When the Ross Army appeared outside Kashin, the Bulgar sentries on the city walls had already noticed their arrival.
Everyone seemed so panicked by the sudden appearance of the Ross Army.
The complacency of these past days made it so that no one even knew what to do next; caught off guard, they were at a loss, which was extremely laughable.
In the end, it was the commanding Prince who reacted in time, scolding and beating his warriors to blow the war horn, announcing the enemy's arrival.
And it was at this moment that the enemies began to gallop, charging towards Kashin, with the saint george slaying the dragon banner fluttering in the wind.
When the Ross Army attacked, Arel was resting in his tent, which was located by the city wall, where most of the soldiers were also stationed, precisely to deal with sudden situations.
This was the countermeasure Arel devised given his current insufficient control over the army.
If I can't command them, then I'll just place them directly in the areas the enemy is bound to attack when they arrive.
That way, even if I can't command them, they can still act as meat shields to buy some time.
Of course, to get everyone to agree, he naturally had to lead by example.
Suddenly, Arel heard deafening horn blasts, and then felt the ground shake; this sound was not unfamiliar to him, a veteran of many battles—it was the sound of a large number of cavalry on the move!
"Hussein!" Arel instinctively rushed out of his tent, "Where are the enemies?"
What Arel saw after emerging from his tent was an incredibly chaotic scene.
Due to the recent complacency, the Bulgar's will to fight had plummeted to its lowest point, and no one was eager for battle; moreover, many senior officers had been captured, so now the soldiers couldn't find their generals, and the generals couldn't find their soldiers, everyone was running around like headless chickens.
Hussein, the axe-wielding attendant, finally reached his master, having just been blocked by a large group of panicked soldiers.
Just as the attendant was about to say something to his master, a piercing shriek suddenly came from the city wall.
"Enemy attack!"
Looking in the direction of the scream, Arel saw a large number of armored heavy cavalry breaking through the hastily assembled front line below the Kashin city wall's breach, but those Bulgars collapsed at the first touch, leaving behind a ground littered with unrecognizable corpses.
Then they spurred their horses over the low palisade, pouring into Kashin to slaughter, with a banner above their heads depicting an angel slaying a dragon.
However, Arel's plan succeeded; the Bulgar soldiers stationed near the city wall's breach surged forward, temporarily halting the enemy's advance—with their lives.
"Damn it, why did Rostislav arrive so quickly?"
Arel's face was extremely grim.
"Never mind, at least there's a buffer period. Hussein, gather my trusted men! The Ross Army is here! Also, immediately inform Akad!"
While Arel was trying to rally his troops, the side bearing the brunt of the Ross knights' attack was in complete disarray.
Due to poor defenses and lax discipline, the troops under the flaming dragon banner fell into disarray, and the Ross Army setting fires everywhere only exacerbated the dire situation.
The situation continued to worsen; fully armed Ross knights continuously poured into Kashin, their primary objective not to kill the enemy, but to cause chaos by various means:
They drove away terrified soldiers instead of slaughtering them, threw torches into tents, and brandished swords while shouting various war cries to intimidate the surrounding enemies.
Fortunately, under the organization of Arel's trusted men, many Bulgar units regained order, as many parts were actually without commanders; normally they ignored Arel, but now it was wartime.
These Bulgars were then thrown into battle wave after wave, stemming the tide of the Ross invasion, but only barely.
The entire army was on the defensive; no one was willing to fight bravely, everyone was disheartened, and no one wanted to lose their life here.
"Alas, why have the warriors of yesteryear become like this?"
Watching the battle, Arel said to the knight beside him.
"My Lord?"
The attendant standing by looked at him, puzzled; this was the first time he had heard his Lord speak such disheartening words.
Arel had always given everyone the impression of being calm and confident, always exuding a convincing aura.
"Look at those people, where is their courage from back then? They were all warriors, the noble blood of Bulgar. And now some are pushing forward, while others linger behind; can they be considered comrades fighting under the same banner?"
The convincing general said these words, then silently sighed again.
"However, even if we win here, what's the point? Defeat is already inevitable."
His voice when he said this was barely audible, like the whisper of an ancient phantom.
"In the name of Saint George!"
Rostislav, shouting Saint George's holy name, led his retainers on horseback into a unit of Bulgar archers; these archers clearly hadn't expected an enemy to attack from behind, which made Rostislav's long detour worthwhile.
The Prince, having dealt with these archers, directly led his troops to smash into the rear of the Bulgar infantry fighting the cavalry in front, which caused the shield wall to shatter instantly.
The Bulgars had no will to fight to the death; everyone chose to flee.
However, they had barely run a few steps before they were shot down by arrows raining from the sky; the Ross archers had reached their designated positions, followed by a large number of Ross infantry.
But the next scene was completely unexpected by everyone; facing such a situation, these Bulgars did not choose to continue fleeing, but very simply threw down their weapons and surrendered.
This greatly surprised Rostislav; he truly hadn't expected the Bulgar's will to fight to be so low that they would surrender directly at the slightest setback, and the better equipped they were, the faster they surrendered.
Later, Rostislav learned that those Bulgars who surrendered earlier were all wealthy and influential individuals; for them, surrendering was not a fear, they would just pay a ransom to buy themselves back—this was currently the fastest and safest way to return home.
These people were very smart, because even if they won this battle, they would still have to travel through the dangerous Northeast Rus' territory.
And facing the routed Bulgar Army, the Ross cities would not hesitate to pounce and tear off a few pieces of flesh—not to mention, the Bulgar Army could disintegrate at any time.
Moreover, most importantly, many of them had been dealt with by the incompetent Akad; many unit commanders were currently imprisoned, and no one was willing to fight for such a commander.
In contrast, paying money was very safe, and due to the close trade relations between Northeast Rus' and Bulgar, the Ross Army would not refuse these ransoms; this was a large sum of money, and many of these surrenderers knew the powerful figures of Northeast Rus'.
And because these warriors formed the basic structure of the Bulgar Army, if they all surrendered, the ordinary soldiers naturally followed suit one after another, and for a time, surrenderers were everywhere, with weapons and armor scattered across the ground.