Two miles south of Marseille, the smoke and fire in a newly captured village had not yet been extinguished. It was obvious that a fierce battle had just ended. There was no movement of any living people in the village except for a dozen heavily armed guards patrolling in formation or armed sentry posts.
A relatively spacious and tidy mansion in the center of the village was busy with busy people. They were all wearing gray and white tight-fitting robes, with swords and axes hanging on their waists. In the hall in the middle of the mansion, Art was holding his chin next to the sand table, carefully studying the topography of Kodor Province and the deployment of enemy troops.
Robert, Bishop of Tyniec and advisor to the Legion of Wales, hurriedly walked into the hall wearing a brown monk's robe. "My lord, the secret flying pigeon message to the palace should have been delivered to the palace by now. Once we capture the Liberation Army on the northern line of Marseille Castle, we should launch an all-out attack."
Att withdrew his thoughts from the sandbox world and looked up at the newly-appointed bishop in simple clothes, waiting for his next words.
"But not long ago I heard that the palace has been divided into two factions, and the voice of the peace faction is not quiet. If we are determined to capture Fort Marsi and wait for reinforcements, and the palace and the Liberation Army are delayed in taking action on the northern front, then Kodo Thousands of troops from the provinces of Ernest and Saône are pressing over, and our situation is..."
"The Lord and the faction should all die! At what time do you dare to attempt to divide borders and rule." Robert slapped the wooden frame of the sand table hard.
Matt walked around the edge of the sand table and approached Robert, "Robert, don't worry, the new monarch will not be influenced by the old-school powerful ministers on this matter. Now the new monarch's Liberation Army has been infiltrated and controlled by the former Longxia Army. As long as the new monarch does not want to reconcile, the Liberation Army will definitely attack in a big way."
Art patted Robert on the shoulder to express his comfort, "It happens that our new king is a man who will not sleep with the enemy."
"Ask the secretary to write a secret letter. Once we capture Fort Marci, it will be sent to the Longxia Territory immediately, so that the people of the Longxia Mountains can immediately set up the border."
Robert nodded in response, but there was still a trace of worry in the corners of his eyes.
"Sentinel on duty! Sentinel on duty!" Art shouted towards the outside of the hall.
A guard officer carrying a sword and wearing armor stepped in from outside the door, "My lord!"
"Send someone to Marsiburg to see if the army has started to attack? How is the battle situation? Report back quickly."
........................
Marsiburg, the war is raging.
A siege machine built in a hurry day and night is as powerless as a child's plaything made of firewood in front of the steep and extremely solid Marsiburg.
A stone the size of a human head cannot cross the wall when thrown by a trebuchet, and it can only make a shallow scratch when it hits the stone wall; the crossbow arrows shot upward also become extremely weak after flying on the long upward trajectory. Hundreds of arrows may be able to stab an unlucky guy hanging on the wall.
On the contrary, the rain of stones and arrows swooping down from the wall of Marsi Castle from time to time can always knock down a few hard-working farmers. At this time, these hard-working farmers should be digging in their own land, but they do not want to be robbed by a sudden army.
"This battle is impossible! There is not even a breakthrough, even if I use a head-filler, I don't know where to push." The young officer who was hiding behind the simple trebuchet and carrying his shield to block the arrows on the wall turned his head and spat fiercely on the ground. Two laborers had fallen in front of him, and the medical soldiers in the rear line were dragging the injured back to the rear line for treatment under the cover of the shield soldiers.
Hans raised his foot and kicked the young officer gently, "Bury! Watch your words, disrupting the morale of the army before the battle, you have several heads waiting to be chopped off!"
After speaking, Hans slowly turned his head and glanced at the military sergeant holding a horn bow diagonally behind him. The kite shield and spear on his chest meant that he was a sergeant at the level of a squad leader. The white feather helmet and the special quiver on his waist showed his special identity. There are such military law sergeants in every flag team. These sergeants who belong to the military law supervision team have only one mission - to kill their own people.
The young military law sergeant diagonally behind Hans was named Matthew. He was transferred from the bodyguard. He was not old but not young, and he was ruthless to the enemy and also ruthless to his own people.
He stood at the back of the battlefield, with a quiver on his waist containing specially made arrows. These arrows used cotton tips dipped in red paint instead of iron arrowheads. Anyone who cowered in battle and was unable to charge would be shot by these arrows. When the battle is over, those who have red marks on their robes and have not made any military merits will have a hard time. The lighter ones will be demoted and fined, and the worst ones will be directly beheaded.
However, from yesterday afternoon to this evening, the fighting in Fort Marsi has been raging all night and day, but there has not been a real attack, so the quiver on Matthew's waist is still full.
The physically strong Bury would certainly not be afraid of a guy smaller than himself, but he represented the law and discipline of the entire army, so Bury had to shut up in anger, and then looked at the arrows shot from time to time on Fort Marsi with his shield on his head.
Suddenly, a long horn sounded.
"We're going to attack by force? Is this too hasty? It's almost dark now, how much longer can we fight? After all, we have to wait for the captured laborers from the rear to build the siege tower and battering ram before attacking by force? We expect us to attack the city with wooden ladders~" Burry took a breath, and the chance of ending the battle alive was probably slim.
As soon as the complaints stopped, the company's messenger came to the front line, "Everyone in the Third Banner Corps listens to the order! Immediately withdraw to the rear line to gather and prepare for the storming of the North City.
Hands and Bury were confused this time. The south of Marci Fort is still flat and there is a gentle slope that can be used for fighting. He had to climb the mountain with his life, but the north part of the city was simply a steep cliff, and it was impossible to reach the top of the wall even with a ladder.
"What's going on? Assembling troops to attack the north city, isn't this going to death? Where is Commander Rigg?" Hans couldn't help but turn around and ask the flag captain Rigg, but he was nowhere to be found.
"Brother Hans, this is a military order personally issued by Lord Weitz. Chief Rigg has gone to Lord Weitz to accept the task."
Although they were full of doubts, everyone did not dare to disobey it at all. Forty or fifty soldiers immediately began to gather in the rear formation.
"Bury, give your shield to the second team. Your team will be responsible for climbing the city ladder in a while. The second team will cover you. The northern city wall is high and steep and it is not easy to climb up the city ladder. I am not worried about the others." After the army expanded, Hans became a squadron leader under Rigg's banner, and the butcher Berry also became the main battle squad leader of Hans's squadron.
"To attack the North City by climbing the city ladder, I really don't know whose order it is~" Berry sheathed his long sword and put his shield on his back, while muttering to the small group of soldiers to pick up the wooden ladder and retreat to the rear.
.............
In the city of Marsiburg, the atmosphere of war has reached its extreme.
This is a dangerous place, but there has been no war for many years. Even if they occupy a steep fortress that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the defenders in the castle are very nervous. In just one day, they have thrown countless arrows and stones at the enemy forces outside the city...
Behind the arrow stack on the west fort wall, Stanley, who had just put on a set of tattered cotton armor, led five men who looked like laborers and turned to watch the battle in the south of the city. The fireballs thrown by the crude trebuchets of the Welsh Legion outside the city could occasionally pass over the towering fort wall and fall into the wooden huts behind the wall, making a hole. However, the lack of powerful weapons was really difficult for the defenders to cause more losses. On the contrary, the clay pots of kerosene and rain of arrows and stones thrown down by the defenders in the city can make the siege party tremble every time.
“Fortunately, my lord, we have planned an attack strategy early. If we really hope to win by storm, we don’t know how many corpses we have to bury before we can open the door of Marsi.” Oliver raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. It was not just because of the hot weather.
Stanley watched another clay pot of kerosene being thrown to the main battlefield in the south of the city in a famous arc by the trebuchet in the city. He couldn't help but squirm his Adam's apple, "I don't know how many soldiers will suffer if this clay pot is thrown over. The Kodor people are not very good at fighting, and they are not good at building cities and forts. But it is really powerful. The advantage of such a high and dangerous castle lies entirely with the defenders. "
"Everyone, are you ready?" Stanley did not have time to pay attention to the one-sided offensive in the south of the city. He had to focus on the west side of the city. Whether he could capture Fort Marci all depended on this.
“Don’t worry, guys, we’ve been holding it in for dozens of days just so that there will be no mistakes in tonight’s battle.” Oliver’s voice was extremely low.
Stanley glanced at the city defenders who were separated by several of his own men, and turned his head and whispered: "I have to deal with the defenders at the top of the city, and I will leave the city gates to you. Remember, even if you kill the last person, you have to open the castles for me to welcome Sir Ron to attack."
The time went back to a few days ago, when the defenders of Fort Marsi received a sudden warning from the south and immediately fell into panic. They had been preparing for the possibility of a surprise attack by Lucese's army through the dangerous mountain passes, but they never thought that the enemy army had already opened the gap between the two border counties in the south and rushed straight towards them.
It was rumored that the enemy troops were burning, killing, looting and attacking fiercely. The defenders of Marsiburg gathered the people from the surrounding villages and manors into the city, and at the same time selected the best from the city and distributed them with simple weapons and armor as peasant soldiers (militia) to defend the city.
Hong Kong laborers who have worked hard for more than a month in Marseille Fort and devoted their sweat to fortifying the city defense are of course also among the selection. A dozen laborers led by Stanley formed a defensive army.
However, the garrison commander of Fort Marsi obviously had some brains, and he was also aware of the reputation of the Wells Legion's machinations. He was worried that enemies would take advantage of the chaos to sneak into the peasants and soldiers, so the temporarily recruited young men were disrupted and organized.
Those peasants and soldiers who were confirmed to be from surrounding villages and estates were incorporated into the most important south gate to supplement the defensive force. Those whose origins were unknown or suspected of being enemy soldiers were all placed in relatively secondary wall sections or simply did some hard work, and had no chance to obtain weapons and armor.
Stanley's group of people are not considered suspects. They arrived here more than a month ago and participated in almost all the hard work of strengthening Fort Marcy. The most important thing is that Stanley himself has become friends with a certain officer of the garrison. The garrison officer often received from Stanley the salary that was deducted from the laborers.
The dozen or so peasant soldiers (militia) led by Stanley were responsible for assisting the sheriff living in Marsi to guard the West City. This was the result of Stanley's efforts.
The west city is not the main gate of Marcy Castle, or it is not a city gate at all. Although the terrain in front of the south city is high enough, there is at least a broad gentle slope. The enemy can push siege equipment up the gentle slope to attack. However, the west castle gate is only a single iron gate less than ten feet wide. The road leading down the mountain outside the gate is rugged and narrow. The main function of this castle gate is to facilitate the city to send surprise troops out of the city to attack the enemy's flanks.
This will not be the focus of the enemy's attack, and it is estimated that no army is willing to line up in a winding line to attack from the bottom up. Since it is not an important defensive area, it is natural to send less important people to guard it...
While Stanley and Oliver were whispering to each other, an enemy army of a hundred people galloped from the main battlefield in the south of the city around the west of the city to the north of the city.
「It’s begun!」