Free Web NovelChapter 734: The Battle of Nikomedia (2)
A thunderous roar erupted as the Sultan’s heavy cavalry charged. Hundreds of armoured riders, scimitars gleaming, spurred their steeds forward, hooves pounding the earth like war drums. Scarlet and gold banners snapped overhead, and the Sultan’s fierce war cry rose above the clamour. The Turkish line thundered toward the gate, where three hundred Roman infantries braced behind shields and spears. Dust filled the air, steel rang against metal, and in that moment, the fate of Nikomedia hung in the balance.
If, just if, the Turkish calvaries, with their morale upright, equipment sharpened, are to penetrate through the weak defences of the Roman infantries, and stampede through the crowd of refugees, the battle for the city would be immediately deemed as lost, with nothing else that anyone - even if the emperor himself are to descend into the premise, can do anything to help.
"I want every man that you can assemble on the walls now! Stop the enemies at all costs!" Helios roared with his eyes red. "The gate is beyond saving! Evacuate the civilians, close that gate as soon as possible!" freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Which is a reason why general Helios seems to be suddenly at the top of his nerves, as he ordered all the reinforcements that he can possibly get to be focused on that area, especially after he saw that the Sultan of the Turks charging alongside with his men, which made his attitude very clear, that is, this decisive charge shall determine the outcome of this war.
Behind the Sultan’s cavalry force, the entire enemy formation begun moving, as they are determined to take the city through this mistake by the Romans.
It is already a dangerous proximity between the Sultan’s troops and the gate, as this kind of distance would just take minutes before the horses gallop to the spot in a full acceleration, and considering the weight of the knights, that immense power that it can possibly carry when charging, can knock a way out of this crowd before them.
Just then, the Sultan noticed something above him, on the walls moving, that are two giant black metal rods as it seems from a distance - of course, the Sultan is definitely no alien to this weaponry, as he bit his teeth hard, and continued charging, neglecting this small amount of infantries before him with his blade raised, hoping to get into the gate in the closest possible time.
However, just as he seems, a sudden rain of arrow and bolts came, as the Sultan had to concentrate, and decelerated to avoid the hit with his neatly trained men, while they lowered their heads with shields, hoping to rush through the rain. The Sultan is lucky, for his silken linens, chain mails and mirror armour with helmet did a perfectly fine job in protecting their masters, although that the rest of his men are never that lucky as one after another rider are pinned down, with the charge movement of the cavalries coming to a halt, but immediately continuing; However the second wave of the Roman’s defensive mechanisms came into action, as the heavy artilleries that the Romans mounted on the walls fired, with a huge thrust the canon shells fired from dangerous proximities smashed themselves into the cavalries, completely ignoring whatever armours that these cavalries have on their bodies, as they simply rolled over the cavalries, killing almost fifty of the Sultan’s new Janissary in the process.
But it still did not stop the charge.
More than three quarters of the refugees have fled into the gates in this deadly five minutes time, but the three hundred plus infantries are still outside the gate formed in a circle formation, and it just seemed to the Sultan that all these sacrifices and loses are now worth it, as he can already smell the scent of victory coming to him, as he could squash through the simple line of defence, massacre the whole lot of refugees in front, and then control this gate, and with this gate, control the entire of Nikomedia, and after he has controlled the city of Nikomedia, he will control the whole of Anatolia looking at the city of Constantinople, the golden apple granted to them, and maybe he will achieve an achievement that no other Turkish rulers have never had before.
However, now, instead of smelling the scent of victory, he suddenly feels like smelling something else.
The scent of gunpowder.
As the Rumelian defenders behind the shields, with their terrified looks, seems to have ignited somethings in their hands, as it looks like a black rock in their hands, leading to a sizzling sound with a flare at its tails, and just as the Sultan is confused on what those things are, the Rumelians flung them out into the air towards him. He watched, with his eyes, as these black rocks flew in curve, landing right before the hooves of his mount, just in around twenty meters away between him and these Rumelians.
Just then, suddenly, he heard something, that his something blowing off beneath his mount, as with a force he suddenly feels like his horse is being thrown forward with a painful neigh, bringing him alongside with him, as just around ten meters before the Rumelians, in just a single second, he found himself changing from looking at the enemies first, then changed to looking at the sky, then to the ground, as immediately he blacked out, and lost consciousness.
"I am going to become like Sultan Mehmed of the Osmans now" - This is the very thought of the Sultan, as he suddenly remembered the young Sultan who died after attempting on Constantinople years ago, who shared the same name with him.
The entire Turkish army, which was still on high spirits and upright morales just seconds ago, cheering as their Sultan led the charge, showed signs of bravery, seemingly being able to take down this majestic city soon, suddenly covered in a dense smog, with what it seems to be multiple cavalries being thrown into the ground, turned into a dead silence, as the Sultan’s two brothers eyed the scenes with shock, unsure of what has just happened.
The new Janissaries, who have sworn their lives in the protection of their Sultan, frantically came up and dragged their Sultan backwards, while the Romans who are just steps away, thought as well that this man lying before them are definitely someone who is up of high rank, but the commander of the contingent, who have no idea who this man lying just before his eyes are, completely did not know that he could just single handedly end this battle in just one thought, for his level of anxiety is already filled to the brim, with the only thought in his head is to fully retreat the troops into the garrison, as he ordered a slow retreat.
The chaos slowly died down, as the Turks hastily ended their attack for the day, as they brought back their Sultan into safety.
The Sultan, fortunately speaking, is not harmed by this explosion, for it is nothing as compared to the bombs flung from those trebuchets in terms of power, as it did not even blow through the first piece of armour. However, it proved to be effective against the illy defended horse bellies and limbs, as the shrapnel easily penetrated through them and flung the Sultan into the ground.
"I am fine, I am fine!" The Sultan panted heavily as he gulped down a whole bottle of water, as he feels his heart pounding, his entire body aching, as if his intestines are going to be vomited out from that horrendous impact of him being thrown into the ground with a full set of armour.
"I want all of you!" The Sultan pointed towards his sons, and nephews, and all those other members of the court standing to his left. "Look! Look at what I have went through and question yourselves! It is just merely a decade, and now the Romans have come up with a new form of weapon that are deadly to our basic survival, and what if we give them another decade, and they come up with something else that could have killed me today? Huh?"
The people that the Sultan pointed bowed down their heads.
It is clear that these people, from the Sultan’s court, are those who were reluctant in this war for various reasons, some of them who have grown rich through the years of trade with the Romans, some of them worried about the country’s future, some of the younger ones believed that it is morally not right to attack without declaration of war on the passing of the emperor, some of them simply feared for war itself... all kind of reasons, but nevertheless, they still formed a powerful political faction in the Turkish court, and which is why the Sultan had to use his years of prestige, power and dominance in the court to pin them down and force them to come with him in the army, worried that they might create some nuisance while he is away from the rest of the country.
It is clear for the Sultan.... He has indeed used everything he has for this war, if nothing goes well...
That can be the very end of the Zaganos dynasty.
