It should not be too late yet, but the sky above Vaal City was extremely dark with dense clouds, and the heavy downpour wrapped in the thick dark clouds never fell.
Behind the stacks of the west city wall, Baron Walter, the commander of the first regiment of the Jonah Army, straightened his right arm and asked the guards to wrap a piece of heather gray linen around the arm with a gap. The chainmail hanging on the arm had been chopped by the thick-backed sword of the Western army.
So the enemy troops attacking the city have retreated. However, as the highest commander of the defenders has personally climbed the wall to fight hand-to-hand, I am afraid that the Western Army will not attack the city for the seventh time. Tomorrow will be the last defensive battle for Vaal City.
A young man who looked like an army secretary climbed up from the bottom of the wall to the top of the wall, came to Walter, and whispered: "Lord Commander, the enemy and our battle losses have been calculated. Our army~"
"There is no need to report casualties to our army, just tell us how many casualties the enemy has provided." Walter can roughly estimate the number of casualties of his army. The Western army not only has elite soldiers but also has a large number of heavy siege equipment. Therefore, in just ten days, the elite of the first regiment were basically killed on the wall of Vaal City. Now the main force defending the city is those who accompanied the army and the peasant soldiers who were forcibly recruited in and around the city.
"It's your lord. After we counted the corpses under the city and made a rough estimate, we found that about 200 Western troops were killed in the first four attacks, and more than 50 were seriously injured. The fifth attack in the past two days killed another 100 people, and no less than 30 were seriously injured."
Walter stood up and leaned against the wall and took a look at the Western Army camp outside the city. He said harshly: "Why are these bastards so desperate? They have lost nearly an infantry regiment and are not planning to withdraw. Are they planning to all die under the walls of Val City?"
Walter did not know how powerful the Praetorian Guards were in combat, nor did he know how high the price offered by the Besançon court for their victory was. He was just surprised by the stubbornness of these "old soldiers".
The guards finally bandaged Walter's injured arm. He dismissed the guards and asked the army secretary who was standing in front of him: "Are the kerosene placed in all the granaries and arsenals in the city?"
The scribe, with a tired and decadent look on his face, replied: "The three granaries and one arsenal have all prepared kerosene. As soon as the city gate is broken, the guards will immediately light the kerosene and burn the grain and grass baggage."
Walter nodded, "These grains and weapons must not fall into the hands of the enemy. With these grains and weapons, they can use them as a stronghold to penetrate deeply."
"How many civilians and laborers are there in the city?" Walter asked again.
The secretary thought for a while and replied: "There are about one hundred and fifty civilian laborers who have not been transferred to the city wall. Most of them are old, weak, women and children, and they cannot wield swords."
"I don't expect them to be able to fight the enemy in close combat, but they can always lift rocks. Throwing it under the city is still a good idea. "
"Send an order and ask the kitchen to take out all the fruits, vegetables, wine and meat stored in the city so that all the civilian laborers can eat and drink. After they are full, they will be given some simple weapons and tell them that as long as they go to the city to fight, they will have wine and meat every day!"
The secretary thought for a while and realized that this was all he could do now, so he turned around and prepared to make arrangements.
"Wait!" Walter stopped the clerk.
"I remember there are dozens of prisoners in the castle prison, right?"
The secretary really didn't know how many prisoners were in the prison under the castle, "Sir, I haven't seen this~"
Walter raised his left hand and waved, saying: "It doesn't matter how many prisoners there are, one "Let me out!"
"Huh?"
"Tell these prisoners that if they are willing to take up arms to defend the city for us, I will personally forgive all their sins after the war; if they refuse to fight for me, I will kill them all before the enemy army breaks the city!"
"Yes! Yes!"
The clerk trotted towards the inner castle.
"Legion Chief, there is something unusual about half a mile outside the East City!" A guard from the East City Wall ran to the top of the West City Wall and had no time to catch his breath.
Walter thought that the enemy was going to attack the East City again before dark, so he immediately climbed up on the wall stacks and took a few guards around the south wall stacks to the top of the East City wall.
Standing on the east wall of Vaal City and looking out, you can vaguely see the sounds of men and horses fighting about half a mile away.
The Western Army's large military camp is stationed one mile outside the West City, while the area outside the East City is just the Western Army's outpost camp. There are two flag teams and nearly a hundred skirmishers stationed there. They mainly block reinforcements from the Eastern Army that may come from the east. There are several small garrison posts along the road further east, and they must have been flattened by the sudden appearance of the cavalry.
“Legion Commander, it’s cavalry! It’s cavalry! Two groups of cavalry are charging towards each other. They are going to overwhelm the enemy’s camp!” A flag commander at the top of the east city wall exclaimed loudly when he saw the movement in the distance clearly.
"Reinforcements have arrived! Reinforcements have arrived!" The defenders around the flag force commander also cheered and shouted.
Walter was not as excited as the soldiers. He put his hands on the wall stacks and stepped on his feet to look far into the distance. They tried to see the size of the cavalry team, but the sky was very dark and Walter could not count the number of cavalrymen who were no bigger than a black bean.
Where Walter looked far ahead, two groups of cavalrymen from the Welsh Army Cavalry were riding through the scattered Western Army skirmishers, slashing and sprinting back and forth.
The deputy captain of the cavalry, the knight Reyek, was riding a brown Norman war horse, holding a long-handled iron-headed round hammer weighing five pounds in his hand. As the horse neighed and ran under him, Reyek raised the round-headed hammer in his hand and swung it from bottom to top, and then hit the back of a fleeing Western army in a circle.
With a bang, the spine of the fleeing Western soldier was crushed, and a big bloody pit appeared behind him.
Humbling a fleeing enemy soldier to death, he reined in the reins and stopped running. Then he turned around and glanced at the dozen or so Western troops behind him who were still gathered around the commander holding spears and shields. Reyek turned his horse and kicked the horse and ran back for dozens of steps. Then he jumped off the horse and threw away the reins. He held the tail handle of the long-handled heavy hammer with both hands and dragged the heavy hammer towards the gathered Western troops.
The distance of about ten steps allowed Reyek to accumulate enough strength. When he rushed two steps in front of the Western Army, Reyek roared and swung the long-handled heavy hammer he was dragging behind him at an angle. The hammer hit the Western Army's shield wall with a roar of wind. The two Western Army soldiers behind the shield were instantly knocked to the ground, and a crack appeared in the shield wall.
Reyek took advantage of the situation and swung the hammer in the opposite direction again and struck again, only to hear a crisp sound of the shield breaking...
Reyek's commanding ability may be mediocre, but as a warrior who relies on war to survive, his personal combat prowess is impeccable. Yes, Reyek only used two hammers to smash through the shield wall of the Western Army. The cavalry cruising around also rushed into the Western Army, kicking their horses and raising their swords...
83 Western Army skirmishers, faced with the charge of about 20 assault cavalry, were completely defeated in less than a meal.
Thirty corpses were left lying on the ground, and the rest were injured and disabled and fled back to the Western Army camp outside the West City...
By dark, the Welsh Army Cavalry had completely occupied the camp here.
"Sir Reyek, quickly lead a small group of cavalry to continue to screen the right wing. My lord's team is only one mile away." Lusignan, the cavalry captain riding a black horse, ordered Reyek.
Reyek agreed loudly, then put the heavy hammer on his shoulders, got on the back of the war horse brought by his men, and led a small group of cavalry to run towards the right wing.
As soon as Reyek's figure blurred, dots of fire appeared a mile east of Val City. At first, there were only a dozen or so fires, then one or two hundred torches appeared on the left and right sides, and finally, suddenly a large fire appeared, and thousands of torches appeared in the dark night wilderness.
Baron Walter at the head of Val City was relieved. Based on his experience, he estimated that at least 1,500 torches would be needed to emit such a big fire. In other words, the number of friendly reinforcements is at least 1,500, and there are still one or two hundred torches on both wings of the army.
Walter was thinking about which supporting force could have more than 1,500 people. You must know that the entire eastern border army (the standing army to defend the Swabians) only has more than 2,200 people.
Walter really couldn’t remember it, but at this time it didn’t matter whose army it was. He only knew that Vaal City could definitely be defended...
Bystanders were confused, but the authorities knew clearly.
The officers and soldiers of the Welsh Army had no idea about this plot.
At least the two flag captains Colin and Weitz have no bottom line.
Weitz was walking in the right front of the third flag, less than five steps away from Colin, who was walking in the left front of the second flag. The two flag captains had a common posture. They both held a burning torch in their left and right hands, and even had an elongated torch tied to their backs, which looked quite weird.
The flag soldiers behind them were also separated by a distance of two people, holding a spear in their right hand and a torch in their left hand. They also had a torch tied to their backs; the few officers who did not hold spears held three like Colin Weitz.
"Brother Colin, do you think this bad idea from that guy Denis can really deceive the enemy? Can it disrupt the morale of the enemy's troops?" Weitz shook the two torches in his hands and looked up at the long-handled torch tied to his back.
"Who knows, I guess it can still be of some use, otherwise the adults will not adopt it, but this trick can deceive the enemy's eyes tonight, and the strength will still be exposed tomorrow morning."
Weitz also nodded to express his agreement with Colin's point of view, "That guy Denis just relies on his words to deceive people. Every time he comes to our flag team to chat with the soldiers, his spit is flying all over the air. Every time, he praises the Lord and the two adjutants. We all admire and love the Lord and the two adjutants, but I really can't say it out loud if I praise him like that."
"That is, those ideological and political officials have no effect except glib words, but the soldiers just like to deal with those guys!" Colin also complained twice.
The two of them talked to each other and soon arrived a mile outside the east gate of Vaal City.
"Stop advancing, set up camp on the spot, double the gap between the military tents, and light three bonfires for each team."
Stop the advance, and set up camp on the spot..."
Several messengers from the legion command camp were traveling around to report.
"Expand the gap?"
"Isn't each team a bonfire? Why are there suddenly three bonfires? How much firewood will be burned?" Weitz looked at Colin in confusion.
Colin shrugged, "Don't look at me, I don't know either, just give the order and execute it!"
"Each squadron stopped advancing and set up camp on the spot, with the gap doubled, and each squadron made three bonfires. Quick!"
Colin and Wei As soon as Zi issued the order to his soldiers, Matthew, Art's personal guard, ran to the two of them and conveyed the second order: "Chief Colin, Chief Weitz, your Excellency has ordered that each flag team will dispatch two squadrons to guard the patrol posts half a mile outside the camp. The two officers are responsible for the west and south sides respectively."
"Yes!"
"Matthew, isn't half of the infantry on guard duty outside the camp?"
hh "Yes, Sir Colin, and the crossbow and cavalry teams are all on guard duty outside the camp, and only the heavy armored infantry team remains guarding the camp."
The Western Army's camp in the west of Val City was in a panic. The Western Army, who received the urgent enemy situation, took up weapons from the camp and prepared to fight, regardless of the exhaustion after a whole day of siege and death.
西军大营指挥营帐，一个指挥西军的宫廷禁卫军团领兵子爵大声喝问道:「一千五百人？还不止？不可能！叛军（注）的大部军队都被钉在了北部一线，他们哪来的这么多军队增援？」
「你们究竟看清楚没有？」
"Commander, I have seen it clearly. There were more than 1,500 torches when they appeared. After setting up camp outside the East City, we also counted the number of campfires, and our initial estimate was that there were 1,200 or 300 people."
"Have you counted the heads?" According to the estimate of the number of bonfires, there are more than 200 outposts alone, and the number of rebel reinforcements cannot be less than a thousand. "
"Didn't the sentinel report a few days ago say that there was only an army of five or six hundred people coming from the south of Jona? It seems to be the Welsh Army."
"Could it be that the enemy has been hiding their traces to prevent us from knowing the size?"
The commander of the Western Army was still confused, but the enemy army was already approaching Vaal City, and he did not have time to investigate the origin in detail.
"Immediately transfer a company from the first and second regiments of the Guards Corps, plus all the cavalry from the Border Army Corps, to monitor the enemy outside the east gate of Vaal City. They must not be allowed to enter Vaal City." The commander of the Western Army gave a decisive order.
The messenger turned around to deliver the order, and an officer in the camp who looked like a knight with a gray beard stood up and said to the commander on the throne: "Lord Commander, is this the enemy's bluff? According to the palace (referring to the Besançon Palace) According to the enemy report, the number of the rebel Wells Legion was only five to six hundred. "
The commander of the Western Army lowered his head and said nothing. He also believed that this was a conspiracy by the rebels to send reinforcements. However, the Western Army had been fighting for many days and a bloody battle had just ended today, so he really did not dare to take risks.
A group of commanders of the Western Army in the camp were also whispering among themselves...
.........
Late at night, a dark figure escaped from the tight surveillance of the Western Army outside the North City and climbed into Vaal City using a flying rope. He brought Art's secret message to the commander of the garrison in Vaal City.
The letter informed the defenders that there are thousands of reinforcements. Tonight, most of the troops will sneak out of the military camp and go around the enemy's rear. When the time is right, Yat will lead his army to attack the Western Army. Yate's team will also sneak attack from behind. Yat will also attack from behind. He specially asked the defenders to rush out of the castle and attack the flanks of the Western Army with the signal of three plumes of wolf smoke...
Att did not tell the secret source of this "thousand-man army", and the messenger also refused to tell it on the grounds of confidential military information.
Walter was relieved.
However, if Walter knew that Art was simply playing a dangerous game, he would not accompany him crazy at all...