Then, amidst the sound of the bugle, the ten companies that arrived first and had already set up their array also slowly advanced towards the city. According to the formation of the white soldier company holding the shield in the front, the pike company on the two wings, and the strike company following closely, they launched a probing attack.
I saw those white soldiers wearing chain shirts, breastplates, curved helmets, holding swords, axes, swords and shields, swarming up behind the three bridges in turn; there was still silence and no movement on the city top; until they waved Chopping with axes, destroying those barriers and trying to topple them down the river.
The top of the city suddenly reacted as if waking up from a dream, and shot many arrows behind the wall with a loud noise. Although most of them had insufficient range and landed on the other side of the bridge, there were still some sporadic arrows. The rocket, shot into the barrier and ignited.
However, how could such a small problem defeat the soldiers of the leading company of the Free Army? They quickly put on special halberds and hook-bladed guns, and worked together to chop, chop, and overturn and push the soldiers. These obstacles that had just begun to burn were cleared from the bridge one after another.
Seeing that the advancing passage ahead had been cleared, the remaining members of the auxiliary company, urged by the beat of drums, followed closely, holding up a simple long ladder assembled on the spot with wooden poles and iron hoops, as well as a carriage made of The board acted as a baffle and crashed across the bridge.
At this time, the scorpion crossbows and small ballistae from the top of the city began to fire heavy arrows and stone bullets in a powerful manner; however, the threat of these heavy equipment was not enough for the soldiers who poured into the city. As long as it's not a direct hit, it won't be fatal.
Jiang Tian even saw a sergeant in full body armor, who was hit by a stone bullet and rolled over on the ground, and then ran again and continued to sprint forward; well, that was actually a soldier who had been shot before the war. Reinforced into the starting company, a member of the Heritage Knights squad.
With his body and head covered with mud, he seemed to be irritated. He roared loudly and took a few steps to catch up. He was mixed in with the ordinary soldiers in the group, and alternately covered several companions who were advancing; He quickly rushed up the gentle slope where the city gate was.
Then it turned into the sound of violent collisions and chisels coming from the doorway; at this time, there were already more than a dozen simple long ladders with special iron hooks, which were successively put up to the five or six meter high city ultimatum; Although most of them were pushed away by the defenders with quick eyes and hands.
However, there were still several long ladders erected on the top of the wall, and the hooks were firmly embedded in the gaps between the brick and wood walls. No matter how much the defenders chopped, pushed, and pried, they could not be destroyed for a while; instead, they were blocked by the long ladders. The soldiers of the Free Army climbed up one after another and fought among the city ultimatums.
Among the soldiers who had climbed up the wall and fought hard to open a breakthrough, in addition to a few small groups of heritage knights, Jiang Tian even saw Bodos, the captain of the team; this giant man like an iron tower waved With a pair of fine steel hammers flying like wheels.
It's like a humanoid hurricane moving through the enemy jungle. As long as the enemy or friend is touched even a little bit, the bones will be brittle, the flesh will be rotten, the limbs will be broken, and it will turn into a twisted corpse flying in the air. However, Jiang Tian was a little helpless and resentful of his display of power.
You, the captain of a large army guarding a province, don't take care of the dozens of garrison companies under your command and the thousands of troops; instead, you take the lead in attacking the city here, learn from ancient heroic legends, and play the role of siege the city. A strong general, isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?
But no matter what, and no matter how to deal with Polis afterwards, he left his men behind and rushed to the city. There is no doubt that his behavior also greatly inspired and inspired those Free Army soldiers who were clinging to the city. More and more soldiers were breaking through the city walls.
However, such a smooth progress of the offensive made Jiang Tian slightly uneasy; just like the fighting will and intensity of resistance displayed by the defenders on the city wall; they were still far from the orthodox army in his impression. A very subtle difference.
Because the Orthodox Army represents the most conservative and fiercest armed force among the royalists; not only is it cruel to the enemy, but it is also cruel to its own soldiers. The defenders in front of them obviously lack something; you must know those old There are also nobles who dare to fight and fight.
Thinking of this, Jiang Tian took the initiative to stand on a high place and inspect the current battlefield. Because the Severn River, which flows diagonally from north to south, turned eastward to form a bend on the platform where the city of Ales is located, the Free Army that had just arrived on the battlefield attacked in the northeast.
Moreover, the river was neither deep nor wide enough; therefore, the auxiliary company that came after them used sacks filled with soil and bundles of cut branches to quickly fill up a new river in the upstream direction, which was enough for the river to pass. The cavalry came quickly through the makeshift dike-like channel.
Then they galloped past many light cavalry of the Free Army, heading towards other unattacked city gates, forming a posture of approaching for investigation and containment and harassment; everything seemed perfect and everything was happening naturally; even the follow-up camp Most of the prototype has been built.
So what is it that is disturbing or worrying? Jiang Tian then looked to the north of the upper reaches of the Severn River. The weather in the entire valley was very good and cloudless, but there was not enough rainfall in a short period of time to cause floods or other major threats.
On the way to the south, the Free Army also had an unobstructed view of the open valley plains; continuous farmland and scattered villages. In addition to the generally low terrain, there were no large numbers of threats that could be hidden or infiltrated by people. Opportunities to take a back road.
However, Jiang Tian turned to the mountains to the northwest. The mountains seemed not high but the slope was very steep. The forest vegetation is also quite lush and dense, so much so that it extends to the vicinity of the city; and due to the need for mining, large areas have been cut down, leaving only pitted tree stumps.
Therefore, there is also a cinder road extending to the nearby mining area in the meantime? Immediately, Jiang Tian noticed that there was an unusually low forest near the river bank, interspersed with dense reeds. It was not that eye-catching and could easily be ignored.
The next moment, Jiang Tian turned to the communications officer beside him and said: "Give me the order to have the standby artillery battery deploy to the northwest and use incendiary bombs to bombard the trees and reeds on the river bank;"
Then amidst the continuous whine of the trumpet, a gun carriage with wheels was pushed out.
Then, with the soldiers from the auxiliary company beside them, sweating like rain, they quickly dug a shallow trench. The excavated soil was filled with sacks, and a row of waist-high simple artillery forts was piled around the two-pound cannons and four-pound cannons.
However, the first ones to start test-firing were those short-range and powerful mine cannons; only thin-skinned cylinders half-buried in the ditch were seen, and several rings of smoke were blasted out along with the ignited powder lines; After a large arc trajectory visible to the naked eye, it hit the edge of the reed bush.
In an instant, the incendiary jar was smashed on the branch of the tree, and the fire rain spattered in all directions, igniting the still moist reeds and branches one after another, and turned into dense smoke billowing into the sky; Despite this, the ignited reeds and forest edges still showed no response.
Smelling the faint burnt smell wafting from the distance, Jiang Tian finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to order the artillery to withdraw. However, the next moment, the wind direction on the river suddenly changed. The smoke column that was originally drifting diagonally towards the southeast Free Army camp suddenly poured back into the trees with low pressure.
A moment later, a loud coughing and yelling sound suddenly came from the bushes and reeds; then, against the smoke produced by insufficient combustion, many armed men with faces full of soot and withered beards and hair rushed out; Their clothes are messy, but everyone wears armor.
Amidst some fierce roars and hisses, they rushed towards the Free Army camp; then, another large flag with white fleur-de-lis on a black background was quickly unfurled and held high in the smoke-filled air. It was clear that it was already The orthodox army ambushed outside the city.
So in response, a thundering roar rang out from the Free Army artillery fort; a row of ready-to-go ball bombs hit the crowd of orthodox soldiers head-on, and in an instant, a cloud of blood and explosions burst out. There was a lot of mud, and there were broken limbs flying around.
There were also shells that simultaneously penetrated and tore up several human bodies that happened to be in the same line, then bounced diagonally and smashed a head, a shoulder and a thigh; finally, they rolled down with sticky blood and flesh. In a small pit formed by blood and water.
However, the bloody traces caused by this round of shelling in the enemy group were quickly refilled and covered up by more people who came forward to follow. While these gunners were busy reloading, the remaining enemies had already rushed within half a mile;
So, at the sound of the trumpet, they had to stop what they were doing; and under the sergeant's urging and urging, they turned around and left, leaving the running base and the front line to the strike company that had already lined up; among them There was also a gunner who struggled and didn't want to retreat...
However, the next moment, they were suddenly knocked to the ground by the sergeant who was pulling and dragging them. The next moment, they heard the sound of dense radiation like fried beans, which was very close at hand, and the two of them immediately did not dare to move. Instead, the strike soldiers/flintlock rifles lined up in three horizontal lines opened fire.
In an instant, amidst the strong and pungent gunpowder smoke, there was only the whizzing sound of countless dense lead particles breaking through the air, striking like raindrops on the orthodox soldiers who were immersed in the charge. As blood flowers exploded in the crowd, the front row felt as if they were being whipped invisible.
The enemy soldiers who were at the forefront just suddenly paused, showing bewildered expressions, and then fell down or fell on their backs; and then they were followed by their companions who were unable to stop themselves, and were immediately attacked. They were trampled under their feet, unable to stand up again.
Although the orthodox army's charge suffered such tragic blows and losses one after another, it seems that more soldiers in the rear have not discovered and noticed it, or they have reacted to it; and under a certain inertia of going forward and succeeding, they continue to surge forward. Forced to within twenty meters;
At this time, they also saw the Free Army line in front of them. They suddenly broke up and turned around and walked away. They couldn't help but screamed with renewed morale and accelerated forward. In the blink of an eye, they rushed to the simple artillery fort. In front of them, they all sank down one after another and became shorter by less than half.
But he fell into the trench in front of the fort. Although the trench was only as deep as his calf and less than one meter wide, he could easily cross it. However, they were stopped by the waist-high pile of dirt in front of the fort, and they could only bare their shoulders and heads.
The next moment, the enemy soldiers who were climbing up in the trench were screaming and rolling down again; because at some point, in the short blind area of their vision, a dense company of spears holding halberds and hook-bladed guns formed. The square formation replaced the original strike formation.
I saw the phalanx of these pike companies, amidst the drum beats commanding the rhythm. Every time they thrust forward and slashed, a group of soldiers tried to climb over the artillery forts and orthodox soldiers, and fell back covered in blood; Only a lucky few were able to pass through the gap between the spears and halberds.
Then they were quickly shot head-on by the short muskets attached to the sergeants and non-commissioned officers in the formation. Therefore, after the frontal breakthrough reached a stalemate, some orthodox soldiers rushed towards the two wings along the edge of the fort where corpses were lying on the pillow. Trying to make a roundabout attack on the rear of the long-soldier company.
Then, what greeted them here was the reloaded and filled strike company. They heard pieces of firecrackers hitting each other, and the orthodox soldiers on the two wings detoured, almost like a flood pouring down. Retreat; more companies of white soldiers follow.
I saw them waving small iron-faced bucklers or leather kite-shaped shields, knocking down the enemy soldiers who could not dodge or escape in time from the back; then trampling their bodies with iron-clad boots, and then Flawless reverse attack, endless fighting behind the enemy's front line.
Immediately behind, there are more fire gunners in squadron units, forming two long horizontal lines; they extend out in a fan shape like crane wings, and then more orthodox soldiers in the chaos are thrown into the air; Included in the fire range and potential threats within the range of one's own volley.
Therefore, later on, as long as there was a sound of volley fire nearby, the Orthodox soldiers who were surrounded by groups and fighting on their own would disperse and hide in panic and try to escape; More fragmented and chaotic.
At this point, in Jiang Tian's overall view, he had only used a small half of the troops in the camp, about thirty companies. Even the cavalry regiment on standby, as well as the special attack company and guard company serving as reserve forces, did not have time to be used.
Therefore, when he gave the order again, facing the orthodox army surrounded by groups, the stubborn resistance was the most intense and the most densely populated position. After using the thunder cannon to fire powder cans/explosives in turn, the orthodox army was destroyed on the spot. It's already irreversible.
At the same time, after seeing that the ambush outside the city, which was the main combat force of the orthodox army, was discovered and fell into a desperate situation, the will of the defenders from the top of Alais City to resist also collapsed; and with the slowly rising With a smiling face and a scorching sun banner, the city gate also opened from the inside.
But unexpectedly, the mutation reappeared; the roars and howls that suddenly came from the battlefield immediately pierced the sonata of countless fire blunderbuss, swords and guns, mixed with the desperate shouts of human beings.
