บท 53: Volume 6 – Chapter 8 – The beginning of the clashes…
After that useless meeting, our two armies have been staring at each other for days without doing anything significant.
In fact, if anyone tries to attack the other directly, they will end up being massacred.
Yet the Mongol army could still win by charging headlong because their numerical advantage is too high. But after a few days...
|Morning of November 8th - 1249 - Camp on the banks of the Tigris River - Attila|
It's been days since all I've been doing are 2 things: watching the Mongols from the other side of the river and making love to Rasha in the evening.
Because there is literally nothing else to do at this moment.
As I stood there on my new post as a classic beach lifeguard, the Sultan approached:<<So? Do you notice anything new?>> he asked me.
<<Certainly>> I replied.
There was a brief awkward silence:<<So? Can you explain what you noticed?>>
<<As you can see with your own eyes, by now they have set up a real camp>>
<<Exactly as we have done, was that what you noticed?>>
<<Not exactly. Their camp, on the other side of the river, seems much more suspicious. In fact, there is a row of tents much denser in front of us. Almost as if to prevent us from seeing beyond a certain point>>
The Sultan looked at the opposite bank and after a few seconds replied:<<Rather, winter is approaching. In fact, it is correct to say that it has already begun. Why hasn't the Khan attacked yet? If he delays further, won't it be worse for him?>>
<<Time is undoubtedly playing in our favor, but we must be thankful that the Khan has not simply decided to attack us directly across the river. He could easily defeat us with numerical superiority. I think he simply does not want to sacrifice more than half of his army to launch an attack that would be costly in terms of human lives but would still win>>
<<I understand, let me know if there are any updates>> replied the Sultan as he walked away.
Once the Sultan had left, Rasha, who had been by my side all this time, said:<<Attila, you know very well that I am a spy. Why didn't you send me to spy on their camp?>>
I turned to look at her and with a smirk said,:<<But if I send you there, who am I going to make love to at night?>>
She looked at me with almost disdain and replied:<<Is that all you think about? I knew deep down you are a fucking perverted megalomaniac>>
<<Haha, calm down with the insults. It was a joke, although it is a true reason. There were other valid reasons for not sending you there>>
<<Oh yeah? Like what?>> she asked.
<<As much as you may be an experienced spy, there are too many differences between you and them>>
<<In what way?>>
<<Do I have to explain everything to you?>>
<<Of course, you told me there are other reasons for not letting me do my job. So stop slacking off and explain>>
What an annoying woman.
After a sigh, I said:<<You are a Middle Eastern woman with red hair. Something that for the Mongols, who are on the other side of the globe, is pure fantasy. I mean, there are too many physical differences between you and them: you don't have almond-shaped eyes, you don't have the physique of a typical Mongolian, and you have a hair colour that is very rare for them to have. Therefore, you will not be able to blend in with them in any way. As soon as they notice you, they will immediately think you are a spy and do things to you that you can't even imagine. Another reason is that usually, the Khan has a "harem" with him, a group of women he uses to satisfy his sexual desires. A bit like what I do with you>>
This last sentence made Rasha look at me with even more contempt than usual.
I continued:<<But Batu Khan, from what I know, is accompanied only by his wife, so he does not have a 'harem' for you to infiltrate>>
<<True, but I think I could still manage to...>>
<<No, I won't even let you finish the sentence, I know what you mean. You want to say that you could infiltrate as a "slave" or a "prostitute", and it would make sense if there were villages or cities around that they have plundered or subdued. But since there aren't (villages or cities), they have no way to "entertain the troops" with a bit of "fun". So, they would find themselves with someone like you whom they have no idea where she came from. Trust me, forget about it and stay here.>>
Rasha remained silent for a few seconds, then said:<<Look, if you avoided certain types of jokes, I might even be touched>>
But nothing is ever good enough for her...
<<Instead, I don't like at all that we are in a total stalemate situation, I think something is happening and I don't know what. Order the scouts who have returned to inspect our side of the river even further than before. Tell them to create rapid communication lines and to be as vigilant as possible>>
Rasha nodded and walked away in silence.
|Evening of November 8th - 1249 - Camp on the banks of the Tigris River - Attila|
Rasha and I were both in the tent doing nothing special.
Today she didn't want to have sex with the excuse of: "We can't have sex every night, control yourself."
So today I was left without the nightly entertainment.
After a while, Rasha asked me: <<Attila, how do you think this story will end? Honestly, I don't think we have much chance of winning. I hope you are aware that if things go wrong, I will run away, right?>>
<<Yes, I could figure that out. Anyway, it would be the right choice, if the situation is disastrous it wouldn't make sense to die in vain. But if it happens, at least do me the favor of informing as many people as possible how it ended. I don't think they can do much, but better than nothing>>
Rasha looked at me in silence, then said:<<Alright. I'll make sure to do that>>
I was about to extinguish the candle that illuminated the tent when suddenly I heard a voice outside it.
<<King Attila! Emergency! Our scouts have sent a warning message! The Mongols are attacking us! They have created a bridgehead to the north!>>
Shit.
<<Rasha, go to the Sultan immediately, tell him I'll take a quarter of the army and go to counter this attack. If it's just a diversion, tell him to be on guard and to use "that thing". Clear?!>>
<<Yes, of course>>
Perfect, now it's time for me to take the stage.
|Night of November 8th - 1249 - Camp on the banks of the Tigris River - Attila|
I gathered the necessary men and headed north.
After about 2 hours of marching, we saw a Mongol bridgehead and some of their troops crossing it.
It was time to engage in battle:<<Men! Here is the enemy! Charge!>>
After a battle cry from the troops, they charged the Mongol troops.
After a few minutes, the battle began in earnest.
The main objective was to break or damage the bridge as much as possible, to block the arrival of further reinforcements.
I did well to equip most of my troops with spears.
In these types of situations, they are very useful.
I threw myself in the middle as well, and after some time, we managed to push them back to the tip.
Shortly after, those few archers I had brought aimed their flaming arrows at the bridge.
After a short time, the bridge was burning, forcing the Mongols to flee to the other shore.
This skirmish could be considered over, without significant losses to our army.
We had the advantage of the terrain; we were lucky. But I have a strong feeling that it was all a diversion.
I called a scout and told him:<<Hey you, go back to the base camp immediately and report to me what is happening there!>>
<<Yes, sir!>>
<<To all of you! Half of you come with me, the others stay here to block any new attempts to pass." So I should be free to return.
|Night of 8 November – 1249 – Camp on the banks of the Tigris River – Sultan Al-Kamil|
Rasha, Attila's "spy-wife", alerted me to what had happened.
I've been out here watching what the enemies are doing for hours now.
Until, in the dark of the night, I saw the silhouettes of the Mongols raising a large rectangular thing.
Soon he realized, it was a bridge!
They used it to go from their shore to the small island where we had the meeting.
<<Archers, shoot and shoot!>>
All our archers, now in position, began to shoot.
Here, however, I took inspiration from an idea that Attila had given me, namely that of dividing the archers into several groups and making them shoot one after the other.
Each of these groups fired one after the previous one, in this way the first archers had the opportunity to reload and fire again when the last group had just finished.
Thus, the enemy has the impression that the arrows never end and there is no pause between the volleys.
We have killed many this way.
Despite this, they managed to bring another bridge that they attached from the island to our shore.
To do this, the Mongols began using their already dead comrades as excuses.
A heartbreaking and disturbing scene.
Many of them tried to cross to our side, but our lancers (advantaged by the fact that they only had to defend one important point) repelled them without any problems.
Once everyone understood that this was nothing more than a massacre, the Mongols ignored the presence of the bridges and tried to swim to our shore.
Our archers shot and shot but there were too many of them and it was clear that many of them would have managed to get through.
It's getting bad, they don't care about their losses, they're determinedly going to the death to reach us.
Rahsa, who was observing the battlefield with me, said: <<Attila told me to tell you that "that thing" can be used. Even if I don't know what it is>>
"That thing"? Of course! What a brilliant idea!
On the other hand, Attila had hinted that he had an ace up his sleeve.
But to use it I have to wait until the last moment.
The archers fired non-stop, but it wasn't enough.
When I noticed that there would be many swimming to reach us, I shouted: <<Men! Put the pitch!>>
After a few minutes the soldiers, holding barrels of pitch, threw them into the river, breaking them.
This changed the red colour of the river (which it had taken on due to the blood of the dead) to black.
Then an acricer with a flaming arrow shoots towards the pitch poured into the river.
A fire broke out which not only burned both decks but burned alive both the men who were swimming and those who were on the verge.
Burned alive.
It was a tragic and horrible scene, but necessary for our survival.
After the river burned, the Mongol offensive stopped.
Now aware that they can't do anything.
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