When Balian, who had laid an ambush inside and outside the monastery, saw the thick smoke billowing in the western sky, he already knew that it was Ater who had sent a warning signal to him, and that the enemy would attack him from the dense forest in the west.
Balian didn’t know that Art had actually led four guards to launch a surprise attack on an enemy dozens of times his own size in order to buy himself time to defend or retreat. In Balian’s eyes, Art not only sent people back to report the news, but also informed the enemy of the direction of attack in advance. This was considered to be the most benevolent thing.
"Man, thank you for your warning, but these rebels and bandits can't scare me away." Balian caressed the hilt of his sword, turned and walked towards the main stone hall of the monastery.
The monastery at this time is no longer what it was yesterday. Real soldiers are currently ambushing the hills less than a hundred steps away from the monastery. Except for Balian's personal guards, the monastery is full of miscellaneous laborers and servants. The monks have also been urgently moved to a cave on the north side of the monastery to temporarily hide from the swords. No one can guarantee that the red-eyed rebel bandits can restrain themselves from killing the clergy.
The appearance of the monastery is still the same, but there are some figures on the roofs of several sturdy wooden houses, the attic bell tower of the palace, and the bricks and tiles on the top of the warehouse.
Yes, these are the crossbowmen arranged by Balian. Although the melee combat effectiveness of those miscellaneous laborers and servants is almost zero, it is not a big problem to ambush on the relatively safe attic roof and shoot crossbows at the enemies who rush into the monastery.
They were assigned a crossbow and twenty or thirty crossbow arrows in teams of two, and took turns to go into battle. If they had a superior position, they could at least overwhelm the enemy with a hammer blow, or hold the enemy back until the cavalry and soldiers on the hillside rushed down to chop melons and vegetables on the rebel bandits.
After entering the monastery hall, Balian ordered a bench to block the door, and then led a few soldiers armed with bows and arrows and crossbows to the attic of the hall, opened all the windows, and waited for the "raid" of the rebels...
.........
The sun was setting in the west and had not yet set. This was not the best time to attack.
However, a group of rebel bandits outside the monastery in the southern mountains of Provence could no longer wait until it got dark, because they also saw the smoke signal in the sky to the west.
One hundred guys who had been cornered were determined to burst into final madness. They roared through the dense forest line and ran towards the monastery gate.
Then, the charging team suddenly stopped.
"Commander, there is a problem! There is a problem! It is too quiet in the monastery!" A rebel officer discovered the problem, because just when they rushed out of the edge of the dense forest, several sentries outside the monastery turned around and ran into the monastery, and then there was no movement.
The rebel commander looked around with his long sword, and repeatedly searched for traces of the enemy in the monastery.
At this moment, he is riding a tiger and is unable to get off. What is the enemy trying to do? Are you going to attack or not?
After thinking for a while, he made up his mind, "This is just an illusion set up by the border troops. The purpose is to prevent us from attacking easily. The other border troops must not have arrived yet at this time. They just want to delay!"
"Guys! Come on! All the property captured today belongs to you!"
For rebels with a bandit nature, there is nothing more motivating than robbing and dividing property.
Sixty or so rebel bandits shouted and rushed towards the monastery, but the rebel commander still took precautions. He left more than 20 minions outside the monastery to watch the surroundings, guarding against possible enemy reinforcements that might suddenly appear. They would wait until the fighting started inside before rushing in with orders.
After setting up the perimeter, the rebel commander raised his sword and rushed into the monastery gate...
Quiet, eerie quiet.
The monastery is not big but the buildings are sparse, so when dozens of armed and hideous rebel bandits broke open the door and rushed into the monastery, it was still not crowded.
Enemies? Where are the enemies?
I am afraid this is what all the rebels and bandits are wondering about. There is no sign of the enemy at all in the monastery, not even a dog.
Surprises will always come.
As a horn sounded from the attic of the monastery hall, there was only a crisp sound of collapse, and arrows swished towards the rebel bandits who had doubtful faces.
Roof tiles, attics, clock towers, roofs, stone walls, doors and windows, and arrows flew from seven or eight places in the monastery that could allow arrows to fly to the rebels and bandits in the courtyard.
This will be a disaster for those who are at the front and plan to kill them fiercely. The unlucky ones will be hit in the head by an arrow and will be temporarily breathless. The lucky ones will be hit by three or five arrows in the chest and abdomen. They will not die but will definitely not survive. They will twitch and wail in endless pain.
The sudden outbreak of crossbow battle caused a large number of rebels to fall down. Of course, not all of them were shot. Many veteran bandits just fell to the ground out of instinct to avoid the favor of those arrows.
"Archers! Archers!"
The rebel officers shrank their necks towards the corner of the courtyard and ordered the archers to quickly counterattack and suppress them.
A dozen archers came on stage. They raised their bows and arrows and headed towards the rooftop attics. However, due to their disadvantaged position, it was difficult for the archers to shoot those crossbowmen who were hiding in a tricky way.
However, two rounds of arrows still managed to suppress the crossbow, and the rebels and bandits all found a hiding place.
"The border soldiers did not stay in the monastery. This is a trap." This was the thought that flashed through the mind of the rebel commander, and he was about to order everyone to retreat.
"Comnenos, you're finally here!"
Just when the rebel commander was about to shout for retreat, a voice sounded from the attic of the front hall, and it was heard that the man in the attic was the commander of the Verno army, the famous upstart Viscount Bellian in Provence.
"Comnenos, the monastery is surrounded by my ambushes, and you can't escape. Hurry up and surrender to me with your minions. I will allow you to die honorably in a knight's duel, and your minions will also have a chance to survive." The Comnenus mentioned by Balian is the rebel commander with a knighthood.
The enemy commander who was surprised suddenly calmly persuaded the attackers to surrender, which shocked the hearts of the hundreds of rebels. They were all looking around and listening, as if to verify the words of the viscount in the attic.
"A decent death? I won't let you die honorably!"
"Guys, don't listen to his nonsense, he and his soldiers must be hiding in the palace and these wooden houses, let me attack and kill them all!"
The rebel commander took the lead and ran towards the palace, followed by dozens of minions.
The few wooden houses in the monastery were knocked open by the fierce rebels with arrows. The wooden houses were empty without a trace of anyone.
Then came the stone palace. After suppressing the crossbowmen hiding in the high places, the rebels began to attack the monastery palace. No matter what tricks the enemy played, as long as they captured Viscount Balian, everything would be solved.
The rebels bumped with their shoulders, chopped with axes, and smashed with heavy hammers. The wooden door of the monastery hall was about to be smashed down.
Woo~Woo~Woo~
The low horn sounded again...
While the rebels in the monastery were fighting to capture Balian alive at the palace gate, the Provence frontier cavalry and elite infantry who were ambushing on the hill to the north of the monastery had already raised their axes and drawn their swords.
With the sound of three horns, fifteen cavalry and more than thirty elite infantry rushed down towards the monastery without making a sound.
The twenty or so rebels who stayed outside the monastery could no longer hold back any longer. They also wanted to rush in and kill them.
When a menacing army suddenly appeared from the north, their first reaction was disbelief.
When the war horses came trampling with hoofs, they panicked and organized a resistance. But how could the twenty-odd minions block the attack of the cavalry? The hastily formed formation was instantly smashed into pieces, followed by thirty more men wearing armor and holding swords and axes. The infantry of the Hammer Spear rushed out...
Behind the bushes on the barren hills half a mile northwest of the monastery, Art watched the entire battle.
According to the original plan, Art would lead Ron and others to lurk at a relatively safe distance outside the monastery to observe the situation in the monastery. It would be best if Balian and the others were warned and retreated safely. If Balian was really unfortunately attacked, he would rescue Balian from danger while minimizing risk. This would also make Balian owe another life-saving favor.
However, when the rebels broke out of the dense forest, what Art saw was a strange scene. Then, the cavalry rushed down from the heights of the hills, and the infantry in armor came to cover them up. If the two sides were facing each other, they would be equally powerful. However, at this time, the rebels subconsciously believed that they had really been ambushed. How could they organize effective resistance in their panic...
"Sir? We~" Ron opened his mouth and stared at the killing that was still continuing inside and outside the monastery. The rebel bandits had completely lost power. The border troops were killing the remaining enemies surrounded in the monastery one by one. Those guys with quick reactions had already begun to climb the walls of the monastery in an attempt to escape.
"What are you waiting for? If it's too late, it won't be our fault." After saying this, Art turned around and ran towards the col where the war horses were hidden behind the barren hills.
After a while, five horses rushed to the gate of the monastery, and five guys armed with sharp blades joined the battle group that was killing the rebel bandits...
Needless to say the result of the battle, except for the seven or eight missing rebel bandits who escaped into the dense forest hills, the remaining eighty-two rebel bandits were all captured. Forty-six of them were killed, and the rest all knelt down and surrendered.
Viscount Balian opened the door of the palace and walked out. He did not have a chance to see the prisoners everywhere. He walked straight to Art and the others who were cleaning their swords and sheathing them. "Brother Art, I didn't expect you to take the risk and turn back to save me."
Balian was really surprised when At and the others appeared in the monastery to surround the rebel bandits.
"If I had known you were so brave, I wouldn't have had to come back. It's a pity for this plate chain armor. I'm afraid the arsenal officer of Wilno will have to ask me to pay for it." Art touched the chain armor ring that had a crack in the team battle just now, with a look of pity on his face. They borrowed it from the arsenal of Wilno and need to return it to the arsenal.
Balian looked around. There were a lot of weapons and armor on the rebel bandits all over the ground. He waved his hand and said, "Brother Art, no matter what, these five sets of armor on your body belong to you. You can treat them as my Xie Li." By the way, I'll give you a banquet! "
"Come here! Clear out my barracks for Master Art to rest."
Hairyon waved his hand to stop Art's refusal, "Don't refuse, just stay in my barracks. You go down to rest first, and I'll have dinner with you after I'm done here." After that, Balian walked towards the captured rebel commander.
The rebel commander was seriously wounded, but he still refused to surrender, roaring loudly that he wanted to duel Balian as a knight.
Balian walked through the crowd and walked up to the shameless traitor, looked him up and down, and suddenly grabbed the heavy hammer in the hand of the soldier next to him, and hit the head with a heavy hammer. The rebel commander's head exploded instantly...
"I gave you a chance to duel, but you didn't cherish it!"
"Drag this dead dog down to the head!"