72 – Poitiers Family – 12
A soldier threw a rock. Widely! The stones that fell from the top of the castle wall rolled on the floor with a crackling sound and then stopped. A few soldiers looked at the place where the stone had fallen, but most of them paid no attention and just stared blankly into space.
“I’m free… “
At some point, the enemy started to stop attacking. All they did was surround the castle from afar and watch quietly.
It was natural. If you reduce the number of people inside the walls, there will be fewer mouths to feed, so the idea was to save as many people as possible so that the food supply within the walls decreases quickly.
For this reason, there was no need to reduce the number of allies by conducting a siege. Instead…
-Kwaaang!!!!
The soldiers were startled by the sudden loud sound and looked in the direction from which the sound came. A corner of the castle wall had collapsed.
“Again?”
“The wizard started throwing stones again! Run!”
“Fly materials! “Place soldiers around the collapsed area and bring in masons!”
Despite the tremendous roar, the soldiers were calmly doing what they had to do. This is because it was a scene that had already been repeated dozens of times.
“It’s free, but it’s a big deal… “
You don’t shoot stones to kill people anyway. Stones were fired to tire out the people inside the castle and force them to use the materials inside the castle. As proof, several stone houses within the castle have already been torn down. It meant that the stone material had reached its limit.
“This is what it means to slowly tighten one’s throat.”
Charles thought. If we continue like this, we will definitely lose.
Then, shall we try to persuade Isabel to surrender? However, I pulled myself together after feeling weak for a moment.
“Georges is a man without lines. “He has no reason to keep his sister alive, who is ahead of him in legitimacy.”
And if he killed Isabel, there was a high possibility that he, who was active next to Isabel, would also die. If so, surrender must be avoided.
“Then what should I do…” “
That moment.
“Charles!”
Sir Juan de Balboa came running to Charles.
“What’s going on?”
“The enemy’s rear ranks are in disarray. The soldiers were leaving the battle lines one by one, and the wizards had just started firing but stopped. “Something is strange.”
Ah, now that I think about it, that’s right. The wizard’s artillery fire had stopped and many of the soldiers in the enemy’s lines were gone.
“What’s going on?”
Could it be that the enemy is being attacked from behind?
No, I can’t say for sure. It may have been a ploy to get our troops to leave the castle by pretending that the enemy was being attacked from behind.
Wait a minute. How many days has it been since you sent the messenger?
“Sir Juan. “When did I send a messenger?”
“It was September 13th.”
“That was a few days ago now, right?”
“Um… 54 days? No, it’s about 53 days.”
It took 18 days for a messenger to depart from here and arrive at Crudia.
It took 35 days to lead the army from Crudia to here.
A total of 53 days.
“It’s reinforcements…” “
“Yes?”
“It is time for reinforcements to come! Run to Isabel right now and tell her to open the gate! “We must lead our entire army and drive them out!”
Juan immediately ran to Isabel and told her what Charles had said. In the meantime, Charles commanded the soldiers of his mercenary corps and had them wait in front of the castle gate. However…
“Charles!”
Juan returned empty-handed.
“What is it?”
“They say you need a specific reason to open the castle gate.”
“This is crazy! “Where is Isabel?”
“He’s coming this way.”
After hearing that, I saw Isabel running behind me, wearing her armor roughly.
“Charles! What on earth is going on? “We suddenly have to open the gates and attack?”
“Our troops have arrived! “We are attacking the enemy’s rear!”
“Yes? “I haven’t received any such reports from my subordinates.”
“The enemy’s lines are falling back, and the artillery fire has stopped. Also, the constant bustling and chaotic atmosphere of the soldiers clearly indicates that reinforcements have arrived. “Time above all else.”
Charles asked Juan to find out on what day and at what time he sent the messenger. And the time the messenger was sent was 53 days ago.
“When I sent the messenger, I told Isabelle. While our troops can hold out for two months, our reinforcements will come in 53 days. “Today is exactly the 53rd day from that day.”
“… “
But Isabelle could not make a decision easily.
“Couldn’t it be the enemy’s smoke? The enemy knows that we asked for reinforcements, so they deliberately tried to trick us… “
“There is no chance of that happening.”
Isabel’s expression hardened at those words.
“But let me ask you one question. “How much of our troops’ remaining troops are there?”
Isabel came closer to Charles so that others would not hear, and then he spoke in a low voice.
“Less than 200 left.”
“Yes. I can’t even last two weeks anymore. If they were going to dig a trap like that, wouldn’t they have dug it when there were more troops? “My temper will naturally drop in two weeks, so is there any need to take that gamble now?”
“Then…” “
“Reinforcements have arrived. You’re hitting the enemy’s rear. If you hit the enemy’s front line now, you can surround them from front and back. But that is also limited to the present. If you are a few hours late, your reinforcements may have been destroyed. “Open the gate as quickly as possible.”
Isabel seemed to ponder for a moment. Charles was frustrated. This was the reason why Isabel could not rise from second-class to first-class. Isabel is not in his head. His ability to read trends has always been outstanding. But her heart can’t keep up. She wasn’t brave.
“Isabel, listen to me carefully from now on. We don’t have time to worry. Reinforcements are just around the corner, and if we don’t respond to them, we are doomed to defeat. I’ll give you just one minute from now on. Think about it for just one minute and open the gate, don’t open it. Please choose one or the other. For your information, if it were me, I would definitely select open. “If we don’t open it, we’ll all starve to death.”
“Did you say 1 minute?”
“Yes. “It’s been five seconds now.”
Isabel began to quickly turn her head, her eyes full of determination. This will be the time when she is working her head hardest in her life. And she did after a minute.
“I have decided.”
“Yes. “It’s only been one minute.”
“All our troops open the gates and go out to respond with reinforcements.”
At one word from Isabel, Isabel’s men hurriedly began to open the castle gate. The pulley turned and the gate went up. And when the drawbridge went down, our soldiers started running toward it.
1,100 Soldiers rushed towards the enemy at once.
—–
Meanwhile, Manfred’s military camp.
“The soldiers in the 1st and 2nd lines are very tired! 3Rd or 4th row forward! Assist the retreat of the 1st and 2nd lines!”
Manfred was leading the soldiers amidst a rain of arrows.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Pikemen forward! Don’t be defeated in a power struggle! Halberd soldier forward! Assist and protect the pikemen!”
The long spear soldier blocks the enemy, and the charging enemies are kept in check by the halberd soldiers next to the long spear soldier. Due to the perfect division of labor, the enemy’s first line could not approach easily.
Meanwhile, one of his subordinates, Lugelon, swung his halberd and killed three people, then returned and took his last breath.
“Whoa! I almost died. But boss. Isn’t that too brave? Challenge 1,700 people to a fight with only 500. The enemy is more than three times our size? “Can you beat this?”
“We can’t win on our own.”
“Wow! “You look like you’re going to die here!”
“But the castle will respond well.”
With those words, Odilon, who returned after cutting down five people, spoke.
“How does the castle know? I can’t even see the castle from here. “You won’t be able to see it from here, even from the castle, right?”
“There will be a change in formation to remove soldiers from the siege camp.”
“You’re saying you’re only responding after seeing that? “Suseong-gun isn’t even a genius?”
“Why not? Charles is a genius. “Don’t worry, just wait.”
“By the way, we all died here.”
No matter what they say, Lugelon and Odilon run out again with halberds in hand. And that moment.
-Kwakwakwauk!!!
The sound of a series of musket explosions began to be heard in the distance.
“What is this sound?”
Definitely the weapon I heard about in Arcadia, the weapon Charles showed me. It was the sound of a musket. Manfred also bought several muskets to introduce them to the mercenary corps, so he knew the sound of muskets well.
“It’s a musket! “Reinforcements!”
When Manfred shouted, the soldiers murmured.
“They say reinforcements! “There are reinforcements!”
“Reinforcement behind the enemy! “It’s a two-sided siege, front and back!”
“Push on! “It’s a perfect double-sided envelop!”
Manfred’s soldiers actively pushed forward, and Isabelle and Charles’ soldiers also began to respond from the castle side.
This is how the battle of two-front siege began. Needless to say, this was an advantageous battle.
Although we are slightly behind in terms of strength, 1600 to 1700, our troops surrounded us front and back. And what surrounded one side was the famous Crudia mountaineer mercenary group.
These two things gave the battle an advantage.
But as Charles experiences this battle, he begins to think.
He said that although he came to this world and experienced many battles, he had never seen a battle as cruel and cruel as this one.