The closer he got to the Hungarian border, the more Edward Wessex felt the smell of war, a smell he had never been unfamiliar with.
Along the way, his team encountered several troops marching in columns. They were fully armed and had the lord's flag flying on their shoulders. The presence of these people filled the road with the sound of gold and iron.
Of course, there will always be mercenaries attracted by the bloody smell of war. They advance in twos and threes. They are like the most sensitive hunting dogs. Once they smell the smell of blood, they will pounce on them and bite them.
Every time he met mercenaries, Edward would hire them. His team needed to continuously expand its strength. Edward brought all his savings over the past five years to prepare for this war.
Edward's army had nearly a thousand men. The Hungarian heavy horse archers' helmets were decorated with gorgeous feathers, and some even wore pointed hats. Riding bows and quivers were hung on the saddles, and silver-inlaid scimitars were hung on their waists.
, the whole person is full of the atmosphere of a prairie warrior.
Then came the standing army sent by Rostislav. The name of this team was the Moscow Battalion. Each of these soldiers wore armed uniforms and long contradiction badges, and wore uniform pointed helmets. They marched in an orderly manner, obviously trained.
of troops.
The last ones were the farmers and tribesmen that Edward had recruited from the territory. These people had different clothes and armor, and their march was erratic. If it weren't for the attendants who supervised them from time to time, these people would have fallen apart.
At the same time, this group of people also escorted the grain, grass and supplies. Edward did not expect these people to fight in the first place, but only recruited them to fill in the numbers and lines.
Everyone was in high spirits. For most of the team, this was the first time they had left their hometown so far away. They were able to see the scenery of a foreign land, see those different faces, and hear incomprehensible foreign languages.
I am very happy personally, this is something that can be talked about for a lifetime.
Edward himself was dressed like a Hungarian nobleman, with a feather on his fur hat and a hunting suit full of prairie style. He looked exactly like a Magyar nobleman.
On such a road, when the armed forces met, everyone pretended not to see each other. This was a tacit understanding reached by everyone, an unspeakable tacit understanding.
Because although the oncoming team may be enemies, this is not a place where war is possible. This is Poland, and everyone has to suppress their restlessness.
The King of Poland has provided convenience to all parties, so everyone has to give face.
Therefore, everyone unanimously did not display a flag to indicate their identity. This is an unspoken rule that everyone has reached with each other.
Although King Boleslaw gave strong support to the Hungarian rebels, formally the King of Poland, who was also an imperial vassal, still had to avoid facing the imperial army on the Hungarian battlefield, because legal matters could be easily explained.
Troublesome.
Edward inquired along the way and found that the walls of Krakow were filled with tents that had grown up like mushrooms after the rain. The King of Poland was gathering an army from across the country, but no one knew why he was gathering this army.
In addition to the news about Boleslaw, Edward also knew another bad news, that is, the state governors also began to defect on a large scale and defected to Duke Bela's rebels.
The governors were originally officials placed by the Arpad family in various places to manage the Hungarian land that was divided into states. Most of these people came from the seven ancient Magyar tribes and were trusted by the rulers, so they were awarded the title of feudal state.
When the Magyar army launched its plunder in the west, these governors were also an important part of Khan's army. They were like a pack of wolves led by Khan, the wolf king, attacking lands full of innocent people and plundering them.
Loot their wealth and property.
As time went by, the Khan became a king, the Magyars converted to Christianity, the scimitars no longer disturbed the western lands, and these officials who managed the states gradually became hereditary lords and became the leaders of the country.
High-ranking nobles have great power.
For a long time, the governors have been at the forefront of fighting against the imperial forces. The king's surrender to the empire has reached the extreme point of dissatisfaction. They have repelled the Germanic invasions three times under the leadership of the king, but now they have to succumb?
Their loyalty to the king still made them hesitate to rebel, but they eventually abandoned the king and turned to another Arpad nobleman, the Duke of Bela.
Edward was mentally prepared for the defection of the Magyar nobles. After all, he had known the relevant news a long time ago, but he never expected that when he came to the Hungarian border, he suddenly discovered that even important nobles such as the governor were
Begin to rebel.
On the way, Edward met the king's messenger and learned that King Andrew had been forced to withdraw to the border because the situation was so desperate.
He only has two thousand people under his command, most of whom are soldiers from the royal territory and a small number of loyal ministers. This is the only force the king can control.
This was the result of Andrew's many years of kindness, otherwise everyone would have rebelled long ago and surrendered to the empire, which caused the king to lose too many people's hearts.
Fortunately, the imperial reinforcements have also arrived. The Duke of Turin and the Duke of Bohemia personally led troops to help and provided a large amount of supplies for the embarrassed royal army. The empire expected to send 5,000 people to support King Andrew.
Now Edward's army was approaching the border. As the boundary markers appeared, Edward knew that they had reached the border.
After arriving here, Edward had to be extremely cautious. The mountain pass was the most likely place to be ambushed, and he had to be more vigilant to prevent all possible attacks.
He felt a lot of prying eyes, probably from the local mountain people, but they just looked at the army and didn't do anything. They probably decided to hide after seeing such a large army. After all, who knew who this army belonged to?
Which side.
Although he walked in trepidation, luckily the whole journey was uneventful. However, when he encountered a group of merchants, Edward thought it was an enemy and almost attacked. Fortunately, the misunderstanding was resolved in the end.
From the mouths of these merchants, Edward learned that the war on the other side of the border was almost at an end. The Duke's army was already advancing towards the king, but the king had no intention of retreating. It could be said that the battle was just around the corner.
Many people in the caravan were injured. They originally planned to go further south, but the security in Hungary had deteriorated and bandits and rebels were rampant, so they traveled together.
It was just luck that they were able to get here. Many of their companions died on the road. One caravan was even attacked because it left the team and was torn to pieces by the bandits and hungry people.
These merchants were mainly engaged in the grain trade between Poland and Hungary. They originally thought they could make a lot of money by going to Hungary, but they were forced to return due to the harsh environment.
Edward bought these grains at a low price. The merchants already had a backlog of supplies. For them, the sooner they get rid of these things, the better. Therefore, both the buyer and seller of this business are happy.
Saying goodbye to the merchants, the tall mountain pass was soon climbed over, and crossing the mountain pass meant that they had truly entered Hungary, the country of nomads.
After entering Hungary, the Anglo-Saxon nobles ordered their subordinates to fly the flag of the white cross on a red background. This was the symbol used by the Arpad family after they converted to Christianity. Together with the holy crown, it served as the symbol of the Arpad family's piety.
The moment you enter Hungary, you can say you have entered the battlefield. King Andrew's army is here, and Duke Béla's army is coming.
Not long after entering the territory, Edward discovered traces of war rushing towards him, just like what the merchants said.
Since both this land and Poland are dominated by plains, standing on a slightly higher ground can give you an unobstructed view of several miles around. What Edward saw when he climbed up was villages and towns that had been reduced to ruins.
This scene shocked Edward. Although he was not young, this was the first time he had witnessed such a devastated scene.
At a glance, there are ruins everywhere, and the construction achievements of the past have now been reduced to ashes under the ambition of the warriors.
The people bleed and die for the ambitions of the powerful, and live in pain, but the powerful still do not take it seriously. In their view, these are their natural rights.
This land has been tortured by two opposing armies. The raiding teams from both sides have repeatedly recruited and looted here, burned villages and killed people, used civilian corpses to intimidate civilians, and forced them to succumb to the machete.
In the end, the people here were either forced to leave their hometowns, fell into bandits, or were forcibly recruited into the army, adding another layer of torture to this tortured land. It would take at least a long time for such a land to recover.
For decades.
It was difficult to judge which direction to go in these ruins. Fortunately, Edward finally found a few guides. They were border guards loyal to King Andrew and were responsible for monitoring the movement of the mountain pass on weekdays.
They monitored Edward's army for a while, and did not come out to meet until their identity was confirmed. Then they naturally led the army to King Andrew's location.
Edward exercised the utmost vigilance during the rest of his march, because he could encounter enemies at any time. The guide said that there were some guys here who were tortured and crazy by the war and even dared to attack the army.
So Edward ordered everyone to put on armor and move forward, as the battle might begin at any time.
However, they did not encounter any fighting along the way. On the contrary, they saw many traces of fighting. The corpses of soldiers who had been stripped of their armor were just thrown casually on the roadside. There were also corpses with their heads covered with cloth hanging on some trees.
.
Wild wolves and crows enjoyed these human corpses in harmony. When the human army passed by these beasts, they only looked up. They were accustomed to armed crowds and no longer feared them.
Seeing that the humans had no intention of provoking them, they lowered their heads and continued to enjoy their food.
The howls of wild beasts continued to sound faintly, which made Edward feel a little scared inside. He had seen many cruel scenes, and had also done massacres in Northeastern Ross, but they could not exaggerate the atmosphere, the large tracts of death.
and withered atmosphere.
Everyone in the army was infected by this atmosphere, and everyone who had been singing and marching from time to time now became quiet.
From time to time, Edward noticed that there were cavalry on the nearby hillside. Those warriors in linen clothes only glanced at them from a distance and then retreated. After a while, they disappeared from everyone's sight.
But the feeling of spying still existed. Edward knew that his existence had been discovered, and he didn't know who he came from next. Is it an enemy? Or a friend?
Not long after, a cavalry team came in fiercely. They wore armor and looked ready to fight.
The cavalry were obviously Magyars. Their armor was based on the steppe style and mixed with the styles of the two empires. Many of them wore domed helmets with long nose guards.
As for their weapons, Edward saw that the man's saddle had a Magyar riding bow, which was a short compound bow, and then a long sword or scimitar hung on the saddle on the other side.
Most were draped in red smocks, the emblem of the Arpad family, and flags with a red background and a white cross were flying above their heads.
Influences from both the East and the West appeared on this group of people at the same time.
This cavalry team was obviously well-trained, and they came to the front of Edward's army in an orderly manner. Their posture was so calm and elegant.
Seeing this elite team appear, Edward couldn't help but become nervous. He immediately put his hand on the handle of his knife, ready to draw it out at any moment. The Magyar nobles behind him also followed suit, and some even drew their weapons directly.
Seeing this, the infantrymen of the Moscow Battalion immediately put down their spears and raised their shields. Although panic was written on their faces, long-term training made them subconsciously react correctly.
As for the last farmers and tribesmen, it's hard to say anything. They didn't even know what happened. They looked completely at a loss when facing all this. Only a few people reacted, but their number was too small.
Edward looked back at this scene and felt extremely bad in his heart. If those heavy cavalry charged, those farmers would probably collapse immediately, and then lead the other soldiers to collapse as well.
However, Edward's guide breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the appearance of these people. He told Edward, who had already put his hand on the handle of his scimitar, that these people were friends, and then drove forward alone to negotiate.
And it turned out that the guide was right. The guide recognized these people, and these people also recognized the guide. When they saw the guide appearing alone on horseback, they basically put down their weapons and let the guide come forward.
After the guide explained Edward's origin to the group of red-shirted knights, the hostility and vigilance basically dissipated.
Some people even smiled when they knew the visitor was Edward. Just like in Rus, Edward was also very popular in the Magyar land and made many warrior friends.
In the following conversation, Edward learned that this troop was directly under His Majesty the King's cavalry.
The origins of most of the people in this team can be traced back to the seven ancient Magyar tribes. It can be said that the knights here are the most elite part of the Magyar country.
After receiving news of the appearance of unknown troops, they came to investigate the situation urgently. If the situation allowed, they would defeat the enemy. However, they unexpectedly encountered friends from afar.
This makes everyone very excited. On this difficult day, there is nothing more exciting than the joining of friends.