Eagle Flag of Epirus

Vol 4 Chapter 31: Offensive and defensive battle at Fort Wiscari (Part 1)

"hidden!"

Watching the ballistas and trebuchets on the Venetian warships throwing out burning asphalt barrels, the Byzantine soldiers immediately dodged behind the city walls, but the sound of a huge explosion made the surrounding dwellings instantly devoured by fire.

Fortunately, the Venetians did not carry cannonballs polished from the huge rocks along the Black Sea, otherwise the sea wall of Fort Wiscari could be destroyed. But even so, the Venetian's sudden change in the way of fighting still doubled the pressure on the Byzantine army.

The Venetians who attacked have been desperate, and they lost a lot of siege weapons due to the previous Greek fire attack. And Ranieri Dandolo used the new tactics of the original attack on Constantinople. The Venetian flat-bottomed landing ship and the oars were connected by chains to form a "serial ship", and the oarsmen used special The long-handled iron axe cuts down the hidden piles and opens up passages for ships. Ranieri was supposed to be the last Greek fire of the Greeks just now, so he adopted this adventurous combat method, but it did immediately work. The failure of the original Byzantine methods directly caused the huge sailing ship to quickly push in front of the sea wall.

And this immediately shocked the Byzantine defenders of the wall. They knew how Constantinople fell. Although the sea wall was lower than the Theodosius wall, it was always higher than the Wiscari. The walls of the fort are much stronger and more dangerous. At this moment, relying on the walls to resist the Venetians is completely wishful thinking.

And I saw that the Venetian’s tall ship had a fly bridge that stretched out like a claw on the city wall, and this was precisely the assassin on which the Venetians attacked Constantinople, and they were already prepared. The Venetian soldiers rushed from the boat to the Byzantine soldiers on the wall.

"calm!"

"Get ready to fight, kill all the Latin dogs!"

Leosgros also took a deep breath. He also felt tremendous pressure, but he was not a coward, and then his courage was also infected by other Byzantine soldiers. Of course, they did not want to admit their cowardice, and The best proof is to face their enemies with swords!

But the soldiers of Venice are equally brave. They are no longer the small city-states that were arbitrarily manipulated by the Byzantine Empire. They are now driven by ambition to fear death.

Different from the ordinary Venetian navy, the first to enter is a group of heavy infantry. They are volunteers in the armed group of the Venetian merchants. Although they are not a nominal Republican regular army, their combat effectiveness is no less than that of ordinary elite troops. Compared with ordinary soldiers, they have more generous salaries and sometimes get financial support from merchants. Therefore, they wear sophisticated lock armor and full helmets, and they jump directly to the Byzantine soldiers with heavy maces and shields in their hands. In wanton hacking, like entering the land of no one.

And this immediately confuses the Byzantine soldiers' army, and it is obvious that such elite soldiers can't stand it, and this is precisely the time when the army is most likely to collapse. The loss of the Sea Wall of Constantinople was precisely for this reason. The well-equipped Western European knights relied on strong and well-equipped armor to withstand the crude weapons of the Byzantine soldiers. However, the ignorant soldiers who were undoubtedly god-like existence immediately stunned The scattered, directly caused the sea wall to fall into the hands of the Latins.

At this time, the Venetians sent their trump cards in the first wave of offensive. No doubt the opponent has learned the experience of previous battles, and the look on Justinian’s face is also slightly solemn. There is no chance of trickery in this matter. If the soldiers can’t support it. If the Watergate falls, Fort Wiscari will not be guaranteed. He really didn't expect that the Venetian would be even more crazy on the offensive after losing so much.

But what Justinian didn’t know was that Ranieri Dandoro, who was on the opposite side, was in command of the army with a heavy heart. Making such a desperate decision is really a last resort. Now if he really gives up Offensive means that everything is over for him. After paying such a large loss but returning without success, even the reputation of the entire Dandolo family in Venice will plummet.

Therefore, as soon as the war started, Ranieri sent his own trump card heavy infantry in order to defeat the Byzantine defense in one fell swoop.

And as expected by Ranieri, the Byzantine soldiers on the front of the city could no longer support it. After all, most military guards composed of ordinary peasant children only had simple leather armor and spears, making them narrow and narrow. It is very reluctant to fight hand-to-hand with the Venetian heavy infantry on the walls of the city.

Finally, someone couldn't support it anymore and wanted to retreat, and Justinian, who was also in the city, had a face sinking. Once one person retreated, the rout would be unstoppable like a wave, and eventually the defense of the city would collapse.

However, at this moment ~www.ltnovel.com~ an unexpected army suddenly appeared on the side of the Byzantine army. They quickly joined the battle and immediately reversed the original unfavorable situation, attracting the surprised eyes of everyone present. They are not dressed in traditional Byzantine soldiers, and the armor on their bodies is not the common Eastern style of pierced armor or fish scale armor, but Western Latins often use chain mail and burqa, and they also wear Latin full helmets. , Completely dressed up as a knight. Obviously their weapons are better, and the joining of these warriors suddenly made it difficult for Venice, which had the upper hand, to step back.

Although they are well-trained and well-equipped, they are ultimately made up of the wealthy bourgeoisie in the city of Venice. They are not as fierce as real knights. After seeing this scene, Ranieri immediately ordered his army to retreat temporarily. Seeing that this army was put into combat, he finally gave up the idea of ​​taking Wiscari Fort.

"Is that so? This is impossible!"

And he was beside him, and George Frontier was full of consternation. He hadn't expected that there would be such a mysterious army in Fort Wiscari, with such a strong combat power.

"It is said that Emperor Manuel loved the knightly movement in the West, and he even Latinized reforms to the military system of the empire. Therefore, there was a group of troops that were completely modelled on knights. Obviously that army did not fight at Miliau Sefalon. The whole army was annihilated, and it became someone's killer." Ranieri silently watched the heavy losses retreat to the ship and then let his fleet retreat to temporarily stop the attack.

"Anastasius, it must be him!" George Frontier also reacted immediately, and there is only that possibility. As a veteran noble who has experienced the replacement of several emperors, it is not impossible that the old man has such a killer.

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