Текст книги "Eric (СИ)"

Автор книги: Марина Шпак

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

Acted carefully, so as not to unintentionally stir up the hive. Therefore, the first operations took place at night and on distant communications. The script was simple. A small caravan is selected with protection to a dozen armed children. They are waiting in an ambush and attacking in the afternoon. The guard is stacked with a volley of crossbows. After that, take the caravan under control. Take away from the main transport routes – away from unnecessary eyes. Further all people are cut, except for drivers, who are used to transport the deceased escort to the place of evacuation of the caravan. After that, they dig a large pit in the sand, put the bodies there, undressed, and, quite by accident, die without getting out of the hole. From the salvo of crossbows. As a result, there are no witnesses. Further at a pace, the property of the dead people is linked to the load of what is already in the packs, and the caravan is advanced by night transition to the nearest base base. There is an initial sorting of goods, inventory, preliminary assessment and transfer with a group of Templars to the main base. Templars go partly in their colors, imitating the guard, partly in ordinary clothes, imitating merchants. Occasionally attack caravans with slaves. Very, very successful. It is so fortunate that in the cavalry detachment of Eric the strength to the beginning of April grew to sixteen people, due to captured warriors from the Slavic lands, who, without hesitation, joined him, taking the oath of allegiance. In addition, on the main base, the number of servants increased from two to two and a half dozen. Among them there were skilled craftsmen in various specialties, although they were just sensible and quick-witted guys who, in gratitude for saving, vowed to serve him, were enough. Alas, they were slaves and servants, and there was no time to re-educate them, so they had to start forming a branch of arrows – crossbowmen, it would hardly be superfluous. By August, the arrogance in operations had reached such a level that a group of twenty-five mounted warriors acted almost openly and sometimes engaged in gutting the caravan in front of another, who was very energetically trying to pass by and not look in their direction. In general, by autumn, the detachments, isolated from the garrison of Edessa, hunted after the guys, like dangerous robbers. Of course, every body movement of such detachments became known much earlier than it happened, and therefore all operational activities were either of a zero character, or negative, if such a detachment was ambushed. The situation was heated, and therefore from time to time had to use their own squad of armed servants to destroy excessively dangerous trips. By the autumn, this detachment already numbered 45 people and was fully equipped with horses, aketons, chain armor, helmets, crossbows, shields – sabers and sabers. The general collective volley of seven dozen "trunks" did not leave indifferent any detachment of Muslims. Having lost, thus, two crossings on fifty horsemen, atabe Edessa has become silent. The departures ceased, that is, in general. The total loss account for armed horsemen of different levels of social position and prosperity has already passed for seven hundred, not counting the impressive loss in personnel among the eastern traders, who, along with the drivers, have already killed several thousand. The traffic of trade messages in October has seriously decreased, and caravans have begun to stray into groups of up to two or three hundred people, plus up to fifty hired guards. Judging by the intelligence information – something serious was being prepared. And this alarmed, although there was no sense to experience: the overall influx of Eric's personnel was quite satisfactory, the personal supplies of weapons and equipment, too, the work of the allies, are beyond praise. And on account of the Templar Bank he already had about two thousand marks of the Vienna standard in silver. If his luck continues to be so, then next spring he will be able to calmly depart for Constantinople and further along the planned route, having all the necessary funds for the planned enterprise. As for the Templars, their income was one thousand three hundred marks and two hundred people who were freed from slavery and joined the order. In general, the Antioch command was by the autumn of 1200 the strongest and most capable of all the forces in the Holy Land among the Knights Templar. Raoul rejoiced like a little child – he did not expect such success.

In the middle of October, something completely unforeseen happened-the Iconian Sultanate, after analyzing the information about the serious decline in Edessa and the weakness of the successor Salah ad-Din, decided to take the city to himself, and therefore put forward troops to solve this problem. In addition, it was reported that the Emir of the Mosul Emirate was going to help Atabek, as his financial interests would be greatly affected if the latter fell. Fortunately, information about such movements has arrived on time, and the squad of Eric did not have to suddenly encounter solid enemy formations. Now the region had only to conduct active reconnaissance operations and wait. The Sultan led a detachment of about three and a half thousand sabers, which on October 21, 1200 besieged the city of Edessa, which had no more than two hundred fighters, not counting a small, practically incapable militia. The Emir did not manage to enter the city before the siege, and therefore with his detachment of three hundred horsemen settled some distance and waited. The situation was absolutely unpleasant. Give the city and strengthen the already very dangerous sultanate Eric did not want at all, as he remembered perfectly well that it was from him that the Ottoman Empire subsequently grew. Especially on this city he had his own plans, and he was very much annoyed when the plans changed drastically. Hence – it was necessary to remove the siege and continue to bend your line. As you understand – with the strength of 25 soldiers and 45 armed servants, this operation can not be crushed. Templars, it is completely useless, so they will not put forth their forces. Of the available strength was only the ruler of Mosul, who, in general, led the militia, and not the army – in his three hundred was only 24 sipah. So even the baron himself could break it, not to mention the sultan. But the emir was very useful, since, without real forces for a head-on collision, he possessed enough people to disrupt the supply of the besieging army. Therefore, taking away from the base of the crossbowmen, our hero advanced "at full parade" to meet with a potential ally. A detachment of seven dozen is not particularly large against the background of the Sultan's army, and the weight of the word from his leader will be insignificant. To avoid such an effect, one had to throw dust in the eyes. To do this, you need not only look appropriate, but also move effectively. Preparation took a couple of days, but when on October 23 to the camp of the emir his column left – the soldiers of the ruler Mosul were amazed, and he was impressed. Eric was riding ahead in a polished black armor. Behind him went an improvised escort from Rudolph with Antonio. Next came the trio from Morrigan, who was carrying out the role of standard-bearer, and the brothers Valentino and Vincento, who accompanied her on each side. After them, in a column of four, there were five ranks of soldiers, followed in the same order by crossbowmen – all riding and in clean, embroidered cats. The horses of all the fighters were of the same breed – an Arab thoroughbred horse, such as cohaylan. At soldiers of bay suits, at crossbowmen – red, at Morrigan – gray, and Eric sat on a black stallion. We drove light trot and made a very impressive impression. This is not counting the fact that the soldiers were equipped fairly uniformly, which created an additional effect of a certain election. Although the Emir was surprised by the visit, he did not lose his head and immediately switched to pressing matters. Accepting the Baron's proposal for an allied campaign against the Sultan, he proposed to address the emir of Homs-al-Mujahid, who not only had his financial interests in Edessa, but was also its suzerain, and therefore could provide military assistance. By force of Mosul, by common agreement, it was decided to obstruct the supply of the besieging army. So, without delay, the baron, enlisting the letter of the emir, went trotting in the direction of Homs, on the way glancing in Aleppo. In the key role of the Templars in the Middle East, his behavior was not surprising, since they repeatedly participated in joint campaigns with Muslims against certain common enemies. The capital of Syria met Eric calmly. They were already aware of the situation in Edessa and were waiting for the guest, whom the atabek politely accepted, listened and immediately, with him, ordered the collection of the militia of the nobility around the city. After a couple of days, a hundred and fifty sipahs were ready for the exit, they decided not to take the servants, since it was impossible to leave the city completely without protection. The trade companies also contributed their share, which promptly exposed two hundred horsemen. In Aleppo, the corps was reinforced with three dozen Sipahs and fifty servicemen. Commanded by the troops of the Council of the three most experienced commanders, among whom was our baron, because of his exploits among Muslims have already gone to legends. November 2, 1200, ten miles south of Edessa, there was a connection to the emir's corps. Now the forces of the Sultan were opposed to eight hundred sabers, which is about four times less than he had. So nothing disturbed him in the process of preparing for the assault.

It was necessary to do something, because if there was a successful assault, it would be absolutely impossible to repel the city from such an army. For three days an active reconnaissance of the disposition of enemy troops was conducted, as much as the military council. It was necessary to hurry. Since there were too many commanders, they could not come to a common opinion. At lunch on the sixth day, Eric could not stand it.

– Dear, are you, until the end of the centuries will you discuss this simple matter?

"What are you talking about, Baron? "

– Yes, all the same. I have a head all around with all this chatter. After all, we have a simple matter, why complicate it? There is an enemy, we are. The enemy must be prevented from taking the city. This is possible only if it is broken or cut to it supply. It is no use to block the supply, as he will go to the assault tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. There remains only an attack. Why guess?

"But, Baron, he has a considerably larger army. "

So what? If you are shy in the face of your enemy – so tell me. In a few words. Kind allies. Tomorrow, with the first rays of the sun, I will attack the Sultan's camp with my people. Who wants to prove himself as a warrior, and not as a chatterbox – I propose to join me.

With these words, Eric left the tent and went to his troops. They had to be prepared.

He put the children to bed from dinner and picked them up at 1 o'clock in the morning. They were preparing for the most insane fighting, not only in their lives, but in general – in this era. The camp of the Sultan's army was known to the smallest detail, as was the territory adjacent to it. Fortunately, no one was even going to update it with any kind of fence, and therefore it was completely open for an unexpected invasion. For the attack, such a starting point and direction were chosen so that the distance to the camp at the time of their appearance in line of sight was minimal. The task that Eric posed to his fighters was extremely simple and complex at the same time. It was necessary to pass through the camp by hooking the tent of the Sultan, if possible to destroy it and leave from the other end of the camp in order to escape from the battle with greatly superior forces. A kind of improvisation in the spirit of Ushakov's tactical reception, which he turned into a Turkish squadron in the battle of the island of Fidonisi. An hour before dawn, they were ready and waiting for the chosen position. When in the distance, at the horizon, the first rays of the sun began to make their way, Eric led his men into an attack. They walked in a silent expanding wedge, which in its widest place did not exceed six horses. The speed of the move was increasing, so that already before the positions they moved to a gallop and, almost without reducing the tempo, like a red-hot knife enters the oil, burst into the field of tents and the porridge of the rapidly demoralizing enemy soldiers. They went easily, the troops of the Sultan surprisingly did not resist at all, confusing only with cries and senseless fuss under the feet of horses, where they sometimes fell. Literally two dozen steps from the largest tent, which was the target of the attack, our hero saw the Sultan, who jumped to the noise in order to understand what was happening. From the impact of the crossbow bolt in the forehead from such a distance, the lord of Iconium tumbled so that his slippers fell off his feet. The situation in the camp was completely unexpected – instead of trying to organize resistance to the invading squad, valorous fighters moved in a touch of panic. And this had to be used. Therefore, letting the cavalry wedge around the sultan's tent, he ordered a stop and ordered to dismount. His men occupied a circular defense, setting the pavis before him, and began to shoot from the crossbows along the subjects of the deceased ruler running in the growing mess. Shooting was on readiness. Ten minutes passed – at a distance of 60-70 steps around the tent around the tent the land turned into a sort of hell, where two or three layers lay wounded and killed people, drenched in blood, brains and feces. All this porridge was moaning, moving and so terrifying that the panic in the camp reached its limit and the people ran. During these minutes, the core of the army, which an hour ago besieged Edessa, was gone into oblivion. All the best that was in her, died or beat in agony near the sultan's tent. Unfortunately, to pursue the fleeing in order to finish them off, there was no possibility, as the fighters of Eric were at the limit of their capabilities. Therefore, he left the military guard of the strongest guys, in terms of stability of the psyche, and ordered the rest to rest. Poor people – they were not ready for such horrors that suddenly fell on their head – someone laughed nervously, crouched on the ground, someone was crying, someone was praying, someone fell to the ground and without saying a word , looked at one point. When, before your very eyes, the head of a living person flies to pieces from the crossbow bolt caught in it – it's impressive. And when does this happen en masse? If your psyche is not tempered in battle, then it terribly depresses. Therefore, the hardest of all was armed servants, who already did more than their capabilities. After giving them ten minutes to fifteen minutes to rest, our hero went to the tent of the Sultan, to figure out what can be profited there.

The East is an ancient and amazing land. Let's take a quick look, but then, I think, the dear reader does not understand everything in the realities about which he is reading. First, let's turn our attention to the question of power as the most important. On the territory of Syria and the areas adjacent to it, where our hero operates, there were four major political groups that tried to share a delicious pie of this land among themselves. Of course, we are talking about the very end of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth, that is, about 1190-1210. The first was the most vivid and aggressive group of associations, which are often called the Crusader states. At that time there were only three of them: the Kingdom of Jerusalem (its remains, since Jerusalem had already been beaten back by Muslims in 1187), the principality (duchy) of Antioch and the county of Tripoli. They occupied the entire Middle East coast. Very interesting group, which had two traditional diseases, which eventually destroyed it. The first was that they constantly experienced shortages in the troops, and the second consisted in a strong and bright internecine strife that tore this territory. The internal struggle for power and the traditional disunity, characteristic of feudal society, greatly weakened this group. The second group was the land that was formerly called the Byzantine Empire. In 1195, Alex III Angel ascended the throne of Constantinople. One of his first cases was the dissolution of the army as completely unnecessary. Almost immediately, his possessions are beginning to disturb neighbors who are doing everything they want there. First of all, of course, they rob. His power is in such a deplorable state that in 1204 the crusaders come to visit him, who have strayed off the road to Egypt, and therefore very hungry. Not wanting to drink a glass of tea with absolutely lost "concrete boys", he fled the city, which they later came in, trying to find under the benches and in the baskets of the local master. Alas, but the owner was not there, and therefore, seeing so much unimportant property, they very quickly found an application for him. First of all, of course, in the role of cargo for their pockets, so that those in the wind are not very fluttering. The poor Byzantine Empire did not survive such an accident and collapsed into a lot of small states, the key ones being the Latin Empire with its capital in Constantinople and the Nicene Empire with its capital in Nicaea. You understand that the role played by this group in local, regional affairs was, first and foremost, amusing and entertaining. The third group was represented by Sunni Muslims. First of all, these are the Seljuk Turks and various Arabian emirates, such as Mosul or Homs. The fourth group, you guessed it, is the Shiite Muslims, who were represented by the Egyptian emirates and the lands of Palestine. Between the third and fourth group was an interlayer in the form of monophysites, but they were few and lived mainly in the territory of the first political group – the lands of the Crusaders. A key feature of the last two groups was that they were in a state of profound feudal disunity and could with great difficulty act as a common front in some cases. True, in both groups was on the Sultanate, but those were still too weak. By the way, the sultan is an analogue of the word king or king, that is, the sole ruler, and the emir is a nobleman, and very high-ranking. Thus – in the third group there were two young and fragile kingdoms and many relatively independent feudal lands between them, which could, in principle, formally be subordinated to someone. The first kingdom is the Egyptian sultanate, which most recently founded Salah ad-din, that is, Yusuf, the son of Ayyub, the second is the Iconium Sultanate, which existed for a long time.

Let's go further. You understand – these groups were engaged in the most traditional business for the temporary workers – they sawed the local budget. And also, sought to gain control over financial flows and industrial centers in the region, in order to taste better and softer. The peculiarity of the financial well-being of the district was based on three pillars. The first whale is a zone of traditional farming along the floodplain of the river, which created enough food for a large number of people. The second whale is the trade routes that passed through these lands. The third whale is a people, most of whom were poor and dependent on feudal lords. The level of enslavement of the population was, in comparison with Europe, simply fantastic. The third whale allowed the feudal lords to receive more, since almost all the people could work for food. You understand what "mighty" warriors can grow from such a people. That is why there was a very dynamic redistribution of zones of influence. Let's look at what the Middle Eastern army of Muslims represented. As in other traditional feudal societies, the core of the army was the feudal cavalry, in this case it is the sipah. That is, mounted warriors, who in exchange for the service of their suzerain (sultan or emir) received a certain amount of land. Of course, with this method of organization these guys tried to improve in the noble art of murder and robbery, and therefore were quite serious force. Alas, but they had the same traditional callus as a weak spot – there was not much land to have a large number of similar warriors with the current level of technology. So, like the European knights, they were, as a rule, very few. The scale is the same, that is – 300-400 sipahov is a huge force, which must still be looked for. Actually, only they were warriors. The rest of the people with weapons treated different forms of militia, which could neither fight nor shoot arrows but nothing at all. If there were 100 sipahs and 10,000 mounted militiamen, then it came to a hilarious thing – in the first group there were more soldiers than in the second. Literally like in the famous movie about the Spartans. There are various legends about how famously all Muslims fired from the bow. These are simply touching legends, since it is more difficult to think and compare facts than to believe in such nonsense. See for yourself – archery was not a vital necessity because the Middle East is not a traditional hunting zone; most of the population works from morning till night to eat, and is working on physically hard work. When they learn to shoot from a bow and what forces, they are exhausted for a working day to the extreme? Add here is the fact that in that region was spread almost exclusively glued composite bow, which was made by craftsmen and was worth more than the average peasant could afford. Often it cost more than a good horse. So it turned out that only sipahs, and sultans with emirs had opportunities for exercises with onions, and in general with weapons, and almost all the militia that from time to time was going to be armed with the most traditional weapon of the militia of that time – with spears. The funny thing is that even with these spears they, alas, did not really know how to own, in short – random people in the war. Especially it is necessary to say about the armed servants – they were and were armed slightly better than the militiamen. The majority had even sabers! About the fact that they could not fight, and no one taught them this case, it is clear from their name. They served with their masters, in order to serve them in campaigns and deeds. Something like Trufaldino from Bergamo, only with weapons. Armed them in order to be able to call for order and obedience to the bulk of the peasants who did not have weapons. The east is east, but Europe, before the first technological leap in the Renaissance, differed little from it. Is that a climate.

But back to our hero. Eric entered the tent and saw a completely frightened little girl of about 14, who was huddled in a pile of clothes and looked out with huge green eyes full of tears and horror. Did our esteemed sultan prefer little girls? After all, he was already solid. In general, his curiosity was bursting eerily, and so he decided to check. He went to the girl, pulled her out of a heap of rags and piled on the carpet, which was covered with a couch. The girl ceased to squeak and break away. He looked at her. So it is, the poor thing is unconscious. All the better. Strange this case – this girl was virgin, it means – she needed the sultan for something else. Deciding to figure it out later, he straightened her clothes and rolled it into the far corner of the bench. After that, he began to lay out on the vacant place valuable things that he came across in the tent. A small trunk with coins was found, and there was gold besides silver. And a lot. Ten minutes later, he looked at what was going to be assembled – not bad. Not bad. Kucheryavo lived the deceased – did not deny himself anything and carried many valuable things with him. But we will rejoice later, because we need to swallow the piece that they have bitten off more quickly. He approached the girl, turned her on his stomach, tied his hands in elbows with a wide ribbon of silk fabric, not tight, but she could not pull out her hands. Then he tied it with the rest of the tape to a massive chest, which she could hardly have dragged. Then a pair of slaps took her out of a faint and, demonstrating the fetters, sat him down on the pillow so that it did not get stuck. Then he left the tent to his men. He found them in a completely broken state. Apparently, the sight of that bloody porridge that they created with their own hands, and the sounds of those dying of them were taken out of a state of mental equilibrium. Even Rudolph and that one was a little greenish in appearance. Eric had absolutely no choice but to arrange a fraudulent beating for these infamous children of an illegitimate camel. He loudly barked: "Rise! " and kicked his foot into the stomach of the nearest of the crossbowmen lying on the ground, bringing him a life-giving pain from that terrible state into which he fell. Of course, he howled and began to respond to the events. Very quickly joined Rudolph with Morrigan, which was stronger than all these men and very staunchly endured the horrors of the war, which later lay tons of pink snot in paperback. Literally a couple of minutes later his people were on their feet and more or less adequately understood the words.

– What are you doing ! ? Freaks! Forget who you are? I led you into this attack, so you snot bubbles here? Ah ah ah! They killed a man! What you rascals. Do I have to spank you for the priest? Warriors – Damn! . . Kocheryzhkoi you in the ear! You cow dung, not warriors. Why are you sober like women? That's it, "he pointed to the bloody mess," an excellent result! " You should rejoice at your success. And how do you behave? Understand the pairs!

After that, he forced every one of his soldiers to beat the one who stood in front of him, and get a kick from him. And so on a circle. It took fifteen minutes for his fighters to return to this land. The pain heals better than time. It returns both acuity of perception and a sense of reality. After bringing people to their senses, he sent the soldiers to finish off or disperse the servants of the Sultan who stayed in the camp and evaluate the property that they got in the baggage. And crossbowmen, having allocated a dozen in security, sent to finish off the wounded and collect weapons, armor in the same bloody mess.

Those people who were in the armor, shook them out and put them apart from the others. Separately and especially carefully his people searched for crossbow bolts that could be used. The fact is that during the ten minutes of the morning battle they shot most of the ammunition, and therefore each "trunk" had only 10-12 shots. Which is not very happy. With this rather dirty work they spent about an hour. And so, on a tour of the camp abandoned by the enemy, Eric noticed on the horizon a group of people, up to five hundred people. Looking more closely, he recognized in them those servants who had fled from him just an hour ago. Quickly gathering his men and instructing, he prepared for battle. His people took a position behind the shaft of bodies, which they folded, raking up the rubble. In front of them they put all the same pavis that the crossbowmen took with them. The fact that the guests will attack, there was no doubt, because they were more or less evenly built, and ahead of them there were five people in armor. For such an accumulation of goals, it is best to strike volleys. Therefore, the baron divided all his troops into three groups and explained the task. At first, the shot is group number one, after which it retreats back, yielding to group number two. Which comes just like, and the first group, and gives way to the third. And then from a distance of about one hundred and twenty meters began shelling. From such a distance it's difficult to aim, so everyone was beating on the infantry's cluster. Rudolph, taking the initiative, picked up the drum and began to tap the rhythm, for every second hit it was necessary to shoot the next fighter. The first blow spoke of readiness – it was necessary to take a position and take aim. This approach gave its result – the attacking enemy began to fall at the same clock figures, and abundantly. At a distance of about eighty meters, they ran forward. Literally at ten to fifteen steps from the impromptu shaft all the leaders of this attack fell. But Erik's position was still flown by about three incomplete hundred armed men. Everything was decided by the shaft, and exactly as he had expected. These people were too weak in spirit to go into battle, moving through mutilated bodies. The attack was drowned, and people did not know where to go – to climb through the corpses, they could not force themselves, and it was shameful and scared to run. At this point, our hero stops Rudolph and, with a little pause, giving all the soldiers to load weapons, gives a general volley from a distance of ten steps to the enemy. The effect turned out to be colossal – blood sprays and pieces of bodies that flew with scrapes, produced an eerie demoralizing effect. It took some fifteen to twenty seconds, his arrows were ready again, and a general volley burst again. This already Seljuks could not stand it and ran. Neither to pursue fleeing enemies, nor to shoot them in the back did not, as it was necessary to save crossbow bolts. Yes, and run them no more than a fifth of the half-thousand that just a few minutes ago came to visit. To lose time on breaks did not become, therefore all at once have joined in work on the further putting in order on the grasped territory. A dozen crossbowmen are in guard, a dozen are going to finish off the wounded at the pace, that they were left with the repulsed attack, the rest returned to the old job – stripping the dead, searching for valuable things and laying bare corpses in neat rows, so that it would be easier to defend and then bury them. The rest of the morning was quiet, no one else wanted to attack them. Closer to dinner, the troops arrived that joined Eric's army gathered in Aleppo, led by Atabek. They were shocked to the extreme by what happened. Yes, and they came for what – they wanted to redeem either the captive or the corpse of our hero, in order to render him honors. After all, he consciously went to a completely suicidal business for the common good. Instead, they found a fully alive and healthy baron in the Sultan's camp, who actively supervised the establishment of order in the terrible conglomeration of the bodies of those people that until recently were the army of the late ruler of Iconium. True, not the whole army-there were fifteen hundred corpses lying on the ground. The rest needed to do something, and in general – you need to call the other members of the union, because the siege is lifted. The main forces of the troops of Mosul and Damascus were quartered in Edessa, and Eric with the troops from Aleppo remained in the camp. The latter volunteered to help in the important burial of the victims. Many more people were called, but the crowd was not here to anything. Towards evening, the collection of property from the dead and the evisceration of the convoy were completed. According to the preliminary assessment, only armor and weapons were worth five hundred marks, and all the goods worth not less than a thousand two hundred. The guys buried the corpses in full force, and the merchants sent patrols to the roads and couriers in order to resume the supply.