The Duke of Flanders took his troops to the front line again the next day. Although the joining of the Templar Knights made the entire team look much larger, the exhausted Duke's vassals and soldiers looked dejected. , which cast an unfortunate shadow over the expedition. The soldiers who followed the Duke were mostly craftsmen or residents in the city of Antioch. Therefore, when the team left the castle, women could often be seen carrying their own The children followed from a distance, and the soldiers turned back frequently hoping to see their families. This miserable scene made people cry.
However, the Templar Knights were arrogant. Led by a group of priests and monks holding crosses high, they followed closely as if they were already heading to the place of victory. The tall horses and knights in chain mail, under the guidance of the Lord, Stepping into a glorious and glorious victory, this is what Lei Luo and his knights could imagine. The sword thirsts for the blood of the heretics. The young, old and innocent will fall under the sword of the Templars.
"Captain Lei Ruo, what are your plans for the battle?" In a small village where they took a break during the trip, the Duke and Lei Ruo sat in the room provided by the village elders. They were silent all the way. Duke Flanders felt uneasy about the future. , and Lei Ruo disdained to talk to the Duke who he thought was timid. During the break, Duke Flanders finally broke the awkward situation and spoke.
"Well, it's very simple. We divide the army into two. You, the Duke, lead your troops to attack the enemy from the front, while my knights and I attack from the flanks. We will definitely be able to defeat the hateful heretics." Lei Ruoda The leader picked up a glass of cool water from the deep well and took a sip. The hot weather was really unbearable for him. This hellish weather was really suitable for pagans.
"But my army is insufficient in number and their morale is low." Duke Flanders frowned and said to Captain Lei Ruoda.
"Hmph, they are all cowards, but please don't worry, the frontal attack is just to attract the enemy's attention, and my Templars and I are the ones who give the enemy a hard blow." Captain Lei Ruoda smiled. said.
"What if I don't agree?" said Duke Flanders.
"Oh, then the Holy See will receive a written report, and you, your family and the territory will face the interrogation of the Inquisition to torture you and your family on whether you and your family are pious to the Lord." Lei Ruo said without mercy. .
"I have dedicated my life to the Lord." Duke Flanders stood up angrily. Even though the Duke has entered his forties, the bravery of his youth still remains. The title of "Lion" Flanders is not For free.
¡°Then continue to dedicate yourself to the Lord until the end of your life, so that the souls of you and your family can be protected.¡± Lei Ruo continued to threaten.
"Huh." Duke Flanders walked away, and the treasurer beside Lei Ruo looked worriedly at the direction the Duke left.
"Grand Commander, what should I do if Duke Flanders refuses to fight?" the treasurer asked. Although the authority of the Holy See can temporarily subdue the Duke, if the Duke resolutely refuses to obey, the Holy See, who is as high as the emperor and far away from the emperor, will actually take advantage of this highly respected person. The old Duke had no choice.
"Don't worry, he will do what I say." Lei Ruo took a sip of water and said confidently. He was sure that the arrogant old Duke would attack Saladin's army from the front.
Lei Ruo's grasp of Duke Flanders' psychology was correct. When the troops set out again, Duke Flanders led his troops to leave the village early without even saying hello to Captain Lei Ruo. Such a arrogant manner The quarrel can only show the anger and helplessness in the Duke's heart. The Duke's army drove straight towards Saladin's army, while the Templar Knights detoured around the enemy's left flank. They advanced cautiously. Although the Templar Knights were proud knights, there was no doubt about their military qualities. , the concealed and circuitous advance eluded many of Saladin's reconnaissance light cavalry.
"The Antiochians are attacking." Muhalder received the news in his castle and captured the border castle in Antioch territory, so that he and his soldiers no longer had to camp in the wild and were looking for Arriving at a room that had been occupied by officers in the castle, Muhalder moved in.
"Yes, sir." The soldier who ordered him knelt on the ground and said to Muhalder.
"How many are there?" Muhalder frowned and leaned on the thick cushions. The floor was covered with moisture-proof exquisite carpets, and a young servant was beside him carrying a smoker and wine.
"Looking at the flag, it should be the troops led by Duke Flanders. They seem to be quite large."
"It's really strange. They just retreated, how could they have the strength to attack?" Muhald stood up and walked to the window.Pacing next to him, as the general that Saladin favored, Muhalder's commanding ability was no less than that of Saladin himself. Although he was a little impatient at times, this did not affect his judgment of the battle situation.
"Maybe it's a sense of honor, because these Western barbarians are always reckless and rude." The priest next to him said.
"Impossible, Duke Flanders is a veteran general who has been on the battlefield for a long time. He will not attack without being completely sure." Muhalder turned around and said to the messenger, "Send more light cavalry. Reconnaissance to find out the enemy¡¯s motives.¡±
"Yes." After receiving the order, the messenger immediately left to convey it.
Muhalder carefully tried to guess the motives of Antioch's army, while Duke Flanders led his troops to station thirty miles away from Saladin's army. He knew that he did not need to move forward. The enemy saw him. They will definitely come to fight. In order to ensure that the Knights Templar can be delayed for some time to reach the battlefield, the Duke ordered his men to put up many flags. From a distance, it seemed that there were twice as many people.
"Your Majesty the Duke, this is a really good idea. The enemy seems to have only sent reconnaissance light cavalry to watch from a distance and has no intention of dispatching." The vassals admired Duke Flanders' ingenious plan, but Duke Flanders smiled and shook his head. Shake his head.
"This is not what I was paying attention to. This is what Count Schwab taught me before he left." The old Duke said truthfully. It turned out that before leaving, Schwab knew that the number of Dukes was too small and could easily be defeated by the enemy. Attack as a weak link, so he made an idea for the Duke.
"Your Excellency, you should bring more flags with you when you leave, so as to confuse the enemy's judgment of our number." Sure enough, the Duke followed this suggestion and ordered his logistics officer to bring many triangular and swallow-tailed flags. Originally, fifty people fought A swallow-tailed flag turned into thirty or twenty people carrying a swallow-tailed flag, which looked quite spectacular from a distance and was quite bluffing in the eyes of unsuspecting enemies.
Schwab's strategy was nothing more than a tactic of virtuality and reality, but no matter how good the strategy was, it still depended on the people's use. After a whole day, both sides maintained restraint, but in the early morning of the third day, Mucha Ed personally led a detachment of Mamluks, surrounded by light cavalry, to approach Duke Flanders' camp. He saw the pagan general riding his horse past the smoke-filled camp. There were so many Mamluks. The arrival of the cavalry and light cavalry really made the soldiers in the duke's camp extremely nervous. The crossbowmen stood across the fence and used their crossbows to point at the pagans outside the camp. The vassals ordered their knights to carry flags. Running in the camp, the sound of horse hooves rolling like thunder intimidated the pagan troops outside the camp.
"Well." Muhalder heard the sound of horse hooves in the camp and saw the smoke billowing in the camp. He frowned and retreated a little to his side. But when he saw the rising smoke, a smile suddenly appeared on his lips. , and then immediately turned the horse's head back to the castle.
"Sir, how is the situation?" The priest looked curiously at Muhalder who jumped off the horse, and saw Muhalder's face beaming with joy.
¡°Immediately order the officers to gather the soldiers, and we will attack Duke Flanders¡¯ camp at noon.¡± Muhalder said to his messenger.
"Sir, if the enemy dares to attack again, he must have gathered a large number of troops. Should we wait for the general manager to return before making plans?" the priest suggested to Muhalder.
"What a large military force. I think Duke Flanders is really stupid. He dares to provoke with only a few soldiers." Muhalder sat on the thick carpet, drank a lot of wine, and said slightly angrily. .
"What? My lord, you are saying that they are just bluffing, right?" The priest said in disbelief as he looked through the window of the castle at the flag-waving Duke of Flanders' camp.
"Yes, although they were flying twice as many flags, these fools didn't expect that the smoke from their soldiers' cooking exposed their actual military strength. I dare to conclude that there are only two thousand troops in Duke Flanders' camp at most. "
"You really don't take us seriously." Although Saladin returned to the country with a large number of elites, Muhald still had more than 10,000 soldiers in his hands. Compared with this, Duke Flanders's small force was like a strong man and a soldier. Baby average.
"Woo~~~~." A dull horn sound sounded in the border castle. The heathen army gathered at the sound of the horn. The noise suddenly resounded throughout the earth. Duke Flanders heard the enemy's horn in his tent. After a long time, The Duke on the battlefield immediately realized that the enemy had seen through his false and true tactics.
"Gather your vassals and prepare for battle immediately." At this point, the old Duke pulled out his sword without saying a word and said to his attendants. At this time, the only thing left to do was to fight the enemy bravely. I hope that the Templar Knights can catch up in time. to the battlefield??.