As soon as Gawain returned to the camp, he learned that Giovanni had just won a battle.

Sure enough, at night time, Kobuha sent twenty warriors who were good at swimming, carrying impermeable skins, stuffed with fire sickles and pine roots, and swam to the edge of the grazing meadows on the right side of the Orontes camp in the pre-marked shallow water, which was a narrow and long boundary, overgrown with grass and reeds, where many of the pack beasts and horses in Gawain's team would be green during the day. Then, as agreed, the warriors of Mosul untied their skins, lit the pine, and danced against the other side.

Almost at the same time, dozens of cavalry suddenly appeared in the meadow on the riverbank illuminated by Songming, which seemed to have been ambushed in advance. This group of cavalry, all the general cavalry of the company, held the scimitar in one hand, galloped and killed, and the battle was very short--twenty Mosul Turks were slashed and stabbed by fifty cavalrymen in half a minute, and they were killed in an instant.

Then the soldiers of Kobha on the other side of the Orontes River, many of the chosen death squads, crowded the bank, and were surprised to see that in several sections on the opposite bank, torches were raised—Giovanni ordered, and the remaining fifty infantrymen, divided into five teams, to raise fire at random intervals -- torches were placed on three-pronged wooden stands, three for each of them, to disrupt the enemy's disposition.

In the midst of the noise, Kobha, the prince of Mosul, hurried out of his tent with his upper body naked, and Budakis followed closely behind him, and then Kobuha saw the soldiers he had selected during the day swimming in groups of sheepskin bags that could float in the water, swimming haphazardly towards the opposite shore.

"Tell everyone to come back." Kobha ordered urgently, and then a long horn sounded through the river.

But in the night of the Orontes River, the undercurrent swelled violently, and then the desperate cries for help of the Mosul soldiers continued to sound, even if they were holding their skins, but in the various deep waters and turbulent areas to no avail, the waves swept away many people, and many more people swam in terror, and soon sank with all their strength. The soldiers in the camp took out all kinds of ropes and hooks and tried to rescue, and the sound of everyone's panic was earth-shattering.

After looking at the white bodies of the soldiers in front of him, most of them swallowed up by the boundless night and water-colored darkness, Kobuha was in great pain, and he watched the many torches raised on the opposite bank shaking, and the wind came as if it were the mockery of the enemy, so the prince of Mosul covered his face and shed two lines of tears, "Call my general Boesas, and draw five thousand soldiers from tomorrow onwards, and bypass this bridge and fortress on the opposite side, and pass through Ridwan. Tutunshi's camp to reinforce General Amasa. ”

Then the Maharaja of Mosul roared, "Durak of Damascus. Tutushi, why hasn't there been any movement to the north so far! What the hell is he doing, isn't he the most sincere ally of the dead Aggie? ”

"The 20,000 men of the Maharaja of Dulac have arrived at the border of the valley at the northern end of Tripoli, and it is estimated that there are still three days left to form a blockade of the southern end of Antioch." Budakis, who was in charge of intelligence and diplomacy throughout the army, reported and asked his new monarch and lover not to be overly sentimental, for "the arrival of the army of the Maharaja Dulac has brought to naught the small tactical victory that the pilgrims have won in these two days." ”

In this way, Kobha relented a little, and began to complain about the two Tutush in Aleppo and Damascus, who "rebelled and did not move forward, completely forgetting the fighting spirit of the Oghuz and Seljuk warriors", and then hoped that Amasa, after several defeats, would calm down and hold on to his camp for the time being, and wait for the pilgrims to run out of food before attacking.

"We have more food than the enemy. And soon, another batch will be sent from Mosul. Kobuha's words and thoughts are no different from Gawain's original speculation.

Gawain, however, was not willing to wait, knowing that the pilgrims could not afford it compared to Kobha - "Following my original plan, on the third day we will attack." The next day, after the bright red sun had risen, the Grand Duke stood in the middle of the camp and said to the columns of soldiers who were ready to go, "But make no mistake about it, I am not a rigid battle of trapped beasts, but a battle leading to great victory." And the key to our victory is behind you! Now you can see and cheer. ”

So Gawain gathered about four thousand infantrymen (they were already at the limit of what Antioch was now able to bear) turned back - behind their phalanx stood about a thousand horsemen, with banners of various patterns and logos, for this group of people were all the elite of the pilgrims' lords, including the Red Hand Cavalry, the Franks, the Orleans, the Flanders, and the Apulians, and the Counts of Hartmann and Werner in command. Their horses ate up the last reserves of all the front-line camps, in order to attack today.

"Seeing the spears, swords, and spirited horses in their hands, you should know that this group of warriors is arrayed on the second line of battle, and they will continue to fight to the death immediately, and they are always behind you, so my children, will you still hesitate and be timid?" Gawain shouted, like a bell, waving his big hand.

"We are all children of the Grand Duke and the Princess in Purple, and with all our courage and wisdom, we swear that the warriors of the Red Hand Brigade, the Guardian Brigade and the Gemagis Brigade today will never insult the leader or embarrass the other pilgrims!" All the soldiers echoed in unison, not loud (saving stamina) but very resolute.

"My farmer is in Seleucia, and he will plow for me for a hundred days; Today I ask you, fight for me for a day! ”

"By the Gospel Shrine, there is no doubt about our loyalty!"

Gawain nodded, took out the horseshoe-shaped token, and summoned Merlot, who had just arrived from the palace area of the city yesterday, "You lead all the infantry, armed with infantry spears, out of the camp formation, march to the west, spread out and attack the seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth camps of Amasa, this will be the location of our main attack, and I will light a bonfire soon - Branas, who has lurked in the valley of Rose Ridge in advance, and three hundred cavalry, will attack at the same time." ”

After Merlot received the order, Gawain also invited Hartman and Werner to the two guest generals, "After my camp commander and lieutenant general is out of battle, you two will supervise all the cavalry and set up a formation on the second line, and once the enemy comes out from the other camps to reinforce the target that Merlot is attacking, you will storm and intercept them. ”

When the arrangement was finished, groups of infantry and cavalry, beating drums and playing flutes, went out of the main gate of the camp and the side gates of the barracks, singing praises to the Lord, and the noise was so loud that every man had a look on his face that he was at home. (To be continued.) )