Chapter 471 - Trenches! More Trenches!

Even Semseddin calmed himself down after seeing the hundreds of Ottomans bodies and horses they have just tossed over to the Rumelians, successfully giving them the burden of having to clear up the bodies and carcass to prevent a plague. 

However, they cannot just sit here and play a game of scarecrow looking at one another, they are supposed to be the elites leading the army and they need to prove themselves capable of leading their men instead of just relying on the blood flowing in their veins and arteries. 

The new advisor of the Sanjek, a Berber from Carthage broke the silence. "Honourable Sanjek, since we have no idea of what those Rumelians are doing over there digging trenches before their camp stretching towards us, why don't we counter it by doing the exact same thing? The best is that we can disrupt whatever plans they have by connecting their trenches to ours, and then our boys can face them in a face to face combat in a narrowed combat on a one to one basis, their superiority in equipment and training can be greatly reduced since our grown up Ottoman men, being the warriors and followers of the Mighty Allah are surely capable of tearing them apart."

No one felt that it is a bit strange for a Berber from carthage to address himself as an Ottoman, their eyes lit up with Semseddin exclaiming. "That can actually be an idea! We have no need of digging our trenches in a zig zagged shape like theirs, and then connect straight towards their trenches digging in a straight line. I shall lead my finest troops equipped with full chainmail to attack the Rumelians first and make them remember the name of Semseddin!"

"I would like to add on something." The Sanjek continued. "We need to move our overground defensive structures on par with the progress of the trenches starting with the simple ones like the caltrops and the anti cavalry wooden structures with the archers to prevent the Rumelian cavalries to try to halt our progress…Don't give me that look Semseddin, I know what you are up to, but believe it or not the proud Ottoman cavalries wielding Kilij blades on horseback representing the flag of the Ottomans is a thing in a past, we are now outmatched by those infidels in both the quality and quantity of the horses and riders… especially after they received aid from those Mamluk traitors."

Semseddin punched the wooden fence before him in rage and annoyance. "And those Mamluks still dare to call themselves faithful Muslims, when they aid the infidels against us? Please, Mighty Allah, descend your lightening of punishment on thee!"

"Trust me or not, I only have a thousand horses and eight hundred riders in my camp."

"Do not worry honourable Sanjek." Semseddin stepped forward and looked into the old man's eyes with determination pressing down his blade. "I have spent away all the savings left to me by my father, and I have built up a six hundred men strong cavalry force… With the both of us combined together we can still form a formidable cavalry group that is capable to sweep the entire Epirus clean."

The old Sanjek stared back at this tall and esteemed young man and sighed. "Fine, I shall leave all of my cavalries to your command, and you shall be in charge of watching over the enemy's movement but remember! Do not mobilise the cavalries unless when the Ottoman elites can no longer hold their formations and the conscripts ahead is showing signs of scattering."

"But!" Semseddin wants to urge the Sanjek that cavalry is supposed to be used as a blade to strike the enemies destroying their morale and organisation, but the Sanjek has made up his mind giving off a chilling humph. "But to no but, that is my orders."

…

The Roman troopers soon found out that they are not the only ones working against the Earth in this valley, their opponents too started gushing out of that gate in groups and started doing the exact same thing baffling everyone here. All of them here knows the amount of casualties Julian have put in to achieve the victory on the first and biggest Ottoman fortification and to them, the Ottomans should be focusing on building more structures behind those walls to engage in close quartered urban combat with them to drag down their speed as much as possible, not to waste time here comparing which side is digging faster.

But of course, facing competition the Roman troopers too increased the speed waving their shovels. Khalid ordered his mounted troopers to ready themselves with the idea of charging the opponents away from the fields, which he soon gave it up after finding out that the Ottomans kept themselves to the ranges of their archers behind all those stoppages and obstacles. If it is not for the numerous blades, helmets and armours lying around people would have thought that this place is a construction site rather than a battlefield.

The Ottomans stopped digging forward when they reached a distance of around one hundred and fifty meters way from their starting points and started trying to connect all five of their separate trenches together into one. The two sides became so close to one another that they can see the heads from the other side bobbing up and down above the ground.

Finally after an entire three days of digging, the trenches from both sides became connected, and clashes soon took place. The troopers found themselves with no blades and armours on them initially as they have kept it away to avoid the extra heat and burden, so they leapt into the Ottoman conscripts wielding shovels and pickaxes which proved to be some what effective against the enemies.. The conscripts soon scattered from the frontline leaving the trenches they have dug and protected for so long to the hands of the Romans within minutes, creating a stampede in the process throwing another dozen plus of bodies over.