The troops hired by the Lombards suddenly moved north for reinforcements. The Welsh Army that had just entered Lavati withdrew in a hurry, and along with the garrison outside the city, they retreated towards the city of Santia.
Him The Welsh Army got along well with the city residents after entering Lavati, so when the garrison hurriedly evacuated, there was no ill will in the city. Of course, this was also because the city garrison had been disbanded, and even if the city leaders with evil intentions wanted to chase them out, there was no one available.
Just when the consuls in Lavati were puzzled, Odo, the frontline commander of the Welsh Army, went to the city in person to meet with the leaders and explained that the Welsh Army withdrew its troops only because it was unwilling to fight a bloody battle with the Lombard mercenaries in Lavati, and mainly to protect the autonomous city-state of Lavati.
At the same time, Odo also told the leaders that it would only take a short time for the Welsh Army to crush the Lombard counterattack and regain the alliance with Lavati again.
Finally, Odo, in the name of the deputy commander of the Welsh Army, appointed the governor of Valatie as the city garrison, and allowed Lavati to reorganize the army to resist the Lombard invasion.
This is a more inexplicable thing, but on the afternoon after the Wells Legion garrison evacuated, Lavati immediately reorganized the citizens' armed forces.
For an autonomous city like Lavati, neither the Burgundians nor the Lombards are welcome. What's more, those mercenaries who burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil, so they organized almost spontaneously and organized Lombard mercenaries to enter Lavati City.
In the early morning of the third day when the Welsh Army withdrew from Lavati, the troops hired by the Lombards arrived at the forward position of the Welsh Army. The enemy was heavily outnumbered. The outpost cavalry led by Jafar fought and retreated, and finally retreated to the city of Santia.
Four thousand Lombard mercenary soldiers pointed directly at the city of Santia...
Santia was not a big city. A hundred years ago, it was just a military fortress with more than a hundred troops stationed here. However, the fertile Lombardy plains continued to make it prosperous, turning it into a city with a high city and a deep pool, thousands of soldiers and civilians.
The Wells Army was very lucky. When they chased von Biron's remnant army southward, the fleeing remnant army only looted the city, causing hundreds of garrison troops in Santia to follow in confusion and the city gates were opened.
If the defeated army had been slightly organized at that time, as long as the gate of Santia was closed, the Welsh Army would have to spend a huge amount of force to conquer the fortified city.
Of course, if Art is determined to use bombs, Santia's city gate will not be able to withstand several rounds of bombardment.
But the troops hired by Lombardy did not have that kind of magic weapon, so even though thousands of troops surrounded the city of Santia in darkness, they could only look at Santia's towering city walls and curse loudly across the smelly moat, and occasionally throw rounds of arrows that were destined to be ineffective in causing much damage.
It was like this for two days in a row...
Poof~~A mouthful of dark green phlegm flew out from the high sentry tower in the south of Santia City, spitting at the Lombard mercenaries who were yelling outside the moat below the city.
The thick phlegm flew forward, crossed the moat, and hit the enemy soldier who was half-covering his shield at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The enemy soldier raised his head, thinking it was an arrow fired from the city wall sentry tower, and blocked it with a huge shield.
After a short while, the arrow still hadn’t landed. The enemy soldier stretched out half of his face and looked up.
Hack, a thick, dark green phlegm covered his face.
On the archery platform of the sentry tower, Jason, the commander of the Wells Legion's crossbow unit, looked at the enemy soldiers wiping their cheeks and cursing loudly by the moat. He smiled and cursed at the spitting archer beside him: "Haha, you are really T." M is disgusting."
After scolding Jason, he turned to the other crossbowmen around him and said, "You guys, follow his example and shoot me a few more rounds of thick phlegm, and add a glass of beer to your supper..."
Above the gate of the south city of Santia, Odo, the deputy commander of the Wells Army, raised his head and cursed with a smile: "These little bastards can really make a scene."
With that, Odo ignored the squabbling at the arrow stand and the moat, and glanced at the temporary camp of Lombard mercenaries a mile outside the city.
It is said to be a camp, but in fact it is just a shack built haphazardly. Except for the fence to prevent enemy attacks, the two hastily built sentry towers, and the weapons and armor of soldiers entering and exiting, which can tell that it is a military camp, this place is the most ordinary refugee camp.
The Lombard mercenaries who went north to fight this time were in a hurry to march and carried almost no baggage. Therefore, except for officers and nobles in the army, there were basically no military tents and other things. It was also difficult to support the bread and dried meat carried by the army.
With such a large army concentrated on marching and fighting, logistical support is the biggest problem and a key factor that determines the success or failure of an army.
Hence, in addition to having a dedicated baggage department responsible for establishing a logistics line, the Welsh Army would also constantly supply supplies with surrounding battlefields, most of the time through material trade, but when fighting in enemy territory, it would also resort to forced conquest to efficiently collect war supplies.
For the Lombards, this battle should be a domestic battle, and supplies could only be transported from the rear or purchased on the battlefield.
But nine out of ten of the more than 4,000 troops were mercenaries. The mercenaries were not from Lombardy, and they did not have the consciousness to fight within the country.
The five or six castles and fortresses near Santia were all garrisoned by the Welsh Legion, so the dozens of villages and manors scattered in the vast land around Santia suffered.
I believe that those Lombard civilians would never have imagined that they had managed to survive under the iron heel of the Burgundian invaders, but died under the butcher's knife of their own army.
"Those Lombard mercenaries are really nothing. When we forcibly collected war taxes from the occupied areas, we at least left some rations and seeds for the civilian farmers. Those bastards not only looted the civilians' homes, but also massacred them all before leaving."
"Last night, sentry riders fired arrows at night to report military information. Seven or eight villages around Santia have become a no-man's land."
Colin punched the city slate, "I really want to rush out of the city and kill all those bastards."
Odo ignored the deputy's emotions and turned to the commander of the Guards Corps who was following him. "Sir David, there are many people from the Longxia Legion in your army. Do you know that army and how effective they are?"
David wore a leather half-cloak and heavy boots. Under his steel helmet, he had a round face with scars and a short beard. He wore a hard leather coat and armor. His iron gloves and knee pads were all made of dark gray stainless steel, and he had a dagger and a heavy sword tied around his waist.
The Guards Corps, which represents the face of the palace, is naturally powerful, but David is very respectful in front of Odo, "Lord Odo, I have explored this many times with the officers and soldiers under my command in the past two days. Among the armies outside the city, only the cavalry of about a thousand people can fight. The rest of the infantry consists of four or five countries and is composed of more than a dozen mercenaries. It may be barely possible to fight with the wind, but if it is against the Welsh Army in the open field, it will be vulnerable."
Otto nodded, "That's good."
"Lord Odo, when are we going to help? Are we going to let those wild dogs surround us in the city?" Colin was so angry at the enemy soldiers who called camp outside the city for the past two days. At first, he fired a few rounds to vent his anger, but it turned out that the enemy was just here to consume the defenders' arrows. Odo simply ordered not to fight back, and the soldiers were depressed several times.
"My lord's military orders are clear, and we must hold fast to the city and wait for reinforcements. Besides, most of the cavalry outside the city can always wait in the camp and attack rashly, causing casualties."
Odo said and looked into the distance again and sighed: "I really envy Lord Angus. At this time, he must be leading the cavalry to attack the looting enemy soldiers..."