At the narrow entrance of the canyon on the west side of Sarp Fort, a high wall stands 96 feet wide, 32 feet high, and about 10 feet thick. This high wall is almost entirely made of stone. A deep pit base is dug and a stone is buried at the base. There is a large iron gate in the middle of the high wall. There are wall stacks, fighting positions, arrow towers and anti-arrow baffles at the top of the wall. There are also watchtowers and arrow towers on the steep cliffs on both sides of the high wall.
There is a trench 95 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 15 feet deep ten steps from the high wall. The trench is relatively clean except for some human and animal excrement. In the middle of the trench is a suspension bridge that leads directly to the city gate; beyond the trench suspension bridge is flat turf soil and unknown "surprises."
Behind the high wall is a military camp, but it has now begun to evolve into a military fortress. The original tents have turned into more than a dozen straw huts. Near the side of the canyon, there are even several stone houses built with the remaining stones from the high wall. Except for one barracks of the commander of the Sapp army, the rest are used to store food and weapons.
This high wall and the military camp behind the high wall were named Tiaoshibao, which is simple and easy to remember.
· The stone fortress is simple but strong. It took a year and a half for the Baron Sapp to collect a total of 400 young men and women to build it. The construction was stopped for two months because of Baron Galvin's lack of funds. Later, Art sent 200,000 pfennigs to Baron Galvin before the construction continued.
On weekdays, passing caravans often stop to rest in Tiaoshi Fort. Some lively Sap citizens have begun to set up wooden houses behind the military camp to sell wine and provide food, wine and accompanying girls to the traveling caravans and garrison soldiers.
However, today's Tiaoshibao is a scene of solemnity.
On the high wall of the stone castle, Felix, the first knight of Baron Sapp, son of Lord Baron Galvin, and commander of Sapp army, was looking at the distance of the high wall with a gloomy face.
Behind Felix, the first batch of standing soldiers of Sapp's army had been assembled, and they all stood behind the high walls.
This army numbered more than sixty and was an elite army directly affiliated with Felix. It consisted of five light cavalry, six heavy infantry, fifteen crossbowmen and thirty-six light infantry. They were regarded as the field army of the entire Barony of Sapp. Mainly responsible for external operations (including suppressing bandits), Felix divided the army into a cavalry team, a heavy armored infantry team, a crossbow team and three twelve-man squadrons according to the organization of the Wells Legion. Felix served as the commander and two adjutants.
He did not set up a special baggage train because there were many serfs in his territory, and those serfs were regularly recruited to serve the army.
Since the Battle of the Successors began, Felix has led this army to stay at the Stone Castle, because Felix's father and brother-in-law have repeatedly told him to pay attention to the enemies from the west, and now the enemies from the west have indeed come.
For a section of city wall less than a hundred feet, eighty defenders were enough, but like all the defenders, Felix did not feel relaxed at all. Because the Kodor army arrayed at the entrance of the valley to the west of Tiaoshi Castle already exceeded 400 people.
Sap collar is a piece of fat meat, the kind that is so fat that it emits oil.
Not to mention the flat, fertile farmland and fertile forest rivers surrounded by the mountains of Sarpe, the rich castles, villages and wealthy lords and lords of Sarpe are enough to make those greedy wolves salivate. What’s more, the Barony of Sarpe is a natural shortcut for the western border of Burgundy to communicate with the southern goods trade of Provence.
Such a location has absolute reasons for the Kodor border lords, who have become hostile forces, to organize an army to conquer.
This time, in addition to the 300 private soldiers of the border lords and the peasant soldiers who were called upon, there were also more than a hundred troops (caravan guards, mercenaries) formed by merchants. Their purpose was simple, to seize the trade route from Sap to Provence.
An army with ulterior motives came fiercely towards Baron Sapp.
Felix was still holding the hilt of his sword and looking at the enemy at the mouth of the canyon outside the city. Hunter Mar, the crossbow captain and adjutant of Sapp's army, climbed up the high wall in three steps and came to the wall stack to report the military situation to Felix, " Commander, the entire cavalry team has dispersed to various places in the Baron of Sapp to warn the people. The thirty defenders in Sapp Castle will be able to arrive at Tiaoshi Castle with emergency supplies before noon tomorrow, and the remaining 100 private soldiers of the lords in the territory can also be assembled within two days. "
"In addition, the old lady took Miss Lottie to take refuge. She said that she would accompany you to protect the territory at Sapp Castle. Not only did the old lady not leave, she also ordered all the women in Sapp Castle to be summoned to make food for the army of Stone Castle, saying that she would send people here to feed the soldiers guarding the city..."
"Although the old lady did not go to the Wells Valley, I also sent the inner palace. The servants rode to the Wells Valley to warn."
Felix nodded in agreement, "Since mother doesn't want to take refuge in my sister's territory, forget it, anyway, the enemy army will not be able to cross this high wall for a while."
Felix turned to look at the military camp behind the high wall and the scattered houses behind the military camp, "Have the citizens settled down?"
Mal took off the walking bow from his back and straightened the string. He swallowed a big gulp of saliva and replied nervously: "The men from several households stayed to help us defend the city, and the women and children were sent back to Sap Castle. The food and fodder were also moved to the stone house for storage."
"Mar, don't be nervous. , treat these guys as bandits who have been chased by us and have no place to hide. After a while, you command the crossbowmen to select a section of the wall with a wide range of shooting, and then climb up the arrow tower and shoot separately. Don't be nervous, wait for the enemy to get closer and take aim before firing." After all, Felix has experienced big battles with Art, so he still remembers to calm people down at critical moments.
At this time, the adjutant of Sapp's army, wearing a slightly older set of chain mail, slowly ran to Felix from the side of the high wall. This adjutant was a soldier that Felix recruited from Art's army. Felix gave him the important task of adjutant and army instructor. Another soldier who was recruited from the Wells Army served as the captain of the heavy armored infantry team. Although the heavy armored infantry had a small number, it was very powerful.
"Commander, the things on the top of the mountains on both sides have been prepared. I have sent three soldiers on each side, ready to take action at any time."
"Let them not worry, they will not need those big killers yet."
"It's almost noon. Let's kill all the three sheep in the sheepfold and stew several pots of mutton. The food is ready and sent to the city wall so that the soldiers can all eat and drink. The enemy will definitely launch a test attack this afternoon. We must dampen the enemy's spirit and let them know how strong the walls of the stone castle are and how sharp the swords of our Sapp army are!"
...
After lunch, the Kodor army outside Tiaoshi Fort began to take action. They sent a mercenary army of sixty people to rush towards Tiaoshi Fort carrying three or four rush-made wooden ladders for climbing the city.
The mercenaries' shouts of killing were loud and full of momentum. The crossbowmen drew their bows and shot arrows into the sky towards the high wall. The charging formation was tight and tight, and the attack and defense were measured. However, the attack speed of these sixty mercenaries was very slow. They almost walked over the distance of more than 200 steps step by step.
Mercenaries rely on fighting to survive, and they know how to use the most shocking scenes to fight the lowest intensity war.
Faced with the loud enemy troops, Felix did not order to fire arrows to resist. He knew that this was just a test by the enemy troops, and he did not want to waste the soldiers' physical strength and arrow reserves prematurely.
Besides, it is not easy for those people to get close to the high wall.
Sixty steps in front of the suspension bridge at the base of the wall, a Kodor mercenary held a large wooden shield and a short-handled broadaxe and walked steadily towards the raised suspension bridge step by step. This was a mercenary squad leader. He had been fighting all the time and noticed something unusual. According to common sense, he would be hit by one or two rounds of arrows when he walked into this area. Being able to hold his breath showed that the road leading to the suspension bridge was not as simple as he thought.
The mercenary squad leader snatched the short spear from the hand of a mercenary beside him and prepared to use the tip of the spear to explore the ground to trigger a possible trap. Suddenly, the guy who had just taken the short spear jumped in shock and rolled on the ground holding his feet.
A closer look revealed that the mercenary had just stepped on a small wooden stick inserted in the hay. The dry and yellow hay in winter was similar in color to the wooden stick, making it difficult to spot at a glance.
"Shut up, you bastard. A wooden stick can't kill you. If you keep asking me to chop off your head with an axe!" The mercenary captain scolded the guy on the ground, and then used his short spear to sweep left and right on the turf...
High wall crenellation Finally, Felix saw that the probing enemy soldiers had slowed down very slowly and almost stopped in the trap area, groping forward inch by inch. He picked up a rifle bow leaning against the crenel, took out a flat-headed light arrow from the quiver, put it on the bowstring and rounded it, and pointed it at an enemy soldier holding a short spear thrust into the ground to test.
Collapse! Whoosh~
A light arrow flew over in a slight arc from the top of the wall, bang! There was a sound of being nailed into the enemy soldier's shield, and the enemy soldier was so frightened that he quickly retracted his body behind the shield.
“Mal, let the crossbowmen release their arrows, and aim them all before releasing them!” Felix called to the arrow tower next to him.
Then, a dozen light arrows shot out one after another. The enemy soldiers were very slow and almost stopped in place, so the arrows on the high wall were shot accurately.
Of course, most of the arrows were just to scare the enemy soldiers. Their shields withstood almost all the damage from the arrows...
Under the precise shooting of the arrows on the high wall, the enemies who attacked in the first wave quickly retreated in despair. However, retreat is not a shameful thing for these people. Their salary is paid on a daily basis. The more day they attack, the more they will get and the damage will be reduced. It is a good deal no matter how you calculate it.
It’s just that the lords and merchants who paid to hire have to explode their lungs again...
The same dilemma also happened to Art on the battlefield of Geneburg in the east of the country, far northeast of the stone castle...