After dawn, the camp of the city-state coalition outside Beshar had turned into a ruins filled with corpses; the night attack launched by Paulina and her men was so successful that after they all retreated, The camp was still killing each other until dawn.
So much so that when the clan army in the city, led by a newly elected leader, tried to intervene and stop their chaos, they were treated as enemies taking advantage of the situation and fought indiscriminately, leaving only the kittens. Two or three fled back to the city.
In the end, another group of troops attacked Paulina's station overnight, ending this chaotic situation. But in the camp, they ran into another group of enemies of unknown origin; they were easily defeated in the melee, but many people were killed and burned by hidden gunpowder.
In the end, even the horses and camels used as mounts were frightened and fled in all directions, losing more than half of them; they could only return on foot after dawn with the wounded and corpses. At this time, Polina and her men had already retreated to a higher hillside at Jiang Tian's prompt.
At the cost of only losing hundreds of people, she successfully penetrated and destroyed a camp where thousands of people gathered; even with Jiang Tian providing battlefield radar-like guidance, the combat team led by her could always find and defeat the enemy's gathering in time. Key nodes, destroying its command.
But it can also be seen to some extent that these subordinates obeyed her orders and prohibitions. On the other hand, this victory is undoubtedly an indescribable miracle for the soldiers under Paulina's command, so the morale is high at the moment and full of sincere respect.
However, at this moment, Jiang Tian was staring at a special prisoner wearing a brocade robe with various patterns; he was the one who was knocked down, knocked over, and set on fire by a raiding party led by Lieutenant Jean Lannes during the night battle raid. Behind the tent, he escaped in disheveled clothes and was caught again.
I thought he was just an ordinary noble/chief or the like. But he didn't expect that the enemies present would rush up like crazy when they saw this, trying to rescue him regardless of casualties. Therefore, Lieutenant Jean Lannes also took this prisoner with him, attracting the enemy and disrupting most of the camp.
When Jean Lannes finally got rid of the pursuit and entanglement in the melee, he learned from the prisoner's eagerness to announce his home and request for equal treatment; he was actually the nominal commander-in-chief of the coalition, the Henna Federation. The unique old prince Mahdi.
As a remnant of the Abbasid dynasty who fled across the sea, they occupied a large area along the coast of West Africa and established the Hina city-state alliance by joining forces with the local Arabs; a unique spiritual leader/mascot for each generation; the title and title of the old prince also come from Abbasid dynasty.
The Abbasid dynasty, which rose to prominence in the Khorasan region, lasted only two generations before quickly collapsing under the iron heel of the conquerors from the Eastern Seris Empire. As the huge territory was torn apart, the royal family all over the place were also killed.
Just like the former Abbasid dynasty, they treated the descendants of the Umayyad dynasty (gathering them together for a banquet and massacring them, then spreading the corpses on blankets and stepping on them to continue drinking and having fun); therefore, after the fall of Baghdad, Caliph Al-Mansur died of fear.
Only the Crown Prince Mahdi was ordered to cross-dress and break out, surrounded by the Saris army and its vassal tribes from afar; he went to Kufa, Shamala and other places in the south to summon troops loyal to the dynasty and citizens and officials for support. and participate in the final attack, defense and decisive battle of the capital.
But the twist of fate was that when Mahdi finally summoned some troops. Then came the news that the city of Baghdad had been captured; the Caliph who was lingering on his sickbed had long since died, but the ministers kept it secret, trying to use it as bargaining chips and conditions for the Seris people.
The Abbasid dynasty was only founded for more than thirty years, and the heritage of two generations of caliphs was too shallow. Therefore, the army gathered by Mahdi broke up and fled overnight; and Mahdi himself fled south into the southern desert.
In the following hundred years, business travelers and herdsmen chasing water and grass through the desert continued to claim to have seen it; it was suspected that Prince Mahdi led the last fully armed royal guard cavalry, marching in the scorching sun and yellow sand; it became a scene among local people. legend.
But with the conquerors of Seris, the rule in the Abbasid homeland became increasingly consolidated; and the results of the implementation of Serisization. Various resistances and rebellions under the banner of the royal family/descendants of the Abbasid dynasty were gradually erased along with the traces of the Abbasid dynasty's existence.
Therefore, in the end, except for some Bedouin tribes who hid in the depths of the Rub al-Khali Desert on the Arabian Peninsula and relied on the natural and dangerous environment to isolate themselves and refused to accept the king's rule, there was almost no place in the world that could be called such. The blood of the Bassi royal family is spread in secret.
Therefore, the title of this old prince of the Henna Federation is actually inherited from the maternal line. That is to say, several princesses of the Abbasid royal family were married into the Barmak family, the then Grand Vizier. After the fall of Baghdad, some family members fled to sea.
As a result, he became the recommended leader of the remnants of the Abbasid dynasty scattered along the Mediterranean coast; eventually, local riots broke out one after another, and the avenger from the Imberia Peninsula, the last survivor of the Umayyad royal family, Rahman, He was hunted and fled to West Africa.
The descendants of the Barmak family who took root and thrived not only established a city-state called "Dalakh", but also became one of the local Arabian city-states; the titles of "Old Prince" and "Mahdi" were passed down from generation to generation. "Heir to the name.
Of course, the old prince Mahdi of this generation is not a particularly tough person; he was allowed to directly confess the causes and consequences of the invasion of Hina City State without any special means. They received invitations and promises from royalist rebels in overseas provinces.
The Hina Federation has long been in conflict with its old enemy, the Cordoba Dynasty, between West and North Africa. It also needs to acquire the areas outside the mountains and even Algiers, which can threaten and penetrate the Cordoba Dynasty. A springboard for the Moroccan region for many years.
So the marriage with the Haflin dynasty became the victim behind all these conspiracies. Therefore, no matter whether the little princess of the Haflin Dynasty can arrive at the Haina Federation safely or not, it will not change her tragic fate of being at the mercy of others and being an abandoned chess piece.
Therefore, their target is not the insignificant Kingdom garrison; but the Masinisa tribe, which is nominally a vassal force in the Kingdom's overseas provinces. They have long penetrated the province's mountainous areas near the Sahara through intermarriage and other means. Deeper.
Therefore, they secretly contacted in advance and paid a considerable price and conditions to buy the leader of the Lager tribe who took the opportunity to occupy the city of Bel-Air as an internal agent. But it was obvious that this leader was not someone who kept his word, and secretly contacted the Masinissa tribe at the same time.
While Jiang Tian was observing the interrogation process, the city-state coalition forces regrouped at the foot of the hillside and seemed to have ended their internal differences in command. After being pushed to the front of the formation and beheading dozens of gorgeously robed people, they It was advanced with the sound of prayers and chants of morning prayers.
Then they hurriedly launched the first round of offensive, facing the abrupt piles of rocks and earth pits on the hillside, the temporary fortifications, and the volleys of firecrackers, bows and crossbows that were ready to fire; they could not hold on for long, and they left behind. The scattered corpses returned even more hastily.
However, in the exciting atmosphere of easily repelling the first wave of enemy attacks. Anton Vani, a middle-aged staff officer, walked up to Paulina and frowned slightly: "Regiment Commander, the soldiers have good fighting spirit, but they have lost the ammunition and arrows they carried, and they don't have much food and water."
"If the ammunition and arrows are lost, we can still last for five to six battles, and the military rations can barely sustain the needs of two or three days; but in this highland, the lack of water is a big problem; so I specially request you, can you It’s best to prepare for a breakout tonight.”
However, Polina, who had been reminded by Jiang Tian in advance, smiled slightly at him and said: "Thank you for your advice, but I am also confident enough to end this battle completely today. Please let the soldiers Be prepared so you don’t get caught off guard.”
As the thoughtful staff officer Anton Vani retreated to the rear of the line, the city-state coalition forces that had lost the first battle at the foot of the mountain also reorganized their formation. However, an army with a silver sheep's head flag appeared again on the east side of the road, but it was the remaining Masinisa tribe soldiers.
The two armies, which kept sufficient distance and vigilance from each other, quickly reached some kind of agreement after simply sending people to negotiate in front of the formation. They faced the hillside guarded by the overseas corps from the east and west sides, and simultaneously launched a swarm or attack. An offensive that advances in sequence.
Among those who swarmed up were the Masinissa tribesmen. They wore mottled robes and light leather and inlaid armor; they waved various weapons such as spears, scimitars, and recurved swords in an angry manner. The formation was scattered and rushed to the halfway point before slowing down slightly.
However, the crowd that had gathered together in a mess was immediately attacked by firecrackers and crossbows from a high position. It was almost impossible to aim, like an onion being peeled; layer after layer of soldiers fell, fell, rolled down, or were trampled over.
On the west side of the hillside, the second attack from the city-state coalition forces was much more orderly. They almost lined up in a relatively orderly queue amidst the loud sounds of leather drums and horns, holding long wicker shields and animal skin shields, and slowly advanced despite missing bullets.
Then, there were groups of cavalry running on camels or horses, taking turns setting up bows and shooting down the hillside. Although most of them fell outside the defense line on the edge of the hillside, some still penetrated through, causing the Free Army to Scattered casualties among soldiers and brief lulls in firepower.
However, when these city-state coalition troops, who were fighting for their lives and were fighting one after another, finally came within ten meters of each other where they could clearly see each other's faces; suddenly dozens of rolling balls with sparks were thrown from the simple front line, between their accelerating legs. It exploded and exploded.
As a result, this round of offensive in which the city-state coalition forces were blown to pieces, and then quickly collapsed under the counterattack of the Free Army soldiers who jumped out of the fortifications and held swords. On the other side, the tribal soldiers who were crowded on the edge of the hillside also collapsed after the sound of cannons.
However, a moment later, more than ten more suspected siege equipment were launched from the city-state alliance; they fired again at the hillside; although most of them failed. But it inevitably caused some people to exclaim: "Scorpion crossbow? Ballista, why are they still using these ancient cultural relics?"
Although it is an outdated ancient siege equipment, under the maintenance and operation of these city-state coalition forces, it can still be used normally, and the two-pound cannon hidden on the hillside is beyond the maximum range, constantly firing short spears and Stones were thrown and splashed on the hillside.
Encouraged by this momentum, the tribal soldiers on the east side launched another attack. This time, they no longer gathered together densely, but spontaneously formed more than a dozen large and small groups to cover each other; one after another they rushed up the hillside and dropped straw bags.
In the blink of an eye, on the rugged and slippery hillside, several straw bag ladders were quickly laid out for easy landing. Immediately afterwards, many ignited cattail dumplings were also thrown on the hillside, and spread with the wind to form a barrier of smoke.
And the old prince Mahdi, who was deliberately pulled to the front of the battle, couldn't help but said in his not very fluent Kingdom dialect when he saw this scene: "It seems that you have no hope. After all, they are the tribe that is most familiar with the local conditions and tactics. The people of Masinissa don’t care what happens to me.”
"It's better to send someone to contact the city-state, which can at least buy you a way to survive. If you still want to receive decent treatment, the premise is that your monarch can pay a generous enough ransom. But once the city-state army suffers excessive losses, They won’t be shy anymore.”
"Although I am their recognized leader, I am not the only and irreplaceable existence. I advise you to make the right decision in time while I still have sufficient value and influence; otherwise, once my potential opponent is changed, everything will be lost. It’s too late…”
As if he was chattering away. Polina, who had been unmoved, suddenly turned her head and looked at the air to consult a few words; then suddenly gave an order: "All personnel, immediately leave the outer front and retreat to the innermost defensive position... …”
Although this order was issued somewhat unexpectedly, it also shocked the subordinates around her. Even her immediate persuasion could not change her decision to make a prompt decision. Afterwards, most of the soldiers obeyed out of habit and retreated to the inner defense line with the highest terrain.
The next moment, in the narrow defensive circle, the soldiers who were crowded back to back saw Paulina suddenly raising her hand, pointing to the top of the mountain behind her, and chanting softly with a drunken and sleepy expression: "Look, incredible power has arrived..."
As she pointed, a thin waterfall suddenly appeared on the top of the mountain that was originally bare and barren. Then, as it rushed down, it turned into a huge water dragon, washing away countless sand and soil. The gravel rushed in instantly.
In an instant, a large roar like rolling thunder, along with the muddy and rolling mudslides, resounded on the edge of the hillside; it also swallowed up, entrained and submerged the enemy troops who had rushed up the hillside without explanation. It was all gone, and it rushed down the hillside unabated.
At the foot of the hillside, the city-state armies were frightened and fled in all directions. Before they could get very far, they were overtaken by the overflowing mudslides, and most of them were knocked down and swallowed up. Then the debris flow weakened and rolled to the other side, carrying floating bodies and tents.
Those tribal soldiers who were also frightened turned around and ran away without hesitation; then, they were immersed in knee-deep mud and turbulent currents. Although the exhausted mudslide did not take away more lives, it also turned their feet into a large swamp.
At this time, except for Paulina, who was still standing, almost everyone knelt on the ground, muttering to themselves and praying loudly; even the captured old prince Mahdi was no exception... and As the instigator, Jiang Tian also watched all this with pleasure.
Because, he discovered a brand new way to use his abilities. It is through the anchor point of Paulina that it can be used as the coordinate for the release of one's own spiritual power, and even the key carrier for the limited release of various modules. Of course, the premise is that she has enough bearing and tolerance.
