For any commander who wants to win a war, it is a very high priority to "see all directions and listen to all directions" at the strategic level and pay attention to all the details between the enemy and ourselves.
Are the soldiers satisfied with their food, clothing, housing and transportation? Are there any rumors spreading uncontrollably in the military camp? People always need to eat, no matter how elegant and lofty slogans and passionate passions are, they can't be used to fill their stomachs - where is their critical point? The knights who have experienced many generations of nobles' strict military ideological education and the people who live with them day and night The evaluation standards for sergeants and lower-level mercenaries and militiamen must be different.
Militiamen who have been living a poor life and are accustomed to hunger can endure it silently when faced with hard bread, while knights who are pampered and eat better food may frown; knights and sergeants who are accustomed to battle scenes still can Some mercenaries who have experienced war can still keep calm when they see the scene of fighting, but those who are farmers or refugees will start to panic and be at a loss - people are never created equal and come from different classes. People who live different lives will have different reactions to different things. Trying to maintain order by requiring militiamen who have not undergone strict military training to maintain order with the same standards is already difficult on a normal battlefield. Something happened——
When all this came to the most difficult battle of defending the city, the morale of these peasant archers who had never really seen a brutal battle in a big scene, although they came to stand guard in Wolf Castle on weekdays, began to lose control. When it got low, the attempts of the inexperienced knights and sergeants to change the situation went horribly wrong.
"Weak and incompetent waste! Hold on, we didn't ask you to go up to the city wall to fight, we just hold on here. You can't even do this!" Loud curses sounded from a corner of the black castle, as a strong and solid At the expense of the strong defensive power of the outer walls of the castle, the passages inside Wolf Castle, except for the count's residence and the place where the knights live, are very narrow.
A castle built purely for defensive warfare cannot compare with a comfortable mansion. In addition, as the weather in Ecasta gradually returns to spring, there are still many bugs and rats in the cold and damp corners. The psychological impact on the long archers of the army and militia was considerable - but all this was not as good as those dead bodies wrapped in straw mats and rags, but the stench still hit them.
A few days ago, they were still living humans capable of making laughter and laughter, but now they were just lying there being eaten by bugs and rats, emitting bursts of dizzying stench.
The spring-like warm and humid climate of the Ecasta Plains all year round is no longer so wonderful at this time. The temperature accelerates the decomposition process of the corpse and makes all kinds of snakes, insects, rats, and ants quite active. The militiamen initially wanted to throw the bodies out of the city, wrapping them in thick straw mats and dumping them outside to avoid disease and stench. But the offensive from Edward's side never stopped. After several people tried to abandon the corpses but the number of corpses increased, the sergeants of Wolfsburg strictly prohibited them from continuing to do such things - even at night.
"Don't be so weak, it's just a corpse!" The words roared in the middle of the castle by the sergeant who lived on the upper floors of the castle away from the corpse area further deepened the gap between them and the militia archers.
Except for a few archers with good shooting skills who were ordered to station themselves near the arrow slits on the second floor to guard, with the remaining arrows deliberately reserved to wait for the opponent to attack when they approach again, the remaining archers accounted for 60% of the number. They can only live in every corner of the castle, accompanied by snakes, insects, rats, ants and the cold and damp ground, trying hard to tighten their tattered cloaks, trying to get a little humble sleep in various possible positions at night. .
The stench of the corpses of their companions bothered them. At first, some people would try hard to drive away the rats and bugs that came to eat the corpses. But later, after being unable to sleep well for two or three days in a row, every snail lived below. People are just living numbly like walking zombies.
One time, a militiaman woke up in the middle of the night and started screaming. He was bitten by a rat as if he were a dead body because of the rotten smell on his clothes. The militiamen cursed and cursed the people who had all done this, and then woke up other people who had finally fallen asleep. People, both sides got angry and started fighting, which also woke up the sergeant above. The sergeant who violently intervened took out his whip and used his status to suppress corporal punishment, which further worsened everything——
This was an ill-prepared war.
The forty-one-year-old Count Adolf von Dowfenberg of Wolfsburg stood at the highest window of the castle and looked down, thinking this way. Mami's nobles are good at strategic defense. His father and grandfather have faced several bandits and robbers in the kingdom. Even he himself has fought with Luoan several times in the age group of 20 to 30 years old. Fighting against marauding bands of bandits and rebellious nobles.
The Earl of Wolfsburg's reputation for being good at defense was gained during these years of battles. Coupled with the powerful offensive and defensive capabilities of the Black Castle, this black landmark building just exists here to attack anyone with evil intentions. A big shock to the people - but they were indeed ill-prepared for this war.
"Dong dong." "Earl." The door was open, and his subordinates did not rush out with the previous cavalry. A trustworthy blond knight who was still alive and who was also from the Mami knocked on the door symbolically. He walked in and reported the battle situation to Adolf. The Earl had guessed something from his expression, and with the knight's words, the morale inside the castle that had plummeted in just a few days was mentioned again.
Admittedly, they had never encountered an enemy force of this size before. Therefore, in the early stage, in order to withstand the excessively fierce offensive, the inventory of bows and arrows was exhausted. If it were not for an emergency stop, I am afraid that more than 60% of the archers would become useless. This was the first mistake they made due to lack of preparation. The same was true for other siege equipment. However, considering various human and psychological factors, if they had another chance and faced such a fierce offensive, they might still do it. Make the same choice.
But on other things, it's really just human error.
The stench emitted by the militiamen who were killed and wounded in the fierce arrow rain in the first three days of the battle was left inside the castle. Even now, even the count's own mansion can smell it when he opens the windows. In addition, it may bring diseases and water pollution. , it is extremely important to dispose of the corpses quickly, but those sergeants banned all this in order to prevent too many people from throwing away the corpses. When the city gate was breached and undefended, the corpses began to rot, stink, and were filled with snakes, insects, and rats. The ants are infested and no one is willing to carry them away and throw them away.
The lack of rest and appetite caused by the stench further caused many people below to become dazed, but what was more serious than all this was the lack of military morale - the archers who felt that they were useless all day long only Being able to sit there, many of the lower-level sergeants could not control their mouths and rudely cursed them as "freeloaders". It is true that when preparing to defend the city in the castle, the consumption of food and water must be carefully considered. But saying such words will obviously make the militiamen who already feel this way more biased toward Edward, who already has a good reputation.
There have been several attempts to escape from the castle, and the sergeants had to personally guard the city gate to prevent someone from secretly opening the city gate at night and surrendering. This clear distrust of the prison guards, further undermined morale by inflicting corporal punishment and verbal abuse on those who tried to escape to Edward's side - but this was a desperate move.
First of all, if the castle is breached, they will need more manpower to assist in the defense. Secondly, if a precedent is set to allow those archers who feel that they are useless to escape from the city gate, there will inevitably be more people who want to Follow them.
"Why can they do it but we can't!"
Once this happens, the entire battle situation will completely collapse within a day - but -
But all this should not have happened until at least a month and a half after the siege.
Whether it's dealing with corpses, boosting morale, or letting sergeants control their speech. Count Adolf is very familiar with all these things, but he has been silent since the beginning of the battle, losing the accurate and effective command of the wise leaders above. The ignorant militia archers and Yi Xinyi think that they are just like him. The conflict between the sergeants and knights who must defend the castle is becoming increasingly fierce.
It was a war for which Count Adolf von Dauwofburg had never prepared and was therefore severely underprepared.
He thought about it many times, many, many times. The Dowolfberg family is a staunch supporter of Shurfagar and a stable defender of His Majesty the King. No matter what enemy attacks, they will become the strongest defender of this solid black castle that has been passed down from generation to generation. .
"Even if you die here, don't have the slightest doubt, because being indecisive will make you lose everything." Count Adolf, the ancestral precept passed down from his great-grandfather's generation, will remember it in his body and mind. If the enemy he faces at this moment is Sivali Yeah, or even if it's a terrible enemy like Padrosi, Adolf's performance will be far better than this. He will take the lead, step forward without hesitation, and lead all the soldiers to die heroically for the country.
But this is not it.
He had also imagined and asked his father, the late Earl, who was no longer alive. If a Shurfagar man attacked another Shurfagar man, who would he help?
"The Dawolfberg family is the defender of the king, so if a rebellious prince attempts to usurp the throne, we will naturally defend the king." He still remembered this answer -
What if that prince represents the future of the country of Avenella?
What I should do is to stand by his side, work with that great prince who is perhaps the best in the Shurfaja family in so many years, to open up the future of this country, and watch the kingdom that I gave birth to and grow up step by step. He gradually became prosperous, and his face was filled with smiles as he watched the people living a prosperous life in his beloved territory.
Or should he stick to his position and responsibilities, like the pain that must be experienced before a new life, as proof of the old era, and be relegated to the ashes of history along with Ahibern II who is destined to fail?
Hope, and responsibility.
It is precisely because of the pride of being a noble that this choice is so difficult for Adolf.
It was precisely because he had difficulty making a choice that he sat back and watched the situation inside Wolfsburg get worse, as if he was deliberately letting everything get worse.
"...The situation is roughly like this, Lord Earl, even the water in the well has been a little turbid in the past two days, as if everything is targeting us." The knight reported silently, but never turned around. The earl turned around as if he had woken up when he heard these words.
"You mean the well?" Adolf said with a serious expression, his eyes widened. The knight was startled by his sudden movement. He couldn't speak and just nodded. The count touched his gray beard. Chin thought for a while and then nodded in realization: "Feint!"
"The opponent's real actions are underground -" he said, turned around and tried to walk downwards, but at this time, a strange sound suddenly came from the wall on the right side of the castle gate.
…
Time goes back to about an hour ago.
Our Mr. Sage, who dug this long passage to the foundation of the city wall as early as yesterday morning, did not let the team advance further, but began to expand this area.
More militiamen under Edward's command carried the large pieces of felled logs into the passage with difficulty. The magician apprentices accurately controlled an entire section of land and slowly loosened them and then unloaded them. The non-stop team crossed shoulders. Then, the soil that could not be pressed into the surroundings was packed in bags and taken outside. The space expanded step by step. Every time a part of the soil was dug out, the militiamen carefully set up wooden stakes for support under Henry's command.
After replacing the entire interior of the space with wooden piles, they piled a lot of firewood on the ground, poured flammable black oil on it, spread it all the way out, and began to retreat outside.
After everyone had evacuated, they drove a group of wild boars in.
Then.
The firewood pile was lit.
The flames that spread rapidly burned the supports, causing the soil foundation under the city wall to become dry, cracked and brittle. The wild boars burned by the flames screamed and ran rampant, knocking down the supports and digging away at the soil. of ground.
The vents used to breathe for people emitted bursts of black smoke to provide oxygen for combustion, but the Wolfsburg defenders above who had evacuated the archers were not able to detect this in time.
When the fire burned those large pillars, their structures finally became fragile, and finally collapsed under the final impact of the wild boar that was dying due to lack of oxygen and high temperature.
The more than ten meters long city wall near the gate of Daowulfberg Castle is strong and heavy and can withstand all frontal attacks.
After making a "click-" sound that resounded throughout the sky.
As the ground collapsed, it turned into ruins.
"Qiang——" Charles, who had been prepared for a long time, drew out the long sword from his waist, turned around and shouted: "The whole army——"
"Assault!" (To be continued.)
