After a series of battles, the outpost team led by Art finally got a chance to breathe for more than ten days in Aosta City.
Aosta is, after all, an important town in the eastern part of the Principality of Provence. Although the war has destroyed all businesses in the city, it is still a paradise-like place compared to the darkness in the dense forests of the southern hills.
In the past ten days, Yat not only paid military pay to everyone on time, but also distributed part of the combat military rewards to everyone in advance according to the size of the battle merit.
With money at their side, soldiers naturally have to be extravagant, especially those mercenaries who temporarily join the outpost. Their habit for many years is to spend every copper coin in their purse while they still have a little life left.
For a time, several pubs and hotels in Aosta City that were originally deserted became lively.
While the mercenaries were hangovers, the soldiers belonging to Art's army did not spend much money. It was not that Art did not allow the soldiers to go to a safe place to hang out during non-combat times, but Art's training tasks for the soldiers during this period were too heavy.
Because Art has received a military order, the Eastern Army's team originally scheduled to attack Solburg will assemble at the end of this month. At that time, Art will lead the outpost team south again and join the team that storms Solburg.
In order to reduce the casualties of the soldiers as much as possible, Art sent people to collect information about the defense situation of Solburg, and at the same time asked Odo and Angus to organize soldiers to conduct a simulated siege drill based on the defense of Solburg.
Church Square in Aosta City, the headquarters of the Eastern Legion.
"Ron, you have saved another small life. But unfortunately, your handsome face will always have a trace of a warrior. I hope Ollie will not dislike you." Art patted Ron, who returned from injury, and said with a smile.
"Master, you saved my life again." Ron was reborn after the disaster. His body was still relatively weak, so his tone was also low.
"I just let you live one more night. It was Father Robert who pulled you back from God. I didn't expect that this priest who has been doing nothing all day would still have this ability. You should thank him properly."
< br/> As the priest accompanying the outpost team, Robert did not follow the outpost team to continue fighting south after arriving in Aosta. Art felt that the priest's attitude was too negative, so he followed the priest's wishes and left him in the church in Aosta to pray for the outpost team.
However, when Art returned to Aosta City with Ron lying on the carriage, Robert, who learned that Ron had been infected by a disease that had invaded his brain, offered to treat Ron.
Of course Art rejected this request. He didn't want Ron to be beaten with a cross by a priest or smeared with holy oil and poured with onion sauce to exorcise the devil.
But Robert quickly dispelled Art's concerns. He told Art that Ron's mind was not invaded by demons, but that the toxin from the stab wound on his cheek soaked into his head, causing confusion in his thoughts and fever in his body.
Matt was really shocked when he heard Father Robert's words. It would be understandable if this sentence came from the mouth of Thomas, the "heretic healer", but it is quite strange that a clergyman has such a rebellious understanding that transcends the times.
After carefully observing Ron's wounds, Father Robert found a handful of carrion maggots and placed them on the festering carrion on Ron's cheek, allowing the insects to eat away at the rotten flesh. Then he sent someone back to the church to get some unknown herbal powder from his bag, mixed it into an ointment, and applied it to Ron's clean wound.
Hands on like this for a week, Ron's festering wounds finally began to heal, and Ron stood up again.
After this incident, Art's attitude towards this insignificant priest also changed...
"Father Robert is quite good, but I always feel that he doesn't look like a priest. He always likes to mutter some incomprehensible things." Ron said and couldn't help but touch the cotton on his face, because the wound was healing and the flesh was a little itchy.
Matt knew what Ron was talking about, but he did not take up the topic. "Since you are almost recovered from your injury, hurry up to Odo and take over the training of the 4th Squadron. The commander of the regiment has ordered us to go to Sauerbourg next week."
There were crowds of people outside Solburg, an outlying fortress two days north of Wilno.
The Count of Burgundy went south to aid Provence. More than 500 people from the first squadron, cavalry, crossbows, and outposts of the Eastern Army, plus more than 90 remnants of the Provence garrison originally stationed in Saulebourg, totaled more than 600 people and stopped in the north of Saulebourg.
Salburg, the first fortress for the Lombards to attack the eastern city of Aosta. This fortress is located on a flat land across the river next to the northbound road in Wilno. Although it is called a military fortress, it is actually a city.
Solburgh's defense is divided into three layers -
The outermost periphery is surrounded by four high stone walls 180 feet long, 35 feet high and 8 feet thick. The four corners of the wall and the middle gate There are wooden arrow towers (sentinel towers) built in Xanadu, and giant crossbows can be vaguely seen on the eight arrow towers. The city walls in the north, south and east and west each have a ten-foot-high, eight-foot-wide valve iron grille and an oak double-leaf fortress gate. In terms of outer city defense, this place is very similar to the city of Tyniec County;
The second layer of defense of the castle needs to be overlooked. It is a twenty-foot wide ditch that surrounds the entire Sauerburg. Unlike ordinary moats, this wide ditch is not naturally formed. It is the result of decades of achievements by the defenders of Solburg. Moreover, this wide ditch is within the city wall. Pickets and iron spikes are first buried in the wide ditch, and then the flowing river water is introduced to fill it. This wide ditch is both a moat and a sewage drainage channel. Not only are there dangers everywhere, but there is also feces and urine floating around and the smell is stinky;
There is a row of ten-foot-high fence walls on the inside of the wide ditch, which is the third layer of defense of Sauerburg. There are four suspension bridges between the stone outer wall and the wooden fence. From the first layer of defense to the third layer of defense, you must pass through these four suspension bridges, otherwise you have to consider swimming through the wide ditch with pickets and iron thorns buried everywhere and the smell is terrible.
After these three layers of defense, there is the city of Solburg, which has everything from the lord's hall, church and temple to citizens' residences, pubs and shops. However, after many years of war, there is no bustling scene here. In addition to the soldiers who come and go to fight for their lives, only military supplies (food and weapons) merchants who are willing to sacrifice their lives for money dare to enter and exit.
No matter what others think, Art doesn't have much hope in capturing Solburg.
This place is slightly smaller than the county town of Tynets, but its defensive power is several times that of the city of Tynets. Not to mention that each of the three layers of defense can kill countless people, the three hundred Lombard garrison stationed in the city alone is an insurmountable obstacle.
Since several outposts in the north of Solburg were captured by the Eastern Army, the Lombards increased the defense force of Solburg from 180 to more than 300 within a few days.
The war between the two principalities of Lombardy and Provence has been going on for two years. Both principalities are at the end of their game. At this time, they can still station 300 people in a castle that is not too big. Lombardy is also trying its best.
However, this is a hardship for the Eastern Army on the siege side. Six hundred people attacking the castle garrisoned by 180 people can still concentrate their advantages to find the enemy's weak defense points and attack them desperately, and there is a possibility of victory. But if 600 men attack a fortified city garrisoned by 300 enemy soldiers, the possibility of victory is almost non-existent.
Although Jeffrey had lived in the court for a long time, he was not a military idiot. After learning that the Lombards had increased the number of troops defending the city, he immediately canceled the original attack plan. While letting the remaining 600 legions camp in the north of Solburg to build a strong camp to prevent the Lombard defenders of Solburg from coming out to attack, he also ordered the three companies of the Eastern Legion stationed in the other three castles to send half of their troops to Solburg to join the siege army.
All 360 people from the six flag regiments gathered in the northern camp of Sauerburg within three days.
Nine hundred and seventy men, this was the whole strength of Baron Geoffrey to attack Sauerbourg. If it is a plain field battle, as long as the tactics are correct, an army three times the enemy's number can completely occupy a dominant position, and the victory is very sure. However, this time it is not a wild battle but an attack on a strong castle. Facing the Lombards who hold strong city defenses and have excellent weapons and armor and rich combat experience, they dare not say anything about victory or defeat.
"Lord Commander of the Legion, the outpost has experienced nearly ten battles since it went south to Provence. Especially when we attacked the farm waiting platform, there were too many casualties and injuries. Now in the entire legion, only my soldiers have lost more than half. , We are really not suitable to participate in the assault on the city." In the military tent in the northern camp of Solburg, Art was requesting Viscount Jeffrey, the commander of the Eastern Army, to exempt the outpost from the siege mission. He had already foreseen that the attack on Solburg would be to use human lives to push down the wall and fill the ditch.
Viscount Jeffrey needed a powerful army as a "beating ram" to attack Sauerburg. Looking at the entire Eastern Army, only the outposts had proven their extraordinary combat power with their outstanding records. Of course, Jeffrey wanted the outposts led by Art to be the main offensive force.
But no matter how sharp the blade is, it cannot keep chopping, not to mention that the owner behind the blade is still a dignitary of the palace.
Jeffrey was caught in a dilemma. He paced back and forth in the camp, weighing the pros and cons. Of course, he could force Art to stay in the attack team, but this might result in the loss of an elite team that could be used, and he might also offend the power behind him.
After thinking for a long time, Jeffrey still hoped to keep Art and use this sharp knife to pierce the city defense of Solburg in one fell swoop.
"Art, you know that I am very satisfied with your performance during this period. When Earl Baldwin recommended you to the legion, he asked me to give you more opportunities to perform meritorious service. If you are willing to stay and attack the city, I can give you the first meritorious service after the city is broken. With such a military merit and Earl Baldwin's operation, you should be able to understand the result." Viscount Jeffrey hopes to stimulate Art's ambition through military promotion.
Seeing that Art was unmoved, Viscount Jeffrey continued: "As for the soldiers under your command, they can still be recruited after they died in battle. You have recently recruited a large number of young men from Provence to supplement your outpost. Is it a loss? When you are promoted to a noble title and expand your territory in the future, there will be many people willing to join your command. Killing the enemy and performing meritorious deeds will not kill anyone. When the time comes to attack the city, you can just follow me and command the army in the center. There is no need for you to go into battle in person~"
"Lord Legion Commander, you may have heard that before I was lucky enough to be promoted to a military title in the East, I was just a hunter in the mountains. My men earned my merits with their blood and sweat. Death or injury during marching and fighting is inevitable, but I hope that my men can have more hope of survival and less risk of death."
"And And with all due respect, if you want to storm Solburg, you have to be prepared to lose half of your soldiers. "
Viscount Geoffrey's words stung a bit. His fundamental motivation for going south to Provence this time was to make achievements and be promoted to Lord. The soldiers of the Eastern Army were not his private soldiers. As long as he ensured that the soldiers would not mutiny, he would not be heartbroken no matter how many died in the battle. He just wanted to climb up on their heads.
"Sir Art, you'd better not spread these words around, otherwise I will punish you for disturbing the morale of the army!" Viscount Geoffrey said in a bad tone.
"Also, if you don't get enough military merit, don't go to Earl Baldwin and say that I didn't give you enough opportunities."
Att bowed respectfully to Viscount Geoffrey and replied: "Thank you for your understanding, Lord Legion. I know the meaning of every move I make, and I believe that Count Baldwin does not want all my troops to be folded in Provence. The Count is still waiting for me to take this army back to the County of Burgundy to obey his orders."
Att has already moved out of Earl Baldwin, and it would be inappropriate for Viscount Jeffrey to stay any longer, so he said impatiently: "The Chinese cavalry was originally responsible for defending the Lombard army in the direction of Wilno. Since you want to protect yourself, replace the cavalry with being responsible for the outer defense. Send someone back to the Chinese army every other day to report on the military situation. In addition, I have to tell you, if you hesitate at all when I need you to participate in the siege, I will severely punish you under military law."
"It's your lord!"
Viscount Geoffrey turned his back and waved his hand to signal Art to leave, and then studied the city defense attack map of Solburg by himself...
………
"Sir, we really don't have to participate in the siege battle?" In the military tent of the outpost camp, Angus Odo couldn't believe it after learning that Art had turned down the siege mission.
Like Art's point of view, Angus and Odo had little hope in storming Solburg. Even if they could storm Solburg in one fell swoop, seven out of ten would die.
"Viscount Geoffrey tried his best to keep us as the main siege force, and promised to give us the first attack to recapture Sauerburg after the city was broken. But I refused. The great achievement also needs someone to accept it. If all the people who followed me died under that city wall, I would rather not have such an achievement."
Angus and Odo both lowered their heads and remained silent. They understood what Art had given up and what they had gained.
"Sir, I thank you on behalf of the soldiers." Angus said softly.
"Well, maybe Solburg is not as strong as we suspected. Then don't complain that I gave up an excellent opportunity to make a contribution."
Both Odo and Angus laughed softly.
"Sergeant Major, you set off immediately and lead the sentry team to the south of Sauerburg to find the legionary cavalry team. Tell them that the outpost team is about to take over the peripheral security task. Then you find a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack as our defensive position."
"Odo, let everyone pack up the camp. We will leave the legion this afternoon to guard the perimeter. I am worried that there will be changes if we leave late. In addition, inform the baggage team to carry enough food baggage. I am afraid that the legion will not be able to provide us with enough food supplies recently."
Art gave the order to the two army adjutants, and they were busy taking orders.
After the two left, Art also began to adjust his weapons and armor. Ever since Ron left the Sentinels and became the infantry commander, Art has not had a suitable personal attendant around him. Felix occasionally performed as a follower, but he was the only son of a baron, so it was inappropriate to always be treated as a servant.
Matt remembered Ron's request to come back to him after he recovered from his injury, and said to himself: "It seems that we need to bring Ron back to him sooner."