The two sides formed a formation near Adrianople. A fierce battle broke out immediately. Celtic and Norman armies occupied the higher hills. But Artoria had no intention of relying on these hilly terrains to fight in a defensive posture with longbows, heavy crossbows and artillery.
And opposite Arturia. It is the Romans' stable and unchanging heavy infantry phalanx. Four regular legions and eleven local garrison legions formed a three-layered and stable Roman phalanx. They used Roman heavy infantry as their backbone, and the garrison's mace soldiers and sword and shield soldiers as their main force. Paired with Trebizond archers and dismounted Seljuk Turk horse archers. Also equipped with more targets and slingers. This makes the long-range power of the Roman phalanx stronger. .
Liliannu seems to want to use this tactic to fight against Norman and Celtic's long-range advantage.
At the same time, she gathered all the Eastern Roman lancers from each legion. It was placed on the right wing of the army, on a hill with higher terrain. And ordered these lancers to be on standby at all times. to attack the Norman flank. In addition, a group of minotaurs, as well as some Guards heavy cavalry, armored holy cavalry and Agontoplai heavy cavalry were also organized by her, and they were immediately put into the battlefield as a force to attack.
On the other side of the Roman army, the left wing. The number is around 30,000. Those remnants and mercenaries from Europe and Arabia were placed here. Lili Annu is not optimistic about the fighting power of these ragtag groups. Their only purpose of existence is to contain the Celtic army on this side.
The number of lili Annu¡¯s troops. More than three times that of Arturia. Therefore, Liliannu was able to complete a broader lineup with more troops. She divided the army into these three parts. Similar to the previous battle between Egil and Hunyadi. The purpose is to take advantage of the numerical advantage in order to defeat the enemy in terms of formation width. thus surrounding the Celtic army. achieve tactical objectives.
However, what Liliannu faced was not the Balkan mountain people with poor equipment and poor training. But it has gone through rigorous training. And the equipment is completely equivalent to the Celtic army of the Norman Empire, as well as the sturdy Norman hussars and well-trained Eastern European horse militia.
In recent years. The Celtic Army completed a large-scale change of equipment. Whether it is armor or the style of weapons and equipment. All aligned with the Norman army. If you don't look at their blouses. The coat of arms and flags were completely indistinguishable from the Norman soldiers. This further increased the combat effectiveness of the Celtic army. It even reached the point where it was no different from an ordinary Norman army.
The time is April 2, 1014 AD. About nine o'clock in the morning. Soon after breakfast on both sides of the army. The battle begins.
In the first moment of the battle, Arturia and Liliannu were two people. The order was issued almost at the same time: "Advance!" Whether it was the party with the numerical advantage or the party at an absolute disadvantage. All adopted strong attack tactics. It seemed that neither of these two female commanders wanted to show any weakness in front of their opponents.
Although Egil equipped Artoria¡¯s army with twenty twenty-four-pound infantry cannons. This is called gorgeous artillery firepower. But it seems that Arturia has no intention of using these artillery pieces. She placed these artillery pieces entirely within her barracks. Use them like more advanced slings. Rather than field equipment. Compared with those high-tech equipment, the queen believed more in her and the personal bravery of her soldiers. And the big sword in her hand.
"Crossbow!"
When the main infantry phalanx of both sides marched to a distance of 260 meters from each other. The Celtic army halted its advance. A thousand Celtic heavy crossbowmen in the front row, equipped with three-quarter plate armor and heavy pulley crossbows, aimed at the Romans. The Romans were still moving forward unhurriedly.
Just like thousands of years ago, the Roman Empire fought with Gaul, Spain, Celts and Germans. The proud Roman soldiers, facing the roar and charge of the barbarian soldiers, still walked unhurriedly and uniformly, advancing in a phalanx array. Such calmness, such momentum. A completely mocking gesture: We are civilized people, you are barbarians.
But things are different now. When the Romans - or more accurately, the Greeks. When these Greeks were still advancing at such a leisurely pace. What greeted them was not the battle ax of a barbarian. But the crossbow arrows of the Normans!
More than two hundred meters away. Even the archers of Trebizond, using compound bows, could not fire a deadly arrow. However, the Norman heavy crossbows can already penetrate heavy chain armor at this distance!
Crossbow, which represents the product of advanced technology, was once one of the secret weapons of the Roman Empire. This moment comesNow. In the hands of Celtic descendants who were considered barbarians by the Greeks. This has to be said to be a huge irony. And if there's anything more ironic than this. Then that¡¯s the amount of damage these crossbowmen can do!
On the front, the armored paladin wearing three layers of heavy armor looked calm and fearless. However, those heavy cavalry guards only wore a single layer of heavy scale armor. As well as the Agontoplay heavy cavalry of the reserve officer corps, they suffered a big loss when facing the Norman heavy crossbows! The heavy scale armor, which was originally used as a barrier, was completely unable to stop the mechanically propelled crossbow arrows! The huge thrust even caused them to fall directly from their mounts. It was as if someone was slamming a war hammer at them, and the screams could be heard far away!
And those who are slightly luckier, between the armored holy cavalry and other heavy cavalry, are the Minotaurs who are also included in the vanguard. Although their hides have amazing defense, they cannot completely offset the lethality of the Norman crossbow bolts. However, the vitality of these rough-skinned giant monsters is much stronger than that of humans. What is fatal to ordinary humans is nothing more than a trivial matter to them. Unless you shoot them in the head and penetrate them directly. Otherwise, it would be like doing useless work.
The minotaurs were indeed in severe pain from the crossbow arrows. However, such severe pain, in turn, stimulated their wildness. They roared angrily and pulled out the three-edged crossbow bolts with one hand. I don't care at all that such a simple and crude treatment will cause the wound to worsen. He also ignored the blood that continued to spurt out from the wound. began to charge towards the Normans.
"What a bunch of monsters"
After seeing the performance of the Minotaurs, both Artoria and Lili Annu had this idea. These powerful warriors are powerful enough to intimidate all soldiers. Indeed, they have their own value. Although it will consume more than ten times the military food and materials of normal soldiers, especially meat. But after seeing their violent performance on the battlefield, any commander will feel that it is worth their money.
"Hmphorder the forwards to speed up!" After seeing the Minotaurs charging without authorization, Liliannu snorted to express dissatisfaction. Of course, in fact, the queen also knows that when the opponent's long-range firepower has the advantage, a quick assault is the only way. So she also acquiesced to the Minotaurs' approach. At the same time, an order was issued to speed up the entire army. Reach her opponent early.
When I saw hundreds of monsters running towards my own position. Arturia also felt a little pressure. During the Second Battle of Budapest, Arturia was in the north, fighting against the Rus'. So I didn't see the performance of these monsters. Although I heard many people talk about it later. However, second-hand information cannot be as shocking as seeing it with your own eyes.
However, this shock lasted only a short time. After just a few seconds, Arturia returned to normal. And quickly issued the following order:
"Keep shooting, shoot the eyeballs of those monsters! Prepare your fire grabber and super long gun!"
The Celtic army that received Artoria's order immediately entered a state of combat readiness - after seeing the strength of the Norman phalanx infantry. Arturia also decided to imitate the Normans' new army. to transform the troops under her command. She converted all the heavily armored spearmen, who accounted for about half of the Celtic army, into super spearmen. And equipped them with cutting-edge musketeers equipped with large hand cannons.
This batch of new-style armies are all equipped with three-quarter plate armor. Granted the red dragon banner of Wales. Although in training, it is quite similar to the Norman phalanx infantry. But it adds a bit of traditional, attacking spirit of the Scottish pikemen. Artoria requires these ultra-long spearmen to be able to pick up ultra-long spears and charge against the enemy when necessary. Regardless of whether this tactic is appropriate or not. But at least, the dense phalanx of super long spears and the heavy crossbows and muskets matched with them will have a very good effect against the heavy cavalry and the Minotaur group charge in front of the Romans.
With the continuous shooting of Celtic heavy crossbowmen. Finally some of the Minotaur's roars turned into wails. If one or two crossbow arrows don't work, then use ten or twenty. And as they get closer. The power of the crossbow is naturally becoming more and more powerful. When the enemy's forward approached the Celtics less than a hundred meters away. Even the armored holy cavalry wearing three or even four layers of armor began to feel overwhelmed.
"Humphit still has some uses." Although I don't like crossbows, this kind of long-range weapon is like cheating. But at this time, Arturia had to admit it. These evil cheating weapons are indeed very useful (To be continued)
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