“...Odo, what are our casualties?” After all the frontline soldiers withdrew to the camp, Art hurriedly asked Odo, who came to report the battle damage.
"Sir, we have a total of fifty-seven casualties in this battle, and more than half of them are elite soldiers who rushed to the front." Odo's face was solemn, and he turned his head to the side.
Since the establishment of the Welsh Army, it has never suffered such a big loss.
The soldiers responsible for breaking through the city gate this time are all elite members of the Wells Legion. They have experienced many large and small battles and are a powerful siege weapon in Art's hands. Unexpectedly, dozens of elite soldiers were lost just after the siege began. One can imagine the difficulty of the subsequent siege.
"We still attacked when the enemy was not prepared. If we really attacked hard, I'm afraid there would be more casualties. According to the Marquis' plan, our main purpose of attacking the city is to find out the enemy's defense strength and prepare for a large-scale attack in the future. Judging from the current casualties, we must be mentally prepared." Art said in a low tone, pacing back and forth in the tent.
"Sir, what do you mean~"
"I mean, if we want to take Thorne City this time, we may have to pay a huge price." Before Odo could finish speaking, Art began to explain.
"Sir, the Marquis has sent someone to invite you to the Liberation Army camp for a military meeting." As soon as Art finished speaking, Ron opened the door curtain and came in to report to Art.
"I understand, you go down first."
"Yes, sir."
As soon as Ron walked out of the camp, Art turned around and ordered Odo: "Odo, after I leave, you and the sergeant major will immediately prepare for the next large-scale attack on Thorne City. This battle is of great importance and cannot be taken lightly."
"Yes, sir." Odo responded to the order and quickly walked out of the command camp.
"Bernard, you are not so lucky this time!" After Odo went out, Art had a murderous look in his eyes.
"The Marquis has arrived!" As soon as the guard outside the tent opened his mouth, Flanders had already opened the door curtain and walked in.
"Sit down, everyone!" Flanders said before everyone could pay their respects.
"You have all seen the exploratory attack this morning. Although we had the upper hand, we were still unable to attack Thorne City from the front, resulting in heavy casualties." After everyone sat down, Flanders briefly summarized the situation of the morning's attack on the city to those present.
"Art, how is the situation there?" Flanders turned to look at Art.
"Back to the Marquis, I have more than fifty casualties and casualties. The enemy was already close to the city wall before they could fully react, but with the arrival of their reinforcements, the attacking soldiers couldn't withstand it at all~" After Art finished speaking, he lowered his head and remained silent.
Seeing that the people present were demoralized and in a low mood, Flanders said: "Everyone, this attack is just to test the strength and defense of the defenders of Thorne City. I did not expect you to capture Thorne City in one fell swoop from the beginning. As long as there is a war, there will be casualties, and you don't have to blame yourself too much."
Everyone saw that there was no dissatisfaction or blame in Flanders' tone, so they breathed a sigh of relief and slowly raised their heads.
"This morning's battle has taught us a lesson. It is not easy to storm Thorne City. The only breakthrough at present is the northeast gate. Tonight, once the city gate is opened, our people must quickly occupy it and stabilize the position. After they send the signal, the supporting troops immediately rush in and take down Thorne City together with the siege troops outside the city!" Flanders suddenly stood up and slammed his fist on the table.
"Swear allegiance to the Lord Marquis to the death!"
Everyone also stood up at the same time to answer the order.
"After you go back, order the soldiers to rest well and prepare rich food for them. When the sun sets, the east city gate and the south city gate will violently attack the defenders on the city wall at the same time, disrupting the enemy's deployment. When it gets dark, the two hundred soldiers responsible for capturing the northeast gate immediately go to the designated position to stand by. When the city gate opens, they rush in immediately. Tonight, I must capture Thorne City and capture him alive.贝尔纳那个杂种！」
「是！」
…………
「怎么样，都准备好了吗？」
「长官，您就放心吧。只要时机一到，我们安插在那里的人就会立即动手，解决掉城门口那些家伙，让城外的人进来。」
"Okay, you go and get ready right away. At sunset, they will attack the city again in a big way. When the time comes, you must act according to the opportunity, and you must be clean and tidy. You will benefit from it afterwards."
"Yes, sir."
"Remember, this matter must be kept secret, otherwise you and I will not be able to wait until the city is broken."
"Don't worry."
In a luxurious mansion next to the Center Street on the west side of Thorne City, Flanders's chief officer in Thorne City was asking his men about cooperating with the Liberation Army outside the city to break the city at night.
According to Flanders's instructions, the inner city gate should be opened to allow the two hundred elite soldiers from outside the city to enter the city, and then cooperate with the troops of the Liberation Army to stabilize the position. After the supporting troops enter, they should immediately launch an attack on the defenders at the east and south city gates, and cooperate with the troops outside the city to capture Thorne City in one fell swoop. This is the key to Flanders' victory over Thorn City this time. Once he succeeds, this battle for succession will be over.
As the attack horn sounded, the second siege began. The well-fed and well-fed siege soldiers had their morale boosted after getting some rest.
With an order, the trebuchet position not far in front of the frontline command camp of the Wells Army threw huge stones onto the wall of the south city gate. I saw the rocks flying towards the city wall like birds~
"Everyone get down!"
When the officer in charge of guarding the city saw the black dots in the distance growing from small to large and flying towards the city wall, he hurriedly shouted loudly, and then squatted on the ground holding his head against the wall beside him.
The first wave of flying stones hit the city wall, leaving only a small hole. Several soldiers who didn't react had their faces cut by the scattered gravel after the stone was smashed open. They covered their heads and rolled on the ground.
Immediately afterwards, waves of dense bullets hit the city wall one after another. I saw people on the city wall running around in panic. The collision between the stone and the city wall stirred up bursts of dust. The city defenders lying on the ground could not open their eyes, and their bodies were curled up against the wall, trembling. The few unlucky ghosts who were beaten to pieces already had their heads removed and were completely rotten.
"Attack!"
Seeing that the enemies defending the city were temporarily suppressed by the stones, Art on horseback pulled out the broad sword at his waist and pointed forward, and immediately ordered an attack.
「Archers prepare!」
The city guard officer who had just gotten up from the ground saw that the rebels were already coming this way, and immediately organized archers to defend.
…
"Keep moving!" Weitz, who was in charge of commanding the siege troops, ordered loudly in the middle of the team. When the siege troops just approached the city wall, rocks and rolling logs were falling on their heads, making the shields clang.
"Quickly, smash them to death!"
The officers guarding the city roared loudly when they saw the rebels approaching again. Command the soldiers defending the city to fight against the enemy.
"Quick, stand up the long ladder immediately." Waits, holding a shield in his hand, ordered while avoiding the falling rocks.
Under the city wall, five or six soldiers worked together to slowly move the long ladder toward the city wall.
"Hurry, those bastards are coming up, smash them to death!" The officer in charge of the northern city wall shouted while holding a stone and throwing it at the soldiers on the long ladder. I saw the guy who was climbing up nimbly dodged the flying rocks, and rushed up with his shield~
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
On the other side, the soldiers in charge of the battering ram, under the cover of their shields, used all their strength to hit the city gate. The city gate creaked under the huge impact, and pieces of wood fell down from time to time. The defensive soldiers on the inside desperately hugged the logs on the door, supporting the humming oak door.
The defenders on the city wall saw that the enemy was hitting the city gate. They raised the stone and smashed it down. The huge impact caused the shield in a soldier's hand to fall off, and the arrow that followed shot into his thigh~
"Archers, cover!" Weitz, who was directing the siege, immediately ordered the archers following the heavy armored infantry to suppress the defenders on the city wall. More than a hundred arrows were seen flying towards the city wall, immediately shooting down several guys who were lifting stones.
While the enemy was being suppressed, Bury, who was under the city wall, immediately rushed forward with his shield in hand. When he approached the top of the city wall, he saw a soldier holding a short spear stabbing him. Bury used the shield in his left hand to block, and then used the long sword in his hand to cut off the soldier's arm. I saw the guy fall to the ground instantly, rolling on the ground holding his bleeding arm. Just when Burry was about to charge forward, a guard officer raised his long sword and slashed at Bury's head. Bury was so frightened that he leaned back and almost fell. When Bury came to his senses and stabbed the guy with his long sword, an arrow flying from behind pierced the guy's throat~
"Bury, be careful!"
At the east gate of Thorne City, the Liberation Army and the defending army have entered a white-hot state. The Liberation Army, which was attacking the city on a large scale, kept rushing towards the city wall, showing no fear of the defenders on the city wall.
On the long ladders on the east and west sides of the city gate, seven or eight soldiers were less than three feet away from the city wall. The defenders on the city wall raised stones and kept smashing them down. After the top soldiers who climbed the city were knocked down, the soldiers behind them rushed upwards.
Seeing how fierce the rebel offensive was, several soldiers defending the city tried to escape, but they were killed by the officers defending the city. When the other soldiers saw this, they no longer dared to think of escaping, and had no choice but to desperately resist the rebels who were constantly rushing up.
At the east city gate, the siege troops, who had just been forced back by the kerosene poured down by the defenders, pushed the battering ram towards the city gate again under the cover of archers. There were more than a dozen smoking corpses around, exuding a disgusting burning smell~
Slowly, the night swallowed up everything around it. Only torches were sparsely burning on and under the walls of Thorne City, and the ground Sparks burst out from the burning ladders and shields on the ground from time to time, and the air was filled with the smell of smoke and blood. There were corpses everywhere on the ground, including soldiers from the Liberation Army and the Welsh Legion, as well as defenders who rolled down from the city wall. The corpse was covered with blood, and the broken limbs and arms were scattered on the ground. From time to time, bold rats licked the slowly coagulating blood...
Although it was already dark, the attacking and defending sides had no intention of stopping, and instead became more and more fierce.
After an afternoon of fighting, soldiers from the Liberation Army and the Wells Army rushed up on the city walls on both sides, fighting to the death with the red-eyed defenders. Corpses piled up like mountains on the city walls...
Not far from the northeast gate of Thorne City, an officer was walking toward the city gate followed by several servants pushing carts.
"Stop!"
I saw a few sneaky people walking towards the city gate not far away, and the officer in charge of guarding the city shouted to a few people.
Seeing that the visitor did not listen to the advice at all, the city guard officer and the seven or eight soldiers behind him had already pulled out the swords from their waists.
"Brother, don't be nervous." With the light of the torch, the city guard officer gradually saw the appearance of the person coming.
"It turns out to be Knight Henry." The guard officer put his sword back into its scabbard and walked towards the knight. 「亨利骑士，这么晚了你来这里干什么？」
「瞧您说的，伙计们这么辛苦地在这里守城，我家子爵大人特意派我来慰劳大家一番。快把酒水食物抬上Come. "
"Thank you, Lord Viscount, those of us who are not being cared about are also enjoying it with Lord Viscount's soldiers~" As he said this, the guarding officer glanced behind him. Half of the soldiers on the wall were from the Viscount.
"Look at what you said, everyone is working for the Earl, so who is the difference between you and me. In this way, you eat first, and I will make other arrangements for the people under my lord the Viscount later. What do you think?" Good wine."
"Okay, it's rare that the Viscount is so thoughtful, so we won't be polite. Brothers, come over and have some drinks."
After saying that, a group of people gathered around and started eating the roasted chicken and roasted pork in the wooden box, without any preparation for the danger that was about to happen.
"You guys, go and watch on the city wall. It will be your turn after these adults have finished eating." The knight said and winked at the soldiers on the city wall.
"You guys, look at the city gate and pay attention outside the city." After saying that, a few soldiers walked towards the city gate.
"Ah, good wine!" the city guard officer said with satisfaction after wiping the remaining juice from the corner of his mouth. The other soldiers also tore into the delicious roast chicken and threw aside the daggers in their hands.
Seeing that these guys in front of him were completely unprepared, the knight winked at the thirty or so soldiers holding short swords behind the group of eating and drinking soldiers, and slowly put his right hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
"Hey, let me say~" When the officer guarding the city looked up, he saw that the knight's hand had been put on his waist, and his face suddenly darkened. "You~"
Just as the guarding officer spoke, the knight had already pulled out the long sword from his waist and cut off the guarding officer's neck. The blood spattered onto another soldier who was holding a chicken leg that he was eating. The soldier was so frightened that he sat down on the ground~
"Kill!"
The knight gave an order and the group of soldiers As soon as the city defenders reacted, they were slashed by the soldiers behind them who drew their daggers. They were so frightened that they dropped what they were holding and ran to get the daggers around them~
"Open the city gate!"
As the logs on the city gate were removed one by one, the northeast gate slowly opened.
"Hurry, take the torch outside the door and spin it three times!"
Five hundred steps away from the Northeast Gate, the two hundred elite soldiers who had been lurking here saw the torch outside the Northeast Gate, and immediately roared and rushed towards the city gate~
As a resounding arrow flew toward the east, sparks burst into the air, and a team of 500 people not far from the east gate of Thorne City quickly headed toward the northeast gate~