu Kefa was scared in his heart, he still calmed down, stood up from the crowd, and asked with some doubts, "Is this car really food, for us?" ”

The old man's voice trembled, with some excitement. Since the Great Plague, disasters have swept across the Istrian Highlands, with countless casualties, not to mention a pitiful lack of food, not to mention the supply of the Grand Duke's soldiers and horses. In the past month, more than a dozen villages near Heather Farm have faced a dilemma of running out of food, and many families have begun to sell their children and daughters. But even so, the patrols in the city of Kyiv often come to the village to collect grain, and even the grain is scraped clean. The poor people don't know how long they can hold out, and even if the Orientals don't come, maybe the people of Heather Farm will riot. Gu Kefa obviously didn't believe that the Oriental people were so kind, Cao Yuan smiled slightly, waved his hand, and the two soldiers threw a bag in front of the old man Gu Kefa, the old man with dry skin opened the mouth of the cloth bag tremblingly, looked at the white rice inside, the corners of his mouth trembled, and two lines of turbid tears flowed down, but he saw Gu Kefa holding a handful of rice, and fell to his knees, "Thank you to the regent of the East, merciful God, we are saved...."

It's really rice, the villagers are all shocked, the Orientals really sent food? I don't know who exclaimed, and also knelt behind Gu Kefa, more than 200 people in the whole village, kneeling down in an uproar, at this time they didn't think that the Dongfang people were demons, but more like angels. Cao Yuan was also a little surprised, and now he finally understood why His Highness had sent him to Heather Farm. The common people are really simple, they don't have so much truth in their hearts, and what they pursue is nothing more than a good life. What Kipros, what imperial glory, it doesn't matter what they have half a dime, if they say that they rise up and fight, it is also because they want to protect their lives. Hey, it's really not as far-sighted as His Highness, and after this incident, I'm afraid that the resistance of the Slavs is not so strong. Again, this has caused endless problems for the nobles of Kiev, and Cao Yuan is well aware that half of Kipros' fighting troops are now from the Istrian heights.

Cao Yuan stayed at Heather Farm for a day, then led his men and horses to leave in a hurry, and it didn't take long for the news of Heather Farm to spread, and it wasn't long before the same sound was heard forty miles away from the plain of Heather Farm. The Orientals not only did not destroy the village, but also gave rations and seeds, and if they said something to the Orientals, naturally no one would believe it, but it was the Slavs who spoke that no one else could not believe it. With these things, countless Slavs gave birth to other thoughts, since the Easterners were not destroying Kiporos, then why did they desperately resist? So many Slavic families sent messages to their children, telling them to hurry home and not lose their lives on the battlefield. At first, it was only a small number of people, but gradually more and more people heard this kind of voice. Ukino is an ordinary Slavic child, he didn't want to be a soldier in his heart, he just wanted to live a peaceful life, but he was forcibly recruited half a year ago and became a soldier. If you become a soldier, you will have food to eat, and if you make a meritorious service, you can also share some food for your family, so slowly, Ukino has adapted to this kind of life, but just yesterday, the old merchant in the village came and brought a shocking news, the Oriental people arrived in the village, not only did not massacre the villagers, but also distributed food, and now every family does not have to starve. With the seeds, after three or four months, there will be food, and the old merchant persuaded Ukino to flee home quickly, not to bury his life in vain, and even secretly scolded the Grand Duke for being a liar.

Ukino was confused, he wasn't the kind of person who was assertive, and he didn't know what to do for a while. Of course, he was also quite dissatisfied with Vyache to the Duke, and he deceived all the Slavic people, and the Orientals are not demons who kill people without blinking. Tonight it was Ukino's turn to be on duty, standing on the arrow tower, the cool breeze, was thinking about it, there was a slight rustling sound in his ears, he looked down, and saw a few figures sneakily sneaking out of the camp, he didn't think much about it, he came to the arrow tower at present, pointed to a few figures and reprimanded, "Why are you going, the centurion just gave the order, after midnight, no one is allowed to leave the camp, if you want to live, hurry back." ”

"Uquino? It's you, don't shout, I'm Mia" But he didn't expect a familiar voice to come from the other side, and the person who spoke was Mia, a young man from a village in Ukino. Mia was afraid of alarming the others, so she pulled the stunned Ukino into the corner, "Ukino, I won't hide it from you, I'll go home with the others tonight, and the news came from home, the Orientals are not here to slaughter us, people treat us much better than the Grand Duke, not to mention the indiscriminate killing of innocents, and also distribute food to the village, at least for a month, you don't have to starve." No matter what you think, I'm not going to die for the Grand Duke anyway. ”

Ukino was taken aback, he didn't expect Mia to be a deserter, looking at the people behind Mia, there were more than a dozen, and he couldn't help but be secretly worried, "You are all leaving?" Aren't you afraid that the Grand Duke will send someone to retaliate? ”

"Hmph, of course you have to leave, what about revenge, the Grand Duke really has to be capable, don't rob people and food. In the past, it was always said that the Orientals were the apostles of the devil and came to harm the Slavic people, but now, the Orientals are not some demonic apostles, the Grand Duke has deceived all of us, whoever works for him is a fool" Mia snorted coldly twice, reached out and grabbed Ukino's arm, "Ukino, what the hell do you think, don't you let us go?" ”

Ukino suddenly hesitated, looked at the arrow tower in the distance, and suddenly gritted his teeth, "Mia, I'll go with you, but don't take the road to the east, there are often deserters recently, and there are many dark posts in the east, if these dark posts are alarmed, none of us will survive." Come with me, and let us go around from the south, and if nothing else, we will be able to escape before dawn." ”

Mia finally had a smile on her face, and a dozen Slavic youths, following Ukino, quietly left the camp, and they were only a small part of the many deserters.

Near the Suzdal River, desertions in the Slavic battalions were becoming more and more serious, and Viache could do nothing about it. Just when he didn't know what to do, there was finally good news, the consul Mache hurriedly walked into the castle, and said with a serious expression, "Grand Duke, news has come from the east, Vladimir's troops and horses have entered the predetermined position, and now we have almost 45,000 troops on the east and west, including 3,000 cavalry, and we can attack the easterners at any time." ”

Whew, Vyache breathed a long sigh of relief, Vladimir's army finally arrived, and it was just in time, if it came a few days later, I really had to worry about whether the morale in the battalion would collapse directly. The longer it dragged on, the more variables there became, and Viache pressed the table, and said a little fiercely, "Order the garrison by the river to attack the stronghold of Stone Bridge tomorrow and launch a counterattack around Nosra, where the Easterners are stationed." Tell them that success or failure is here, and after this battle, it's either life or death! With that, Viache walked to the door, picked up his broadsword, and strode away. He was going to the front, he was going to command the battle himself, and if he was victorious, he would continue the great cause of Kipros, and if he was defeated, he would remain here forever.

For the love of everything with his own pride, he did not want to go to the Caucasus to survive, and it was a painful torment to live like that.

The town of Nosla is sunny and the surrounding scenery is pleasant, Zhao Yougong is leisurely blowing the breeze and breathing the smell of the grass in the four fields. The Slavs secretly gathered troops and horses, naturally they couldn't hide it from him, but there was nothing to worry about, he was still very confident in this battle. Xiao Zhiyun was busy assigning specific combat tasks, leaving only Sanniang and the sullen Claire by her side. Claire was obviously still angry, Zhao Yougong didn't bother to pay attention to it, Sanniang didn't have much thought, just silently did what she had to do, "Official, there have been many deserters on the Slavs' side one after another, and morale is low, Viache ordered an attack at this time, and he was a little anxious." ”

"Hey, I can't help him not be in a hurry, the more it drags on now, the more serious the situation becomes, he has to fight with us before the morale collapses, hum, this guy, I really think we are easy to bully!"

Looking up at the sun, it was already approaching the end of the hour, so he packed up his mood and walked towards the handsome tent in the distance, "It's almost time, let's see what Viache has to do." ”

After coming to the handsome tent, the generals got up and saluted, Xiao Zhiyun just nodded lightly, and continued to make arrangements. The plan had already been set, and Zhao Yougong had nothing to add, waiting for the arrangement to be completed, and then he said with a solemn expression, "In this battle, the Slavs have gathered more than 45,000 soldiers and horses, and they want to defeat us from both sides. This king has only one request for you, to play a **** prestige. ”

"Your Highness, rest assured, we should do our best to win the victory!"

Yang Zaixing stood up, his voice was not loud, but it was extremely firm. (To be continued.) )