Mount and Blade Central Asia

Author's Note: At this point, the countries with the most advanced cannon-casting technology were probably Germany and France. However, Europe would soon enter an era of giant cannons that would last for nearly a hundred years. Many of the most famous cannons were basically cast specifically for attacking specific cities, and moving them was like moving mountains. Take the Urban Cannon, for example, cast by Hungarians when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453. It weighed seventeen tons, was over five meters long, and had a caliber of 76.2 centimeters. It required sixty oxen and two hundred slaves to transport...

Today's update is a little late, no matter what time it is, there will definitely be

An elderly person passed away in my childhood friend's family, so I have to go help. I don't know when I will be back, but I will definitely update no matter what time I come back.

Chapter 130: Siege of the Castle

That night, the Genoese fired only one shot and then went back to sleep. Seeing that there was nothing exciting to watch, the Mughals also went back to sleep, leaving only the soldiers on duty to curse in the cold night wind.

Those daring Mughals even dared to ride their horses to a distance of less than 80 meters from the Ziaret Fort, draw their bows and shoot arrows, and projectile them into the castle, harassing the Persians who were already unable to sleep well.

For the Persians, it was a sleepless night.

The cannon seemed to be hanging in everyone's heart. The defenders in the castle were in a panic. The general in charge of Ziaret Castle was named Nawel Ettinger. At this time last year, he was still patrolling the city of Mardin every day. He was just a small soldier, but now he has become a general in charge of 500 soldiers.

This gap in status made Neville indulge in his imaginary authority for a long time. Although the soldiers under him were not very satisfied with this airborne commander, because Neville was just an ordinary soldier before, other "generals" would not take him with them when they were corrupt, so Neville became the more honest general.

The most obvious example is that three months after he took office, he often patrolled the streets with his men wearing helmet and armor, which even alarmed the Dusite Wanhu, causing Dusite to praise Nawell as a responsible officer.

The reason why he suddenly became a "general" was because he accidentally picked up a gold oil lamp while on patrol. He gave the oil lamp to General Ilda as a gift, and sure enough, he was promoted soon.

If you are willing to pay me now, I can be yours now." The translator's attitude was simple and clear: he only worked for money and didn't care who his employer was.

Li Rufeng threw another silver bean to Antonini: "If you have a chance, ask Edgar for me. This is your reward."

"Just take a look!"

...

Inside the Ziaret Fort, Naville, like other soldiers, felt the vibrations from below with low morale.

After being hit by only two artillery shells, a corner of the south wall collapsed, and an unlucky soldier was thrown directly out of the wall. The wall was four or five meters high, but a head falling from it was enough to kill someone.

The death of a soldier is not scary; what is scary is the state of not fighting back when being beaten.

The only weapons Neville had that could hit the cannon were the crossbows on the city wall and the five catapults behind the wall. In theory, they had the power to strike back, but in reality...

"It's daytime now! Can you see the position of the cannons?" Neville looked at the reverse slope four hundred meters away with red eyes, grabbed the officer in charge of the catapult and asked in a hoarse voice.

"I see it now, but they will definitely move to another place. I can only try my best!" The officer's face was not looking good either. He also did not sleep well.

Although the small slope was not high, it was just enough to block the sight of the soldiers on the city wall. The gunners who were firing did not need much cover. It only took them a few minutes from aiming to firing, which was not enough time for the catapult to adjust its angle and direction.

Moreover, parabolic attack and straight line attack are two completely different concepts in terms of accuracy...

The officer was nervously calculating various parameters. He only had five catapults. In order to ensure the hit rate, he had to let all the catapults fire at the coordinate that he didn't know whether it was meaningful or not. Now he could only try his best.

"Everyone! Fire in order, ready!" The officer took a last look at the position where the other party had fired before, turned around and waved the flag to order the catapult team to open fire.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Five times in a row! Stone bullets weighing hundreds of pounds were thrown high into the air and smashed into the spot where the previous shots had been fired.

However, there was already nothing there. The artillery team, after firing, was not as lazy as they were last night. They dragged the cannon to a position eighty meters to the left of its previous position, then slipped into the trench and started fishing.

Tupo, since those Persians have no fighting spirit, Qinggelinayan doesn't mind sending them to where they should go as soon as possible.

boom!

The Genoese artillery showed its power again. This time, the old city walls could not withstand the beating of the new-age weapons. The devastated area finally collapsed from the inside out, and a V-shaped gap appeared on the originally neat city wall!

The city wall, which was originally more than four meters high, suddenly became less than half its height at the gap. Several Persian soldiers who were unfortunately affected were pulled up from the gap by their equally panicked companions, but one of them may have been hit on the head and fell in the gap motionless.

opportunity!

Li Rufeng clenched his fists, but if even he could see the opportunity, how could the battle-hardened Mongols not see it!

Without waiting for Qinggelinayan's order, the injured Dangertai rushed forward first. He did not bring the armed herdsmen who were recruited later, but only brought the veterans who had always been with him, all of whom were professional soldiers of the old Hundred Man Team.

Their swords were sharp, their armors were strong, their horses were swift, their arrows were accurate. They were prepared for a fight to the death both physically and mentally. They did not need excessive mobilization or any extra rewards. The moment their centurion rushed out, they naturally followed.

The cavalry quickly crossed the trenches dug by the Genoese, and rushed through the engineers' line of defense in a breath. Amid the exclamations of the Persians, they were already within a hundred meters of the Ziaret Fort.

Dangertai took his hands off the reins, took out his bow and arrow, calculated the distance, and shot an arrow when he was about fifty meters away from the city wall. With the help of the horse's speed, the arrow flew over this distance and shot straight into the throat of a Persian soldier. The soldier fell off the city wall holding the arrow handle.

Then Dangertai, as agile as a monkey, freed himself from the stirrups, half-crouched on the horse's back, and swayed up and down with the ups and downs of the horse's back. He made the same move with several soldiers behind him who were proud of their amazing riding skills, while his other companions kept using bows and arrows to protect their centurion.

At the end of the team, a few soldiers who were rare in their ability to think clearly were working in pairs, carrying the siege ladders that the engineers had built in advance. However, Dangertai obviously could not wait for those things. Because they moved too quickly, the Persians did not even react. The few brave ones who tried to fight back with bows and arrows were dealt with by other Mughal cavalry who were good at riding and shooting. So Dangertai approached the base of the wall of Ziyaret Fort.

His mount had already started to turn when it was still four or five meters away from the gap in the city wall. Dangertai seized the opportunity at that moment, converted inertia into kinetic energy, and pounced directly. He stood on the gap in the city wall, took a step forward, drew his sword, and killed the nearest Persian, shouting loudly with the sword in hand!

Behind him, several brave soldiers imitated him. Some succeeded, some failed, and the unlucky ones were killed by crashing into the city wall with their horses. But in the few seconds when the Persians were shocked by Dangertai, at least five more Mughals successfully threw themselves onto the city wall!

The Persians collapsed without a doubt; the city walls were their only psychological defense...

Li Rufeng was stunned, Habashibuhua's eyes were filled with nostalgia, Huluchirjia was so excited that he wished he could take his place, and the other Mongols were cheering, they admired such heroes.

The reactions of the mercenaries of the Golden Arrow Mercenary Group were similar to Li Rufeng's. They had fought wars all their lives and probably had never seen a scene of cavalry attacking a city like today.

The Kurds had mixed feelings. To be fair, they were also a nomadic people, known for their bravery, but it seemed that they were always one step behind the Mongols in terms of toughness. For example, in the choice just now, the Mongols chose to meet the enemy head-on, but the Kurds did not.

Dangertai stood on the city wall, holding the scimitar high in his hand. The Persians in the city surrendered at the sight of him, but he didn't care at all. He just turned his head stubbornly and looked in the direction of his brother in the distance, like a child who ran away from home because of a quarrel and ended up becoming a decent person by accident. There was a hint of provocation in his eyes with pride.

Seeing this, Qinggelinayan smiled and drew his scimitar: "Warriors! Enter the city!"

"Enter the city! Enter the city!" Thousands of soldiers soon shouted together, and the sound was deafening.

...

Navel Ettinger didn't even dare to turn his head when he heard the roars outside the city. He ran away with a few of his most trusted confidants.

There are also horses in Ziaret Fort. Although compared with the Mughals, the Persians are considered to be those who cannot ride horses, they are not without long legs and naturally know that riding a horse is faster than walking. Naweier is one of the Persians who has relatively good riding skills.

If you insist, his riding skills might be a little better than that of a shaman who is very prestigious among the Mughals, so Naweier planned to take advantage of the chaos to escape and escape back to the city of Mardin.

Although he failed to defend the Ziaret Fort, he at least brought back some valuable information. Those despicable Mughals hired mercenaries and had cannons that could destroy the city walls!

Yes, that's right, he's not running away, he has important information to report back to Master Dost...

Neville found his horse, which was the regular issue to officers, and he thanked God that it had not been stolen yet...

Neville rode his own horse, but his confidant could not find his own horse. He was rushed to the side by the fleeing soldiers and was only a few meters away from Neville. But Neville was very clear.

Chu, he had no chance, so without looking back he whipped the crowd away and rode away like the wind.

Narville left the city, but luckily the gates were being opened by the fleeing soldiers...

Neville laughed in his heart at the fools who tried to outrun the Mughals and galloped away...

Naville saw a group of Mughal cavalry rushing towards him, and was immediately shocked... The next second, the world was spinning, and Naville saw a headless corpse falling from the galloping horse, and then he realized that it was his own body.

Neville was very unwilling. He just... died like that?

But this is the reality, only a few people who are in contact with extraordinary powers can cheat death.

Originally, Nawer didn't have to die so quickly, but he was the only one on horseback among the fleeing soldiers, and he was wearing an officer's armor. The Mughal cavalry who had surrounded the Ziaret Fort long ago were excited to see such a high-ranking officer running out. That was real military achievement!

Ziaret Fort was breached just like that. Unlike Urfa Fort which surrendered early, Ziaret Fort was the front tooth of Mardin City. It was not abandoned by Dost as part of the plan to exchange space for time. It was heavily guarded and had all the necessary food, fodder and weapons.

Therefore, its fall greatly boosted the morale of the Mughals, and the weak performance of the Persians left a deep impression on the Mughals.

Even Li Rufeng felt that perhaps Qinggelinayan's initial judgment was correct. They had enough time to first capture the city of Martin, let Duoshite get the punishment he deserved, and then return to the court with the wealth that Duoshite had accumulated over the years.

But war is never smooth sailing...

The author says:

Author's Note: I've been a bit busy these past couple of days, but today I finally had some quiet time and was able to finish writing early. Most of our generation are only children, and the older we get, the harder it gets. It's just too hard. To get a caregiver, you either have to do it yourself or hire someone. In our third- and fourth-tier cities, a serious caregiver costs 350 yuan a day, and you have to provide food. When someone passes away, you have to have a funeral, and the older generation's brothers and sisters all get together and that's it. This generation, we have to rely on ourselves without any friends. We're so exhausted that we don't have time to grieve. It's just too hard...

Chapter 129 The Last Kindness

"Lord Dost, Ziaret Fort was lost. The defenders only held out for one day. The Genoese hired by Qinggeli blew down the city walls with cannons, and the Mongols simply charged up the walls on horseback." The scout sent by Dost to observe the battle situation was now reporting in a low voice in Dost's banquet hall.

After Dost took charge of this land, the Sultan Isa Theological Seminary had been trying to seek its legal status in the Khanate. They repeatedly sent preaching groups to Samarkand to lobby the Sultan, and each time they were warmly received by Timur. However, from the results, Dost never received any orders related to the Sultan Isa Theological Seminary.

The old Sultan allowed it to exist, but it was impossible to get official recognition or even official funding. This was the old Sultan's attitude. Doste grasped the old Sultan's intention very accurately and ignored the existence of the Sultan Isa Seminary. He neither looked for trouble nor dealt with it.

He almost witnessed how the Sultan Isa Madrasa went from its heyday to decline, from a size of three to five hundred people to its current size of less than thirty people.

But in name and in affiliation, Dost still respects every scholar in Sultan Isa Theological Seminary, especially the scholar Feret who is currently serving as the dean.

"Lord Dost, you should know the purpose of my visit." Feret was wearing a dark green robe, looking majestic and exquisite.

Master Feret came from a wealthy family, and especially in recent years, he had almost single-handedly maintained the operation of the entire seminary. Therefore, he spoke with full confidence. He pointed out in a tone of condemnation: "Those evil pagans occupying the Druzafran Monastery must be eradicated! They are performing evil blood sacrifice rituals!"

"Master Feret, we're about to go to war. The even more vicious pagan Mongols are coming from the south. If we fail, I'm afraid no one will be able to separate our blood from the pagan blood." Dost said, pointing in the direction of the distant Mongol troops. "They'll set up cannons from that direction and bombard our city walls with shells until they collapse completely. Then the Mongol cavalry will rush in and plunder."

"What happened in Baghdad will happen again. The fire that ignited the Palace of Wisdom will also burn in the Sultan Isa Madrasa," Dost said. "And those cultists, they may be able to help us defend this city."

"You are selling your soul!" Feret looked at Dost coldly. As a nominal religious leader, his edges had been smoothed out over the years.

Timur's attitude towards religion undoubtedly affected the attitude of the entire Khanate towards religion. In addition, Sultan Isa Theological Seminary now has no major religious support and lacks the right to speak, so Feret can concentrate more on his attainments in scripture interpretation.

By studying the cautionary scriptures and teachings of the past, Feret dug out clues about the belief in the Four Wind Gods. He even deduced that the group of wizards who occupied the Druzafran Monastery were believers in the Azure Wind.

But what really made Feret silent was that these wizards came from the Black Sheep Dynasty, a Turkmen country that nominally flew the banner of Islam. Feret hoped to learn more about the spread of the belief in the Four Wind God among the Black Sheep Turkmen through Dost, so as to judge whether the worst situation had occurred - that is, the entire Black Sheep Kingdom, and even the Turkmen people as a whole, had turned to the Four Wind God.

"Master, someone must sell one of their life and soul first to achieve victory." Dost admitted his guilt. "Take your students and leave, Master Feret. This place is no longer suitable for you. This is my last act of kindness."

The author says:

When the Si people went to war, they would prepare food on a monthly basis.

So he mumbled for a long time, and asked Antonini to translate it. What he asked was: "He wants to know how much food the Mongolian Khan has now, and how many days it will be enough for everyone to eat?"

"It's been two weeks now," Qinggelinayan answered directly without hiding anything. "We left more food behind, and it will take a few days to catch up."

Renzo Piano finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But what Qinggelinayan didn't say was that most of the food he mentioned would probably just reach Urfa Castle. The herders would need to feed the fattened sheep there for another four or five days before continuing on their journey. Otherwise, most of the sheep would starve to death on the road, and the remaining food would not be enough even if it was delivered.

Even the Mughals could not survive on mutton and dairy products alone; they needed grains and carbohydrates.

"Okay! Next are the prisoners. We have nearly three hundred prisoners to deal with. Does anyone want Persian slaves? You can see that they are all top-notch young slaves! They can do anything except fighting!" Qinggelinayan's words made everyone laugh again.

"Let me make it clear first, if you want the slaves, you have to send someone to watch over them. Don't let them run away or rebel. If anyone can't clean up his mess, I will turn him into a slave too!" Qinggelinayan glanced around majestically, and everyone agreed with what he said.

But no one asked for slaves. The war wasn't over yet, so why would they want slaves? Furthermore, these people looked down on these Persian slaves. In their eyes, the Persians were incompetent...

Qinggelinayan looked at Renzo Piano, but the shrewd Genoese had no interest in such a profitless deal.

If it was a slave from the Caucasus or an Armenian slave, he might consider it, because the former could be sold to the Mamluks for a good price, and the latter could be sold to the Ottomans, but forget about the Persians...

A few years ago, when the invincible Sultan Timur attacked the Delhi Sultanate, he managed to lower the price of ordinary slaves.

Seeing this, Qinggelina looked at Li Rufeng again. In his opinion, only this unique shaman had population needs.

"Then give it to me, but it can't be counted as spoils of war. You have to give me some extra food to ensure that these prisoners will not starve to death." Li Rufeng hesitated for a moment, but still accepted these "prisoners of war". He didn't like waste and really didn't want to see these strong slaves being slaughtered meaninglessly by the Mongols.

"Okay, it's not considered spoils of war. I'll give you food, but you have to have someone keep an eye on them." Qinggelinayan solved a problem.

The stage.

The time it begins is very clear: in 476 AD, when the Western Roman Empire fell, while the time it ends is controversial. Some people believe that it should end with the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453. There is a kind of symmetrical beauty in literature and history. After all, the influence of the Roman Empire on this land was too profound.

Some people believe that the end of the Middle Ages should be divided by the bourgeois revolution in Britain in 1640, or the beginning of the Age of Discovery. More people tend to believe that the end of the Middle Ages was a dynamic and progressive process, entangled with the beginning of the Renaissance and occurring simultaneously.

But no matter what, this represents that European civilization has begun a new transformation in this era, with higher productivity, more ambitious adventures and attempts taking place.

The Genoese of the Golden Arrow Mercenary Corps are the best example. In the latest combat plan, Qinggelinayan handed over the crucial Golden Arrow Mercenary Corps to Li Rufeng for protection. His thousand-man team was to protect the safety of the artillery on the battlefield and wait for the subsequent infantry to assemble.

Qinggelinayan led his men to clear out the villages near the city of Mardin, to ensure that no cavalry from the Riverlands or Black Sheep people hiding in the dark would suddenly appear in the final battle.

The good news was that Qinggelinayan was undoubtedly an experienced general who knew how to fight a siege. The bad news was that the person in charge of building the siege camp was Dangertai, a reckless young man, but also a ruthless Mongol warrior.

The first thing he did after receiving the appointment was to ask all Armenian lumberjacks to double their workload and send more wood to the front.

Mardin is a mountain city, and attacking it is bound to cause the besiegers to shed rivers of blood, and Dangertai has obviously chosen the first people to bleed.

At this time, Li Rufeng was holding a piece of metal armor that looked a bit like a breastplate in his hand. This was the armor of a crossbowman in the Golden Arrow Mercenary Group. According to Antonini's translation, he bought this with his own money in the Genoa market, which cost almost his entire year's salary.

Of course, the price was obviously a bit inflated, as the shrewd Genoese was talking endlessly about the sturdiness of the armor.

"He said this thing was forged using some kind of hydraulic facility with the help of the power of flowing water. The mass is evenly distributed, it is lighter and stronger, and it has saved him several times on the battlefield. Apart from being expensive, it has no other disadvantages." Antonini's expression was natural, like a conscientious translator who had no idea about the market conditions in Genoa.

"If I want to buy it, how much does he want to sell it for?" Li Rufeng smiled and asked.

"Twenty florins! Or an equal weight of gold!" With Antonini's translation, the crossbowman excitedly made an offer.

It dominated the entire Mediterranean trade route and established its own ruling effect, forcing a large number of Genoese to lose their jobs and enter the mercenary market.

If, Renzo Piano thought excitedly, there was a one in a million chance that the Governor thought this was a good idea, then I, who took the lead, could at least get the status of a city councilor, right?

By then, the Piano family will be able to return to its former glory!

The author says:

Author's Note: We attended a Children's Day event as a family of three. When we returned home, only the child was still lively...

Chapter 132: Martin City!