Chapter 349: Beach Party

It is indeed a pity that the fleet could only load their guns with solid metal hull penetrating shells instead of high explosive shells, due to the hull penetrating shell's higher velocity and effective firing distance making it the only kind of shell that can successfully reach the beach from this distance, with the current canon structure and firing powder they have on the ships. Or one did mention that he need to find an even more efficient kind of firing powder and also an improved forging technic, with materials with increased durability to make better artilleries.

But these hull penetrating shells are already enough for now, as these Ottoman formations approaching the seemingly trapped Romans totally did not expect a sudden series of shelling being poured on to their head. The visual shock of these metal balls as big as heads given to the ordinary Ottoman soldiers are already overwhelming them.

One after another shell kept pounding in to the chests of some pathetic Ottoman soldiers, it literally blasted a hole right in their ribcage penetrating right through their body making them fall in several pieces, splitting their blood on to the body and faces of their comrades fighting beside them, who still could not respond to what is going on beside them. The shells continued bouncing and rolling on the sands crashing down even men in their path, creating a trail of blood along its way, before it finally losses its potential energy and stay stationary on the sands.

This shell strike immediately sent a wide range of shock and terror among these Ottoman troopers. They cannot be blamed for this, as all those experienced Ottoman soldiers who had faced shell strikes from the Romans before have either been dead on the grand escape, or have went in to exile following that defeat, either becoming a law abiding farmer in Antonius' rule, or joining in to Antonius' forces. These newly recruited plebes, although have been told about artilleries, have not a single clue on its real devastating power, and this is the first time they faced one, no not one, many artilleries firing at them in a combat situation.

With the shells landing on the beaches, the emotion of panic and fear towards the unknown started spreading among the Ottoman troopers, and this emotion spreads like a pandemic, even affecting the horses and hares the troopers are riding due to the ear banging shells landing on the ground. The Ottoman commander, who has been a witness of the previous epic battles of Constantinople and Thessaloniki, tried his best controlling his troops ordering them to remain in regimental order. But his entire commanding structure has crumbled, as the signal men too are now running around like headless goose.

Knowing that he has completely lost contact with the junior officers, the Ottoman commander knows that his army is now in a critical condition. He is sure that his enemies might take advantage of the chaos spreading in his troops and launch a counter attack trying to eat them up. With a sigh the commander mobalised the last forty plus people around him, ordering them to scatter around to regain control of the army and lead them to a gathering point one Roman mile away to regroup, where they can get their flanks covered by friendly forces.

However, a few minutes later things changed straight towards the other side for this duty fulfilling Ottoman commander, as the Romans fired their second round which unluckily for him, a shell teared through the air and landed right in a spot roughly five meters away from where the Ottoman commander is placed, creating a thunderous sound wave and a shock to the Ottoman troopers still standing in this premise. The worst thing is that this shell gave a shock to the  usually obedient mare started going out of control, and with a jump she flung her master off her back giving the Ottoman commander a pretty bad fall right on to the ground, sending a wave of dust and sands flying in to the surroundings.

Mind that this Ottoman commander is wearing a full set of armour created with chains and metal mails with out a helmet, thus this bad fall literally almost made him spit his own guts and heart out, force him to lay still on the ground for a moment to regain his consciousness and control of his body, a moment that the commander cannot afford to wait, as it is not only him and his mare that is being shocked and petrified by the shell.

The strike that acted as the final blow was when a group of boats emerged from the seas following the shell strike, with Yuri and a task force combined with marines, Varangians and sailors showing up on the shores started roaring their battle cries while charging towards the Ottoman flanks in a disordered manner sacrificing organisation for speed.

The recruits and enlistees surrounding their commander became the first to have their mental defences broken down as they started retreating with out orders given, making a run towards the back knowing that they are supposed to fall back and regroup at the gathering point, causing an uncontrollable stampede in this process.

Some might have noticed their commander lying on the ground but being pushed and squeezed by their pals from all directions they did not had much choice except to continue running and even stepping right on to their commander, and the rest behind certainly did not see the commander beneath their feet. One or two men stepping on the commander might not be the issue, but when the number accumulate to hundreds it did cause a serious problem, together with the inner injuries that commander just acquired from the bad fall just now it only made his situation worse.

Finally, an hour later when every one has evacuated to the safe grounds, then the various junior officers and guards began a desperate search for their commander, but what they do not know is that this nameless Ottoman commander has already stopped breathing laying still on that beach, covered by sands and corpses of his fellow men. His organs and ribs have already been shattered from that stampede just now, and there is absolutely no way of him making a come back, together with the death of the nameless Ottoman commander, the outcome of this battle is clear.

The Ottoman regiment from Mahumad Pasha Angelovic suffered another defeat by their old rivcals, but magically the Romans seems to be having a good mood that day and let them off without giving them a jolly good beating taking the advantage of their collapse. Because of this they suffered a minimum loss of only around a hundred dead, two hundred plus injured, mostly due to the stampede, and near an hundred men gone missing in action, most likely ran away trying to evade their duties serving the pasha, this now happens to the Ottomans almost after every single battle.

While indeed for Antonius he achieved his ultimate goal with the smallest cost possible while dealing a blow on the Ottomans, but some pointed out that he could have pointed out that at least he could have done it in another way which might not have exposed their new weaponry systems to their dread enemies creating a leak, letting them to be better prepared for the next battle which might come more imminent sooner than most thinks. Hearing this Antonius simply shrugged his shoulders mentioning that what has been done cannot be undone, and by then the researchers under Orban in the workshops would have already developed better armaments to be used.

With that being said it seems like the outcome of this campaign is now clear, that Antonius achieved a tactical victory. This claim is even more solidified when the next day following the defeat, a group of Ottoman ambassadors arrived outside the gates with their Sultan's unique white horse flag. These ambassadors literally paraded across two camps before closing in to the head quarters signifying to every Roman soldier here that they are here to admit that they have bean defeated, and is here to negotiate a peace treaty.

"Clever move by whoever that is behind the Sultan." Commented Anjelo as he watched the Ottoman ambassadors approach Antonius' tent on the stairs from a distance away. "Now the entire army will know that we have defeated the Ottomans causing them to come for peace, combined with our men's hidden cries to go home this would force us to pull out as fast as possible, making our soldiers lose the will to continue fighting if we do not obey by their wishes."

"Don't you want to face them yourself Master Anjelo?" The old man's disciple asked by his side.

"Nah, I believe that Abdullah and the admiral can handle these people by themselves." Anjelo shook his head. "And besides… You know me, age has gotten on to me, in such cold or rainy weathers, I can already feel my knee cap is not working. It is better to leave the work for your young people now."