And when the fifth Lombard Brigade, who was waiting for the civilian husbands and baggage, finally caught up, they found that the city gate had been blocked by debris, and fierce fighting was erupting in the city; the warrant officer and captain of the battalion were Several squadron commanders and sergeants have not yet discussed a countermeasure.
Suddenly, they were attacked by a group of cavalry who came out from another city gate. Although the mounts of these cavalry are a bit strange, including horses, mules and donkeys, as one of the few main regiments in the Lombard Kingdom, the second advance company, which is the oldest and weakest, is still unable to resist.
After just one encounter, they were scattered and fled in fright; although in the end, under the pursuit of these "cavalry", they were able to escape, including the captain and squadron leader, and less than half of the members. However, the escorting civilian husband and dozens of cars of baggage were also abandoned on the spot.
Two more days later, the defeated soldiers of the second company who escaped were driven by whips and sticks from other friendly forces to form a naked advance (punishment) team. When they left and returned, they found that inside the city The battle has ended long ago, and even the outside of the city has been cleaned up.
And directly opposite the city gate, a hill appeared out of thin air; a hill made of naked corpses; these deserters immediately formed a (punished) vanguard; they stopped inexplicably in shock. I stopped walking, no matter how hard I pushed, I never dared to move forward.
At this time, the three commanders of the follow-up reinforcements represented one of the few expeditionary regiments of the Lombards, and most of the Ligurian Corps. However, they were unsure whether to attack immediately and recapture the city within the range of the city. Serious disagreements arose over the body;
In the end, it was the commander of the third regiment who clapped his hands and left with an unhappy face, issuing orders to his subordinates on his own, vowing to teach these enemies who had no sense of honor or shame an unforgettable lesson. As a result, many crossbowmen carrying large shields began to advance in formation.
They were all from Monteferra in the Liguria region, or from towns such as Parma and Pavia in the Little Lombardy region. Wearing a lightweight domed helmet, neck guard, and one-piece armor, carrying a large shield with a concave curved edge on his back, he wielded a crossbow unique to Siro and marched fiercely.
Before they even reached the expected firing range of the city wall, rows of them were already firing test shots in succession. I saw only white tail feathers and lost rain like locusts flying; many white feathers were tremblingly nailed to the incomplete city walls and gates one after another; the figures on the city head were shaking in shock.
Under the alternating cover and advancement of these Northern Italian crossbowmen, a group of scattered mercenaries wearing half-length leather armor and knee-length trousers suddenly rushed forward silently; in a moment, they easily rushed forward. When they arrived at the mountain of corpses stacked with Chi Guoguo, they were quickly dragged away with a rope.
In the blink of an eye, under the cover of hundreds of northern Italian crossbowmen, they cooperated with the tacit snatch and dragged back the corpses of many friendly troops; they also exposed other things underneath the corpses; therefore, As more and more people join the process of dragging corpses.
However, there was no movement at the top of the city, as if they were shocked by the shots from these crossbowmen. However, the next moment, there was suddenly a dense pile of corpses surrounding the mercenaries; the exposed supports below exploded and flew up with a loud bang.
In an instant, the rain of blood and broken limbs splashed all over the sky, almost covering the heads, faces and bodies of these northern Italian crossbowmen. It also immediately affected their movements and vision; not only did they cock the bow, The crossbow became sticky and slippery, and the large shield became a little unstable.
As they continued to suppress the shooting at the city head, they paused for a moment; the originally lifeless wall also suddenly shot out many lead bullets and arrows amid the loud roars of soldiers who appeared in droves. A storm-like counter-suppression knocked down the crossbowman array.
But it's not over yet. At the same time, another group of blue-clad soldiers wearing leather armor and chain shirts suddenly rushed out of the city gate that was blocked by obstacles. The leader was a bald giant man covered in plate and chain armor. , almost flying into the front row of crossbowmen.
Then, as he stood up again, shaking his head, and brandishing a multi-headed chain hammer, he also knocked at least several crossbowmen who had drawn out their short thorns and long daggers for protection, smashing them over and flying away with their bones and flesh broken; Then he hit the face of another semi-scaled crossbowman sergeant hard with his helmeted forehead.
For a time, just by him, a corner of the front row of crossbowmen was disrupted and dispersed; those crossbowmen had to fire in a hasty and random manner while instinctively pushing back to get out of the way; but they were blocked by more The soldiers of the kingdom rushed into the array and wielded their swords to kill indiscriminately.
At this time, the leader of the third regiment, You, who was watching the battle on the mound behind, urged the drummer and bugler around him with a hissing sound as if he had just woken up from a dream, and blew the unique messenger instrument of the Lombards; a body that required two people to carry The classical bent trombone; with the deep and trembling sound of the horn, the sound trembled in the wilderness.
A group of fully-clad cavalry rushed out from behind the mound. They wore traditional Lombard-style patched pointed helmets, oriental-style leather ring armor and wicker armor embellished with slender iron leaves; The mount's head and chest were covered with arrow-blocking felt cloth, and it flew towards him in the dust and smoke.
The appearance of these Lombard cavalry also alerted the defenders on the city, and with the sound of sharp trumpets, those surrounding the corpse scene were chasing the Italian crossbowmen who were running around the kingdom. The soldiers also came to their senses and turned around and ran away without hesitation.
However, neither the Lombard cavalry nor the scattered Italian crossbowmen wanted to let them go; in the meantime, the scattered crossbowmen were slightly reorganizing their formations. After that, they all put down their crossbows and shields and turned around and chased after them lightly;
At the same time, the remaining men and horses of the third regiment, urged by the waving of the military flag and the constant shouting of curses, slowly pushed forward and pressed away; they made a move to respond and support, and could turn around at any time. In order to directly attack the city, he came with a strong posture.
Therefore, the fleeing kingdom soldiers almost abandoned their weapons and flags on the ground before escaping back to the city gate with their lives. Before they had time to take a breather within the range cover of the city head, they bypassed all the people from the side. The Lombard cavalry, who were lying on the ground, rushed in front of them.
When I saw these Kingdom soldiers crowded at the city gate, they burst into screams and exclamations all day long. They were suddenly drowned in the billowing dust and smoke raised by more than two hundred cavalry, and turned into a cloud of smoke. There were repeated dull impacts, and there were tragic neighs and wails as people turned their backs on their backs.
However, only a moment later, those Italian crossbowmen who rushed forward with passion rushed to the city gate one after another. But they discovered a tragic scene of dead bodies of men and horses lying on the pillow. But on the ground surrounding the front of the city gate, several trenches and pits had appeared.
As for the Lombard cavalry, which was attacked by both men and horses, almost half of the leading cavalry were packed into it, and their legs and feet were broken, and their livers and intestines were full of casualties; so that many of the following cavalry who had no time to rein in their horses also turned away in fright. Rushed into the mud of the city trench.
At this time, the remaining soldiers of the Kingdom, who seemed to be frightened, had already jumped into the trench nearby; and used the spears, axes, spears, hooks and sickles, and thorns that had been prepared in the doorway to deal with those stuck in the mud. The cavalry and their mounts; there were even rocks falling from the wall.
Immediately, there were heavy casualties; and the Italian crossbowmen who ventured to attack the city couldn't help but scream loudly and lost their courage when they saw this; they turned around and fled. However, at this time, how could the guards on the wall miss such an opportunity to approach and shoot.
Therefore, when the remaining three companies from the third regiment finally came up to cover up the enemy, all one could see were the Italian crossbowmen who fled around them without hesitation and groups of Italian crossbowmen; and the Lombard cavalry who escaped from the death zone and traps under the city sporadically. ;Then, the roar sounded again from the top of the city.
However, several artillery placed on the wall also suddenly fired. Although it didn't look very accurate, it cut through several trajectories and bombarded the ground in front of Lombard United. Only a few tents of dirt were splashed, scattering on the heads and faces of the nearest soldiers, but causing them to stop one after another.
And the sound of this round of shelling finally made the head of the third regiment, who was riding on his horse with enthusiasm and planned to lead the siege personally, immediately calm down. After losing the cavalry regiment and the crossbowmen regiment, plus those light-armored regiments of scattered mercenaries, could there be more losses?
Let the remaining three regiments, which are unprepared with equipment and protective gear, directly and forcefully attack the city that is waiting for them; then what he loses is no longer the soldiers, but the authority and reputation accumulated over a long time, the obedience and trust of the soldiers. and morale; and status in the army...
Therefore, when the Lombard army arrayed outside the city slowly turned and retreated amidst the sound of the bent trombone being blown again, Jiang Gao, who was on the top of the city, also heaved a big sigh of relief; if the enemy returned next step, If he wanted to attack, he would have to personally lead people to block the city gate and open Wushuang.
But at least with relatively limited damage, most of the goals he planned have been achieved; he has also won victory in a very short period of time. Most of the more than 2,000 soldiers who have been temporarily gathered and reorganized in the city are in the eyes of most people. Unabashed respect, trust, and admiration.
At least the specific demands of soldiers in this relatively backward era are relatively simple. As long as we treat them fairly and strictly, pay them wages in full and on time, have enough food and clothing, and lead them to continuous victory, we can make them pay their lives and sacrifices, and even endure relative suffering.
