Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks-Chapter 536 - 115: Pursuit

Senmut is a typical Egyptian name. He also originated from the Mamluk guards of Governor Iben, deeply trusted by this governor.

But Senmut always felt that he shouldn’t remain so obscure.

He should accomplish a great feat, just like his ancestor who served the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, with the same name Senmut the General, whose glory is still recorded on the obelisk of the Luxor region.

On the enemy’s camp, archers relying on the walls have already started to counterattack.

The arrows shot are precise and heavy. Even if they hit the sturdy chest armor, they can still knock down the elite Mamluks with a single shot.

"Release arrows, suppress the enemy’s archers!"

"Prepare the fire pots!"

Senmut shouted orders.

His heart was also stirred: "In just one day, building a floating bridge, crossing the river, and constructing such a heavily defended camp, indeed, the troops under Marquis Losa are extraordinary."

But he immediately calmed down, gritting his teeth: "But no matter how extraordinary, you have only less than five thousand men!"

While under his command, just Ibn the Governor’s Mamluk guards number over eight thousand, plus the mercenaries from Kuman, Turkic, Berber, and Nubia, the numbers reach up to twenty thousand.

Such a vast scale, well-equipped and without recruits, it is the limit of elite forces that Governor Iben can muster!

This battle must be victorious!

Ambition flared in Senmut’s eyes; just approach the enemy’s camp, throw the prepared fire pots inside, and soon the enemy’s elite troops will be buried in a sea of flames.

"I will replicate your feat of setting Saladin’s camp ablaze."

"Tonight, the banks of the Nile River will become a sea of fire!"

Closer.

Even closer.

Many Mamluk cavalry had already removed the fire pots hanging from their saddles, prepared to throw them into the enemy camp once they breached it, expecting that the wood materials accumulated during the day would be set ablaze all at once!

But at this moment, a chorus of chaotic hoofbeats arose within the camp.

The camp was dragged down by ropes.

Fully armored heavy cavalry knights appeared, like iron sculptures in the darkness, beneath the dark helmets, only a pair of crimson eyes were visible, staring at them in the dark.

Senmut saw a female knight on a red horse, clad in silver armor, holding a helmet, with flowing golden curls, raising a flag with a white base and fleur-de-lis pattern, initiating a charge without a word.

Following tightly were those knights.

Their equipment was armored, like an iron tower, heavy cavalry wearing only half-body plate armor; winged cavalry with feathered decorations on their backs; monastery knights wearing black or white coveralls, with prominent crosses embroidered on their chests.

They charged towards Senmut’s leading Mamluks, like the relentless flow of the nearby Nile River, with terrifying oppressive force.

Boom—

Two steel torrents collided, and in the blink of an eye, it was chaos with screams, roars, and cries mixed together.

No one could resist the female knight’s sword or spear.

From the start, the battle turned overwhelmingly against them; the night didn’t seem to affect the opposing cavalry’s vision, with each enemy being terribly formidable.

Boom—

An iron spear swept by, nearly knocking Senmut off his horse.

Luckily, he ducked in time, letting his personal guard absorb the heavy blow for him.

He turned back, only seeing the back of a figure wearing a helmet with horns, wielding a heavy solid iron spear, slaughtering his men like a beast.

His soldiers fell like wheat being cut down row by row.

The enemy’s armor was not only more robust, but their martial arts surpassed the proud Mamluks.

"Lost..."

"Lost already?"

Senmut couldn’t comprehend the state of the battle; evidently, their numbers were overwhelmingly advantageous, attacking at midnight when the enemy was fatigued, how could defeat be so swiftly determined.

"Retreat, must retreat!"

"Messengers, sound the horn, order my cavalry to retreat with me!"

Senmut shouted loudly, the night raid had failed, confirming one thing: in field battles, they were by no means rivals to the Crusaders, necessary to gather enough forces back to defend Damietta.

The secret potion kept them from scattering like headless flies.

Senmut took the opportunity to rally his forces, retreating north — his thought was simple: there’s a marshland in the north indistinguishable from flat ground at night; if he leads the Crusaders there, the battle might have a chance for a counterattack.

His concern now was if the Crusaders wouldn’t pursue.

However, evidently his concern was unnecessary.

Losa first transported the main force across the river to set a trap, lure the enemy to attack, and annihilate the enemy’s living forces to the greatest extent possible. How could he let so many enemies retreat?

Jeanne immediately waved the battle flag, leading the cavalry to pursue and kill alongside her.

...

In the camp, Losa sat leisurely in the central army, overseeing operations. The armor rack held the Holy Cross Plate Armor, polished to a brilliant shine—it lay quietly there, as he had never intended to lead the troops into battle personally.

Chelina frowned, "Sir, the number of enemies is so large. Are you really not going out to take a look?"

"No need to look. With Jeanne and Hans there, even if the enemy doubles in number, I believe they can secure victory for me."

Killing these ordinary soldiers offered him minimal rewards for upgrading. Moreover, his talent "Charge" could only boost morale, unlike Jeanne’s "Knight’s Flower" or Hans’ "Armored Lance," which could increase the actual combat strength of soldiers.

For his already high-spirited and well-trained elite forces, whether he went or not made little difference.

"The land of Sinai shouldn’t just be abandoned like this, but if it’s handed over as a fiefdom to others as a reward, not only would gratitude be absent, but it might also give him a bad name."

Losa carefully read through the intelligence delivered by the Shadow of Darkness, frowning involuntarily.

Exploration by the Shadow of Darkness revealed several rich copper and turquoise mines in Sinai, as well as coastal areas barely suitable for cultivation — in addition, Losa knew that beneath the land of Sinai, there were also considerable oil resources, albeit currently unexploitable due to technological limitations.

But the cost of reconstruction here is so high that whoever is granted the land would find it a massive burden.

No one would invest vast sums of money here for reconstruction, and the pilgrims who migrated from Europe would not be willing to settle here either.

Only by relying on the Tree of Life in his hand could this place possibly be turned into a treasure; however, who knows when the next seedling from the Tree of Life will be available?

"Forget it, it’s better to just keep the Sinai Peninsula in my own hands for now."

At this moment.

There came an excited voice from the messenger outside.

"Sir, the Knight Commander has already defeated the main enemy forces and is currently in pursuit. The Knight Commander said if the enemy dares to flee all the way back to Damietta Port, she plans to chase them all the way back."

Losa frowned.

Victory was nothing out of the ordinary.

But the battle went too smoothly; even if the enemy were sluggish, they shouldn’t collapse at the first encounter. Governor Iben’s Mamluks were also considered elite troops and shouldn’t perform so poorly.

"Nina, you must go personally to warn Jeanne for me, not to be complacent. After this battle, the enemy’s courage will be completely undermined, and their morale will be low. Even an assault on a fortress will result in less damage, so there’s no need to be so aggressively advancing."

Chelina nodded slightly, then vanished from the tent.

"Are you very worried about Jeanne running into trouble?"

Prajna’s cold voice sounded.

Losa shook his head, "Jeanne’s situational awareness on the battlefield is sharp, she shouldn’t fall into the enemy’s trap. For an enemy to feign a rout, it’s not so simple; if Jeanne continues to pursue, a fake rout can easily turn into a real one."

"Then why are you looking so worried?"

Losa was taken aback, shook his head, and said, "I don’t know. Maybe I’m worried that there might be secret casters hidden in the enemy’s army... After all, we just had a major slip-up."

Prajna nodded, holding a black helmet in her hands, covered with black and purple patterns, resembling some form of hieroglyphics, yet without any coherence, as if forcibly pieced together.

Losa was taken aback for a moment and inquired, "Why did you bring this thing over?"

This was a relic of the Blood Knight he had killed in the small world.

In the tent, stood a towering giant with the head of a jackal, followed by a figure with green skin wearing a white crown.

"Anubis and Osiris..."

Losa’s expression turned solemn. The old gods of ancient Egypt, even if they have all fallen, may not have turned to complete ashes. Just half a year ago, in Montreal, he even encountered a Crocodile God.

"No need to worry, this helmet merely contains godly materials left behind from them. They cannot be resurrected through this."

Prajna spoke.

"Indirectly harnessing the power of death’s divine nature in this way, that Vampire did have some tricks, but unfortunately, it’s not the right path."

She opened her hand, and the black Ghost Face Shield slowly materialized.

The ghost face wore an expression of utter delight.

As a fragment of Yesterday’s Giant Ship World, a piece of the Hell Gate, it inherently contained the divine power of death.

"Can I have it?"

"Of course."

"Let it consume it."

The greedy ghost face immediately opened a large mouth, swallowing the helmet whole in one gulp.

The system’s prompt sounded: Your Six-star Attendant Prajna’s divine artifact "Prajna Shield" has devoured a Death Divine Artifact and is about to gain new traits, countdown twenty-four hours.

During this period, the "Prajna Shield" will be unusable.