Eagle Byzantium

Chapter 37 Ambush and Killing

Raul looked up and saw the shadow of the black god of death, roaring down along the pale sunset light. He stretched out his hand, but before he could shout a warning, a young Norman knight holding the flag next to him was stunned from the waist down. The knight was hit by a crossbow arrow with extremely powerful penetrating power. The knight was shaken violently on his horse, and then fell off the horse.

"Raise your shield." Then Raul shouted.

Then, many crossbow arrows continued to rain down, and there was the sound of men and horses screaming sadly everywhere.

The crossbowmen of the Benevento detachment, wearing light leather armor and iron helmets, spread out and stood behind the high slopes and rocks on the side of the mountain pass. They kept pulling the lever of the crossbow and faced the Normans who were filing through the narrow area. The team was pouring out - Raul miscalculated, he still fully thought that today he would be on the road to the small town of Lepanto. Here, even if they encounter enemies in the mountain passes, they will still be the same group of Greek militiamen who did not even have armor or strong bows or crossbows yesterday. However, Gawain's fleet has already docked and is forcibly crossing a sheltered area of ​​swamps and forests. Finally, under the perfect guidance of Diognis, they arrived at the ambush site in this mountain pass. This is the inspiration Gawain learned from the Varangian Guards, a group of Viking descendants, to attack by boat and take them by surprise.

A crossbow arrow pierced another knight next to Raul, directly piercing his cheek. This knight was an old man with twenty years of combat experience. The two of them had attacked side by side in the Battle of Durazo. Now his The eyeballs fell down, and his face was covered with blood. He touched his face with chained gloves in severe pain, and the eyeballs were pulled directly off, with a heart-rending cry. Calabria's lightly-armed soldiers held up their shields to protect them, and as soon as the crossbowmen from Benevento stopped pulling the string, Tecopo mercenaries followed one after another, shooting stormy rain from both sides of the mountain pass. This time they carried huge arrow sacs, each of which could hold sixty arrow feathers, to ensure the uninterrupted firepower of the shooting tools.

More and more light infantry and light cavalry were injured and fell to the ground. The handyman who was helping Tancred carry the stretcher was also shot to the ground. Tancred insisted on getting up, holding a horse with one hand. Back, he was still there sternly encouraging everyone to rush towards the target direction boldly.

The brave Norman knights, even though many were wounded by arrows, some on horseback and some on foot, were still pushing forward to break through the mountain pass. The trumpet sounded over there - Taticius's cavalry turned around, They also shot arrows and wielded swords vigorously, killing the wounded and infantry who were left behind.

"Damn Greek coward!" Raul roared at the top of the mountain. He saw the enemy's commander, who happened to be the tall Varyag-looking guy who fought at the foot of Cadmia Fort that day. Wearing gorgeous and sturdy holy armor, he was standing under the red hand flag, holding a horse-head scepter and looking at their chaotic team.

Then, the commander tapped Tancred, who was trudging ahead with his scepter, and then about twenty Benevento crossbowmen, with small flags waving, all raised their crossbows and pointed in the direction Gawain pointed. A volley was fired.

The knights and light infantry on all sides of Tancred howled and fell down immediately. Tancred's horse also twitched and was hit by crossbow arrows in the head and flanks. He reluctantly threw Tancred down. Kneel on the ground and die in agony.

Raul rode his horse quickly, braving the falling arrows, and rushed to Tancred who was struggling on the ground. Then he jumped down and helped the other person up - in front of the mountain pass, there was a swamp and swamp with paths intertwined. Bush, the armored Italian infantry of the Greek army who came later, mixed with the other crossbowmen, were coming towards this side to outflank them.

"Raul!" Tancred, who was on horseback, stretched out his left hand and kept shouting, but Raul ignored him and quickly tied him to the saddle with a rope, "Young man , I won’t go to the Holy Tomb, and I can’t wait for you for ten years.” After saying this, Raul said goodbye to him with a smile, “Your ten years are more precious than mine!”

After saying this, Raul gave his mount a kick with his spurs. The horse was in pain, and with Tancred swaying, he passed several bushes and galloped directly in the direction of Lepanto. Several The Norman knights followed closely, but more accompanied by Raul, turned around and drew their swords, and fought to the death with the Byzantine troops coming from all directions.

But what answered them was the arrows that kept flying, the endless injuries, and the humiliating death of bleeding. The Italian armored soldiers only guarded the passes and muddy areas, and used their swords to harvest the injured or exhausted Norman knights. Some brave ones were let go, but those who showed the slightest bit of cowardice were mercilessly assassinated and hacked to death. This group of Italian soldiers were all infantry, hired, and had no fixed land or fiefdoms, nor much personal belief. There was no psychological burden in killing knights on horseback.

In the bloody battle, Raul rushed left and right. Even without his horse, he still held the spear and led everyone to open the way forward. Finally, a Benevento archer hiding behind the bushes suddenly turned around and faced him. Next, Raul was hit by an arrow in the lower abdomen and knelt on the ground. The other Norman knights could no longer bear it and scattered suddenly. At this moment, Gawain nodded, then rode Sabina and rushed down the hillside, trampling on the enemy's corpse on his pillow, and stopped behind Raul.

"You are worthy of admiration. You should not have died under a useless crossbow." Commander Count jumped off his horse and said with a sword of phosphorous fire. This was also his last "tribute" to the enemy veteran.

Surrounded by Turkic soldiers and Tecopo people raising flags, "You used weird, mixed tactics of Viking pirates and Turkic sticks to defeat us despicably." With a weak voice, Raul continued to turn his back. Kneeling with Gawain.

"Because I am not a stickler for rules, but someone who loves to learn." Gawain raised the phosphorus fire sword horizontally.

"You will become a terrifying enemy of the Normans, but it's a pity that I can't continue fighting with you..."

"Yes, I understand."

"Ah!" Raoul felt pain and pulled out the crossbow arrow from his abdomen. Then a stream of blood spattered out. He turned around with his sword and slashed at Gawain. Everyone around him was shocked. This was simply... The most terrifying death struggle, a trick that will lead to death.

There was a flash of fire, and Gawain's sword edge pressed against Raul's, and then sparks shot up quickly along Raul's sword, with the sound of friction, and then there was a buzz, and it was all over: Raul's chainmail gauntlet , was cut open along with his neck, and even the sword's quill was cut off, dangling on his back, and then fell under Gawain's sword with several strands of blue flames.

Check out the 16-9 book bar to see the correct version!

"My spear charge still needs to be refined to deal with Bohemond." Gawain murmured, which is why he admired Raul. He put away the phosphorus sword cursed by the devil again, "Let's go Lepanto continues the pursuit!”

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like