215 – Attack of Fort Falcon (1)
At the meeting yesterday, digging a hole under the wall and blasting it with gunpowder was discussed as a revolutionary tactic, but…
To put it bluntly, it is not a very revolutionary tactic, but rather a banal tactic that has been used since ancient times.
That’s because, instead of climbing over the fortified wall, you have to dig into the ground below it and then set fire to the crypt.
Since the tactic itself is very simple, it has been used since ancient times until the building called the castle was completely destroyed.
However, you don’t need to use special siege tools, and if you drill a hole under the castle wall and open fire, the castle will be incapacitated.
Of course, there are ways to destroy it, but being able to destroy it without crossing the wall is very attractive.
“Your Highness, we will arrive at Mount Falcon soon. How can I set up the camp?”
Hearing that, I unfolded the map the preceding reconnaissance unit had made.
A huge castle located at the top of a mountain with an altitude of about 30 meters, a forest surrounding the castle and the mountain, and a wide single road leading to the castle at the top of the mountain…
It was a castle that I had no idea how to attack even if I had only heard about it before the reconnaissance unit investigated in earnest.
Still, most of the trees planted in the forest are weak cedars, so if you mobilize a lot of troops, you’ll be able to expand the single road a bit more.
It’s useless to widen the road, but it might be useful enough to deceive the eyes of the enemy…
“Then how many soldiers are in the castle?”
“There are about 30,000 enemy troops in total, and according to the servants who have invaded the castle, the forces of the four territories of Perius, Alas, Jacques, and Brussels are mixed and organized. It seems that the number of soldiers stationed there is small compared to the army of the kingdom, but it is surrounded by a rugged fortress… “
The officer in front of me blurted out the words behind him, but I got a clear idea of what he wanted to say.
Surely, if 30,000 soldiers rely on an impregnable fortress to hold on, they will be full of confidence that they will be able to fend off an army of 150,000, and they want to tell the story that their allies will make great sacrifices to break through them.
Nevertheless, as an officer, he must have wanted to avoid a situation where he would indirectly tell the king that the strategy he devised would be difficult.
“Yes, there is plenty of food to distribute in the impregnable castle, so it must be difficult to break through head-on. However, didn’t I predict this in advance and establish a strategy? So no need to worry I will tell you where to set up the encampment.”
The officer replied with a sigh of relief, perhaps because he thought it was a relief to see that he didn’t have to openly say that it would be difficult in front of me.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“In normal times, camps were built by attaching them as much as possible for the convenience of supply and marching, but it is a situation where the soldiers on the mountain might try to set fire to the camp. So, set up all the barracks a little apart for each regiment, and prepare a jar of dry earth or sand nearby for each squad in case of fire.”
In the battles so far, thanks to direct confrontation with the enemy using cavalry like knights, the barracks were mainly set up on open plains.
So, even if a simple watchtower was erected, I could see the enemy sneaking up from 300 or 400 meters away, so neither I nor the enemy dared to open fire.
In this place where we will fight, there is a forest right near the barracks, so it is extremely difficult to spot every single soldier sneaking up to light the fire.
In addition, it is advantageous to fire from the enemy’s point of view, since the wind blowing from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the ground blows at night when it is not easy to see, it is much easier to start a fire.
So if you don’t want to go after the taste of warm fire like Liu Bei in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you must thoroughly prevent fire.
Then, I drew a dot on the map where the stone watchtower was installed and the nearby forest, connected it with a line, and said,
“And we will follow this route and dig a large tunnel to get under the wall. Also, these oysters are usually sold secretly at night, but… Unless the enemy is an idiot, he will place a water jar or something inside the castle and sense the vibrations that sound when the ground is dug up, and fight back. So, the allies pretend to be siege during the daytime and make noise to fool the enemy.”
Since this is an era without sonar or sonar, what if you hear the sound of gunpowder exploding outside the castle, the shouts of soldiers, and the sound of people walking on the ground?
When digging a tunnel, it becomes impossible to detect waves that are weakly transmitted to the surface.
So we can’t try to counterattack by using the hole digging in reverse.
Also, they will naturally be hooked on the lures we sow, and the real intentions will not be discovered.
“Then you should tell the commanding officers at all levels as soon as possible. The operation will go into effect tomorrow.”
**
And the next morning around Falcon Castle.
“You bastards who are not even worth this trash! Hurry up and move! The enemy is coming!”
“Except for the road by the main gate, there is virtually no road for them to attack! So gather the archers and matchlocks in the front!”
The commanders and soldiers guarding Falcon Castle hurriedly prepared as much as possible in preparation for the arrival of the soldiers of the Kingdom of Creutel.
The soldiers of the Kingdom of Creutel went up to the castle the night before, following the king’s order, through the road that led to the main gate and the path through the forest that people could walk through.
Looking at this, the commanders of Falcon Castle will think like this.
‘Even the devil of the Creutel kingdom can only use standard methods in front of the Falcon Fortress of the Elain Empire.’
However, contrary to their expectations, the king has already ordered some of the numerous soldiers to come to the ‘construction point’ while marching to demolish the wall.
The selected soldiers, along with sappers who are serious about shoveling, set off from the forest near the castle to dig a huge tunnel under the castle walls…
Even when looking down from inside the castle, the field of view was extremely limited and it was difficult to see because of the trees, so I couldn’t find out if there were any soldiers left out.
So around 8 am, the soldiers of the Kingdom of Creutel arrived around the castle walls, and the soldiers in Falcon Castle were ready to attack with bows, matchlocks, and copper cannons donated by the Duke of Brussels. .
Then Count Ferius, who was in charge of Falcon Castle’s garrison, and the King of Creutel Kingdom faced each other.
“Ciel von Kreuttel, you filthy dog! How could a nobleman of the Empire dare to betray the legitimate Emperor Adolf? I, Miles von Farius, will help rebuild the foundations of the Empire by killing you ungrateful and ungrateful bastards!”
“The descendant of Count Ferius, who was under the incompetent emperor and yet made no achievements, speaks well! No, I’m 23 years old, but I thought I only knew how to run away by clinging to the incompetent emperor’s butt. Okay, let’s fight!”
In this way, the two captains of each army began to attack each other with long-range weapons after exchanging curse words.
Kreutel Kingdom’s army attacked the soldiers standing on top of the castle wall with their Croytel-style matchlocks and matchlocks.
The soldiers of Falcon Castle fired arrows, bullets, and cannons sparingly towards the soldiers of the Kingdom of Creutel.
There were casualties between the two, but thanks to the proper plate armor and large field shields, Kreutel’s casualties were fewer than those fighting on the castle grounds.
In particular, the number of casualties caused by cannons was far less than the Falcon Castle’s soldiers thought.
If King Creutel had chosen the general close formation rather than spread, the cannon would have been much more effective.
Nevertheless, both fought wholeheartedly, killing at least one enemy soldier to gain an advantage in future battles.
From Noble mtl dot com
On the other hand, Ciel von Creutel, the king of the Kingdom of Creutel… No, a knight with a very similar voice, face, and height to him thought while sighing in his heart.
‘His Highness personally volunteered for the forced march before the occupation of the Duchy of Orléans last time, but this time he is going to supervise the digging of the tunnels… You are such a wonderful person… ‘
On the other hand, at that time, Ciel von Creutel of the Kingdom of Creutel…
“At the top of the mountain, my soldiers are fighting a battle with guns and cannons. Thinking of them, I have to finish digging even a second faster!”
He led his men by example in the shoveling field.