At noon on the second day after the capture of Fort Marsi, the fire in the castle was basically extinguished, but after the raging hell of fire, Fort Marsi was in ruins.
It is hard for Art to imagine that the power of hatred can be so terrifying. The Viscount, the leader of the Western Border Army (who was reduced to a baron after the war), who had been beaten to a bloody head by Art in the Battle of the North of Tyniec County, had already made plans for the castle to be breached, so the granary, arsenal and arsenal in the castle were made up of more than a dozen wooden structures. Piles of firewood and kerosene had been placed in the residences in advance. At the moment when Fort Marsi was breached, the garrison commander gave an order to plunge Marsi into a sea of fire, and then he himself chose the most dishonorable way to kill himself.
This will be a disaster for the Welsh Army who attacked Fort Marsi.
The siege battle had already exhausted all the energy. I originally thought that I could get repairs after entering the city, but I never thought that I would have to go to put out fires everywhere in the city without even having time to drink a mouthful of water. The most important thing is that although the outer city has been captured, there are still stubborn remnants of the enemy in the city. The soldiers have to put out the fire at the risk of being burned, and at the same time, they have to beware of the remnants of the enemy who may rush out from the streets and alleys at any time.
Standing at the commanding heights of the sentry tower on the slightly dilapidated south wall of Fort Marsi, Art was extremely anxious.
After deploying half of the soldiers to put out the fire, the two largest fires in the granary and arsenal have been brought under control, but it is hard to say how much grain and weapons will be left after a fire.
The main reason why Art must hold Marsy Castle is that this is a strong and dangerous place. The Welsh Army, which is marching straight into the enemy's territory alone, needs such an easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack castle as a peg.
But if it is a dangerous place without food, grass and weapons, it can only become a tomb of the Welsh Army in the mountains. When the enemy comes, there is no need to attack it. After a month or two of siege, this elite division in the castle will starve to death.
Hence, Art must keep the granary arsenal of Fort Marsi, at least most of the food.
Hurrying footsteps came from the wooden ladder of the sentry tower. Odo, who was covered in charcoal ash, with his eyebrows and hair scorched and curly, hurriedly climbed up the sentry tower.
"Odo, has the fire in the granary been put out?" Art turned around quickly and asked Odo, who was in charge of siege and then put out the fire.
"Big~~" Odo tried to speak, but his throat was dry due to the flames and he could not speak normally. He squeezed out a mouthful of spit to swallow, and then replied in a hoarse voice: "Sir, the fire in the granary has been basically extinguished, but half of the food was burnt. The remaining food is estimated to last for three months at most."
For the remaining half of the food, the Wells Army paid the price of five deaths and three serious injuries. One of them was choked to death by the fireworks in the granary, and the remaining casualties came from the near-death struggle of the remaining enemy soldiers who were ambushing in the granary.
After staring at the city for a moment, Art slapped the guard tower railing hard and said, "Three months, that's enough!"
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the wooden ladder of the sentry tower. As he walked, he ordered Odo beside him: "Odo, Fort Marsi has been taken, but the sergeant major is still fighting to the death with the pursuers. I must rush to reinforce the sergeant major. You personally lead a company of soldiers and all the baggage personnel to stay at Fort Marsi, and be sure to bring Fort Marsi completely under our control before dark."
"In addition, after settling in Fort Marsi, we immediately sent a small group of elite troops to establish an outpost to the north. The pursuers behind have not retreated yet, and the blocking enemy in front is coming soon."
Odo just took the water bag from Ron and took a sip and followed immediately, "Sir, the remaining enemies in the city have been basically pacified. However, more than 70 enemy defenders have been captured in this battle. What should we do with them?"
Att paused for a moment. The enemy army stationed at Fort Marsi was not an ordinary local army in Codor. They mainly came from the border army of Saône Province. They had also forged an undying hatred in the north of the county. Even if such enemies surrendered, they would always be a hidden danger.
"All officers above the trainee knight level will be imprisoned and executed secretly. We have to clear positions for the new army to be rewarded with land lords in the future. The rest of the soldiers will be executed if they have enemies." Art is not going to relent.
"Yes, sir!" Odo responded simply.
"Ron, assemble the second company, heavy armored infantry, and crossbows to follow me to the rear to meet the sergeant major."
"By the way, bring Stanley with me too."
Ron took the order and immediately jumped off the city wall and went to the city to assemble the troops...
"Crossbow bolts! Crossbow bolts! Send another bag of crossbow arrows."
"Spearman, another spearman!"
"The right wing is about to break, support the right wing immediately!"
The sound of killings in the land bordering the hills and plains southwest of Marciburg was loud.
In an open space backed by a steep hill, dozens of iron-clad four-wheeled carriages specially made by the Welsh Legion formed a semi-arc formation. Except for more than thirty cavalrymen riding slightly heavier armor, all the other soldiers were assigned to the carriages to throw stones with bows or to poke holes in the carriage planks with spears to kill the approaching enemy infantry.
And half an arc away, more than 300 enemy troops from the two southern counties of Kodor Province were breaking the formation regardless of casualties.
The half-arc formed by the chariot became the scythe of death, harvesting fresh lives.
The pursuing soldiers from the southern county of Codor were killed numerous times by the weapons on the carriages. At the weak joint between the two carriages, a thick pile of corpses had been piled up. There were soldiers from the Wells Legion, but more were pursued by Codor soldiers.
As the commander of the battle, Angus did not rush to the carriage to participate in the front-line battle. He led more than thirty heavy cavalry immediately in the rear formation, observing every part of the curved front line of the carriage formation at any time. Once there was a crack in the defense line somewhere, he would immediately dispatch soldiers to rush for reinforcements.
Looking at the enemy's fighting style at all costs, the cavalry captain Lusignan became a little anxious. "Sergeant Major, the enemy is completely filling the hole with human lives. They almost exchanged ten lives for one of our soldiers. The enemy cannot bear such casualties, and we cannot bear it, let alone the enemy." I am completely obsessed today.”
The pursuing soldiers from the southern county of Kodor have all rushed to the battlefield. There are more than 500 people, including more than 150 heavy cavalry. With the strength of the troops and the disadvantage of combat power, the pursuers chose a desperate strategy of exchanging human lives for victory.
The Wells Army, which relied on chariot defense, also suffered a battle loss ratio of eight to ten kills and one loss during attack and defense.
The Welsh Legion is no better than the county soldiers. As professional soldiers, their manufacturing cost is too high, and it is not economical to compete with a group of county soldiers who have just left their status as farmers.
What's more, it was just noon, and there was still half a day before the blocking time stipulated in the Chinese army's military order.
"Of course I know that the battle loss ratio is too high, but your lord ordered us to hold off the enemy for one day, and we have to carry out the military order even if we kill the last man." Angus was also anxious and angry, but after the military meeting in the middle of the night yesterday, he came up with such a last-ditch strategy.
At the military meeting last night, someone proposed to lay traps in the hilly areas or deal with the enemy, but this proposal was immediately rejected. Not to mention that the pursuers who have been attached for a long time will not give them time to set up traps and ambush. Even if they set up an ambush, the enemy may not be ambushed, because there are more than one roads leading to Marsy Fort. If the enemy discovers a trap, they can immediately change other routes to approach Marsy Fort.
So in the end everyone had to use the most primitive method to hold off the enemy.
"Sergeant, I request to lead the cavalry out of the chariot formation to disrupt the enemy's attack and give the brothers behind the chariot a chance to breathe and treat the wounded soldiers." Lusignan took the initiative to ask for a fight, even though he had just suffered an abdominal injury yesterday.
Angus looked at his cheeks that had not yet regained the color due to excessive blood loss, and turned to Jafar, the adjutant of the cavalry, "Jafar, you personally lead twenty heavy cavalry out from the right wing and charge along the car formation."
Jafar was so tired of waiting that he directly led two squadrons of cavalry to charge towards the right wing...
As the heavy cavalry led by Jafar completed the attack on the front of the vehicle formation, the enemy soldiers attacking the vehicle formation finally suspended their attacks and retracted their troops for repairs. After all, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers was limited.
And Jafar also carried two captured enemy soldiers back to the vehicle formation.
“Master Sergeant, I have captured two alive, and I want to ask them why they are so desperate for their lives. This does not look like a county soldier.” Jafar ordered the two prisoners to be pushed in front of Angus’s horse.
Angus glanced at Lusignan. Lusignan drew his sword from his waist and jumped off his horse. He quickly walked up to a prisoner who had been stabbed in the shoulder and asked directly: "Tell me, are you a county soldier?"
Lusignan didn't even ask a second question. He raised his hand and raised his sword, and slashed at the prisoner. With a pop, most of the prisoner's neck was cut off, and his head was hung directly on his chest. It was extremely terrifying.
The head that Lusignan failed to decapitate due to his abdominal injury had an unexpected deterrent effect. When Lusignan's sword turned towards the second prisoner, the guy was already shitting and pissing.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me, I say, I say." There was no need for Lusignan to ask another word.
"We are the soldiers of the southern county. The reason why we are so desperate is because this morning a military order was sent from the central army. Anyone who beheads an enemy will be rewarded two thousand pfennigs. Anyone who beheads two or more enemies will be directly promoted to a knight. Even the families of the brothers who died in the battle can receive it~ That's why the guys are so desperate." After the prisoner said that, he collapsed on the ground, waiting for the decision of fate.
Everyone was silent for a moment. No wonder the enemy today was more willing to sacrifice their lives than yesterday. It turned out that the pursuing commander had put forward such life-saving conditions.
“Do you have any reinforcements?” Angus asked.
"No more. Except for a very small number of garrison troops in the two southern counties of Codor, all the other armies are here. It seems that the city of Codor sent a secret order, telling us that we must rush to Fort Marsi within today. Sir, I only know this much, I really only know this much, please don't kill me~Don't kill me~" The prisoners kowtowed like garlic.
Angus thought for a moment, turned his head and looked at the road leading to Fort Marsi behind the hill, then looked up at the pursuers outside the car formation who were preparing to attack, lowered his head and said softly to the prisoner lying on the ground: "I won't kill you, I need you to go back and bring a message to your commander..."
.........
"What? Peace?"
“Yes, we are asking for peace. They said they know they cannot stop the army, and I hope you, Lord Viscount, can let them live~”