The Sultan's army marched out of the four river valleys, then converged into a huge formation, and pressed like a hurricane towards the camp of the Red Hand Brigade. At the forefront, there were bannermen with fluttering flags, and many lightly armed archers with compound bows, about two thousand men, in a line, walking as fast as flying; They were followed by an array of cavalry on Turkic horses, with shields, scimitars, and pikes on their backs, and they marched in parallel to cover the valley on the eastern side of Nicaea; At the back were sturdy infantrymen in chain mail and brass shields, mostly Greek and Armenian warriors employed by the Sultan, their armor and weapons shining in the afternoon sun, in a well-organized formation, ready to strike at any moment.

Gilligi who was so nervous that he couldn't breathe. Under Arslan's eyes, the vanguard of his army had already rushed to the destination like a rapidly rising tide, and the camp of the Red Hand Brigade, from half a guli to a quarter of a guri, was getting closer and closer, and he couldn't help but feel a fluke in his heart, "In this way, rush over with all your might, and then the defenders of Xinmen will come out, even if the enemy is prepared, they will not be able to resist this blazing and fierce offensive." ”

But soon, he saw that the forest in front of the camp of the Red Hand Brigade had moved.

Gilligi didn't believe his eyes, he wiped it, and the slaves around him were stunned, but the "forest" was indeed moving rapidly—after knocking down bundles of camouflaged wicker branches, the Byzantine array carrying the Rabran Cross, the purple banner, and the Teodor icon banner came out of the natural woods.

From behind the wicker shields in the positions, the Tekopo, Pecheneg, Cumans, and the sailors of the Dalian Brigade, using their bows and crossbows, fired a fierce wave of deadly arrows. The Romani light soldiers who were at the forefront were caught off guard, and most of them were still pulling the open bowstrings before they were shot through, killing and wounding them to the ground.

Almost as quickly as the clusters of arrows were fired, the wide array of Byzantine infantry, raising their battle flags, began to raise their shields and spears with a bang. Columns of chants were sung and rushed towards the Roma's follow-up cavalry and infantry, and from the vacant passages in the array, hundreds of Plonian cavalrymen with maces and broadswords, smoke and dust, and thunderous horses' hooves, fought out in several directions.

Under the purple royal flag, the four Roman generals Tetisius, Theognes, Branas, and Mikhail all wore armor and bridle to supervise the battle. "There is a lake on the right flank of our army as a natural barrier, and it is enough to strengthen the attack on the left flank!" Tetisius raised his whip and shouted.

"Attack with all your might, take revenge on the treacherous Konya dog, take back the sacred city of Nicaea, and offer the gospel to His Majesty the Emperor!" Diognis was especially energetic, personally driving his horse to the left flank and agitating everyone, the infantry and cavalry. Even the soldiers rolled forward and fought with the attacking Roma soldiers. In the end, the sailors of the Dalian team, who were originally stationed in the forest for cover, could not hold back, hung up their bowstrings, and also raised their axes and hooks and sickles to kill.

"Damn, the Roman dog has so delicately ambushed in the forest, and deceived Ben Sultan's eyes!" Gilliki, who was commanding on the hill, was furious, and he couldn't figure it out. A few years ago, this team even walked unsuspecting through the Nicaean Gorge, but why is there such a difference in combat power after changing commanders? Now, looking down from the top of the mountain, thousands of their own side. and the enemy's array, staggered and fighting together, people waving and holding all kinds of long and short weapons, squeezing and fighting, almost can only distinguish the situation from the advance and retreat of the flag. "Our army is superior in numbers, send a signal with flags, strengthen the right flank of our army, and crush the left flank of the enemy!" The Sultan of Konya also issued almost identical orders to Tetisius, except in opposite directions.

The slave soldiers around the Sultan also drew their swords one by one, or raised their maces, and rushed down to help the situation. At this time, in the plains between the valley and the camp, the battle of the entire battlefield became more and more intense, like two surging tides in a narrow strait, impacting each other and strangling, both armies increased their depth investment on one wing, and the number of people reached a shocking density in this area, neither side was willing to retreat easily, the fight became thicker and thicker, more and more impermeable, and a sword could cut off the limbs and organs of several people, of course, the premise is that you can swing it.

Further north on one wing, at the Sultan's instructions, several detachments of Roma, armed with bows and spears, ran towards the thicket slopes, "Shoot arrows! Archery! The leader of the army, Atarberg, drew his sword and shouted, and the soldiers formed a formation and swished and shot at the place where they thought there was an ambush, and a terrible scream rang out, and many figures were caught by arrows, and jumped up in the middle of it, and then fell down, and many more dragged their weapons and turned around, and fled from the hiding place towards the slope.

"Sure enough, there was an ambush to kill all these despicable pagan dogs." The detachment's foot riders shouted, and they also came after them.

Then, Ataberg, who took the lead in swinging his sword, suddenly saw the high end of the slope, a warrior riding a neighing silver steed, wearing a red hand feather ornament, riding a horse, out of nowhere, like lightning, was watching him, those light blue eyes seemed to emit a faint flame, and his arm raised a long sword of the same color, "Could it be akin?"

"Let the enemy tremble and cry out, for they are the ones who have suffered a crushing defeat today!" Gawain shouted, then stretched out his sword. The soldiers of the Dalian Brigade, who had originally fled, quickly turned around and fell to the ground with this order from the marching commander.

"Because they met the Redhand Dalian!" In the long grass on the slope, Amalfi, Barry, and Benevento light crossbowmen, from back to front, stood up in columns, and flew out of the crossbow arrows, the first wave of which shot the stunned Artalberg from his horse, and then more Italian veterans and Lombards stood up in formation, and they shouted, tearing off the cloth covers covering their shields and thorn guns, and drifting in the wind, and then counterattacking from all directions.

On the long hillside to the right of Gawain, the Norman Banner Cavalry Company with the Black Dragon Banner, the St. Cyril Cavalry Company with the Icon Banner, the New Baptized Company with the Whirring Ichthyosaurus Banner, the Brotherhood in Hoods, the Normans, Italians, Magyars, Lombards, Cumans, the most elite warriors of all peoples, driving their proudest horses, rushed up very efficiently from the concealment of the reverse slope, as if a forest had risen from the ridge, and quickly assembled on Gawain's side, I saw the whole stalemate in front of me.

"Brad, be the first to charge, don't fall behind Gawain's half-group." As soon as Tancreed's words fell, the two Gawain cavalry companies on his left and right had already taken the lead, shouting and pouring down the hillside.

"Damn, damn Gawain!" Tancred and Brad, who raised the banner of the guide, also rushed down with a shout, followed by Norman knights flying with iron hooves. (To be continued.) )