On the shore of Lake Assad, in the small town of Thebes, the Western Qin Army camp.
It has been two days since Zhao Ziliang led his army to arrive here.
In these days, he has marched along the right bank of the Euphrates River and captured more than a dozen towns, castles and fortresses along the way.
The Byzantines finally reacted.
They could not tolerate the Western Qin to continue fighting like this.
Western Qin siege strategy The speed of the ground was too fast, and the strong castles and fortresses that the Byzantines relied on for defense had little effect.
They had to send troops to prepare for battle with the Western Qin army.
The army was led by Nicerus, the governor of Syria, who came from Bei Roya came with his army.
Nicerus was originally based in Damascus, but he had been inspecting defenses in various parts of Syria in the past two months.
Just as he arrived at Beroea, he received news that the Western Qin army was invading, and it was attacking along the Euphrates River.
This made He had to stay in Berroea temporarily and ordered the mobilization of troops from major towns in northern Syria to prepare for emergencies.
The advancing speed of the Western Qin Army greatly exceeded Nicerus's expectations.
In order to prevent the defenders of various towns, castles and fortresses from being eaten by the Western Qin Army one by one, he immediately decided to fight the Western Qin Army, so he led 30,000 troops to Coming from the east, they met the Western Qin army.
"Your Majesty, the Eastern Roman Army has arrived.
They are in the small town of Mescenai, thirty miles northwest of here."
Zhang Ben, the general of the scout camp, strode into the tent and reported to Zhao Ziliang.
Zhao Ziliang was extremely calm, put down the ink pen in his hand, raised his head and asked: "Who is the general who leads the army with so many troops?"
Zhang Bi said: "There are 30,000 troops, and the general in charge is Nicerus, the governor of Syria in the Eastern Roman Empire."
Zhao Ziliang was a little surprised: "The Governor's Palace of Syria seems to be located in Damascus.
Nicerus should be Damascus.
How could he arrive with his army so quickly?"
Zhang Ben said: "According to the information we have received, Nicerus has been inspecting defense and government affairs in various parts of Syria in the past two months.
When he arrived in Berroea, he learned about our army's attack on Deir ez-Zor Castle, so he He stayed in Beroea and continued to mobilize troops from Antioch and major towns in northern Syria.
Our spies found out that he had 30,000 men.
Only 10,000 of them were Eastern Roman regular troops, and the other 20,000 were slaves collected from northern Syria and Antioch.
The slaves had a variety of weapons, basically no armor, and none of their clothes were complete.
The 10,000 Eastern Roman regular troops had One thousand heavy cavalry, one thousand light cavalry, and the remaining eight thousand are all infantry, of which five thousand are light infantry, and the remaining three thousand are heavy infantry."
Zhao Ziliang thought for a moment and then ordered: "Continue to monitor them, and if there are any movements, report them at any time."
"Follow the decree" Since there was going to be a battle soon, Zhao Ziliang decided to let the army rest for a few more days to recuperate.
During this period of time, they traveled long distances and had to attack cities from time to time.
They suffered mental and physical losses, and the Eastern Roman army had just returned from two battles.
Berroea, who is a hundred miles away, is coming over.
They also need to rest, so it is necessary to take advantage of the opponent's opportunity to rest for a few days.
On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month in 777 AD, the Western Qin army, under the command of Zhao Ziliang, set out from the small town of Thebes to the small town of Myscenae where the Eastern Roman army was located.
At four o'clock in the morning, the army arrived at the shores of Lake Assad, ten miles southeast of Myscenae, and the Eastern Roman army also came to fight under the leadership of Nicerus.
The armies of the two armies set up their formations by the lake.
On the Western Qin army's side, a tall military platform was dragged to the middle of the military formation by twenty-four mules and horses.
Zhao Ziliang and other generals and officials stood on the military platform and observed the east and west front.
The formation of the Roman army.
Zhao Ziliang used a telescope to observe that Nicerus deployed 10,000 Eastern Roman troops in the center and another 20,000 slaves on the two wings.
One side of the battlefield was Lake Assad, and the other side was a rocky flat with overgrown weeds.
The width of the battlefield is only about two miles.
After the military formation is laid out, there is no extra gap at all.
Nicerus obviously also noticed the terrain, so he placed the heavy cavalry and heavy infantry in front of the center army.
A thousand heavy cavalry were at the forefront, followed by heavy infantry, followed by light infantry, and finally light infantry. cavalry.
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If Zhao Ziliang had not been standing on a high platform nearly ten feet high, he would not have been able to see the heavy infantry behind the opponent's heavy cavalry.
Nicerus's plan was obviously to use the heavy cavalry to attack first and disperse the Western Qin army.
In the Chinese army's formation, the heavy infantry immediately followed and crushed them, the light infantry reinforced and took advantage of the situation behind, and finally the light cavalry chased and killed the defeated troops.
Zhao Zi smiled in his conscience.
Nicerus had a good plan, but he would not let the Western Qin army stand and let the other side rush to kill him.
Wei Gao stood aside and could obviously see the opponent's heavy cavalry, and said: "Your Majesty, the enemy has placed slaves on the wings and regular troops in the center, and the front of the center is heavy cavalry.
We are afraid that we will also have to use heavy cavalry.
Only if the cavalry hedges will you not suffer a loss."
Zhao Ziliang thought for a while and asked Chen Qing: "How many siege vehicles do we have?"
Chen Qing said: "About sixteen vehicles."
Zhao Ziliang pointed to the open ground in front and said: "Look, the terrain here is flat, the ground is hard, and the width on both sides is limited.
It is the best place to use siege vehicles to charge and attack.
Pass the order and let the siege convoys prepare for the attack.
They moved to the front of the Chinese army Line up, cover it with green turf, branches and leaves, and deploy three thousand light infantry on the left, right and rear of the gap between the siege vehicles.
Once the fighting starts, the light infantry behind will push the siege vehicles forward, and the two light infantry on the left and right will push the siege vehicles forward.
The side soldiers must protect the siege vehicles to prevent them from being destroyed by the enemy."
Chen Qing agreed: "I will obey the order."
The order was quickly passed on, and the soldiers quickly moved forward on siege vehicles.
When the soldiers in front heard the shouts, they all made way for the siege vehicles to pass.
This thing was originally used to siege the city, and it could also be transported.
Soldiers can also penetrate city walls and gates, and can generally be used on frontal battlefields.
It is not used on the battlefield, but in this special terrain, it can play a significant role.
It can run over like a tank.
Due to the width of the battlefield, the enemy has limited space to avoid it.
If you can't think of a way to restrain it, you can only He was crushed to death by it.
Zhao Ziliang observed for a while and then ordered: "Send the order and move the heavy cavalry to the right wing."
Soon, Zhao Ziliang's deployment was completed.
Due to the width of the battlefield, Zhao Ziliang could only lengthen the depth of the military formation.
The width of the military formation was almost the same as that of the Eastern Roman Army on the opposite side.
This was determined by the terrain.
The rocky mountain on the left was simply not accessible.
I can't climb up, and I can't even go up.
In order to launch a dive attack, both sides sent people to explore in advance.
Nicerus did not care about the mountain at all, but after Zhao Ziliang looked at the terrain, he found that the terrain of the mountain could affect the battle situation, so he sent a large number of bows and arrows.
It took a lot of effort to climb the mountain.
"Your Majesty, all our troops have been deployed."
Zhao Ziliang looked at the sun in the sky.
It was going to be noon soon.
He immediately ordered: "It's getting late.
Let's send the order to beat the drum.
The front army will advance and the middle army will follow up."
Chen Qing immediately issued an order to the herald: "Your Majesty has an order, the front army advances, the middle army follows up, and the drums are beaten to attack."
"Long" "Long" "Long" After the first drum sounded, the generals of the front and middle armies who saw the flag bearer immediately ordered to advance.
The infantry at the front, whether on the left or right wings or in the middle, all marched forward slowly and in neat steps.
The former army is all members of the Plateau Legion and the Slave Legion, not the servant army, Zhao Ziliang I believe that in a field battle of this level, the first battle must not be led by a servant army that is not strong enough to fight.
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Since the first battle requires brave and fearless people, a standing army must be used.
If even the standing army cannot withstand it, no matter how many more troops are sent, The army of servants is also useless, which will make the army collapse faster.
On the side of the Eastern Roman army, a general said to Nicerus: "My Lord Governor, if the Western Qin army moves, should we also order an attack?"
Nicerus noticed that there were many things covered with branches at the front of the center of the Western Qin army.
These things moved forward with the army and could keep up with the pace of the infantry even though they were not fast.
This made him very puzzled.
Asked: "What are those things covered with branches opposite?"
The surrounding Eastern Roman generals and officials couldn't see clearly and shook their heads.
Nicerus frowned.
He was unsure.
He didn't know what Zhao Ziliang was doing, but if he didn't order an attack at this time, he would lose the opportunity.
Without any further hesitation, he ordered: "The opponent is three from the left, center and right.
The road is advancing together, and they are all elite infantry.
Our left and right wings They are all slaves.
Even if they are not opponents, if they want to win, they still have to break through in the middle.
Send the order and order the heavy cavalry in the middle to charge.
The heavy infantry will then advance.
The front five thousand people on the left and right wings will attack, and the remaining five will attack each other.
Thousands of people serve as a reserve team ready for reinforcements."
The army of the Eastern Roman Empire also moved quickly.
Compared with the overall consistent advance of the Western Qin army, the army of the Eastern Roman Empire was much more violent.
Not only did the heavy cavalry in the middle began to accelerate, but they also emitted an extremely strong momentum, and the rumble of horse hoofs vibrated.
Touching the ground, even the slaves on the left and right wings were carrying all kinds of weapons and spreading their legs to attack the Western Qin army's formation in a mess.
The heavy cavalry was fast, and although the slaves on both wings were also rushing forward, after all, they only had two legs and could not outrun the heavy cavalry with war horses.
The heavy cavalry square quickly protruded forward a large distance, and at this time the Western Qin Army The soldiers in the middle collectively slowed down and stepped up.
As a result, those big things covered with turf and branches protruded forward.
And their speed began to increase.
There were more than a dozen soldiers sitting inside these siege vehicles.
They stepped on the pedals with their feet, and the pedals drove the chains to drive the wheels to push the siege vehicles forward.
Even if there was no one pushing behind them, these siege vehicles would move on the flat ground.
They can also run very fast on the ground, and they can run even faster with someone pushing them from behind.
"Fire the crossbow":