1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 35: Battle of St. Joseph's
Mebre Oasis, south of Saint Joseph's Land.

This is the largest of the Jufra oasis complex, where the Mebre tribe leads a semi-sedentary life.

This large oasis is located between the city of Jufra and the port of Sirte. It is the only way for transportation between the north and the south. It is always busy with business and travel. The sound of camel bells brings wealth, making Mebre the most powerful tribe in the vicinity.

The current Sheikh of the Mebre tribe, Adnan Mebre, is a knowledgeable leader who is fluent in Latin and Greek and has studied abroad at the Mamluk Islamic College.

He recruited talented people and hired Italian engineers at high salaries to drill wells near the Oasis of Mebre, design fortifications, build castles, and establish a new college.

Adnan Sheikh does not care much about the purity of faith; traditional Sunnis, Ibadis and Shiites can all find a place in his town.

People were attracted by his reputation for kindness and tolerance, and heretical scholars and refugees persecuted elsewhere flocked to Mepple to seek his asylum.

New villages began to appear near the oasis, and more and more tribes came to trade.

From slaves to nobles, everyone praised his wisdom.

Under his governance, Mebre gradually developed from a small town into a small city.

At this time, this wise middle-aged man was pacing around the room with a worried look on his face.

The door opened and his son Murci rushed in, looking anxious.

"Get out! Knock!"

Murci had no choice but to do as his father said.

"Father! Abdullah wants another 100 men and 500 sheep from us!"

"give him."

"Father! You can't keep doing this! There are so many of them living here, and we have to pay for their food and drink. When will this end?"

"You know that several elders in the tribe are very dissatisfied with your actions, but..."

"But what?"

"But why do you have to accommodate that Abdullah so much!"

"King Abdullah."

Adnan Sheikh corrected.

"So what? The tribal alliance can choose him as king, and they can also choose you as king."

"We are doing this for Allah."

"Allah? Yesterday the king openly disobeyed Allah's will and got drunk with his favorite concubine."

Murci said sarcastically.

"You are the Sheikh. Your first priority is to make the tribe stronger and stronger, not to serve the king."

"You already know all this, I am just reminding you as a son."

After Murci finished speaking, he left.

Adnan Sheikh was left alone in the room, his face gloomy and uncertain.

The next day, the news of Surt's rejection of the ultimatum reached Maybray. The king was furious and summoned all the nobles of the alliance.

When Adnan Sheh arrived at the meeting hall of the city lord's palace, the others had already arrived. King Abdullah was sitting in his usual seat, his eyes slightly narrowed, and his fat hand was picking out the fruit he liked from the fruit plate next to him.

"Adnan, you are late. Did you go to inform the Kafirs?"

A harsh voice came from the king's favorite and brother-in-law, the Sheikh of the Fatiya tribe and the prime minister of the kingdom.

His will represents the king's will to a certain extent.

"Lord Fatiye, I was just dealing with the food and fodder issue, so I was delayed for a while."

Adnan said respectfully.

"Speaking of food and fodder, we are about to march, you have to prepare at least one month's worth of food and fodder."

Fathiye looked at Adnan with a smile.

"Sir, I..."

"Then it's settled. We'll march north tomorrow."

"Let's all go back and get ready."

Everyone said yes and dispersed.

Adnan looked up at the king, who still had his eyes closed and said nothing, and bit his lip.

……

On November 1446, 11, after gathering their forces and testing each other, both sides chose to launch a decisive battle in the desert south of Saint Joseph's.

On the side of the Grand Duchy of Surt, the infantry of the Purple Guards and the First Corps of the Guards served as the center, with Mikhail in charge of command, followed by Ibrahim.

The Black Legion infantry served as the left wing, close to the center, commanded by Maruna.

Tribal infantry were recruited to form the right wing, with Ghazi in command, followed by Erdosh.

The cavalry assembled together and Mehmet was in charge of the command, hoping to win the final victory on the battlefield.

Isaac was in the center and deployed a defensive formation. He dug deep trenches and built high fortifications around the three armies to hinder the enemy's attack.

On the side of the Fezzan tribal kingdom, the elite standing army of the kingdom served as the central army, commanded by King Abdullah himself.

The left wing was commanded by Prime Minister Fathiyah, who assembled most of the cavalry with the intention of directly breaking through Soult's weakest right wing.

The right wing was commanded by Adnan Sheikh, and most of its troops were Adnan Sheikh's own soldiers and conscripted tribal soldiers from affiliated tribes.

There were no pre-war ceremonies, no threats from leaders of both sides, and no sudden sudden appearance of a group of troops.

Isaac ordered the purple double-headed eagle flag and the Surt flag to be raised, and the war began.

The enemy blew the horn of attack, and Prime Minister Fatiya on the left wing shouted loudly, driving the tribal cavalry and camel riders towards Surt's right wing.

The 1200 regular infantrymen in Fezzan's central army marched forward steadily under the guidance of the bugle. The Muslim infantrymen wore dark green robes and held round shields to block possible arrows.

800 elite cavalrymen were waiting behind the infantry formation, all riding desert horses. The cavalrymen were wearing light armor, holding sabers or maces in their right hands and cavalry shields in their left hands. The riders calmed the restless horses and waited for the infantry to consume the enemy's spirit for them.

The right wing controlled by Adnan Sheh was also moving slowly. The poorly dressed tribesmen, holding the most basic weapons, moved forward timidly.

"Father! They assigned us only the worst conscripted infantry! They abandoned us!"

Mulci approached Adnan and shouted loudly.

Adnan looked at the military formation next to him, then at the cannon fodder under his command, his face expressionless.

"Mulci, gather our elite private soldiers and put them at the end of the army formation."

"Notify several tribes that are familiar with us to evacuate immediately if any situation arises."

Adnan looked at the king's flag, and the fat man with a kind face but a black heart was under that flag.

Deceiving too much!

If you win by a large margin, I will naturally be helpless.

If you fail, don't blame me for being ruthless and ungrateful!

"rush!"

Fathiye, who was eager to make a contribution, drove the cavalry loudly and whipped the cavalry that fell behind.

On the surface, he was the glorious prime minister of the kingdom, but in fact, he knew very well that his position as prime minister was entirely due to his sister who was a favorite concubine. He had no military merits and no political achievements, so he could not convince the people at all.

This holy war is my best chance!

The enemy forces on the opposite side should be the traitors who surrendered to the Kafirs. They are poorly equipped and have low fighting spirit. They are simply unable to stop the elite troops that he has assembled.

If we wait until we defeat the enemy's weakest right wing, and then lead the defeated army to charge directly at the center, won't the enemy generals be easily captured?
"Sheikh! Our cavalry and camel riders are somewhat out of sync! Should we order the cavalry to slow down?"

The adjutant beside him reminded Fatih.

Fatiyah also began to realize this problem. "No need! The enemy's defense is not strong enough. Let the cavalry charge first, and then the camel riders will trample them to death!"

Fathiye said stubbornly.

It can be seen that this Fathiye has some level of ability and basic military qualities.

The tribal cavalrymen held their sabers tightly, clamped their horses' bellies, and began their final charge.

The trenches and pits dug in a hurry did have some effect, knocking down several cavalrymen in the front row, along with their horses.

The cavalrymen behind him remained calm, stepping on the corpses of their companions and continuing to charge with their shields raised.

After entering the range of bows and arrows, Surt's conscripted tribal infantry began to shoot arrows, but the arrows were sparse and could not stop the enemy cavalry's attack.

2000 steps, 1500 steps, 1000 steps,
The enemy cavalry was getting closer and closer, and the horses and camels trampled the hard ground, making a deafening roar.

Ghazi tightly grasped the whip in his hand and looked at the ferocious expressions of the enemy cavalry as they charged.

Around them, the conscripted infantry from the subordinate tribes began to stir uncomfortably, fear written all over their faces.

"Change!"

Ghazi yelled.

The standard-bearer waved the flag, and the tribal infantry in front of him felt relieved and quickly dodged.

At the rear of the army, a group of soldiers dressed in blue-purple robes and leather armor stood behind muskets that had been set up long ago, with the muzzles pointed at the Fezzan cavalry.

The command flag was waved.

Bang - Bang -

The Purple Guards' musketeers began firing.

The law——

The frightened horse raised its front hooves and threw the rider far away.

The enemy's momentum slowed down slightly.

"Bastard!"

"They are all a bunch of cowards!"

Fathiye roared,

"The enemy doesn't have many muskets! Keep going! Charge!"

The cavalry gradually recovered from the brief chaos and began to reorganize the charge.

"Shekh-sama!"

The adjutant shook Fatih, who was staring at the battlefield.

"what happened?"

Fathiye shook off his adjutant's hand.

"Why does the air seem to have a strange smell?"

Fatiya sniffed hard. The smell was very pungent and somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember where it was.

"Ready?"

Ghazi asked Erdosh.

"All right, sir."

"start."

The musketeers began to retreat, and roars of panic and pain were heard behind them.

The mad camels rushed out from Soult's right wing and charged straight towards the running cavalry group.

Fires were burning on the camels, and these suffering animals, in their dying state, burst out with an impact force that they did not normally possess, knocking away anything in their way.

"Slow down! Get out of the way!"

The cavalry captain shouted loudly.

It was too late. Both sides were moving very fast. The musket fire just now had disrupted the cavalry's formation. A collision was imminent.

South of Soult, at Saint-Joseph-Lan, in full view of the crowd, burning camels charged into a group of cavalry, knocking the riders off their horses and spreading flames to the horses.

For a moment, the enemy was in chaos.

"For Your Highness!"

"Charge with me!"

Erdosh shouted loudly, leading the tribal soldiers to charge towards the chaotic enemy army.

In a moment, the camel caravan broke up the cavalry group, and rushed towards the camel riders behind them along with the burning horses.

"Mehmet can move now."

Isaac watched this scene from afar and asked the standard-bearer to wave the command flag.

"Charge for Rome!"

After seeing the signal, Mehmet, who was cruising beside the army, began to mobilize.

He shouted to encourage the cavalry behind him and led them to charge towards the enemy's left wing which was in chaos.

The enemy's elite mobile forces will be wiped out in one fell swoop!
"Sir Shekh! Run! The enemy cavalry is coming!"

Fatiya looked at the chaotic battlefield in a daze. From time to time, the screams of soldiers on fire reached his ears, irritating his nerves.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered what that pungent smell came from.

kerosene.

This thing is not uncommon in the desert, and some tribes use it as fuel, but it is of little use because it smells so bad.

"My Lord! There is no time!"

Fatih reacted quickly, grabbed a horse, and galloped away with his guards.

Inside the central military camp, King Abdullah could no longer sit still.

The central armies of both sides were still firing at each other from a distance, causing damage to each other.

I didn't expect that the left wing, which I had placed high hopes on, would collapse first.

"Damn Fathiye, damn Fathiye!"

He roared, and the favorite concubine beside him trembled with fear.

"It's all your brother's fault!"

Abdullah grabbed his favorite concubine by the neck and put all the blame for the left wing's defeat on her.

It was not until his favorite concubine started foaming at the mouth that he came to his senses.

"Send the order, let Adnan Sheikh lead the right wing to block the enemy, we will retreat first!"

Abdullah called to the messenger.

The messenger looked to the right, his face pale.

"His Majesty……"

"how?"

"Adnan Sheikh... he ran away..."

(End of this chapter)