Under Selim's command, the warships began to move, and the overseers, who had been unable to lift their heads, looked up and desperately whipped the slaves at the oars.
The submerged oars began to move, and then, after a burst of acceleration, the galley slammed into the second pontoon bridge.
A large number of soldiers crossing the pontoon bridge were knocked into the water, and this time the galley failed to break the pontoon bridge and pass through in one go, instead getting stuck in the middle.
But this was already expected by Selim, who then stepped out of the ship's castle, the Bulgar prince in splendid armor, and jumped off the warship with his subordinates, landing on the western pontoon bridge.
Then, they charged towards the enemies in front of them.
"Ha, that kid finally did something he should have done."
Akad said with relief from the bunker on the ridge when he saw this scene; his child had messed up many things, but this time he finally got it right.
Instead of letting the galley run aground meaninglessly, it was better to ram something, at least to kill a few more people and strike a blow to the Rus' Warrior' morale.
"Let our main force attack; for now, let's eliminate the Rus' Warrior who have already crossed the river. As for the rest, we'll discuss it later."
Akad's mood improved, and even his tone of voice became calmer.
"Lord Akad, do we need to send a unit to rescue your son? He is, after all, currently among the enemies."
Jia Dabi said with a hint of flattery; the Khan must want to save his son, it was just a matter of finding an excuse, and he, the sensible subordinate, would provide that excuse.
But the answer he received next greatly surprised him.
"No need, this is what that kid brought upon himself. He should pay the price for his recklessness. Whether he can survive is entirely up to him."
Akad's cold reply shocked Jia Dabi, who couldn't help but blurt out.
"But that's your only son!"
"It's just a son; I'm still in my prime, I can still have more sons."
Facing this answer, Jia Dabi fell silent. The Khan's ruthlessness made him tremble a little. Although he had long known what kind of person the Khan was, he hadn't expected the Khan to be so ruthless even towards his son.
And inwardly, he pondered whether he should prepare a fallback plan, lest he too be expendable one day…
As another horn sounded, the long-awaited Bulgar main force finally moved, surging out from behind the ridge like a vast tide, a scene like waves rolling in, with the Bulgar's fiery dragons fluttering before them.
"Damn it, more pagans are coming!"
Yegor watched the Bulgars surging from the ridge, shouting at the top of his voice.
Yegor was much more disheveled than usual; his body was covered in blood, and he had already killed an unknown number of people.
Yegor's Moscow Camp was dispatched to the East Bank ten minutes ago, but what they didn't expect was to encounter a fierce attack upon arriving on the East Bank. The Bulgar warships appearing on the Volga River greatly boosted the Bulgars' morale.
In contrast, the Rus' Warrior' morale was low, and among these unevenly trained local troops, if it weren't for the Moscow Camp crossing the river, they would have been forced to the riverbank long ago.
The warriors of the Moscow Camp undoubtedly formed the combat core of the Ross Army on the East Bank. The Rus' Warrior concentrated their fighting around them, and the Bulgars found it difficult to break through the Moscow Camp's spear wall.
"There's also that reckless bastard behind us, God, I have to deal with that guy."
Anton, dressed entirely as a Ross Warrior, showing no imperial capital style, roared in response. The second pontoon bridge was where the Yaroslavl forces passed through. Previously, the Moscow Camp had arrived on the East Bank via this bridge, and now this path was blocked by the suddenly appearing Bulgar warship.
Moreover, that Selim recklessly disembarked directly from the ship to fight, and seeing that ship, the Bulgars in front of them attacked even more fiercely.
"Good, Anton, I'll leave that side to you. I'll hold this side. Follow me!"
Yegor cut down the Bulgar spearman in front of him, then shouted for his soldiers to charge, and proceeded to cut down many Bulgars, causing their offensive to falter.
However, the tide of battle was not entirely unfavorable to the Rus' Warrior, because as the fighting near the second pontoon bridge intensified, at the first pontoon bridge, Meshko had already captured a galley.
The battle on this warship for Meshko was very simple: when the Poles, carrying the cross banner, boarded the ship, the slaves in the hold immediately began to resist, despite the chains on their hands and feet.
As human fuel, these slaves who rowed for the Bulgars had always been filled with hatred for their Bulgar masters, and there were many Christians among them. Now, seeing an army of fellow Christians attacking, when else would they resist if not now?
And those overseers, who were used to being arrogant, never expected these slaves to resist, so they were quickly subdued by the slaves and then beaten to death with fists.
Soon, some Bulgars noticed what was happening in the hold, but they were having trouble defending themselves, because the Poles had already boarded the ship.
Meshko, who was the first to board, immediately noticed the slaves' resistance. He immediately ordered the liberation of the slaves. The soldiers quickly cut the chains with axes, and then the slaves picked up the blood-stained weapons.
Although they had been tormented and were ragged and emaciated, their will for revenge was as conspicuous as a flame in the dark night. To retaliate against those damned slave owners, they were willing to pay any price, even their lives.
With the cooperation of these slaves, Meshko's offensive was naturally incredibly fierce. Soon the entire ship was occupied, those who stubbornly resisted were mostly killed, and some jumped off the ship.
The remaining ones surrendered, but Meshko, seeing the burning rage in the slaves' eyes, only said one sentence.
"We still have other ships to clear. There are no more enemies here."
Then he left with his men, and fear immediately surged in the prisoners' eyes, because they all knew what Meshko's unspoken meaning was.
What followed was naturally countless screams and wails, but Meshko paid them no mind. He left some of his subordinates to control the ship and continued to walk the "bridge," intending to capture another galley.
But he soon realized it was unnecessary, because that galley was already burning, so conspicuous on the water, like a torch.