As the two armies approached this point, Rostislav noticed that the pagans had pushed the mountain people to the front line, and he wondered what those mountain people were thinking now.
As for Yanos's thoughts, they were simple: his cooperation with these mountain people was temporary; they were only interested in Fehérvár's wealth. Since these mountain people could only be used this one time, it was better to make the most of them.
Furthermore, putting them on the front line could effectively prevent them from fleeing or backstabbing. Yanos did not trust the integrity of this group of people.
As for Yanos's loyal supporters, they waited as a reserve force, which was also to preserve strength. How could the core forces be the first wave of cannon fodder?
Just like that, the battle lines of both sides collided. At this moment, it had become a constant squeezing of shield against shield, man against man, followed by seizing every opportunity to thrust weapons through.
There was no other strategy to employ; it was purely a contest of physical strength.
The Christian side was more elite and better equipped, while the pagan side had more numbers, and the situation immediately became a stalemate.
As for flanking maneuvers, they were unlikely, as both sides held a large number of cavalry for flanking or counter-flanking.
The situation suddenly became so awkward, like two people swinging axes repeatedly at the air, intending to scare the other party.
For the participants, such battles were adrenaline-pumping, but for observers, such battles were quite boring.
Moreover, both sides had no room for ingenious ideas, so they could only watch the chaotic battle of the large armies below.
To pass the time, some veteran soldiers waiting for battle even started chatting. For them, war was as normal as eating and drinking, so rather than waiting nervously, it was better to have a good chat.
Some new recruits, whose nerves were taut, were also pulled into conversations by the veterans. The veterans had all experienced this stage and knew how to adjust the new recruits' state, just as they had experienced themselves.
The commanders were the same; the current battle situation was indeed somewhat boring, as the situation on the front line was clear at a glance.
However, as the orchestrators of the entire battle, they had more to discuss regarding the future direction of the battle, and they could not afford to relax because of it.
"This is a bit troublesome. If we keep this up, we will surely lose. The enemy ultimately has more people than us."
Looking at the fierce battle lines, the Moscow Prince expressed his concern. The enemy indeed had a numerical advantage; the enemy's reserves were much larger, and they were all fanatical, suicidal zealots. If they continued to drag on, they would inevitably lose.
"The enemy's cavalry is also watching us. Once we attack, we will be entangled. Although those guys are useless, their numbers are there, and holding us back is certainly not a problem."
Yang added, looking at the waiting nomadic cavalry. He was somewhat annoyed; it was the first time in so many years he had encountered such a battle situation, completely restricted, unable to do anything he wanted.
"How about we charge directly once, have some cavalry dismount, and then lead them with axes or similar weapons for a central breakthrough?"
Meshko timely offered a suggestion. In his opinion, there was nothing an assault could not solve; if one attempt failed, try again.
He had expected this suggestion to be approved, but Rostislav and Yang still looked troubled; they were not as optimistic as Meshko.
"There are still quite a few zealots there. These madmen don't mind trading lives with us for their god. Have you forgotten those crazy naked men from before? Those guys, even at the cost of their lives, want to inflict casualties on us. I don't want to use elites as cannon fodder for a trade; that would be too wasteful and an insult to these warriors."
Rostislav's tone was quite impatient, which immediately made Meshko lower his head. He thought he had said something wrong to anger Rostislav.
But this impatience was not directed at Meshko, but at the current chaotic situation. Rostislav truly did not know how to break the deadlock before him.
And just as Rostislav frowned, a squad of German knights dismounted under orders and walked towards the shield wall to support the faltering front line. Seeing this, Rostislav's expression worsened.
— — — — — — — —
While Rostislav was so troubled, his opponent was naturally beaming. Yanos watched the development of the battle, and the frown that had appeared on his face due to the Rus' Princes' previous cavalry display now relaxed.
Victory would undoubtedly belong to him. He still had thousands of reserves, while the Rus' Princes had already been forced to dismount even their cavalry and commit them to battle.
If it continued to be a war of attrition, victory would surely belong to him.
Seeing that the battle situation here was settled, Yanos also had other ideas.
He had not forgotten why he had come to this city. Controlling the Christian Princes within the city was the most important thing. As long as those people could be controlled, this attempt would be a great success.
"Zoltan, where is Zoltan?"
Following the leader's call, an old man in a black cloak rode out.
However, if Rostislav were here, he would recognize this old man. He was the Christian old man who had given him that pagan divine emblem during the grease dispute.
However, this old man was now completely dressed as a pagan priest, covered in various decorations that could be considered blasphemous, forming a stark contrast to his previous Christian image.
"Zoltan, you must do the next task well. Immediately take those useless people who have just been assembled into the city and assist Zhe'erji in taking the palace. Also, Zhe'erji must 'have an accident' this time; you cannot disappoint me again. Your little tricks last time were completely useless."
The "useless people" Yanos referred to were the nomadic cavalry who had just recovered from their defeat. Since these guys couldn't go to the battlefield, then let them do something else.
And the other layer of meaning in his words carried significant implications.
From these words alone, we can see that Yanos was actively increasing the difficulty of his plan.
But things cannot always be seen on the surface; some things cannot be clearly stated.
In Yanos's heart, he never considered the Árpád Dynasty's illegitimate son an ally, but merely a tool that could be used, and even a tool that could be discarded after use.
The pagan forces led by Yanos did not want anyone from the Árpád Dynasty to survive, not even an illegitimate son. All adult male members had to die; this was the minimum standard.
Only when the kingdom's order, represented by this dynasty, fell into complete chaos, would paganism on this land have an opportunity to flourish again.
Otherwise, facing the encirclement and suppression by the provincial governors across the country under the command of the Árpád Dynasty, they would soon suffer another defeat, just like decades ago.
If this operation went according to plan, they could eliminate all adult direct descendants of the Árpád Dynasty at once.
And with the death of these direct descendants, there would be no need to keep that illegitimate son.
Therefore, they designed all of this and, in order to conveniently eliminate that illegitimate son, created an opportunity by actively revealing clues to the Rus' Princes.
For them, even if all the followers sent to Fehérvár in the early stages were lost, it did not matter; these were necessary sacrifices.
Moreover, most of them were people gathered by Zhe'erji, who had won over a group of people with the promise of converting after becoming King.
These people all came to Fehérvár to serve Zhe'erji, striving for the bright future in their hearts.
They just didn't realize that the operation in Fehérvár was merely a diversion from the beginning. The large army was the foundation for executing all of this, and Yanos never expected the plan to succeed.
Compared to success, they were more like a failure. After all, for a diversion, wouldn't it be better to have something like uncovering a major pagan conspiracy?
However, even though they leaked information to the Christians, the Christians' vigilance was still very limited, still allowing the illegitimate son's plan to succeed. He even almost captured those Christian Princes.
This was the sign Yanos and his group least wanted to see, meaning his prestige would reach its peak.
And now, Yanos needed the mission completed, and more importantly, the error corrected.